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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 25, 2017)
Seaside’s Jackson Januik 144TH YEAR, NO. 149 DailyAstorian.com // WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2017 SEAGULLS SOAR PAST VALLEY CATHOLIC ONE DOLLAR SPORTS • PAGE 10A College opts out of timber suit Follows county in exit from case MORE INSIDE Benton County remains in suit on Page 2A By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian The Clatsop Community College Board voted 4-3 Tuesday to opt out of a timber lawsuit brought by Linn County against the state. The $1.4 billion claim alleges the state has been in breach of a contrac- tual obligation to maximize revenue from timber harvests in favor of con- servation and recreation goals. The lawsuit was certifi ed as a class action that could potentially cover 15 counties and about 130 tax- ing districts, including 30 in Clat- sop County, which contains 23 per- cent of the state forestland at issue. Most counties and taxing districts had to decide by today whether to opt out of the legal action . Most chose to take no action, by default remaining plaintiffs . The Clatsop County Board of Commissioners voted to opt out earlier this month, while the Port of Astoria Commission voted to stay involved . The Jewell School Board posted the lawsuit as an The Clatsop Community College Board voted to opt out of a $1.4 billion timber suit against the state. Ted Shorack The Daily Astorian See TIMBER SUIT, Page 7A CHOKE POINT PORT OF PORTLAND’S EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR CALLS FOR INVESTMENT IN TRANSPORTATION Lawmakers seek to fi nd compromise on tax reform Slow progress with just a week before session By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau AP Photo/Don Ryan SALEM — The heads of the state House and Senate said Monday they still have not brought together opposing sides over how to fi x the state’s unstable revenue system and a $1.8 billion shortfall in the next two years. State House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Port- land, and Senate President Peter Court- ney, D-Salem, have been leading an effort to negotiate a compromise between pub- lic unions and business leaders. But they are making slow progress with just a week before the 160-day legislative session. “I’m very discouraged right now,” Court- ney said. “We do not have them in the room together.” Traffic gridlock in Portland has a ripple effect across the state. ‘I’m very discouraged right now.’ By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian I n a recent snowstorm, Port of Portland Executive Director Bill Wyatt was in his offi ce, looking at the clear, deiced run- ways at the Portland International Airport. Then he thought of the many people who couldn’t get to the airport because of the clogged or icy highways and roads. “I think it’s a perfect metaphor, really, for the value and the importance of transporta- tion,” he said. “It’s great to have a wonder- ful airport, but if you can’t get there, who cares?” During a luncheon Tuesday at the Bar- bey Maritime Center with the North Coast’s political and business movers and shakers, and in a meeting with The Daily Astorian, Wyatt pitched the need for consensus on a new transportation funding package in the legislative session that starts in February . Wyatt, a 67-year -old native Astorian, said the presentation would likely be his last Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian See TRANSPORTATION, Page 7A Port of Portland Executive Director Bill Wyatt speaks to a crowd during an event Tues- day at the Barbey Maritime Center in Astoria. Peter Courtney, D-Salem state Senate president ‘If we do nothing in Oregon this year, the state of Idaho will spend more on road system improvements than Oregon will. And … Idaho’s a state that’s about 10 percent our size.’ Bill Wyatt The two groups last year waged the most expensive political battle in the state’s his- tory over a $6 billion corporate sales tax measure. Voters overwhelmingly defeated Measure 97 on the November ballot. Since then, victorious business leaders have acknowledged the state needs more revenue stability. The state is overly depen- dent on income-tax revenue, which fl uctu- ates drastically with economic spikes and dips. However, business leaders say they won’t support new business taxes until law- makers curtail rising costs associated with the Public Employees Retirement System. Courtney said he spurred the Legisla- ture’s budget writers last week to release a budget without any new revenue to give law- makers a reality check on what they’re fac- ing in terms of cuts. Budget writers unveiled a plan that would entail kicking more than 350,000 people off Medicaid, larger class sizes, university tuition hikes and cuts in child welfare workers. Beyond having informal meetings with business and labor leaders, Gov. Kate Brown See TAX REFORM, Page 7A Port of Portland executive director Space-age pod offers tsunami evacuation option Klipsan woman ready for worst By DAMIAN MULINIX For EO Media Group KLIPSAN, Wash. — Jeanne Johnson originally thought that moving to the beach was a dream best left for retirement. The child of a Navy man, she grew up moving from seaport to seaport. “I love the ocean. It makes me feel good,” she said. P eople no longer have to live where they work anymore. And Johnson, a director of business development at Microsoft, was tired of living so far from the water. “I have a job where I can work from anywhere, which is an incredible blessing,” she said over coffee at her new home in a gated Klipsan, Washington, neighbor- hood. “So where would you live if you could live anywhere? It certainly wasn’t where I was.” But as soon as Johnson started looking at the Columbia-Pacifi c region, the fi rst thing that came out of her friends’ mouths was the word “tsunami.” So she bal- anced the romantic draw of the ocean with the pragmatism of a planner and sought out the inno- vative Survival Capsule. A new start Johnson — who survived a second bout with cancer last year — prides herself on her thor- oughness, and weighed a number of factors when choosing where to live. “I really wanted the Pacifi c Ocean. I wanted good weather most of the time. I really wanted a low cost of living. You build your wish list,” she explained. She had originally settled on Manta, Ecuador, an oceanfront city with a European vibe and a few thousand American expa- triates . But fate had other plans — as she was getting ready to move there last spring, Ecuador suffered a 7.8 magnitude earth- quake that killed nearly 700 people. See POD, Page 5A Jeanne Johnson’s tsunami pod weighs 300 pounds, so she had a custom base with locking wheel roll- ers made in order to easily maneuver it. Damian Mulinix For EO Media Group