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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 20, 2017)
DailyAstorian.com // MONDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2017 144TH YEAR, NO. 167 ONE DOLLAR Cannabis is concentrated on the North Coast R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian Rinaldo investigates the “hydrant” in Seaside’s new dog park this weekend. Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian Grant Osborn, budtender at Sweet Relief Dispensary, weighs out a Sativa strand of marijuana for a customer on Friday. More stores budding may lure tourists By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian C all it a local habit, or maybe even the coast’s newest tourist draw. All around Portland, coastal tour- ist destinations such as Astoria, Seaside, Lin- coln City, Tillamook and Newport have seen dramatically higher concentrations of rec- reational marijuana stores than in Oregon’s larger cities. Astoria has come to host five marijuana stores, almost as many as the town has brew- eries and more than one for every 2,000 people. Astoria’s most recent shop, Hi Cascade, opened last month in the former Head Shed barber shop at the corner of Seventh Street and Olney Avenue. Another, being opened by the owners of Portland’s Five Zero Trees, is still under development inside the for- By JADE MCDOWELL EO Media Group PENDLETON — The big- gest natural disaster in the his- tory of the United States, with the power to alter life forever in the Pacific Northwest, will start in Eastern Oregon with the rat- tling of windows. That’s what the scientists say. Rattling windows could mean Cascadia — the “big one” — an 8.0 to 9.0 magnitude subduction zone earthquake that seismologists at Oregon State University predict has about a one in three chance of hitting Oregon and Washington in the next 50 years. Research suggests such a quake has hap- pened an average of every 243 years and the last one was more than 300 years ago. It could happen 20 years from now. It could happen after we’re all dead. Or it could hap- pen tomorrow. If it happens tomorrow, the Oregon Office of Emergency Management predicts Umatilla County residents will likely notice some light shaking for four to six minutes, while some Morrow County homes might shake hard enough to knock over unsecured furniture. Next, the lights will probably go out. Then, cell phones, landlines, the internet and natural gas. See CASCADIA, Page 7A Bark park gets debut mer Garbo’s Vintage Wear on Commercial Street. By R.J. MARX The Daily Astorian Green rush SEASIDE — No more barking up the wrong tree for visitors to Seaside. Travelers and local residents with Fido in tow will be able to bring their pets to Seaside with a pit stop at the new dog park on U.S. Highway 101, just north of Broadway Mid- dle School. The park received its official ribbon-cut- ting Friday as Mayor Jay Barber wielded the scissors, joined by Public Works Director Dale McDowell. “We’re dedicating a first for Seaside, our first dog park,” Barber said. “A lot of us think our dogs are among our most import- ant citizens in Seaside. It’s small, but it’s a beginning, where people can bring their dogs and have a place to let them run and play.” The park was conceived by McDowell, who was presented with a small area along the highway overgrown with sticker bushes and collecting garbage. With a location near Broadway Middle School, the visitors’ cen- ter and City Hall, beautification was in order. But the small park, owned by the Seaside School District, the city, the Oregon Depart- ment of Transportation and housing some Pacific Power and Light utilities, defied easy categorization. “When I was on the Parks Advisory Commission, they were looking for a loca- tion for a dog park,” McDowell said. “So it was a matter of getting everybody to get together: what can I do to put a little dog park in here?” McDowell brought the concept to the Planning Commission, the Parks Advi- sory Committee, then the City Coun- cil for approval. “It took us six days to put it together,” he said. “It was just due dil- igence,” he said. “I wasn’t asking for the world.” Oscar Nelson, co-owner of Astoria’s first dispensary, Sweet Relief Natural Medicine, described the multitude of marijuana stores as a “green rush” born of the newly legalized drug. “They all pop up, then the open mar- ket, through normal economic forces, will take some out,” he said. See POT, Page 9A Cascadia Day One: Stay calm Editor’s note: This is part of series of articles about how one Oregon region is preparing for Cascadia. Seaside’s new park goes to the dogs Staff photo by E.J. Harris A massive earthquake along the Cascadia Subduction Zone could knock out communications all throughout the region leaving vital rescue co- ordination efforts to ham radio operators like Alan Plan, ARES/RACES coordinator in Umatilla County. See DOG PARK, Page 5A New Port attorney no novice to governments E ileen Eakins, the Port of Astoria’s new general counsel, represents about 70 similarly formed municipal agencies throughout Oregon, from several ports to fire, sewer and other districts. “I’ve been involved with the Special District Association (of Oregon) and doing special dis- tricts’ law for 20-something years,” Eakins said. She started working with the Port over the last year. “The Port is fundamentally a municipal corporation,” she said. “If someone needs advice on special district advice, that’s what I do.” She said Executive Director Jim Knight and Property Man- ager Shane Jensen requested she apply after the Port Com- mission opened bids last year for legal representation. Eakins, a sole practitioner for nearly 11 years, was chosen over Asto- ria native Thane Tienson from the law firm Landye Ben- nett Blumstein, along with the Port’s existing law firm, Jordan Ramis PC. Eakins said her role is to advise the Port on municipal law, while calling in specialist attorneys when needed. Knight said the Port will continue to use Tienson, who specializes in environmental law, for negoti- ations with insurance compa- nies and the Oregon Depart- ment of Environmental Quality on cleaning up historical petro- leum contamination on the cen- tral waterfront. Jordan Ramis will continue to work on the lawsuits revolving around the Astoria Riverwalk Inn and for- mer operator Brad Smithart. Eakins graduated with a bachelor’s in communications from California State Univer- sity in Sacramento. She worked in public relations for hospi- tals in California, and for Mult- nomah County Library and Providence Medical Center in Portland. She graduated Lewis & Clark Law School in 1994 and practiced solo before going to work for the special districts association planning confer- ences and educational efforts. She spent six years at what was then Jordan Schrader PC, which eventually became Jor- dan Ramis, specializing in spe- cial districts. “At that time, the firm represented seven cities, and maybe 100 or so special districts,” she said. See EAKINS, Page 5A Eileen Eakins
