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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2017
WORLD IN BRIEF
Associated Press
Blast on Russian subway kills
10; 2nd bomb is defused
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — A bomb blast tore through
a subway train in Russia’s second-largest city today, killing 10
people and injuring about 40 as President Vladimir Putin vis-
ited the city, authorities said. Hours later, police found an unex-
ploded device in one of St. Petersburg’s busiest subway stations,
sending a wave of anguish and fear through Putin’s hometown.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the
attack today, but Russian trains and planes have been targeted
repeatedly by Islamic militants, mostly connected to the insur-
gency in Chechnya and other Caucasus republics. The last con-
fi rmed attack was in October 2015 when Islamic State militants
downed a Russian airliner heading from an Egyptian resort,
killing all 224 people on board.
The Dec. 25 crash of a Russian plane carrying Red Army
Choir members near the southern city of Sochi is widely
believed to have been due to a bomb, but no offi cial cause has
been stated for the crash that killed 92 people.
The blast today hit the St. Petersburg train it traveled between
stations about 2:20 p.m. The driver chose to continue on to the
next station, Technological Institute, a decision praised by Rus-
sia’s Investigative Committee as aiding evacuation efforts and
reducing the danger that passengers would die by trying to walk
along the subway’s electrifi ed tracks.
After a few hours of differing casualty tolls, Health Minis-
ter Veronika Skvortsova said 10 people died from the blast. City
health authorities said 43 others were hospitalized.
Senate panel to vote on Trump’s
Supreme Court nominee
WASHINGTON — A Senate panel is opening a weeklong
partisan showdown over President Donald Trump’s Supreme
Court nominee with Democrats steadily amassing the votes
to block Neil Gorsuch and force Republicans to unilaterally
change long-standing rules to confi rm him.
The Republican-led Judiciary Committee meets today and
is expected to back Gorsuch and send his nomination to the full
Senate, most likely on a near-party line vote. Intent on getting
Trump’s pick on the high court, Majority Leader Mitch McCo-
nnell, R-Ky., is likely to change Senate rules so that Gorsuch
can be confi rmed with a simple majority in the 100-seat cham-
ber, instead of the 60-voter threshold.
“Neil Gorsuch will be confi rmed this week,” McConnell
said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, adding, “how
that happens really depends on our Democratic friends. How
many of them are willing to oppose cloture on a partisan basis
to kill a Supreme Court nominee.”
So far, 41 senators have announced they will vote to block
the nomination on a procedural cloture vote — a parliamentary
step to advance a legislative issue — and oppose the choice.
Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., who faces a tough re-election in a
state Trump won handily, announced his opposition on Sunday.
“With Judge Gorsuch on the bench, I am deeply concerned
that dark money will continue to drown out the voices and votes
of citizens, the Court will stand between women and their doc-
tors, and the government will reach into the private lives of
law-abiding Americans. These are not Montana values, which
is why I cannot support this nomination,” Tester said.
Nine Oregon hotels accused of
false advertising, marketing
PORTLAND — Offi cials are investigating nine Oregon
hotels who travelers claim cancelled their room reservations
and infl ated prices ahead of a summer solar eclipse.
The Oregonian/reports more than a dozen people fi lled com-
plaints against nine hotels to the Oregon Department of Justice.
Consumers said on TripAdvisor they had made advanced
reservations at the Stafford Inn in Prineville, east of Portland,
for about $170. The reservations were later canceled because
of new ownership or rebranding claims. The rooms’ price was
updated to $600 to $635.
Stafford Inn manager Laurie Romine says the very same
thing is going on all over the place.
Department spokeswoman Ellen Klem says hotels are
allowed to charge any price, but should not be deceptive in their
advertising or marketing.
Klem says the hotels could face a $25,000 fi ne.
Cleanup: Much of the debris
washed in from the Pacifi c
Continued from Page 1A
Because of a strong win-
ter storm season, much of the
debris washed in from the
ocean. Items ranged from large
fi shing rope, dozens of crates
and buoys to glass and plastic
bottles from other countries.
Other common items found
during the event were tiny bits
of plastic, cigarette butts and
bottle caps, harmful to both
marine life and shorebirds.
Unique items found by volun-
teers included a 25-foot moor-
ing rope in Newport, an old
rocking horse, 100 feet of steel
cable, sections from a dock
in Manzanita and 40 tooth-
brushes in Netarts.
Trash wasn’t the only thing
found on the beach. A few
lucky volunteers found custom
glass fl oats donated by local
artisans along the central and
south coast.
SOLVE, an Oregon-based
nonprofi t aimed at keeping
the state clean and healthy,
has been organizing biannual
cleanups along the Oregon
Coast since 1984. In the last 33
years, nearly 260,000 SOLVE
volunteers have removed an
estimated 3.5 million pounds
of debris from the coastline,
organizers said.
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Astoria resident David Reid gathers trash during SOLVE’s Spring Oregon
Beach Cleanup Saturday at Fort Stevens State Park in Hammond.
Beach
cleanup
volunteers
in Cannon
Beach.
SOLVE
Submitted
Photo
Photos by Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
ABOVE: Volunteers scavenge the beach for trash North of the Peter Iredale
Shipwreck during SOLVE’s Spring Oregon Beach Cleanup Saturday at Fort
Stevens State Park in Hammond. BELOW: Volunteers collect trash on the
beach near the Peter Iredale Shipwreck during SOLVE’s Spring Oregon Beach
Cleanup Saturday at Fort Stevens State Park in Hammond. The scheduled
cleanup was one of many taking place along the Oregon Coast on Saturday.
SOLVE/Submitted Photo
Debris collected off the
beach at Seaside.
Fines for pesticide use violations
quadrupled in Oregon
SALEM — As the Oregon Legislature considers four bills
that would tighten regulations around pesticides, the state’s
Agriculture Department says the dollar amount of fi nes it issued
for improper pesticide use quadrupled last year — thanks
largely to one big penalty.
The Statesman Journal reports that the department levied
37 fi nes totaling nearly $86,000, up from 23 fi nes totaling less
than $19,000 in 2015.
In one signifi cant case last year, an aerial spraying company,
Applebee Aviation, and its owner, Michael L. Applebee, were
fi ned nearly $54,000. Investigators said they failed to take any
health or safety precautions for workers, and continued spray-
ing after its license was suspended.
Other cases that generated fi nes last year included a Gresham
nursery that allowed pesticide spray to drift onto a nearby home,
sickening its occupants.
Among the measures the Legislature is considering is one
that would make it easier for people sickened by pesticides to
sue and another that would require the state to maintain an elec-
tronic reporting and notifi cation system for pesticide applica-
tions, with free public access.
Lawsuit over sidewalks could
cost Seattle millions
SEATTLE — The city of Seattle is headed toward a federal
court settlement that could cost millions of dollars to make side-
walks and curb ramps more usable for people with wheelchairs
and other mobility issues.
Three men with disabilities sued the city in 2015 to force the
city to make upgrades. They alleged the city was violating fed-
eral law because many sidewalks didn’t have curb ramps that
were accessible.
The Seattle Times reports that many other cities have
settled similar lawsuits and committed to spending more to
upgrade their sidewalks and curb ramps to make them more
accessible.
In court fi lings, the city of Seattle denied virtually all of the
allegations in the lawsuit. But Mayor Ed Murray has said he is
committed to spending more money to make upgrades.
Attorneys for all sides declined to comment on specifi cs of a
settlement, citing the ongoing negotiations.
The city hired a consultant to study more than 28,000 curb
ramps in the Seattle.
Ghost fest: Smith anticipates the tour to
become a permanent installment in Seaside
Continued from Page 1A
Gathering ghosts
Due to the fact this confer-
ence has only been held in Sea-
side for two years, Smith said
he still works on gathering and
confi rming more ghost stories
from residents and local busi-
nesses. He originally started
doing tours in Oregon City in
2012, where he has had more
time to curate the experiences.
But feelings of paranormal
activity in Seaside exist, and
are even documented in a book
written by Seaside locals Dave
Oester and Sharon Gill. “Twi-
light Visitors: Ghost Tales Vol.
1.” details their account living
in an allegedly haunted house
on 12th A venue.
Along the tour, Smith
pointed to some historical rea-
sons that could play a fac-
tor into Seaside’s ghostly
presence.
He cited Ben Holladay, the
man responsible for building
the fi rst railroad out to Sea-
side over the sites of multi-
ple Native American burial
grounds. The memorial for the
three anonymous sailors on
the P romenade, who washed
ashore after a lethal storm
and marked only by a stone
inscribed with “Found on the
beach. April 25, 1865.” Terri-
ble Tilly, the lighthouse built in
1881 associated with a number
of shipwrecks along the coast,
as well an old site where peo-
ple used to distribute ashes of
the dead.
“You build buildings on
sites like these, and then they
get demolished, and you start
hearing accounts of people
seeing things,” Smith said.
But for now, the tour
stopped at places along the
P romenade with unconfi rmed
rumors of ghostly activity:
sounds of footsteps, appliances
starting on their own, or even
just a “general sense of dread,”
as Smith put it. Rumor has it
a room in the WorldM ark is
haunted, Smith said, as well as
The Ebb Tide, The Shilo Inn
and the Seaside Aquarium.
Ghostly vibes
Even the Seaside Civic
and Convention Center, where
the conference is held, peo-
ple report feeling paranormal
activity, Smith said.
Danielle Stearer, who is
from Salem, attended the tour
and enjoyed the history of Sea-
side. It puts the paranormal
experiences she has — like
when she said she heard her
grandfather whisper her nick-
name to her in the convention
center — into context.
“I’ve always been inter-
ested in the paranormal and a
history buff. It’s the unknown,”
Stearer said. “We all wonder
what continues in our life after
we are gone. Something has to
carry on after I pass, which is
why it’s important to connect
with the spirits who are with
you.”
Smith said he anticipates
the ghost tour to become a
permanent installment in
Seaside.