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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 23, 2016)
144TH YEAR, NO. 61 WEEKEND EDITION // FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2016 ONE DOLLAR AT THE CRAFT BEER PAC SPECIAL SECTION • INSIDE FRIDAY EXTRA • 1C Shut the barn doors Gearhart seeks to get Neacoxie Creek Barn into compliance By R.J. MARX The Daily Astorian Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian Clatsop County Sheriff’s Office Deputies Dave Clarke, left, and Tessy Workman wait to check people through the new metal detector on Thursday at Clatsop County Circuit Court in Astoria. The new measures were installed in time for a death penalty trial. COURTHOUSE SECURITY IN QUESTION Prosecutor, sheriff, county manager concerned about change By KYLE SPURR The Daily Astorian T ougher security at Clatsop County Cir- cuit Court is intended to improve public safety, but the new protocol has divided the presiding judge and the prosecutor and sheriff. Visitors to the courthouse in downtown Astoria are now directed through a metal detector at one secure entrance off Commer- cial Street . T wo other entrances on the south side of the building are blocked off with security signs, although the entrance on the bottom fl oor is still open to the disabled. The change was approved in February by a c ourt s ecurity a dvisory c ommittee over the objections of the prosecutor, sheriff and interim county manager, who wanted more discussion over security design. Judge Paula Brownhill, who presides over Circuit Court , said the heightened security was timed for the death penalty trial of Randy Lee Roden in the murder of a Seaside toddler . “Today was the target date,” Brownhill said Tuesday, when the trial opened in her courtroom. See BARN, Page 10A Cormorant case heads to Oregon Activists fi lmed federal bird killings By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian Sheriff’s Deputy Dave Clarke, left, checks a bag while Deputy Tessy Workman watch- es Thursday at Clatsop County Circuit Court . Alternatives Some at the county do not necessarily see the change as a permanent solution. District Attorney Josh Marquis, Sher- iff Tom Bergin and former interim County Manager Rich Mays all voted against the change in February as members of the c ourt s ecurity a dvisory c ommittee. Each offi cial agrees the courthouse needs stronger security, but they want to consider alternatives. One proposal is to build a sepa- rate security screening entrance for the pub- lic, including people with disabilities. The new security plan asks the disabled to GEARHART — Last fall, a judge said Gearhart’s zoning code wasn’t enough to close down Neacoxie Creek Barn, a former livery stable turned event space. But it’s not the zoning code that mat- ters, it’s the building code, Gearhart offi - cials say. The city used the building code to assess nearly $20,000 in fi nes since 2011 and seeks to permanently shut down Nea- coxie Creek Barn until owner Shannon Smith receives a certifi cate of occupancy. Gearhart offi cials say the former liv- ery stable has been operating as a wedding venue illegally for years . The barn “has been determined by the city to be uninhab- itable because it poses an immediate threat to the health and safety, not only of (defen- dants’) guests but the general public,” according to Building Offi cial Jim Brien. use an intercom at the blocked off entrance on the lower level of the building, then wait for a sheriff’s deputy to let them in the courthouse. “We all agreed permanent screening of the public was a good idea, but had to be done on a permanent basis and not render the county liable to lawsuits by disabled peo- ple.” Marquis said. The recommendation for the new secu- rity plan came from a security wing of the state court offi ce, which evaluates security at each C ircuit C ourt. The state ’s suggestion started intense conversations between local offi cials. Even after the court security commit- tee voted, Marquis and the other dissenting voices thought everyone agreed more study was needed before launching the new secu- rity plan. “For almost a year now there has been considerable controversy about how and when the courthouse itself will be secured,” Marquis said. The federal lawsuit brought by an animal welfare group against the U.S. Coast Guard over the group’s efforts to document the con- troversial shooting of double-crested cormo- rants near East Sand Island has been moved from San Diego to Portland. U.S. District Judge Anthony Battaglia in San Diego sided with the Coast Guard, rul- ing on Wednesday that moving the lawsuit to Portland is warranted for the convenience of witnesses, because of local interest in the controversy and because of similarities with a lawsuit brought by the Audubon Society of Portland against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over the killing of cormorants. See SECURITY, Page 10A See CORMORANTS, Page 10A Staff shortages hamper US wildlife refuges Three refuges are in our area By GILLIAN FLACCUS Associated Press PORTLAND — Hundreds of national wildlife refuges that provide critical habitat for migratory birds and other spe- cies are crippled by a staff- ing shortage that has curtailed educational programs, ham- pered the fi ght against inva- sive species and weakened security at facilities that attract nearly 50 million visitors annu- ally, a group of public employ- ees and law enforcement said Wednesday. Staffi ng at the nation’s 565 wildlife refuges and related properties shrank nearly 15 percent in the past decade, and more than one-third of those locations don’t have any staff on site, the Washington, D.C.- based Public Employees for Environmental Responsibil- ity said. More than half of the refuges no longer have their own manager and have been combined into massive “com- plexes” that are overseen by someone who might be hun- dreds of miles away, said Jeff Ruch, executive director of the nonprofi t alliance. Malheur concerns The report raises concerns about low staffi ng levels given the recent armed takeover of the Malheur National Wild- life Refuge in remote southeast Oregon. More than two dozen occupied the refuge’s head- quarters in January, launching a 41-day standoff with author- ities that ended two weeks after one of them was fatally shot. The occupiers were pro- testing the prosecution of two ranchers who set fi res on fed- eral lands. Seven of them are now on trial in federal court in Portland. The crisis set off alarm bells and prompted offi cials to spend $6 million from an already tight Meghan Kearney/U.S. Fish and Wildlife See REFUGES, Page 9A Trail around Julia Butler Hansen National Wildlife Refuge in Washington.
