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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2017
Oregon wolf count, plan update delayed
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Bureau
SALEM — Oregon’s
heavy snow in January caused
problems for wildlife staff
who track the state’s wolf
population.
The Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife said extreme
weather in northeast Oregon,
where most of the state’s wolves
live, interrupted airplane, heli-
copter and ground surveys
of wolfpacks. As a result, the
annual wolf report has been
delayed a month and won’t be
delivered to the Fish and Wild-
life Commission until its April
meeting in Klamath Falls.
The report usually is
released in March and typically
includes an updated wolf popu-
lation count and information on
the number of breeding pairs in
the state. The count provides
an information baseline as the
commission considers updates
to the state’s Wolf Manage-
ment and Conservation plan.
The plan is reviewed every five
years, and the commission will
most likely adopt an updated
version later in 2017.
Although heavy snow and an
extended cold snap delayed the
department’s field work, depart-
ment spokeswoman Michelle
Dennehy said it probably didn’t
harm Oregon’s wolves.
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
Two adult wolves from the Walla Walla Pack were caught on remote trail camera last
January in Northern Umatilla County. Extreme weather in northeast Oregon interrupted
airplane, helicopter and ground surveys of wolfpacks. As a result, the state’s wolf plan up-
date will be delayed.
“Wolves typically do quite
well during the winter,” she
said by email. “Winters that
are hard on deer and elk may
actually be easier on wolves.
There is winter (prey) loss to
scavenge and it is harder for
ungulates (deer and elk) to
escape in the deep snow.”
Oregon had a minimum of
110 wolves at the end of 2015,
according to figures released
by Fish and Wildlife in Febru-
ary 2016. At least seven wolves
died in 2016. Four members of
Wallowa County’s Imnaha pack,
including venerable alpha male
OR-4, were shot by the depart-
ment in March 2016 after repeat-
edly attacking, killing and eat-
ing livestock. Wildlife biologists
speculated at the time that the
group began attacking livestock
due to OR-4’s advanced age and
the fact that his longtime mate
limped from an injured leg. They
had two yearlings with them, and
the four appeared to have sepa-
rated from or been forced out of
the main Imnaha pack.
In addition, a female wolf
designated OR-28 was found
dead in October 2016 in
south-central Oregon. Offi-
cials have not said how the
wolf died, and Oregon State
Police are investigating. A
$20,000 reward for informa-
tion is available.
State police also are inves-
tigating a wolf found dead in
Northeast Oregon in March
2016.
In May 2016, a sheep
herder shot a wolf from the
Walla Walla pack that was
attacking sheep. State police
judged the shooting was lawful
under the “caught in act” pro-
vision that allows producers to
kill wolves that are wounding,
biting, killing or chasing live-
stock, according to Fish and
Wildlife.
Business owners invited to gathering for Astoria Pride
‘Porter & Pasta’
has info and
entertainment
The Daily Astorian
The 2017 Astoria Pride
Festival committee celebrating
the LGBT community invites
business owners to “Porter
& Pasta,” a social and infor-
mational gathering about the
upcoming festival.
The event takes place 6 to
8:30 p.m. Friday at KALA perfor-
mance space, 1017 Marine Dr.
The evening will include a
complimentary pasta buffet;
courtesy of Fulio’s Pastaria;
a no-host cocktail bar; a brief
presentation by Marco Davis
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Astoria Pride coordinator Marco Davis, center, walks with
others during the Astoria Pride Parade last year.
about the lesbian, gay, bisex-
ual and transgender three-day
festival (taking place June 9
through 11); and information
about Pride sponsorship, the
official 2017 Pride Guide and
volunteer opportunities.
To add pizazz to the pasta,
the night also features a Cole
Porter
mini-review/perfor-
mance by local performers:
vocalists Dinah Urell, Dida
DeAngelis, Walt Trumbull,
pianist Paul Brady and drag
performer Ginger Vitus.
Attendees will meet mem-
bers of the Pride committee
in this informal gathering and
discuss opportunities to help
make the second annual Asto-
ria Pride a successful event.
“We look forward to the
second Astoria Pride Festi-
val, community partnering,
and building strength, good-
will and unity in the coastal
communities,” Astoria Pride
Chairwoman Donna Galich
said. “We hope folks will join
us for a fun and informative
evening.”
Seamstress sets up shop in Uniontown
The Daily Astorian
Judy Hollingsworth is step-
ping into the void left by Eda
Lindstrom’s Custom Threads,
which closes at the end of the
month.
Hollingsworth, a third-gen-
eration seamstress, recently
opened Sewing by Judy Holly
of Astoria, an alteration service
located inside Panache Hair &
Nail Salon in Uniontown. She
does alterations, hemming and
other services for clothing and
other fabrics. She offers mili-
tary discounts, sews patches
for uniforms, provides emer-
gency services and travels
within the Astoria-Warrenton
region.
“I’ve been in this field all
my life,” Hollingsworth said,
adding she moved in 2012 to
Astoria from Portland, where
she owned a shop.
She spends 3 to 5 p.m.
Tuesdays, Wednesdays and
Thursdays at Panache —
261 W. Marine Drive — and
takes most appointments at
503-347-6963. Her website is
www.sewingbyjudyhollyofas-
toria.com
Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian
Judy Hollingsworth recent-
ly opened Sewing by Judy
Holly of Astoria.
Legislator spearheads naturalization ceremony
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
SALEM — While many
Oregon politicians hail former
Republican Gov. Tom McCall
as their role model, Republi-
can Rep. Julie Parrish idolizes
former Gov. Victor Atiyeh,
the nation’s first Arab-Amer-
ican governor.
“Oregon had rich his-
tory … of welcoming immi-
grants,” Parrish said.
The oft-rogue Republi-
can from West Linn wanted
to remind legislators and Ore-
gonians of that important his-
tory when she suggested host-
ing a naturalization ceremony
on the floor of the House of
Representatives.
The ceremony was held
in conjunction with Oregon’s
birthday and Valentine’s Day
Tuesday on the House floor.
Parrish was an infant
when her Lebanese father
was naturalized as a U.S. cit-
izen. In 2011, she became the
first known Arab-American
woman to be elected to the
state Legislature.
“I had never been to a nat-
uralization ceremony before,”
she said. (Parrish was three
months old when her father
took the oath of allegiance to
the United States.)
In January, she attended a
naturalization ceremony at a
U.S. Citizenship & Immigra-
tion Services office in Port-
land, where Republican Den-
nis Richardson spoke as part
of his first official event as
newly-elected secretary of
state. Parrish ran Richard-
son’s campaign against Dem-
ocrat Brad Avakian, who was
seen as the likely victor.
“It’s pretty impressive,
pretty powerful,” Parrish said
of the naturalization cere-
mony. “At a time when the
conversation around immigra-
tion is not very positive, this
was an important opportunity
to remind folks that we are a
nation of immigrants.
“I thought legislators
should see that and experi-
ence that.”
Naturalization ceremonies
had been hosted at the state
Capitol in the past but were
booked in the basement, far
from the public eye. Parrish
and one of Richardson’s staff
members approached House
Speaker Tina Kotek to get per-
mission to hold the ceremony
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on the House floor. Kotek,
D-Portland, agreed to host the
ceremony to mark Oregon’s
158th birthday, which coin-
cides with Valentine’s Day.
“That’s the first time we
have done one on the House
floor,” Kotek said. “We think
it’s a really important sym-
bolic way of saying that
everyone is welcome here in
the state of Oregon.”
Fifteen people were nat-
uralized as U.S. citizens
during the ceremony. They
come from four countries:
Mexico, China, the Philip-
pines and Denmark, said
Lindsey O’Brien, Kotek’s
spokeswoman.
Michael Hickman, Port-
land field office director of the
U.S. Citizenship and Immi-
Clatsop Post 12
Beef Stew
and Biscuits
Friday
Feb. 17 th
4 pm until gone
gration Service, conducted
the oath of allegiance during
the ceremony.
“I feel like it was a neat
thing to have it on the state’s
birthday,” Parrish said.
“They were able to say not
only am I an American citi-
zen, I’m an Oregon citizen,”
Parrish said.
R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian
Susan Calef and Dan Calef fear their home on Avenue
A will be dwarfed by a proposed hotel.
Seaside hotel plan
receives second
appeal challenge
Building will
‘dwarf’ house,
neighbors say
By R.J. MARX
The Daily Astorian
SEASIDE — Owners of
a duplex on Avenue A in Sea-
side are once again appeal-
ing a decision by the Planning
Commission granting a height
variance for a new three-story
hotel, the Pearl of Seaside.
“We seek to have the vari-
ances granted by the Plan-
ning Commission with respect
to the design and specifi-
cally the height of the hotel be
rescinded,” wrote Susan and
Dan Calef in their appeal.
They seek to delay con-
struction until “the building
can be made of a size consis-
tent with the existing zoning
ordinances.”
After an initial plan was
rejected on appeal by the City
Council for failing to meet set-
back requirements, Simmons
and architect David Vonada
returned to the Planning
Commission in January with
revised plans eliminating the
need for setback variances by
reducing parking and eliminat-
ing four second-floor rooms.
The commission unani-
mously approved a revised
plan by owner Antoine Sim-
mons for the Pearl, on the site
of the Inn at the Prom and a
neighboring Beach Drive lot.
“It is the goal of this develop-
ment to combine both parcels
and develop a hotel that fits
the context of its location in
an aesthetically pleasing man-
ner,” architect David Vonada
said in January.
Because of an 8-foot grade
difference between the east
and west sides of the building,
an additional variance was
needed to allow the increase
to 60 feet for the roof height
at the west building wing, an
addition of 15 feet over the 45
feet allowed by current zoning.
The building will have
R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian
Dan Calef speaks in op-
position to the Pearl of
Seaside hotel plan at a
2016 council meeting.
sloped roofs and dormer win-
dows, with an 80-foot tower,
an architectural feature already
allowed as an exception to the
building height under city
ordinance.
Appeals to the first plan
were brought by the Calefs
and Avrel Nudelman, who
owns a home at 341 Beach
Drive.
After the new propos-
al’s approval in January, the
Calefs submitted their second
appeal. “The proposed struc-
ture on 341 South Prom will
dwarf our house, invade our
privacy by placing hotel bal-
conies feet from our upstairs
bedroom and generally dimin-
ish the value of our property,”
the Calefs wrote.
They said they are object-
ing to the decision on the basis
that granting easements for
the purpose of allowing a pro-
posed project to be econom-
ically viable should not then
in turn diminish the value and
utility of existing adjacent
properties. “The project is not
simply replacing an existing
motel with a newer facility,
it is combining two separate
sites to construct one much
larger unit. … The applicant
has effectively created the con-
dition he is trying to remedy.”
For this reason, the Calefs
write, Simmons has not met
the requirements for the grant-
ing of the height easement. The
appeal will be heard by the City
Council at a March meeting.
Nudelman said Wednesday
he does not plan an appeal.
N e w
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