DailyAstorian.com // WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26, 2017
144TH YEAR, NO. 214
Detective 1 1
Understanding the tools to solve a murder
ONE DOLLAR
DEQ fines
Da Yang,
2nd time
Wastewater discharged
into Columbia River
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
The state Department of Environmental
Quality has fined Da Yang Seafood $54,600
for discharging wastewater from Pier 2 at the
Port of Astoria into the Columbia River on
240 occasions between July 2015 and Sep-
tember without a permit.
The fish processor has appealed the fine,
and did not respond to a request for comment.
This is the second wastewater fine Da
Yang has received in the past two years.
In 2015, the company was fined more than
$85,000 for discharging wastewater without
a permit over the past seven years. The com-
pany has also appealed that fine, which could
be included in a global settlement with the
Department of Environmental Quality that
could include the most recent violations.
Tiffany Yelton-Bram, a water-qual-
ity manager with the DEQ, said Da Yang
approached the agency two years ago to get
a permit to discharge wastewater during an
expansion of its processing plant on Pier 2.
See DA YANG, Page 9A
Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Tape separates participants in the Citizen Police Academy in Cannon Beach from a mock crime scene. Approximately 20
students are taking part in the series of classes designed to teach them about police procedure and foster a stronger rela-
tionship between the public and the department. More photos online at DailyAstorian.com
By BRENNA VISSER
The Daily Astorian
tective 1
ANNON BEACH — On Monday
evening, the City Council chamber
in Cannon Beach was a hotel room.
Strewn about the floor were shell cas-
ings, a fake gun and the crash-dummy body
of a fictional “Mr. Ghotshot” punctured
with bullet wounds. In the room next door,
about 20 people sat in the round to learn
how to process a crime scene.
Lt. Chris Wilbur of the Cannon Beach
Police Department stood before them to
present preliminary information.
“We have Mr. Ghotshot’s name, his
license plate and where he lives. How
do you start to solve this crime?” Wilbur
asked.
The exercise was a new addition to Clat-
sop County’s 10th annual Citizen Police
Academy as a way to show another aspect
of law enforcement work, Cannon Beach
Police Chief Jason Schermerhorn said. In
the third session out of 10, the class learned
how detectives solve a crime from start to
finish.
But before anyone could get out and
look at the body, participants were lec-
tured on what makes up a large amount of a
detective’s job: paperwork.
“Do we have probable cause to enter the
hotel room?” one person asked.
“How does a search warrant work?”
“Does anyone else who was in the room
with him have a right to privacy?”
As the class brainstormed ideas to track
down evidence and conduct interviews,
Wilbur said the process of cataloging every
detail and documenting every action is the
lesson to be taken out of the exercise.
“It’s not like TV, where you can solve
a crime in a matter of days. Sometimes it
Warrenton
will choose
new mayor
in two weeks
Balensifer and Newton
vie for appointment
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
Participants in a Citizen Police Academy in Cannon Beach sign in with Officer
James Jordan, right, before entering a mock crime scene on Monday.
Participant
Ashaki
Boelter
dons
protective
gloves
before
examining
a mock
crime scene
during a
training
session
Monday.
WARRENTON — The Warrenton City
Commission is waiting until its next meeting
to vote on who will be the city’s next mayor.
Acting Mayor Henry
Balensifer and Com-
missioner Rick New-
ton answered questions
at a public hearing Tues-
day night, but Commis-
sioner Tom Dyer said they
need time to consider what
Henry
they heard from the candi-
Balensifer
dates and the community.
The decision to wait also
means the appointment
of a new commissioner to
bring the total number back
up to five is also on hold.
Balensifer pointed out that
until a commission seat is
officially vacant — his or
Rick
Newton’s — the commis-
Newton
sion can’t appoint a new
person to that seat.
The commission’s next meeting is sched-
uled for May 9.
“We owe it to the city to mull over what
was said,” Dyer said during a break after
the hearing closed. “A half hour is not long
enough.”
See DETECTIVE 101, Page 5A
See WARRENTON, Page 9A
Cat hoarder knew animals were sick, prosecutor alleges
and one count of first-degree
animal abuse.
A Warrenton Police officer
spotted her and her 1997 green
Chevrolet Suburban in the Fred
Meyer parking lot April 17. She
had two warrants for her arrest
By JACK HEFFERNAN
out of Snohomish County in
The Daily Astorian
Washington, each car-
rying 10 counts of ani-
Court documents
mal cruelty.
suggest a woman
The officer and ani-
arrested in Warrenton
mal control personnel
last week for hoard-
found 42 cats in the
ing dozens of cats in
car, one of which had
her car may have been
died two days earlier.
aware they were sick.
St. Clare allegedly ran
Kathryn Anne St.
Kathryn
over the cat with her
Clare, 58, of Lake
St. Clare
car by accident.
Stevens, Washington,
Another cat was later euth-
pleaded not guilty Tuesday to
40 counts of animal neglect anized and two litters of cats
One diagnosed
last year with
feline leukemia
were born after her arrest.
Feline leukemia
Seeking higher bail in the
case, Clatsop County District
Attorney Josh Marquis pre-
sented evidence in a motion
filed Monday that St. Clare
brought one of her cats to clin-
ics in Astoria and Warrenton in
November.
At the clinics, she allegedly
was told the cat was suffering
from feline leukemia, which is
terminal and easily spreadable
to other cats. She allegedly
admitted at the time that other
cats in her care likely suffered
from leukemia as well.
Warrenton Police Department
See ST. CLARE, Page 9A
One of the dozens of cats rescued from a car last week in
Warrenton. Two litters of cats were born after the rescue.