3A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2016
Short-term rental
rules to be clariied
in Cannon Beach
citizens on what is a very
important issue,” said Com-
missioner Lisa Kerr, who
made a motion to deny the
ordinance change.
“I think the whole com-
munity should be more
involved in that decision and
By LYRA FONTAINE
you’re eliminating one of the
The Daily Astorian
steps,” Commissioner Robin
Risley said.
CANNON BEACH —
During public testimony,
The City Council hopes to City Council candidate Herb
make short-term rental regu- Florer said the consequences
lations “clear and
of the proposed
understandable”
change are uncer-
by the end of the
tain and could
year.
“remove local ave-
The city is
nues for hearings
working on code
and appeals.”
amendments
to
“Without full
streamline permit-
knowledge of the
ting processes. A
potential ramiica-
proposed change
tions of the change,
would stop short-
we feel that this is
Mark Barnes
term rental deci-
unnecessary,” Flo-
sions from being
rer said.
considered land-
Barnes
said
use issues, shifting review short-term rentals are more
from the Planning Commis- similar to business licenses
sion to the City Council.
than planning or zoning deci-
The amendment seeks sions. “I think there’s some
to make the permitting and value in streamlining and
appeals process smoother for simplifying this process,” he
property owners and admin- said at the meeting.
istrators, City Planner Mark
The Planning Commis-
Barnes said. Appeals would sion voted to keep short-
likely go to Circuit Court term rental regulations in
instead of the Land Use the zoning ordinance. The
Board of Appeals.
council could reject the
Planning commissioners recommendation.
opposed the change at their
The City Council will
August meeting.
likely hold a work session in
“I believe that it would October to discuss more sub-
have a serious adverse effect stantive changes to the city’s
on due process rights of local short-term rental program.
Planning
Commission
denied code
amendment
Ethanol replaces crude
oil at Clatskanie port
Associated Press
LONGVIEW, Wash. —
Global Partners has replaced
crude oil with ethanol at its
Port Westward terminal near
Clatskanie, Oregon, which
has reopened for business.
The Daily News reports
the terminal closed in Janu-
ary because of plummeting
oil prices, and Global Part-
ners laid off more than half its
workforce there. Port West-
ward reopened and began
receiving shipments of the
lammable gasoline additive
this summer.
The Oregon Department
of Transportation reported
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bia County rail line to Port
Westward in June.
Trains that previously car-
ried crude oil from Portland to
Port Westward had prompted
concerns from residents along
the 60-mile route about risks
of derailment and explosions.
Global Partners’ switch to
ethanol also comes after it was
ined $100,000 last year for
handling excessive amounts
of crude oil.
The company declined to
comment.
Hilltop principal on leave
after holiday weekend arrest
Suspected of
drunken driving
tendent Jenny Risner said in
an email.
By NATALIE ST. JOHN
EO Media Group
According to the citation,
a Washington State Patrol
trooper pulled Adams over on
State Route 103 near Milepost
1 at about 10:45 p.m. on Fri-
day night after he noticed that
Adams was allegedly driv-
ing without his headlights on.
During the stop, the oficer
believed that Adams showed
signs of alcohol intoxication
and subsequently placed him
under arrest. In an email, Paciic
County Sheriff’s Ofice Chief
Criminal Deputy Pat Mat-
lock said Adams was admin-
istratively booked into Paciic
County Jail early on Saturday,
then released a short time later.
The principal pleaded not
guilty to one count of DUI, a
gross misdemeanor, during
an arraignment Wednesday
in South District Court. Visi-
bly upset, Adams sat quietly
in the back of the courtroom as
he waited to be called before
the judge, and did not speak
during the hearing.
LONG BEACH, Wash. —
Though teachers in the Ocean
Beach School District have
said his tenure as the new prin-
cipal of Hilltop School was
off to a promising start, Darin
Adams was placed on admin-
istrative leave on the second
day of school.
According to police and
court records, Adams, 53, was
arrested on suspicion of driv-
ing under the inluence during
a trafic stop in Long Beach
Friday.
Adams was at Hilltop
on Tuesday, the irst day of
school, but had been placed on
leave by Wednesday.
“We’re currently con-
ducting an investigation of
reports of an incident that
occurred away from school
property, unrelated to the
employee’s duties. We do
not have any further informa-
tion at this time and have just
begun our irst few days of
school. The employee is on a
routine administrative leave
during the pending investiga-
tion by the district,” Superin-
Details of the arrest
A veteran
administrator
Adams, who was hired last
spring, is an experienced mid-
dle school administrator who
has received recognition for
his leadership.
The news of his arrest likely
comes as a blow to his dis-
trict colleagues, because many
were optimistic that he could
bring stability to a campus
that has suffered more than its
fair share of setbacks over the
last three years. In September
2014, Hilltop became an inde-
pendent middle school, and
added sixth grade, after Ilwaco
High School was relocated to
the Black Lake Campus. Two
months later, former Princi-
pal Marc Simmons suddenly
resigned. He was replaced by
Interim Principal Deb Turver
in January 2015. For the 2015-
2016 school year, district lead-
ers decided not to permanently
hire Turver. They also decided
to move ifth grade classes to
Hilltop. Though many praised
Chad Madsen, who took over
as principal for the 2015-2016
school year, he resigned in late
spring, saying that he wanted
to return to teaching in Asto-
ria. So, Risner and the board
found themselves searching
for the school’s fourth princi-
pal in three years.
While last year’s ifth-grade
transition went more smoothly
than previous sixth-grade tran-
sition, many parents, teach-
ers and students felt that all of
the changes made the middle
school feel more chaotic than
other district campuses, and
ultimately took a toll on morale.
State and district rules
What happens from here
will depend largely on how
Risner and the school board
decide to respond to the ind-
ings of the Washington State
Patrol report, and their own
independent
investigation.
Even if he is eventually con-
victed, Adams’ alleged offense
likely won’t trigger state-
level action. According to
Nathan Olson, a spokesman
for the Washington Ofice of
the Superintendent for Pub-
lic Instruction, district leaders
make most hiring, iring and
disciplinary decisions. They
generally are only required
to alert the state when there
are clear signs that a teacher
or principal is not it to work
in any educational setting. In
those cases, the state conducts
its own investigation.
“A DUI, to a large extent,
is considered a minor enough
offense that it’s probably not
going to affect a principal’s cer-
tiication,” Olson explained.
“We don’t deal with employ-
ment. We deal with whether or
not a teacher or principal should
keep his or her certiicate.”
Oregon students show slight improvement
Associated Press
PORTLAND — Oregon
students performed slightly
better on state tests than they
did a year ago, scores released
Thursday show.
The exams taken by nearly
300,000 students this spring
are designed to relect how
well schools helped students
meet rigorous Common Core
standards in English and
math.
Fifty-ive percent of stu-
dents met the standards in
English — up 1 percentage
point from 2015. Forty-two
percent of students were up
to standards in math, also an
increase of 1 percentage point.
Though the improvement
was minor, Oregon schools
chief Salam Noor noted that
it was enjoyed by all types of
students, including minori-
ties, students with disabilities
and those living in poverty.
“What is most exciting
about this year’s results is the
progress made by students
across the board, including
those from groups that have
historically performed at
lower levels than their peers,”
Noor said.
The tests are taken by stu-
dents in third through eighth
grades and 11th grade. Com-
pared with results from
2015, more third-graders
mastered mathematics and
more ifth-graders mastered
English.
High
school
juniors
improved in English and math.
But those 11th-grade results
aren’t as reliable because
many juniors declined to
take the exams. Many see the
exams as an unwelcome dupli-
cation of SAT, ACT, Advanced
Placement tests or similar tests
that also measure college read-
iness, said Heather Beck, the
superintendent of the Lake
Oswego School District and a
strong proponent of Common
Core standards.
Reacting to concerns that
schools overemphasize test-
ing, legislators passed a law
that took effect Jan. 1 that
allows parents to opt their
children out of taking the
tests for any reason. Previ-
ously, students could only be
excused for religious or medi-
cal reasons.
As a result, Portland,
Eugene and several other dis-
tricts had participation rates
below 90 percent.
Bend’s three high schools
recorded some of the lowest
participation rates in the state.
“There’s absolutely noth-
ing we can do with the high
school data. We can’t draw
any reasonable conclusions
because the participation rate
was below 50 percent,” Dave
Van Loo, the district’s direc-
tor of school improvement,
told The Bulletin newspaper.
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