144TH YEAR, NO. 11
ONE DOLLAR
WEEKEND EDITION // FRIDAY, JULY 15, 2016
DOWNTOWN
RALLY
TRUCK ATTACK MARKS
DEADLY TWIST IN TERROR
FRIDAY EXTRA! • 1C
PAGE 3A
Building a better
boat in Astoria
J&H Boatworks looks to future with
owner’s retirement and Port’s new plans
Photos by Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Tim Hill is a co-owner at J&H Boatworks at Tongue Point in Astoria.
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
im Hill stood underneath the
towering hull of the fi shing
boat Taasinge, raised on a
trailer on the tarmac at North
Tongue Point, examining the rud-
der his company, J&H Boatworks,
Inc., was hired to replace.
The boat’s owner, Mike Hag-
gren, had the Taasinge towed north
two days from Crescent City, Cal-
ifornia, to J&H, unable to fi nd
a closer spot at any of the scant
number of West Coast shipyards.
Despite having so much busi-
ness — Hill has to turn some
away — Hill faces uncertainty
over what’s going to happen to
his main boat-working facil-
ity as the Port of Astoria decides
what to do with Tongue Point.
Add to that his efforts to create a
smooth transition for employees
as he approaches 70 years old and
retirement in March.
“Personally, I think the indus-
try for repair and building is …
I haven’t seen the future look as
bright ever, since I’ve been in
boats,” Hill said.
T
RV park on river closes,
displacing tenants and
prompting inquiry
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
Residents are emptying out of the Pier 38
RV Park after the owners moved to close the
park by September.
At least two long-term residents have
retained an attorney, claiming they have
been illegally forced out .
The RV park and adjacent Hampton Inn
& Suites are both owned by Pier 38 Marina
& RV Park, whose registered agent is Kar-
shan Patel. The company issued a press
release Tuesday saying it would shut down
the park, although current and previous resi-
dents say the rousting started in June.
“Managing transient guests for (the) RV
park has been a challenge for us and we agree
with our neighbors that the best decision is
to close the park,” the release said, adding
there are no plans currently to develop the
property.
See RV PARK, Page 8A
WCT Marine & Construction Inc. employee Jeremy Milligan works to cut out the outer-skin of
a ship in order to remove an engine . The WCT and J&H Boatworks warehouses are adjacent to
one another and the businesses sometimes work together on repair jobs.
Sharing a dream
These days, Hill spends less
time welding and more at Colum-
bia Steel Supply, which J&H
acquired in 2004 to expand its
metalworking and welding oper-
ations. He organizes projects in
an upstairs offi ce with his wife,
Debi, who has taken on much
of the company’s administrative
and fi nancial side since the cou-
ple married in 1981. The walls are
fi lled with photos of the dozens
of fi shing boats the company has
made or modifi ed over the past
40 years. The windows look out
on Miles Crossing, from which
Hill can see his company’s orig-
inal boat shop on Wireless Road,
where he and former partner Al
No place
to roam,
or stay
J&H employee Kevin Eaton works to install a replacement rud-
der on t he Taasinge .
Jacques started J&H in 1976.
A trawl fi sherman before he
became a boat-builder, Hill said
he got an inside look at the Rus-
sian trawlers that appeared off the
coasts of Oregon and Washing-
ton state in the 1960s and thought
he could recreate their design in
smaller boats for American fi sh-
ermen. Then 30, Hill went to his
friend Jacques, then at the Asto-
ria Marine Construction Co. yard
in Miles Crossing, and shared his
dream.
Hill sold off his interest in his
fi shing boat for seed money —
and later his house — as he and
Jacques spent the next two years
building the steel-hull, alumi-
num-house fi shing vessel Milky
Way, which they launched in
1978.
“We survived it barely, but we
established a reputation that we
do what we said we were going to
do,” Hill said.
J&H’s second project — Hag-
gren’s Defi ant — came out in
1980, followed by dozens more
boats, repairs and modifi cations,
as J&H tracked along the same
ups and downs as the fi shing
industry.
See BOATWORKS, Page 8A
Police work to bridge dangerous divide
Staten Island
offi cers spend
a third of their
shift forging
relationships
AP Photo/Seth Wenig
Members of the Cure Violence group talk
with a man near the Stapleton Houses
low-income housing complex in the Stat-
en Island borough of New York on June 8.
The group, five black men and one Latino,
all acknowledge past crimes or prison time.
Mike Perry, second right, used to deal drugs
around another low-income housing com-
plex, two miles away.
2016 Clatsop
e
Blu on!
b
Rib
County
Fair
August 2-6
For more information go to
www.clatsopfairgrounds.com
This story is part of
Divided America, AP’s ongo-
ing exploration of the eco-
nomic, social and political
divisions in American society.
By ADAM GELLER
AP National Writer
NEW YORK — On an
unusually cool night for sum-
mer, Mike Perry and his crew
thread the sidewalks running
Go
through the Stapleton Houses,
tracked by police cameras
bolted to the apartment blocks
and positioned atop poles.
Perry’s group, fi ve black
men and one Latino, all
acknowledge past crimes or
prison time. Perry, himself,
used to deal drugs around
another low-income hous-
ing complex, two miles away.
Now, though, their Cure Vio-
lence team works to defuse
arguments that can lead to
shootings. Their goals are not
so different from those of the
police.
Neacoxie
barn faces
foreclosure
Gearhart event center
scheduled to be auctioned
By R.J. MARX
The Daily Astorian
GEARHART — Martha Strickland, a
co-owner of Neacoxie Barn in Gearhart, is
facing foreclosure at the former livery stable
on the banks of Neacoxie Creek.
“In October, the bank puts it up for auc-
tion, or it forecloses,” Gearhart City Admin-
istrator Chad Sweet said .
While Gearhart’s Shannon Smith is listed
on the property deed, she is not listed as a
party to the foreclosure proceeding, which
appeared as a legal notice in The Daily
Astorian. The notice of default comes after
Strickland’s failure to repay $297,741 and
other advances and expenses. The property
is scheduled to be sold at auction at Clatsop
County Courthouse on Oct. 7.
The Neacoxie Creek Barn, at 774 Pacifi c
Way in Gearhart, has been used for wed-
dings, family reunions and other commer-
cial events. Without a conditional use permit
and a building occupancy permit, according
to Gearhart offi cials, the owners have put the
health and safety of guests and residents at
risk.
See BARN, Page 8A
The Daily Astorian/File Photo
See DIVIDED, Page 8A
Neacoxie Creek Barn in Gearhart.
or The BLUE !
F
Bring out your BEST in the
T alent C ontest, K araoke F inale, Open Class,
M utton B ustin’, P uzzlemania or C ircus W orkshop!