ASTORIA,
JEWELL SPRING SPORTS PREVIEWS PAGE 10A-12A
AHS senior
Ole Englund
JHS junior
Ben Stahly
144TH YEAR, NO. 200
ONE DOLLAR
DailyAstorian.com // THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 2017
Ex-AHS wrestling coach faces new sex charges
Medina pleaded
not guilty to rape,
sexual abuse
By JACK HEFFERNAN
The Daily Astorian
Gary Salvador
Medina
A former Astoria High School
wrestling coach was arrested
Wednesday morning at the Clat-
sop County Courthouse on sex-
ual assault charges shortly after
he was arraigned for third-degree
rape .
Gary Salvador Medina, 42,
has been accused in separate
cases of sexual contact with two
underage girls in 2005, at least
one of whom was a student at
Astoria High School.
He pleaded not guilty to
third-degree rape. He then
pleaded not guilty to fi rst-degree
unlawful sexual penetration and
sexual abuse.
Astoria Police originally
arrested Medina in late February
at Beaverton High School, where
he was working as an instruc-
tional assistant and wrestling
coach. Offi cers in plainclothes
escorted Medina from the school
and arrested him away from the
campus.
his employment. He was released
after his arrest on $50,000 bail.
Following his release, a grand
jury indicted Medina on the other
charges stemming from a sep-
arate alleged incident months
later. That incident allegedly
took place between Medina and
a 17-year-old girl who was stay-
ing at his home.
Medina was a wrestling coach
at Astoria High School from
2004 to 2007 while also work-
ing as an engineer with the U. S.
Coast Guard.
A woman reported to police
in February that she had a sexual
relationship with Medina when
she was 15 and a student at the
school. Police said the relation-
ship likely was not formed on
school grounds or as a result of
Building a business
with Steel & Timber
See MEDINA, Page 9A
Peninsula
schools
respond to
ICE fears
Educators promise
to put students fi rst
By AMY NILE
EO Media Group
ILWACO, Wash. — Educators and local
leaders decided to use only word-of-mouth
to spread news of a meeting for families
affected by recent U.S. Immigrations and
Customs Enforcement raids.
They gathered quietly in the library at
Ilwaco High after school last week to pre-
pare parents in case federal ICE agents return
to make more arrests in Pacifi c County.
“We’ve lost a few families,” Amy Hunt-
ley, director of migrant and bilingual services
for the Ocean Beach School District, said .
“This isn’t something people talk about.”
Fears and realities
Expanding
boundaries
helps fl edgling
construction
company
Educators and others wanted to quell
fears and quash rumors by providing infor-
mation after at least one local family was
split up during a recent raid. Federal agents
arrested 84 foreign nationals from 12 coun-
tries in the Pacifi c Northwest during a three-
day operation in late March , according to an
ICE news release.
Of those detained during the sweep of
Washington state, Oregon and Alaska, 60 had
criminal histories. Almost half of them, 29,
were convicted of drug- or alcohol-related
offenses, such as driving under the infl uence.
One arrest during the operation took place
ADVANCE ASTORIA
Advance Astoria, the city’s five-year economic development strategy, will hold a second
and final community forum 7 p.m. April 13 at the Hampton Inn, 201 39th St. , to gather
public comment on a draft economic development strategy.
The meeting will start with a formal presentation, followed by a town hall-style meeting
with representatives from Business Oregon, Craft3, U.S. Small Business Administration,
Clatsop Community College and Astoria Maker Industries.
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
See SCHOOLS, Page 5A
S
haun Catlin and Tamara Altman’s
Astoria-based contracting company
Steel & Timber Construction/Fab-
rication has built a reputation for creative
contracting projects in less than a year.
The company has done everything from
home remodels and a commemorative beer
stein for a local beer festival to a chimp climb-
ing tower at the Oregon Zoo and a historic
window restoration at Clatskanie City Hall.
The nascent contractor, trying to develop
a local market on the coast while largely sur-
viving through public projects outside Clat-
sop County, has become an example of the
type of innovat ive, non-tourist, local busi-
ness promoted by the city’s Advance Asto-
ria economic development strategy.
See STEEL & TIMBER, Page 9A
EO Media Group/File Photo
Photos by Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
TOP: Steel & Timber co-owners Shaun Catlin and Tamara Altman smile for a
photo in their new business location last week . ABOVE: Brad Mattson, lead
welder, works to weld some frames in the new Steel & Timber warehouse loca-
tion in Astoria. More photos online at DailyAstorian.com
Arrests by Immigration and Customs
Enforcement are nothing new in Pacif-
ic County, Washington. This raid in May
2006 in Chinook resulted in detaining
16 immigrant workers who ICE agents
said lacked proper documentation.
Video poker confounds Gearhart City Council
Vote nixes new
lottery machines
By R.J. MARX
The Daily Astorian
GEARHART — Terry
Lowenberg could have state
law on his side, lawyers told
the Gearhart City Council, giv-
ing him the ability to put four
video poker machines in his
new brew pub .
But city councilors voted
against a permit for the
machines anyway.
Maintaining neighborhood
character, the proximity of lot-
tery machines at nearby loca-
tions along U.S. Highway 101
and no proven need for the
machines all factored into the
decision to uphold a January
Planning Commission denial .
“For me, the idea of having
a poker establishment in Gear-
hart is not in line with the resi-
dential commercial zone, that’s
more in line with the business
zone down the highway, ” City
Councilor Kerry Smith said.
He said the new pub —
called Gearhart Crossing —
“would not help the character
of Gearhart.”
Smith was joined by Mayor
Matt Brown and City Coun-
cilor Sue Lorain in voting to
uphold denial of the permit.
“To me, the question is, is
video poker part of an eating
R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian
Gearhart Crossing opened in March at 599 Pacific Way.
and drinking establishment?
And I believe the state of Ore-
gon says it is,” City Councilor
Dan Jesse said as the lone vote
in the permit’s favor.
Former grocery
Citing losses, Lowen-
berg went before the Planning
Commission in March 2016
seeking approvals for a brew
pub and deli on the site of the
4,100-square-foot
Gearhart
Grocery. Lowenberg said the
business was unable to com-
pete with larger grocery stores .
Commissioners approved the
plan.
But when Lowenberg pre-
sented building plans to the city,
drawings designated an area of
four video poker machines iso-
lated from the main seating area
by an 8-foot wall display.
While Building Offi cial
Mark Brien had “no objections
to the use of lottery machines in
this building,” Lowenberg was
told by city staff his revised
plans would require additional
review.
An amended conditional use
application showing the lottery
machines was submitted by
Lowenberg and subsequently
denied by a 5-2 Planning Com-
mission vote in January.
See GEARHART, Page 5A