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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2016
Low blows cited in state’s hottest race
By ANDREW SELSKY
Associated Press
SALEM — In 2003, Brad Ava-
kian and Dennis Richardson came
to the state House as freshmen
lawmakers.
Thirteen years later, they are
fighting in Oregon’s hottest elec-
tion battle to become the state’s
second-ranking official.
The campaign for secretary of
state has become bitter, with each
candidate accusing the other of hit-
ting below the belt.
In a video on his Twitter
site, Avakian paints his rival as
“extreme, like Trump.” Richardson
retorts that Avakian has a history of
not paying his bills. He also high-
lighted an article in Forbes.com
alleging that his Democratic rival
was campaigning on state time
while working as the state’s labor
commissioner, and that a couple of
his staffers were too.
Oregon Republicans haven’t
won a statewide election in over
a decade, but — if polls are to be
believed — Richardson has a good
shot of becoming secretary of state.
He lost the gubernatorial election to
John Kitzhaber in 2014 as the GOP
candidate by only about 6 percent-
age points.
The secretary of state is first in
line to succeed the governor and
is the auditor of public accounts,
the chief elections officer, and the
administrator of public records.
In a telephone interview from
his southern Oregon hometown
of Central Point, Richardson said
he would not let his conservative
values play a role in his duties if
he wins on Nov. 8. Richardson
has been racking up endorsements
from numerous newspapers, and
even from two politicians from
Avakian’s party.
“If I’m secretary of state, you
won’t be able to tell if I’m Republi-
can or Democrat,” Richardson said.
“I will take laws as they have been
passed and implement them in a
nonbiased manner.”
Avakian, in a separate phone
interview from his campaign
offices in Portland, said the secre-
tary of state, as chief auditor, will
inevitably audit Oregon’s health
plan, which provides abortion ser-
vices for low-income women. He
questioned how Richardson, who is
anti-abortion, could carry out those
responsibilities in a neutral manner.
Avakian said he would bring
his long experience as a civil rights
attorney to the position. He noted
he has promoted same-sex mar-
riage and raising the minimum
wage, and opposed a measure that
would have made it harder for
minorities and low-income citizens
to vote.
Richardson said being chief
auditor of the state would be the
most important task, if he wins.
Clatsop County Circuit
Court Judge Paula Brownhill
scheduled a sentencing hear-
ing for Nov. 21.
The verdict
While Brownhill read the
verdict, Roden kept his head
down, sometimes running
his hands over his forehead
and the back of his head. At
the beginning of the hearing,
he and his lawyers discussed
whether or not he should
have his handcuffs off. Conor
Huseby, Roden’s attorney, said
Roden was in a bad emotional
state and there were concerns
he might hurt himself when the
verdict was read.
Brownhill said the deci-
sion was up to them, and Sher-
iff’s Office deputies ultimately
removed Roden’s handcuffs.
The jury was united on
most of the verdict, the presid-
ing juror who handed the ver-
dict to Brownhill said. They
were “hung” on one charge (a
second charge of murder by
abuse), but Brown and Huseby
agreed to accept the verdict as
a whole.
The jury had deliberated
for close to two days after sit-
ting through hours of testi-
mony and particularly bru-
tal evidence which included
a blood-stained door and
graphic photos of Evange-
lina and her extensive inju-
ries. These injures included
two black eyes, a broken arm,
hemorrhaging around her
head, bruises and other marks.
Both her mother, Dorothy
Wing, and Roden were impli-
cated in her death, with Doro-
thy sentenced to over 15 years
in prison for manslaughter and
criminal mistreatment.
Later, a juror told the news-
paper the verdict was a “hard-
fought decision.”
Multiple times during the
final days of the trial and after
the reading of the verdict,
Brownhill thanked the jury for
their service in what she and
Brown both called a very dif-
ficult case.
Back in his office after
the verdict was read, Brown
said he felt for the jury. He
Brad
Avakian
Dennis
Richardson
and other lawyers have a hard
time with cases like this, he
said, but the nature of their
work demands they routinely
deal with the sort of things
most of the jurors wouldn’t
necessarily encounter in their
day-to-day life. Every day
during Roden’s trial, jurors
had to look at the pictures in
evidence and hear testimony
related to the brutal death of a
young child.
“And they’re just doing
their patriotic duty,” Brown
said.
Before dismissing the
jury, Brownhill said court
staff would look into finding
counselors for any juror who
needed to talk through the
experience.
Scrutiny: ‘Projects of concern’ identified
Continued from Page 1A
Representatives of two
groups identified as having
projects exceeding eligible
costs in the report, Klondike
Wind Power and Pacific Etha-
nol, defended the projects that
received the tax credits.
Klondike Wind Power
— known as PPM Energy
Inc., later becoming Iber-
drola Renewables Inc., which
then was renamed Avangrid
Renewables — had four proj-
ects. According to the report,
each of them were treated as
distinct facilities, qualifying
them to receive four times the
eligible costs.
Art Sasse, a spokesman for
Avangrid Renewables, said
the following about the Klon-
dike Wind Power projects in a
statement late Friday:
“We’re happy to work
with the DOJ to show that we
followed both the letter and
spirit of the law whenever
we utilized the BETC. We
built four distinctively differ-
ent wind farms at our Klond-
ike complex, with each phase
of construction representing
a different time frame, with
placed in service dates that
are years apart, with various
models of turbines and differ-
ent customers for each wind
farm.”
Pacific Ethanol had two
project files in Boardman, one
Paul
Koehler
Ben
Santarris
for ethanol production, and
another for ethanol distribu-
tion, according to the report.
The auditors noted that the
two projects had “similar yet
different names,” were located
at the same site address and
had the same applicant. Those
factors raised “red flags” under
state administrative rules.
Together the projects had
eligible costs totaling $29 mil-
lion, according to the auditors’
report, exceeding the $20 mil-
lion limit.
Paul Koehler, a spokesman
for Pacific Ethanol, said that
the Boardman plants continue
to operate.
“I think the Boardman,
Ore., ethanol project is a very
good example of the use of the
Business Energy Tax Credit,”
Koehler said.
Cascade Grain Products,
Willow Creek Energy and
the Portland General Electric
Company were also identified
as companies with a project or
Art
Sasse
projects that exceeded eligible
costs.
Media representatives of
these three companies — or
companies that subsequently
acquired them — could not
be immediately reached for
comment.
Cascade Grain Products
had two projects: an ethanol
production facility and an eth-
anol distribution facility.
Willow Creek Energy,
a subsidiary of Invenergy
LLC, had a project that was
approved for a tax credit with
eligible costs of $22 million,
as did Portland General Elec-
tric. The specific nature of
these projects was not identi-
fied in the auditors’ report.
SolarWorld AG had two
projects that exceeded eligi-
ble costs. Those two projects
had originated as five proj-
ects, according to the report.
The five original projects were
merged into two.
A spokesman, Ben Santar-
ris, said that his company oper-
ates according to the “highest
ethical and legal standards.”
Auditors stated that in
emails, state officials agreed to
approve eligible costs that dif-
fered from what was permitted
under state statute.
The auditors also identified
several “projects of concern” in
the list released by the Depart-
ment of Justice, but noted that
its list of “concerning” projects
was not comprehensive.
“Due to the volume of
projects where red-flag activ-
ity was observed, investiga-
tive efforts were motivated by
perceived risks,” the auditors
wrote. “This should not be con-
sidered a comprehensive list or
a complete investigation.”
There are 15 headings
in that section of the report,
which list individuals or com-
panies, some of which had
multiple projects.
A joint legislative commit-
tee has been tasked with mak-
ing recommendations for the
future of the department. Their
next public meeting is Friday.
“We’re committed to work-
ing with the DOJ on any next
steps they take,” state Depart-
ment of Energy Spokes-
woman Rachel Wray said in a
statement.
The Capital Bureau is a
collaboration between EO
Media Group and Pamplin
Media Group.
Brownson: ‘I just want to be a problem-solver’
Continued from Page 1A
“If you’re losing people in
turnover because they just get
frustrated with not being able
to afford to live here, it’s just
bad news for everybody,” he
said.
With Astoria now on the
radar as a desirable place to
vacation and live, he added,
“there’s no going back.”
“I think we grow, but let’s
not do it too fast, too hard,”
he said. “But let’s make sure
we start putting into place the
things that’ll continue to make
it a livable place.”
‘A problem-solver’
Brownson said at last
week’s candidates’ forum,
held at Clatsop Commu-
nity College, that he has
mixed feelings about running
unopposed.
“I think that having com-
petition, having an opponent
in any race, is important, so
that people have a choice, and
people have an opportunity to
hear different ideas and actu-
ally have a debate,” Brown-
son said.
Herzig, an outspoken lib-
eral, made no secret of his
political views. As Herzig’s
successor, Brownson has been
asked about his own views.
Though he admits to fall-
ing left-of-center philosoph-
ically, Brownson said his
approach to governance will
be nonpartisan.
“I would hope that I’m
pragmatic, that I just want to
be a problem-solver,” he said,
adding that he hopes partisan
politics “doesn’t play a part
in the City Council and what
we’re doing to any degree of
concern.”
The way extreme parti-
sanship plays out in the U.S.
“has kind of got to stop,” and
local government “is one of
the places where it can stop,”
he said.
“You gotta set an example
somewhere, and I think this
is as good a place as any,” he
said.
The long haul
In his one-man race,
Brownson has not put up cam-
paign signs or done much to
promote his candidacy.
But he plans to set up a
Facebook page soon for his
councilor role and start using
other social media to inter-
act with his constituents. He
also plans to create a monthly
opportunity for people to
speak with him about topics
they care about.
“My intention is to find
all the ways possible to make
myself available to my constit-
uents — to Astoria in general,
Associated Press
Obama caught in middle
of spat over Clinton emails
Guilty: Sentencing hearing set for Nov. 21
Continued from Page 1A
WORLD IN BRIEF
but certainly to my constitu-
ents,” he said at the forum.
“We have a lot of passion-
ate people for particular inter-
ests that do show up, and that’s
great. But it’s my job to make
sure that they’re not the only
voices that are heard when it
comes to making decisions,”
he said later in an interview.
“And we’re going to piss off
some people, because there’s
gotta be compromise, there’s
gotta be ways forward, and
not everybody’s happy with
compromise.”
Brownson grew up on the
North Coast and graduated
from Seaside High School.
His father served as the Asto-
ria city engineer; his mother
owned a Cannon Beach
restaurant.
He returned to the region in
1989 and said he plans to be in
Astoria for the long haul. “I’m
not going anywhere.”
WASHINGTON — The latest clamor over Hillary Clin-
ton’s emails has put Barack Obama in a spot where no president
wants to be: caught between his attorney general, his FBI direc-
tor and his preferred White House successor.
With accusations of political interference flying, Obama is
trying to keep his distance as an internal government spat bursts
into public view. In a bit of unwelcome irony, Obama’s strict
adherence to the notion of judicial independence, preached
throughout his years in office, has hamstrung his efforts to
defend Clinton against a GOP onslaught.
Democrats hope Obama’s hands-off approach to the FBI
forms a powerful contrast to Trump, whose insistence that Clin-
ton should be in prison seems to skip a few steps of due process.
But on Monday, White House spokesman Josh Earnest was left
to explain how Obama could be silent about an explosive issue.
“I’ll neither defend nor criticize what Director Comey has
decided to communicate to the public about this investigation,”
Earnest said, referring to FBI Director James Comey. During
an hour-plus-long briefing that focused almost exclusively on
Comey’s decision, Earnest used some version of that formula-
tion — “neither defend nor criticize” — 10 times.
Criticism of Comey has mushroomed since his Friday
bombshell, announced in a letter to Congress: The FBI is inves-
tigating more emails related to Clinton to see whether they con-
tain classified information.
Email discovery raises question:
Why didn’t Abedin know?
WASHINGTON — The discovery of another cache of
emails potentially important to the FBI’s investigation of Hil-
lary Clinton’s email practices raises an immediate question:
How could close Clinton adviser Huma Abedin have been
unaware of their existence?
The emails were found on found on a computer seized
during an unrelated investigation involving Abedin’s estranged
husband, disgraced former New York congressman Anthony
Weiner. He is being investigated in connection with online com-
munications with a teenage girl.
It’s possible that Abedin did not know about the emails on
Weiner’s computer, forgot about them or for some other reason
did not turn them over.
In a sworn deposition taken in June as part of a lawsuit filed
by the conservative legal group Judicial Watch, Abedin was
asked about what devices she had used to send or receive mes-
sages from her account on the clintonemail.com server. As part
of the process in 2015 of returning her work-related emails to the
State Department, Abedin said she “looked for all the devices
that may have any of my State Department” work and provided
two laptops and a Blackberry to her lawyers for review.
Abedin made no mention of there being additional devices
where her emails might have been saved.
More migrants from around
world making way to US border
WASHINGTON — An increasing number of people from
far-flung corners of the world quietly have tried to sneak into
the United States among the hundreds of thousands of other,
mostly Latin American migrants caught at the Mexican bor-
der in the last year, according to arrest data from the Homeland
Security Department.
The arrests of more than 8,000 people from India, China,
Romania, Bangladesh and Nepal between October 2015 and the
end of August is offering a new challenge to immigration agents
tasked with fully identifying would-be immigrants and quickly
deporting people caught crossing the border illegally.
The group of overseas migrants represents a tiny fraction
of the more than 408,000 people caught crossing the Mexican
border illegally in the last year. But the arrests suggest a rising
trend in the number of migrants opting for a convoluted trek that
sometimes wends across the seas to South America, over land
to Central America and then through Mexico before arriving at
the U.S. border illegally.
For decades Mexico dominated the discussion on illegal
immigration as the country from which most immigrants went
to the border illegally. But in recent years the number of Mex-
ican nationals who have been trying to sneak into the United
States has dropped.
India and China are now squarely among the top 10 coun-
tries of origin for people caught trying to sneak into the United
States. Large numbers of immigrants from those two countries
have long come to the United States legally and many have
overstayed visas to remain here. Now some people are taking
a different approach altogether by making their way to Mex-
ico to try to sneak into the United States as visas are harder to
come by.
Transit strike begins, sending
commuters scrambling
PHILADELPHIA — Transit workers in Philadelphia are
hitting the picket lines today and commuters are scrambling to
make alternate plans after the city’s main transit agency and a
union representing about 4,700 workers failed to reach a con-
tract agreement.
The union went on strike at 12:01 a.m. today, shutting down
Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority buses,
trolleys and subways that provide about 900,000 rides a day.
The strike does not affect commuter rail lines and service in
areas outside the city.
“Despite months of constructive and innovative proposals
from our side of the table, management has refused to budge
on key issues including safety issues that would save lives and
not cost SEPTA a dime,” said TWU Local 234 President Willie
Brown, who heads the union’s negotiating team. “There is no
new agreement, so we are on strike.”
Brown said union members will not report for their shifts at
SEPTA, and will instead report for picket duty.
SEPTA expressed its disappointment in the decision in a
statement released shortly after the strike was announced.
Iraqi forces enter Mosul
city limits, IS fires missiles
BAZWAYA, Iraq — Iraq’s special forces entered the out-
skirts of Mosul today and were advancing toward its more
urban center despite fierce resistance by Islamic State group
fighters who hold the city, an Iraqi general said.
Troops have entered Gogjali, a neighborhood inside Mosul’s
city limits, and were only 800 meters (yards) from the more
central Karama district, according to Maj. Gen. Sami al-Aridi
of the Iraqi special forces.
“The special forces have stormed in,” he said. “Daesh is
fighting back and have set up concrete blast walls to block off
the Karama neighborhood and our troops’ advance,” he said,
using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group.