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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (March 1, 2017)
DailyAstorian.com 144TH YEAR, NO. 174 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1, 2017 ONE DOLLAR Astoria planners give an OK to homestay WITH A MESSAGE Panel queries impact on housing shortage By ERICK BENGEL The Daily Astorian Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian Alyssa Logan, a student at Clatsop Community College, poses Wednesday next to the T -shirt she made for the Clothesline Project . Clothesline Project calls attention to domestic abuse APRIL AWARENESS The Harbor will kick off Sexual Assault Awareness Month in April by lighting the Astoria Column the teal. The group will hold a march at 5:30 p.m. April 18 from Baked Alaska’s annex building to the Barbey Maritime Center and back. By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian A lyssa Logan said she came from a family where women didn’t usu- ally speak up about their treat- ment. But that was b efore taking Mindy Stokes’ women’s studies classes at Clatsop Community College . Now a self-described femi- nist, Logan helped Stokes and other volunteers on the third- fl oor lobby of Towler Hall hang T -shirts with messages decry- ing domestic abuse as part of the Clothesline Project, a nation- wide awareness campaign on the issue of domestic violence. The shirts will hang in Tow- ler Hall through March 22. Stopping the silence The messages of Logan’s two T -shirts — “Stop the Silence” and “You are not alone” — speak to her own transformation from a timid young woman into a feminist. Logan said she took Stokes’ class amid the backdrop of the presidential race. See PROJECT, Page 7A The Astoria Planning Commission on Tuesday unanimously approved a homestay lodging permit — and challenged the theory that residential homestays play a leading part in the city’s housing crunch. The commission gave Lacy Brown, a teacher in the Warrenton-Hammond School District, permission to run a two-bedroom homestay in her Second Street house. She and her husband plan to host guests period- ically, most likely during the summer when school is out, Brown said. Homestays must be owner-occupied, and, when guests are on-site, property owners must be, too. The commission’s unanimous vote comes at a time when homestay lodging in residen- tial neighborhoods is a controversial issue. City Councilors Cindy Price and Zetty Nemlowill have come out against these busi- nesses, arguing that, in a city with few hous- ing options, spare living quarters should be fi lled with long-term renters rather than tour- ists willing to pay high rates for a short-term visit. The councilors have advocated for lim- iting future residential homestays to tenants staying at least 30 days. In a post on astoriaforum.org, Price urged residents to appear at Tuesday’s Planning Commission meeting to request that no addi- tional homestay lodging permits be granted until the City C ouncil decides how to reg- ulate the establishments. She later clari- fi ed that she was not speaking out against Brown’s application but against Astoria’s homestay boom. Brown said she and her husband, Aaron, want to operate their homestay “just to wel- come people from all over the country, and all over the world, to this beautiful city, and just to show them what made us fall in love with this area.” See HOMESTAYS, Page 5A Warrenton schools look for space to grow Higher ground not an option By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian The Daily Astorian/File Photo The Warrenton-Hammond School Board must figure out what to do in the long term to alleviate crowding at Warrenton High and Grade schools. The district has grown by 20 percent over the past decade. Moving a new school cam- pus to higher ground to avoid a tsunami, like in Seaside, is likely out of the question for the quickly growing Warrenton-Hammond School District. The school board and Superin- tendent Mark Jeffery are now look- ing at what the district can do with a $20 million to $30 million bond. The district met last month with school bond expert Carol Samuels, managing director of fi nancial ser- vices fi rm Piper Jaffray & Co. Jef- fery said Samuels explained the district cannot ask for a bond larger than 10 percent of the district’s assessed value. Jeffery said the value of all assessed property in the district is $690 million. “The highest bond we could even ask for was right at $69 mil- lion,” he said. Jeffery said Samuels recom- mended $20 million to $30 million at most, based on previous bonds that had passed. Seaside School District passed a $99.7 million bond in Novem- ber to build a new K-12 cam- pus in the hills on donated land from Weyerhaeuser. But Jeffery said the Seaside School District, which includes Seaside, Gear- hart and Cannon Beach, has an assessed property base of around $3.3 billion. Warrenton has taken out a $2 million full faith and credit bond — similar to a loan — to add class- room space over the next fi ve years. Business Manager Mike Moha has said the bond will be paid for by redirecting money from building maintenance. Hemmed in The school board met Tues- day with local civil engineer Jim Rankin to discuss what could be done with a potential $20 mil- lion to $30 million bond to alle- viate overcrowding. The district’s enrollment has grown 20 percent See WARRENTON, Page 7A ‘Pearl Harbor Bill’ kept the memory alive Survivor brought memorial to Seaside bridge By R.J. MARX The Daily Astorian SEASIDE — Bill Thomas, who survived the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, spent much of his life making sure no one would forget the ones who died. Thomas brought World War II history alive for new generations by sharing his experience and he led the way on a Pearl Harbor plaque on the First Avenue Bridge in Sea- side that was dedicated in 2000. Submitted Photo A plaque honoring veterans of Pearl Harbor is displayed on First Avenue in Seaside. On Saturday, friends and veter- ans will remember Thomas — who died at 95 in December — at Sea- side’s American Legion Post 99. “Bill personifi ed the proud patri- otic soldier who was equally proud of his service and always wanted to keep the memory of the men and women who lost their lives in Pearl Harbor, ” Russ Vandenberg, general manager of the Seaside Civic and Convention Center, said Tuesday. “Bill was clearly part of the greatest generation,” state Sen. Betsy Johnson said . “He was a great American, a terrifi c guy and part of my parents’ generation that made the world safe for democracy.” “Everyone knew ‘Pearl Har- bor Bill,’” his friend Eric Beal, an American Legion committee chair- man and owner of North Coast See BILL, Page 7A The Daily Astorian/File Photo Bill Thomas, a Pearl Harbor survivor, salutes as Boy Scout Troop 642 lowers the flag to half- staff during the Pearl Harbor Day of Remem- brance ceremony at the Seaside Civic and Convention Center in 2015.