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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 26, 2016)
PROPERY LINES: NORTH OREGON COAST REAL ESTATE INSIDE 144TH YEAR, NO. 41 ONE DOLLAR WEEKEND EDITION // FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2016 TAKE A PEEK AT PUPS FROM AROUND THE NORTH COAST FALL 2016 HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS SCHEDULES PAGE 11A WOOF! IT’S NATIONAL DOG DAY FRIDAY EXTRA • 1C-5C Smith gets life for Cannon Beach horror In tragedy, a father fi nds inspiration from daughters By KYLE SPURR The Daily Astorian Gregory Smith is inspired every day by his two daughters. He focuses on their joy- ful zest for life and adventure, rather than their role as victims in a tragic crime committed by his ex-wife, Jessica Smith. His ex-wife was sentenced to life in prison Thursday for drowning their toddler , Isa- bella Smith, and slashing their teenager, Alana Smith, in a Cannon Beach resort in July 2014. “I realize I have no guaran- tees of my words reaching you, much less changing the trag- edy of the past couple years,” Gregory Smith told his ex-wife at the sentencing hearing in Clatsop County Circuit Court. See SMITH, Page 9A Jessica Smith listens during her sentenc- ing Thursday in Clatsop County Court. Beth Nakamura The Oregonian Drip, PADDLERS CELEBRATE PARK CENTENNIAL drip, drip … Warrenton faces costly cracks in water, sewer pipes By ERICK BENGEL The Daily Astorian ore than 50 paddlers took to the waterways around Lewis and Clark National Historical Park Thurs- day evening to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service. Experienced paddlers maneuvered the open water of Youngs Bay to reach the park, while others rode their kayaks and canoes down Lewis and Clark River from the park’s Netul Landing. The two groups, each led by park rangers, even- tually met on the river at Otter Point, near the park’s northern boundary. The gathering of canoes and kay- aks was the most seen on the river for a park-sponsored event. “All parks are doing a celebration. This is our part of it.” Chris Clatterbuck, chief of resources at the park, said. Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian WARRENTON — Cracks and unsealed joints in War- renton’s old water and sewer lines are quietly costing the city a lot of money, though it is unclear just how much. “This is a problem that’s accumulated over time,” Pub- lic Works Director Jim Dunn said. “It’s not something that just happened overnight.” Depending on the season, a decent volume of the water piped from the water treat- ment plant to faucets, show- ers, toilets and other outlets leaks out along the way. However, “there’s a lot of ways water can be lost with- out it leaking out of the pipe,” Dunn said. Up to 30 percent of pota- ble water usage in Warrenton is unaccounted for, because of leakage, faulty meters that underreport water usage and areas without meters at all, according to a recent Ore- gon Health Authority capacity assessment. The asbestos-concrete pipes that were installed decades ago, and are no lon- ger permitted under develop- ment codes, give the city the most grief. “We have a lot of those pipes in our system, which are brittle,” Dunn said. See PADDLERS, Page 10A A historical gun salute is fired from the shore as about 50 paddlers celebrate the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service on Thursday . See WATER, Page 8A Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian More than 50 paddlers make their way down the Lewis and Clark River to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service on Thursday in Astoria. More photos available online at DailyAstorian.com Lewis and Clark park hosts party on the water By KYLE SPURR The Daily Astorian M ODOT’s lax review raises questions of fraud By NICK BUDNICK Capital Bureau Potholes and ruts cost the average Oregonian driver hundreds of dollars in vehi- cle repairs every year. But as Oregon Depart- ment of Transportation Director Matt Garrett pre- pares to ask lawmakers for hundreds of millions of dollars in increased taxes and fees on Oregonians to fund new roads and bridge upgrades, documents show that his department has for more than a decade resisted basic quality improvements intended to stop construction fraud, combat premature potholes and make roads last longer. Federal highway officials have warned ODOT repeat- edly since 2005 that its road-paving inspection pro- gram is vulnerable to fraud. Because the department fails to undertake basic precau- tions, asphalt contractors can game ODOT’s system to make it appear standards were met while compromis- ing road quality, similar to what Volkswagen did with diesel emissions. ODOT estimates it spends $100 million a year on asphalt. In the past year, it used about 1.6 million tons of it to build new roads and rehabilitate existing ones. For about two decades, Oregon has relied on road contractors to test their own asphalt quality and show they meet minimum stan- dards. State technicians do their own tests to spot-check one-in-10 results. Garrett maintains that the department’s money is well spent, that he has faith in the integrity of Oregon’s con- struction oversight system. But the federal assess- ment that Oregon is vulner- able to trickery is echoed by some of ODOT’s current and former employees. See ODOT, Page 8A Oregon Department of Transportation A crew member checks the temperature of the asphalt. Feder- al highway officials have warned ODOT repeatedly since 2005 that its road-paving inspection program is vulnerable to fraud.