The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current, April 20, 2017, Page 7A, Image 7

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    7A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 2017
Bills: Rent control bill
seen as a short-term
fix for a dire need
Continued from Page 1A
Damian Mulinix/For The Daily Astorian
Actress Amanda Todisco, left, will once again co-star in a film by young director Chris Lang.
Movie: It’s a mystery with supernatural
elements centered around the area lake
Continued from Page 1A
feel like a lot of people like the
mystery and the sort of eerie,
dreary mysteries.”
“Coffenbury Lake” will
feature some of the same
actors who played in Lang’s
previous film.
“I like working in nature,”
said Amanda Todisco, a “Val-
ley of Ditches” star and
co-writer. “I like the creepiness
of the woods in the nighttime.”
The screenplay placed in
the top eight among thou-
sands of horror entries at the
2016 Slamdance Film Fes-
tival in Utah. Lang hopes to
finish “Coffenbury Lake” by
August so he can submit the
final product to the festival,
which will take place again
next January. From there, the
film likely would go on to play
at festivals, such as South By
Southwest, Lang said.
“That would be a huge
boost,” he said.
Summer filming
Before
shooting
the
film in late July and early
August, Lang will be hir-
ing more cast and crew. He is
speaking with agents in Los
Angeles and is looking for
candidates through the Screen
Actors Guild.
The film, featuring six to
seven main and supporting
actors, 15 to 20 alternate char-
acters and 15 to 18 crew work-
ers, will be Lang’s largest pro-
duction to date.
“Coffenbury Lake” is a
mystery with supernatural ele-
ments. Set in a small, dreary
coastal town in the Northwest,
it involves a serial killer who
would murder and leave vic-
tims’ bodies around the lake.
But one year after the killer is
caught, more murders occur in
the same place.
“It draws the detective that
basically gave his entire life
to solve this case back into
it, and he has to face his past
ghosts,” Lang said.
Lang hopes audiences will
appreciate the film’s mes-
sage of hope through dire
circumstances.
“It’s not a positive movie,”
Lang said. “Sometimes in the
worst tragedies in life people
get so beat down, but I feel
like, in this film, our protag-
onist uses that as almost like
a tool that other people can’t
access.”
Pot lab: Olsen’s approval can be appealed
Continued from Page 1A
Jewell
Superintendent
Alice Hunsaker was not
immediately available for
comment.
Concurrence
In his ruling, Olsen con-
curred with most of the
county planning staff’s find-
ings in the original approval
of Plew’s application, saying
most of the concerns raised
are around generalized oppo-
sition to marijuana legaliza-
tion and Plew’s facility being
an “attractive nuisance” to
students.
“I concur with staff
that the starting point
is that the state has
determined that marijuana
facilities generally are com-
patible with schools provided
there is compliance with
1,000(-foot) buffer and other
restrictions on operations,”
Olsen said.
Olsen said there is
no evidence of impacts
beyond those associated
with other allowed uses.
“The only one arguably
applicable is odor,” he said.
“If this property was located
in a more dense area that
might be a concern but given
the remote location and dis-
tance from any other uses, I
find that this criteria is met
with conditions as proposed
by staff.”
Williams: Will spend
Earth Day in Portland at
the March for Science
Conditions
Plew’s project must limit
objectionable odor, dust,
noise, vibration and appear-
ance. He must provide all
required state and federal per-
mits to the county. Plew must
secure an approved commer-
cial site plan, signage per-
mits and a flood-plain devel-
opment permit because of a
nearby creek.
His business cannot open
before 9 a.m., and no mari-
juana-related products or pro-
duction space can be visible
from the outside of the build-
ing. Plew must keep an emer-
gency contact to receive com-
plaints and concerns from the
school district.
Olsen
found
that
Plew has been disingen-
uous in saying he was
required to include a
retail store as part of his
proposed operation. The
retail portion, which Plew can
eliminate, must not be more
than half of his building’s
footprint.
Olsen’s approval can be
appealed to the county Board
of Commissioners.
• Public pensions — In
a narrow committee vote
Monday, the Senate Work-
force Committee referred
Senate Bills 559 and 560,
which would change pub-
lic employee benefits in an
effort to bend the cost curve
of the Public Employees
Retirement System, to Ways
and Means.
• GMOs — Compan-
ion bills that would have
allowed local governments
to regulate genetically mod-
ified crops are among the
casualties midway through
the session. Under state law,
most local governments
can’t restrict seed. House
Bill 2739, which would
allow landowners to sue bio-
tech patent holders for the
unwanted presence of genet-
ically modified organisms,
or GMOs, on their land, was
passed to House Rules Com-
mittee, which isn’t subject to
the legislative deadline.
• Pay equity — HB 2005
would increase civil penal-
ties for paying women and
minorities less than oth-
ers who do the same work.
It passed out of the House
36-24 after extended debate.
As a result, it met Tuesday’s
deadline, and will be dis-
cussed in the Senate Work-
force Committee.
• Carbon emissions —
SB 557, which would create
a “cap-and-invest” system
for pricing greenhouse gas
emissions from large emit-
ters and use the proceeds
for things like transporta-
tion infrastructure projects. It
still survives by way of refer-
ral to the Rules Committee,
and subsequently, the Senate
Business and Transportation
Committee.
• Rent control — HB
2004, which would lift a
statewide ban on rent con-
trol, has been a popular bill
as Portland and other areas
of the state struggle with a
housing shortage during a
time of strong population
growth. It’s been criticized
for failing to address the root
of the housing problem here,
but advocates say that it’s a
short-term fix for a dire need.
The bill has passed out of the
House and still survives.
• Transitional leave —
SB 935 would expand the
maximum amount of time
someone can be released
from prison through the
state’s short-term transitional
leave program from 90 to
180 days, part of the state’s
efforts to reduce the burden
on the state prison system.
It has been referred to Ways
and Means.
• Child welfare — SB
942, which initially would
have required the Department
of Human Services to con-
duct a study on child safety,
was replaced by an amend-
ment that would require the
agency — which has been
beset with child safety issues
— to improve how it makes
findings in investigations of
child abuse. It’s now in Ways
and Means.
•Guns — A series of Sen-
ate bills that provoked emo-
tional testimony at the Leg-
islature Monday did not
pass out of chamber, but that
doesn’t mean they won’t get
reintroduced through rules or
through other revival mech-
anisms. Senate Bill 868, for
example, which would cre-
ate a court process to prevent
someone at risk of suicide or
harming someone else from
possessing a gun, was instead
inserted as an amendment to
another bill that did make it
out of committee Tuesday.
The Capital Bureau is a
collaboration between EO
Media Group and Pamplin
Media Group.
Earth Day
Continued from Page 1A
R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian
Jewell School District has lost its appeal to keep a mari-
juana laboratory from coming in at a site near the school.
The Daily Astorian/File Photo
A marijuana laboratory is planned near Jewell School.
Williams has noticed
warmer summers and more
mosquitoes around her ocean-
view home. She’s quick to
point out other parts of the
world have seen more severe
consequences of climate
change, such as deaths from
food and water scarcity and
air so polluted it makes peo-
ple sick.
“Is it going to get better on
its own? We think not,” Wil-
liams said.
Solar and wind energy
and lithium batteries are now
cheaper and more reliable so
she’d like to see more renew-
ables being used. The shift
would help the economy by
putting people back to work
while improving the environ-
ment, Williams said.
“It’s not a storm of doom
and gloom,” she said. “There
is hope.”
Williams
has
long
put
her
effervescent
enthusiasm into caring for
the environment. As a Uni-
versity of Southern Califor-
nia sophomore, she took part
in the first Earth Day celebra-
tion on the Los Angeles cam-
pus in 1970.
This year, she plans to
spend Earth Day on Satur-
day in Portland at the March
for Science. She’ll miss the
People’s Climate Move-
ment march to pick up trash
at home during the beach
cleanup on April 29.
Williams is working to
pass a healthier planet down
to the next generation by
helping people make changes
before it’s too late.
“We must. We can. And
we will,” she said. “You don’t
have to go green to make
a difference, just be a little
greener.”
Saturday, May 13 th , 2017
Assistance League® the Columbia Pacifi c’s 10 th Annual
Help Clothe Kids
N e w
Full color,
scenic montage
postcards of Astoria
now available at the
Daily Astorian
office!
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS • FREE • N O A DMISSION R EQUIRED
11 AM -12 PM Free for Kids: Golf Clinic & Putting Contest
Kid’s Raffl e - Tickets $1.00 or 6 for $5.00
(Bicycles & other great prizes - tickets sold at event)
11 AM -1 PM
BBQ Lunch $5.00, Kids under 5 eat Free!
(Sponsors: Subway, Knutsen Insurance, Reed & Hertig)
12:15 PM
Helicopter Ball Drop - Free to attend
(Balls landing closest to the pin Win!)
How to Win a Golf Drop Raffl e Package:
Buy Golf Balls pre-event for $5 per ball. Each ball represents 1 chance to
win. Balls closest to pin WIN! 1 Prize per person Purchase tickets at Holly
McHone Jewelers or contact assistanceleaguecolumbia@gmail.com
Prizes generously donated by the following businesses:
(All tickets must be purchased in advance. A maximum of 2000 golf balls raffl e tickets will be sold. You do not have to be present to win)
4 Seasons Clothing, A Gypsy’s Whimsy, AAA of Oregon, Assistance League Members, Astoria Knappa Wishing Tree Program, Baked Alaska, Bikes & Beyond, Bridge-
water Bistro, Bruce’s Candy Kitchen, Cannery Pier Hotel, Cellar on 10th, City Lumber Co., Columbia River Maritime Museum, Columbia River Bar Pilots, Complete
Beauty Med Spa & Salon, Doogers, Dots & Doodles, Driftwood Restaurant, Dundee Dining, Dutch Bros., Erickson Floral, Escape Lodging, Fairweathers House &
Gallery, Finn Ware, Forsythea, Fulio’s Restaurant, Fultano’s & Funland, Gearhart Bowling Alley, Gearhart Crossing, Gearhart Golf Links, Gimre’s Shoes, High Life
Adventures, Homespun Quilts, Human Bean, Liberty Theater, M’s Alterations & Dress Boutique, Maiden Oregon, Martin Hospitality, Old Town Framing, Prana Wellness
Center, Purple Cow Toys, Rachel’s Quilts, Salon Verve, Shear Pleasures Salon, Silver Salmon Grille, Sisters Olive & Nut Co., T. Paul’s Urban Cafe, Ter Har’s, Vintage
Hardware, Winekraft, Young at Heart Paper Crafting
THANK YOU TO OUR MAJOR EVENT SPONSORS
Columbia River
Bar Pilots
Tourists, visitors, family & friends will love sending these!
949 Exchange Street, Astoria • 503-325-3211
Astoria Golf &
Country Club
Senator
Betsy Johnson
Warrenton Fiber
We are a volunteer organization focused on promoting self-esteem and emotional well being of children in our
community. 100% of all proceeds go to children in Clatsop County. Visit us at: www.assistanceleaguecp.org