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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 19, 2016)
DailyAstorian.com // MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2016 144TH YEAR, NO. 57 ONE DOLLAR FISHERMEN SNARE THE TRAPPERS SPORTS • 7A Seaside toddler murder trial up Death penalty trial may take up to two months By KYLE SPURR The Daily Astorian Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian Competitors in the high school boys moderate course race begin their race during the 3-Course-Challenge on Saturday at Camp Rilea in Warrenton. More photos of the 3-Course-Challenge available online at DailyAstorian.com/sports Clatsop County’s fi rst death penalty trial in 15 years starts Tuesday in Circuit Court. Randy Lee Roden, 28, is on trial for allegedly murdering his girlfriend’s 2-year- old daughter and abusing her two sons while they all lived together in a Seaside apart- ment. The gruesome scene discovered in December 2014 is described as among the worst child-abuse cases in the county. The trial, in Cou- troom 300, will focus this week on jury selec- tion. Prospective jurors will be screened in the courtroom in groups Randy of six until the 12-per- Lee Roden son jury is selected, with two to four alternates. The pool of available jurors will be asked about their atti- tudes toward capital punishment and whether See RODEN, Page 5A Runners tackle the ‘Challenge’ Feds get fi re chief lawsuit By GARY HENLEY The Daily Astorian W ARRENTON — Cross country is not the ideal spectator sport (they blow a horn, all the competitors run into the woods), but one thing is cer- tain: Cross -country runners are some of the toughest athletes around. To run for 15, 20, 30 minutes … without a timeout or a stoppage … that takes guts. More than 2,200 runners were strut- ting their stuff and enjoying their sport Sat- urday at Camp Rilea, where the Seaside cross -country team hosted the 27th annual 3-Course Challenge. The boys’ race on the Easy course alone had 441 runners — and with that many ath- letes in one race on one course — cross coun- try all of a sudden becomes a contact sport. Several members (most, actually) of Seaside’s boys’ cross -country team also play soccer. And a quick, informal poll found that at least some of the Gulls think cross country is the tougher sport. New allegations over Cannon Beach fi ring By LYRA FONTAINE and R.J. MARX The Daily Astorian Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian Seaside’s Jackson Januik runs through a mud pit during the 3-Course-Challenge on Saturday at Camp Rilea in Warrenton. CANNON BEACH — A lawsuit pitting former fi re chief Mike Balzer against the Cannon Beach Rural Fire Protection District has been moved to federal court after Balzer raised civil rights claims. The change of venue was triggered by a new complaint from Balzer that his federal due process and free association rights were violated when he was fi red last October. The case, which had been slated for trial in Clatsop County Circuit Court in October, will instead be heard next year before U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Papak in U.S. District Court in Portland. See CHALLENGE, Page 10A See CLAIM, Page 5A Indoors or outdoors, Benthin loves football Former Logger stays in the game N ov. 29, 2008. As he was walking around the fi eld at Hillsboro Stadium that day, following his last high school football game for the Knappa Loggers — a 20-6 state cham- pionship win over Culver — John Benthin probably would not have been surprised if you had told him he’d still be play- ing football in 2016. Playing, no … but for an Arena Football League team named the Los Angeles Kiss? Probably not, since the Kiss didn’t even exist in 2008. At least not the football team. Of course, the rock group Kiss was still around. Actually, that’s where the football team gained its name, as the Los Angeles Kiss are under the ownership of Gene Simmons and Paul Stan- ley, two of the four original band members of Kiss . The team is based in Ana- heim, and plays its home games at the Honda Center, also home to the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks. “I love Los Angeles,” said Benthin, who recently wrapped up his fi rst season with the foot- ball team. “Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley … they’re great people. Real nice guys. They went on tour about halfway through the season.” Always a bummer, when the front offi ce takes off to go on tour halfway through the season. But Benthin doesn’t concern himself so much with the music as the football. Brief NFL tryout After graduating from Knappa, Benthin went to Western Oregon, had a brief tryout for the San Diego Chargers, and ended up in the Arena Football League. See BENTHIN, Page 5A John Benthin and girlfriend Dijana Topalovic, with their two kids, Beau, left, and John Jr. Submitted Photo
