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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 7, 2017)
DailyAstorian.com // TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2017 144TH YEAR, NO. 158 LIBRARY BASEMENT A TREASURE TROVE ONE DOLLAR Burned worker blames businesses Injured in explosion at pot production facility By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian Several local property and business own- ers have been named as defendants in a lawsuit brought by a worker burned in the October explosion and fi re at Higher Level Concentrates in Astoria. Jacob Magley, who was working at Higher Level when an explosion scorched the com- mercial marijuana production facility , fi led suit late last month in Multnomah County Cir- cuit Court against three people and 11 busi- nesses for violations of fi re protection and workplace safety laws. The suit seeks more than $8.9 million in damages. The list of defendants named by Mag- ley’s attorney, Jonah Flynn, starts with Wil- liam “Chris” West and Jason Oei, along with their companies High Tide Biological, Higher Level Concentrates and Astoria Trading Co. Playing with fi re The suit claims Oei was dabbing — inhal- ing the smoke from butane hash oil pressed against a heated surface — while West was using an open extraction process to make oil. “This created a source of ignition, causing the (liquid petroleum) gas vapors emitted from the (Whip-It!) canisters used by West during the extraction process to ignite and explode.” See LAWSUIT, Page 4A Photos by Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian Astoria Library Director Jimmy Pearson looks at George Flavel’s father -in-law’s will — one of the many historical treasures in the Astoria L ibrary basement . As the library gets ready for a renovation, the artifacts will be inventoried and moved to new homes. Inventory of items soon to get underway By ERICK BENGEL The Daily Astorian he Astoria Library’s basement contains a trove of documents, treasures and arti- facts of Astoriana. For decades, the dark, dry space has stored assorted city records and valuables donated by local families. Against one wall are the city’s handwritten ordinances from the late 19th century bound in bulky, weathered tomes. Against another is a collection of antique Finnish books. Oregon jobs recovery lags in some rural areas Overall number higher than pre-recession peak By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Bureau Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian SALEM — Oregon now has more jobs than before the G reat R ecession but some rural areas are still lag- ging behind, according to the state economist. After the fi nancial crisis a decade ago, Oregon lost roughly 8 percent of its jobs, said Mark McMullen, the state economist. Since then, the state has not only regained Mark all those lost jobs but McMullen also increased the overall number by 6.5 percent from the pre-recession peak, he said during a hearing Monday before the House Committee on Economic Development and Trade. Astoria Library Director Jimmy Pearson shows one of the oldest items stored in the library base- ment — the Slusher family’s German Bible from 1728, which was brought to the U.S. in the 1880s. See JOBS, Page 9A See ASTORIANA, Page 4A Democrats want to take Portland’s rental rules statewide Landlords would pay relocation costs By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau PORTLAND — Just days after Portland passed an ordi- nance requiring landlords to pay relocation costs to tenants evicted without cause, some state lawmakers are work- ing to expand the ordinance statewide. Seventeen Democratic leg- islators heard from some 200 tenants about how the housing crisis has affected them during a forum Saturday at Highland Christian Church in n orth- east Portland. The lawmakers also heard residents’ views on statewide legislation to mimic the Portland ordinance on no-cause evictions and a pro- posal by state House Speaker Tina Kotek to lift the statewide ban on rent control. The event was organized to give a voice to tenants who have less access to the Legis- lature than powerful landlord lobbying groups, said Rep. Alissa Keny-Guyer, D-Port- land, chairwoman of the House Committee on Human Services and Housing. “We are going to work very hard this year in the Legisla- Paris Achen/Pamplin Media Group House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland, speaks at a tenant forum at Highland Christian Center in n ortheast Portland Saturday. The event was organized to give a voice to tenants. ture to eliminate no-cause evic- tions,” Speaker Kotek said, eliciting applause and cheers from the crowd. “… This is a fairness issue.” During the event, Kotek said she met residents of the Titan Manor apartments in Portland’s St. Johns neigh- borhood, where more than 50 tenants were evicted without cause after a California man- agement company bought the property. One of the tenants, Coya Crespin, a single mother of two, said she was heartened by the turnout of lawmakers and tenants Saturday. “To see all of these people and to see how the commu- nity wants to band together, it makes me feel like Portland is See RULES, Page 9A
