DailyAstorian.com // WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2016
144TH YEAR, NO. 124
ONE DOLLAR
Respected teacher, art collector Foster dies
Fourth-generation Astorian an avid community volunteer
By ERICK BENGEL
The Daily Astorian
Michael Foster, a teacher, art lover and
community booster who was nicknamed
“Mr. Astoria” and left his imprint on city
landmarks, was found dead Tuesday morn-
ing at Clatsop Care Center, where he had
been living. He was 76.
The cause of death was not immediately
available.
A fourth-generation Astorian, Foster
played key roles in many local projects,
such as the restorations of the Astoria Col-
umn, the Liberty Theater and the Flavel
House Museum, and the acquisition of the
old Astoria City Hall and its transformation
into Clatsop County Historical Society’s
Heritage Museum.
“He loved Astoria, that community, like
few others,” Paul Benoit, a former Astoria
city manager, said.
Foster served on several boards and
raised money for many organizations. He
was a former president of the Astoria-War-
renton Chamber of Commerce, the county
historical society and the Astoria Rotary
Club.
“He worked tirelessly to promote Asto-
ria,” Foster’s friend, Brenda Penner, said.
Foster was also among the founders of
See FOSTER, Page 9A
The Daily Astorian/File Photo
NEW DOCK ON DECK
Michael Foster
jokes with the
audience about
his experienc-
es restoring
the Liberty
Theater after
receiving the
Distinguished
Service Award
at the Lady
Liberty Award
lunch in 2014.
Divided
Port gives
leader a
pay raise
Knight recognized for
his management ability
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
Photos by Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Bergerson Construction workers continue work on a new dock at Warrenton Marina on Monday.
Warrenton Marina nears
final stretch of dock redo
By ERICK BENGEL
The Daily Astorian
ARRENTON — The docks in the War-
renton Marina take a lot of abuse. Sea-
son after season, year after year, the
structures get rammed by boats, rav-
aged by coastal weather, worn out by time.
But F Dock on the north end of the basin, where
about 28 boats get tied up during the year, is in the
final stretch of an upgrade.
This fall, the city began work on a dock-replace-
ment project scheduled to wrap up early next year,
according to Interim Harbormaster Jane Sweet.
HLB Otak oversaw the design while Berger-
son Construction picked up the construction bid for
about $1.4 million.
Initially budgeted at about $2.1 million and
funded by Urban Renewal Agency dollars, the
undertaking also entails replacing a gangway that
will connect the new F Dock to the pier and three
additional gangways in the mooring basin.
The full project may come in under budget,
Sweet said; whatever funds remain will go toward
future improvement projects.
W
See DOCK, Page 7A
Bergerson Construction workers load a vibratory hammer onto a barge in
order to continue work on a new dock Monday at the Warrenton Marina.
After a contentious, four-hour
Port of Astoria Commission meet-
ing, Executive Director Jim Knight
walked away with a certificate of rec-
ognition and a raise.
The Port Commission, following
a common pattern in controversial
issues, voted 3-2 to grant Knight a 2.5
percent pay increase. Commission-
ers John Raichl, Robert Mushen and
James Campbell voted “yes,” with
Bill Hunsinger and Stephen Fulton
voting “no.”
Campbell listed a long list of
accomplishments,
from improving the
Port’s image and
finances to assem-
bling a quality staff
and addressing many
outdated policies, he
Jim Knight said warranted a raise
for Knight.
Hired in October 2014 on a
three-year contract, Knight started
at $150,000. Fulton said he received
an approximately 5 percent raise
last year after a positive review by
the commission. Mushen, who said
Knight received a 4 out of 5 average
score on his most recent evaluation
this year, estimated the director’s new
raise at between $3,000 and $4,000,
which would bring his salary above
$160,000.
Hunsinger, who has been critical of
Knight on most issues, argued that his
pay is out of line with other regional
port directors, claiming Knight would
make more than the manager of the
Port of Longview, Washington, and
be paid second regionally to Bill
Wyatt, executive director of the Port
of Portland.
The Daily News in Longview
reported that when Port of Longview
CEO Geir-Eilif Kalhagen was fired
in January after three years, he was
making $187,000. His replacement,
former interim CEO Norm Krehbiel,
started at $160,000. Wyatt’s salary
was listed at $394,440 last year. Juli-
anna Marler, interim CEO of the Port
of Vancouver, started at $180,000 in
May, according to The Columbian.
Her predecessor, Todd Coleman,
made $212,000.
See RAISE, Page 7A
‘He let me call him grandpa,’ girl says of abuser
Astoria man gets
more than five
years for sex abuse
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
A 70-year-old Astoria man was
sentenced Tuesday to more than five
years in prison for the sexual abuse of
a 12-year-old girl who trusted him like
a grandfather.
William Schuster, who was arrested
in March by the Astoria Police Depart-
ment, pleaded no contest to five of
the nine charges he faced, includ-
ing attempted first-degree sex abuse,
attempted second-degree sodomy,
attempted sexual penetration and
attempted rape. In a
no contest plea, the
defendant
neither
admits to nor disputes
a charge.
Charges of first-de-
gree sex abuse, sec-
William
ond-degree sodomy,
Schuster
second-degree rape
and private indecency were dismissed.
Schuster lived near the girl and
her mother in Pier 38 RV Park. Dep-
uty District Attorney Beau Peterson,
the lead prosecutor for the state, said
Schuster specifically targeted the fam-
ily because the father was already in
jail. He lured the girl with pets such as
a bunny, Peterson said, groomed her
and pounced when the time was right,
sometime during spring break.
“I cannot be convinced that this is
his first victim,” Peterson said. “I don’t
think this is his first victim. I hope this
will be his last.”
Betrayed trust
The girl and her mother, who now
live in Nevada, traveled to Astoria to
testify during sentencing.
“I trusted him as a grandpa,” the vic-
tim said. “He let me call him grandpa.”
The girl said Schuster should be in
jail, and should get the death penalty.
Her mother said, “You took advan-
tage of my daughter, and I’m very hurt
and very, very angry.”
She said Schuster had told her
daughter how he had touched and
manipulated other girls. She said
Schuster had even taken advantage of
her daughter when she went to the hos-
pital for a mental break related to the
suicide of a cousin, adding that her
daughter is still in counseling and on
medication because of his actions.
Schuster made no comments during
sentencing. His attorney, James McIn-
tyre, said his client acknowledges what
happened, but has real mental issues
related to post-traumatic stress disorder
from his military service in Vietnam.
“That doesn’t take away from what
he did,” McIntyre said, offering the
information instead as a reason for giv-
ing a lighter sentence.
Saving others
“By saying something about it, you
saved other people,” Circuit Court
Judge Cindee Matyas said to the vic-
tim. “I’m convinced of that.”
See SCHUSTER, Page 7A