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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 30, 2016)
FRIDAY EXTRA • 1C M&N BUILDING: A REAL FIXER UPPER 144TH YEAR, NO. 66 ONE DOLLAR WEEKEND EDITION // FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2016 State offers Astoria Marine ive more years Shipyard was facing closure much sooner By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian The state Department of Environmental Quality has offered a ive-year reprieve to Astoria Marine Construction Co. on the polluted shipyard’s cleanup and likely closure. Local economic, environ- mental and political leaders had asked the state for the delay to preserve an important cog in the region’s ishing industry until a new shipyard can be developed. “While DEQ would prefer to see cleanup move forward expeditiously, we are sensitive to the concerns of the commu- nity and are prepared to act on (Clatsop Economic Develop- ment Resources’) proposal and consider delaying the cleanup for up to ive years,” wrote Bob Williams, Astoria Marine proj- ect manager for the state, in a let- ter to Astoria Marine on Thurs- day. “This delay would afford the community of Astoria and affected stakeholders more time to plan for the eventual closure of (Astoria Marine’s) shipways and explore opportunities to develop a new shipyard.” Bob Williams, right, Astoria Marine Construction Co.’s cleanup manager from the state Department of Environ- mental Quality, has offered the polluted shipyard a five- year reprieve on a cleanup that is likely to close the company. Standing on the left is Rod Struck, the company’s cleanup consultant with GSI Water Solutions, Inc. See MARINE, Page 10A The Daily Astorian/File Photo THE DUII DIVIDE Oregon’s top cops want new drug rules Local leaders have varying opinions By Associated Press and The Daily Astorian Photos by Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian Astoria Police Department Officer Andrew Randall walks back to his patrol car after a traffic stop on the Youngs Bay Bridge. Roughly 40 percent of cases in the county involve visitors CLATSOP COUNTY DUIIs A significant number of drunken-driving cases in Clatsop County involve people who live outside the county. 2015: 258 Local: 156 Outside: 102 Percent: 39.5% By KYLE SPURR The Daily Astorian n a visit to Seaside in October 2014, a Van- couver, Washington, man drank beer at his hotel and made the bad decision to drive to a bar. He turned the wrong way on Broadway and was pulled over by police. When the oficer asked Joshua Michael Blaine for his driver’s license, the 33-year-old struggled and instead handed over another identiication card. “As I spoke to the driver, I saw that his movements were slow. His eyes were watery. His speech was slurred. His eye- lids were droopy,” the police oficer said of Blaine, whose blood alcohol content was measured at 0.13 per- O 2014: 287 Local: 169 Outside: 118 Percent: 41.1% Astoria Police Department Officer Andrew Randall talks to dis- patch after a traffic stop earlier this month. cent after his arrest, well above the 0.08 percent limit. For police and prosecutors, the example is familiar. Roughly 40 percent of drunken-driving cases in Clatsop County each year involve people who live outside the county. Drunken driving has long taken up an outsized portion of law enforcement resources in a county known for its drinking cul- ture. But the signiicant num- ber of visitors in the 250 to 300 cases iled annually with the Dis- trict Attorney’s Ofice can pose a burden, one of the downsides of a tourism economy. 2013: 283 Local: 156 Outside: 127 Percent: 44.8% 2012: 318 Local: 193 Outside: 125 Percent: 39.3% 2011: 232 Local: 137 Outside: 95 Percent: 40.9% *Source: Clatsop County District Attorney’s Office SALEM — Oregon sheriffs and police chiefs have recommended that possession of small amounts of drugs be downgraded to misdemeanors, saying that branding users as felons and locking them up doesn’t help them or their communities. The appeal by the Oregon State Sheriffs’ Association and Oregon Association Chiefs of Police comes as sentiment grows about rethinking the war on drugs. Sending peo- ple to prison, including under mandatory stiff sentencing, has done little to curtail drug use in the country, which is now struggling with opioid addiction. Astoria Police Chief Brad Johnston said if the recommendation is enforced correctly, it Brad could be successful, but Johnston if it is executed poorly, it could be problem. The focus, Johnston said, should be on people with no criminal history who are not commit- ting any other crimes during their drug-related arrest. Someone robbing a home and possess- ing drugs would not have their charges less- ened, Johnston said, but someone with drugs during a trafic stop would have the chance at treatment programs. “If we can help with people’s addictions, that is nothing but positive for local ser- vices.” Johnston said. Warrenton Police Chief Mathew Work- man sees the approach as a good alterna- tive to not charging someone with a felony, which makes it dificult to ind future hous- ing or work. “It stigmatizes them and it has some lon- ger-term effects that causes them to not be See DUIIS, Page 10A See DRUG RULES, Page 10A Seaside wants safer routes to school Program looks at sidewalks and trails By KATHERINE LACAZE For The Daily Astorian SEASIDE — It’s dificult to encourage students to bike and walk to school if they don’t have access to a comprehen- sive system of safe sidewalks and trails. To rectify the situation in Seaside, which lacks sidewalks along many streets, the Pub- lic Works Department is lead- ing an effort to start a local Safe Routes to School program. Safe Routes to School, a national organization that isn’t represented in Clatsop County, supports opportunities to make walking and bicycling to school safer and more accessible for children through a collabo- ration of local governments, schools and communities. “This program also provides for cities to obtain grant money to put in sidewalks and make improvements so we do have safer streets,” Public Works Director Dale McDowell said during a presenta- tion at the Seaside School District’s Board of Directors meeting earlier this month. “I don’t want children out walk- ing in the middle of the street or even between cars to get to school.” school, municipality and community can advance to promote safe walking and bicycling,” accord- ing to information from Safe Routes to School. McDowell approached former Seaside Superinten- Dale dent Doug Dough- McDowell Action plan erty with the idea of To apply for funding, the pursuing funding three years community irst must create ago. While Dougherty was on an action plan through a team- board, they realized it was pre- based process. Drawing con- mature, as the school district is clusions from collected infor- working to move three of its mation, “the team will be able four school campuses out of the to recommend priority proj- tsunami inundation zone. ects and activities that the The district hopes to use the Seaside Heights Elemen- tary School site as a start- ing point to create campuses for the other grades. Voters in November will decide whether to approve a bond measure for the project. With the potential move in mind, McDowell said he would use the funding to install more sidewalks near Seaside Heights, or within a 1-mile radius, according to the pro- gram criteria. “I can’t get the whole town, but I want to get as much as I can,” McDowell said. McDowell told the school board he is not oficially See SEASIDE, Page 10A
