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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 11, 2016)
6A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2016 Families reach $60 million in landslide settlements By GENE JOHNSON Associated Press AP Photo/Ted S. Warren Family members of victims of the Oso landslide, including Dayn Brunner, left, and Seth Jefferds, right, react in King County Superior Court, Monday in Seattle, after the an- nouncement that a settlement had been reached in a lawsuit brought by survivors and family members of people killed in the slide against the state of Washington and a timber com- pany that logged an area above the site of the slide. SEATTLE — Survivors and family members of peo- ple killed in the nation’s dead- liest landslide have reached $60 million in settlements with the state of Washington and a timber company that logged an area above the site of the collapse. Just as opening statements were due to begin in a Seattle courtroom Monday, Grandy Lake Forest Associates agreed to settle liability claims for $10 million. The announcement came just after the state on Sun- day reached a $50 million deal with the plaintiffs. The slide on March 22, 2014, killed 43 people when it wiped out a rural neighbor- hood in Oso, northeast of Seat- tle. Survivors and relatives of the victims alleged that logging above the slide and construc- tion of a retaining wall along a bank where the Stillagua- mish River undercut the hill increased the danger, and resi- dents were never warned about it. Pam Sanford, whose brother was killed, called it a “huge relief” that she wouldn’t have to sit through the trial, which had been expected to last nearly four months. “Reliving those details is something I am done doing,” she said. The plaintiffs illed sev- eral pews in a courtroom in King County Superior Court on Monday. Judge Roger Rogoff told them that while no legal proceedings could bring the victims back, “I hope the set- tlement you’ve reached in this case can bring you some mea- sure of closure.” Some of the plaintiffs dabbed tears from their eyes. Dayn Brunner’s sister, Sum- mer Raffo, was buried and killed as she was driving to work along State Route 530. When her body was found ive days later, her hands were still gripping the wheel. Some of the money from the settlement will go toward a per- manent memorial at the site of the slide, he said. “My No. 1 priority was to ensure my sister’s legacy lived on,” Brunner said. “Today was an afirmation of that.” Later Monday, Rogoff ordered the state to pay more than $1.1 million because its expert witnesses in the litiga- tion were deleting emails that should have been preserved. Rogoff ordered the state to pay more than $394,000 in costs and attorney fees due to the deleted emails and to pay nearly $789,000 in punitive damages. Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson has acknowledged one of his law- yers knew for the past year and a half that experts hired by the state to determine the cause of the 2014 slide were deleting emails among themselves. While the settlements largely end the case as far as the state and timber company are con- cerned, some issues remained. Snohomish County had been a defendant before being dismissed by the judge. The plaintiffs are appealing that decision, arguing that the county was also liable. Animal rescue becomes baby beaver believers By JORDAN NAILON The Chronicle CENTRALIA, Wash. — One might think there would be an inherent empty nest syn- drome that sets in after your one and only bald eagle lies the coop. Luckily for Claudia Supen- sky at For Heavens Sake Ani- mal Rescue and Rehabilitation in Rochester, she’s got Bar- klee the beaver around to keep her spirits up, reported The Chronicle. Supensky released America the eagle back into the wild. The well-attended event marked the culmination of a miraculous seventh-month recovery from a broken wing. At irst, it was thought that America would never ly again. Supensky, though, never gave up hope on the majestic bird and patiently nurtured the eagle back to health. Supensky insists she was not sad to see America ly off across spacious skies and over amber waves of grain, since the whole point of rehabilitation is to return wild animals to their natural existence. Still, having a bucktoothed baby beaver around the house hasn’t hurt at all either. tub and back around again. Whenever the strip would rip, Barklee would simply return to the roll and grab another sheet and restart the process. “When I saw her doing it I said ‘just let her do it. It’s enter- taining her, and me, and it’s not hurting anything,”’ said Supen- sky, who claims there is a video of the interior decorating effort loating around somewhere. A wee baby Barklee was discovered in the spring by children play- ing on a wooded trail in Gra- ham. Back then, she was just a wee little baby beaver. Beavers have strong family ties, and the mysterious separation from her family unit was a bad omen for young Barklee, so the decision was made to ind her a rescue facility. “There was nothing wrong with her at all. She was just a baby that still should have been with her mother,” said Supen- sky, who noted that the process of rearing and reintroducing a beaver to the wild will take between two and three years. “It’s very labor intensive to raise a baby beaver.” Supensky has now assumed the unlikely role of beaver den mother. Moving outside Pete Caster/The Chronicle Barklee the beaver takes a swim in his pool inside an en- closure at For Heaven’s Sake Animal Rescue and Rehabil- itation in Rochester, Wash. For the irst few months, she had to bottle-feed Barklee, and the baby beaver lived inside the house in the bathroom. Using the bathtub as her pond, she would take branch and leaf clippings and ill all of the crev- ices around the tub in an effort to outit her new home and to keep the water from draining away. Supensky said it was uncanny to see such a strong set of natural instincts emerge from a beaver bound to a bathroom. Once, much to Claudia’s delight, Barklee discovered how to work a roll of toilet paper from the wall and pro- ceeded to pull the two-ply sheets off in a single strand, weaving it in between the gaps between the toilet and the bath- BELLINGHAM, Wash. — Michael Schneider of Lummi Island is lean and tanned, with white hair, a short white beard, and an intelligent face. Not the sort of person you’d expect to see thumbing a ride, but the kind of person you might decide to drive to his next destination. The 72-year-old retired teacher has become a Johnny Appleseed of the beneits of hitchhiking. He considers ride-sharing a commonsense way to help the environment that has been discouraged by a culture of fear. “I’m the only guy out there,” he said. “You can drive from New York to San Francisco and not see a hitchhiker.” A native of the Midwest, Schneider taught math and drama in New York and Col- orado, then lived in Oregon before moving to Whatcom County nearly a decade ago. As a teen, he hitched through Europe, a common diversion for young people. But unlike most thumbers, he has continued to hitchhike, reported the Belling- ham Herald. While living near Denver, Schneider sometimes hitched more than 40 miles to his teach- ing job. His topcoat and brief- case apparently did the trick; he was never late for work. When he lived in Bend, he hitched to promote his idea of a membership-based ride-shar- ing program, akin to a nonproit Uber for hitchhikers. His plan didn’t take hold, but ride-shar- ing programs have surfaced elsewhere in the country. Seeing the country In recent years, Schnei- der has traveled to distant parts of the country, then hitchhiked to explore the local history and scenery, and to meet local residents. “It’s a unique way to see the country,” he said. He traveled to western Wis- consin four years ago, then hitched south to Postville, a small town in northeast Iowa. The reason? Schneider had enjoyed a book, “Postville: A Clash of Cultures in Heartland America,” about the town’s response in the 1980s when members of an orthodox Jewish sect opened a kosher slaughter- house nearby. The following year he lew to Kansas City, Missouri, and hitched west to Lawrence, Kan- sas, to meet a woman who was trying to start a ride-sharing pro- gram, then thumbed his way to Denver. In 2014, he lew to Atlanta and hitched through Tennes- see, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. “Southerners know that Northerners are afraid of them,” Schneider said, “and they can’t igure it out because they know they’re nicer than us.” In September he traveled to Knoxville, Tennessee, and hitched through Kentucky coal country before lying home from Cincinnati. “I spent eight days just moseying,” he said. Again, a book contributed to his choice of destination. Schneider had read “Storming Heaven,” a novel based on the real-life “Battle of Blair Moun- tain” in 1921, when 10,000 coal miners clashed with 3,000 coal company supporters and law oficers. Their weeklong battle, including biplanes that dropped bombs, left dozens dead. In Benham, Kentucky, Schneider visited the Kentucky Coal Mining Museum, where a loor of exhibits showcases Loretta Lynn, who grew up in nearby Butcher Hollow and who started her family and sing- ing career in Whatcom County. He was struck by Kentucki- ans’ friendliness and determina- tion while living in an economi- Beaver hijinks Despite the bucktoothed tribulations, the Supenskys say they are enjoying having Bar- klee around, especially for her special brand of hijinks. As it turns out, Barklee is a big fan of stuffed animals. Back when she was a house beaver, she escaped her bathroom den and found a giant bag of stuffed animals in an adjoining room and brought them back to the washroom for a beaver den tea party of sorts. “She took that whole zip- per bag and pulled it back to the bathroom and then took every one of them out one by one and made them hers,” said Claudia Supensky. “She’s just a hoot!” State Supreme Court rules police can’t inspect packages Retired math teacher offers 10 cents a mile when hitchhiking By DEAN KAHN Bellingham Herald Recently, Barklee started the transition from the conines of the house to a beaver-friendly enclosure outside. After all, For Heaven’s Sake wants to keep her as wild as possible in order to one day release her back into the great outdoors. Eventually, the hope is to be able to build her a full size pond for her to indulge all of her beaverness. Early on though, the transition has been a bit rocky. “She’s enjoying it part of the time and the other half she wants to come back in the house,” said Claudia Supensky. The irst night that Barklee stayed in an enclosure outside, she chewed a basketball-sized hole through the 1-inch thick cedar boards. Luckily, the hole led only to another chamber of the building, but Barklee was eagerly awaiting Claudia’s hus- band, David Supensky, when he opened the door for morn- ing chores. Associated Press Philip A. Dwyer/The Bellingham Herald Michael Schneider, a Lummi Island resident who hitch- hikes all over the country with a pay-as-he-rides offer to drivers, poses in Bellingham, Wash. notforsale cally depressed region. “There’s a combination of palpable despair, and also gener- osity,” he said. Offers to pay To increase his odds of get- ting a ride, and to show his appreciation for drivers who stop, Schneider travels with a sign saying he will pay 10 cents a mile. Most drivers decline his offer. Others mistakenly think he’s asking for help and offer him money or food. “The poorer they are, the less likely they’ll take your money,” he said. Schneider says hitchhiking is safer than people think, espe- cially with stronger laws against drunken driving. He likes to share his story about hitching from Klamath Falls, Oregon, to Bend the day after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. A middle-age woman in an old Datsun who gave him a ride asked why he was hitch- hiking. He answered, in part, “It’s my way of ighting fear in America.” Schneider does follow com- mon-sense safety practices. He declines an offer of a ride if the situation doesn’t feel right, and he doesn’t hitch at night. “If I hit a town that’s got a motel and it’s 4 o’clock, that’s where I stay,” he said. PORTLAND — The Ore- gon Supreme Court has ruled that a common practice of police pulling packages from the mail stream to investigate them for drugs is unlawful. On Thursday the court ruled that Portland police and U.S. postal inspectors don’t have the right to lag pack- ages without a warrant, The Oregonian reports. The ruling comes in the case of Max Barnthouse, who was 26 in February 2012 when Portland police and a U.S. postal inspec- tor set aside a package for him at the Portland Interna- tional Airport postal cargo center. Investigators had a drug-snifing dog smell the package and found there was something of interest in it. Police then showed up at Barnthouse’s home in Port- land’s Belmont neighbor- hood with the package and the urgent request to open it and to search Barnthouse’s bedroom. Barnthouse con- sented to both searches, and police found marijuana and cash inside the package. Barnthouse’s attorneys argue police violated Barnt- house’s right to be free of unlawful search and seizure. Police said the procedures used in Barnthouse’s case were typical. On a given day, they usually pull about 30 to 40 suspicious-looking pack- ages from the postal cargo center and walk a drug dog by them for a “sniff test.” The dog is correct about 90 percent of the time, an ofi- cer testiied. The court ruled the inves- tigators did not have cause to pull the package in the irst place and that they needed a warrant to do so. Barnthouse’s attorney, Stephen Houze, applauded Thursday’s ruling, noting this is the irst time the high court has ruled on the prac- tice of police and postal inspectors pulling aside mail without warrants. 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