Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (May 4, 2017)
FROM WINTER DARKNESS COMES A SPRING UNVEILING COAST WEEKEND DailyAstorian.com // THURSDAY, MAY 4, 2017 144TH YEAR, NO. 220 Soggy season breaks records Port candidates clash at forum Peninsula, North Coast drenched with heavy rain Bob Goldberg Andy Davis Grace Laman Jenna Rickenbach Jeanette Sampson David Oser Health center option splits school board candidates EO Media Group LONG BEACH, Wash. — If this winter on Washing- ton’s outer coast felt like liv- ing in the deep end of a swim- ming pool, it was for good reason: Eight-and-a-half feet of rain was recorded Septem- ber through April at the Wash- ington State University Long Beach Research and Extension Unit. This was a new record in the 57 years since Washing- ton State started its modern series of records here in 1960. This season’s 102 inches beat the old record of 99 inches set in the winter of 1998-99. This year’s total was 31.75 inches above the average of 70.67 inches, according to Dr. Kim Patten, Washington State extension professor. April wasn’t extraordi- narily wet, Patten noted — 8.55 inches, compared to the average of 6.04 inches — and less than half the 17.77 inches that fell this March. Astoria, meanwhile, expe- rienced 171 days with rainfall from October through April , breaking a record of 166 set in 1894 and 1921, according to the National Weather Service station at the Astoria Regional Airport. Astoria had a total of 85.11 inches of rain, which was among the city’s 10 wet- test recorded years. Long Beach’s 102 inches from September through April dwarfed Astoria’s total. . Because of the Willapa Hills and Coast Range to the east, high pressure systems that move through the area often rise, cool and condense, which creates more rain, said Gerald Macke, a meteoro- logical technician with the National Weather Service . In Naselle, where clouds are funneled up the valley and condense around the salmon hatchery’s gauge, nearly 129.5 inches were recorded from September through April — almost 11 feet of rain. No word on whether this is a record, but it’s bound to be close to one. ONE DOLLAR Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Candidates running for election to the Port of Astoria Commission debated the issues during a candidate forum Wednesday at Clatsop Community College. Divides over airport bond, staff performance measure to develop infrastructure at the Astoria Regional Airport and accommodate the move of air medevac service Life Flight Network. By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian C andidates in the Port of Astoria Commis- sion’s three contested races faced off pub- licly for the fi rst time Wednesday at the American Association of University Women’s candidate forum at Clatsop Community College. In one camp were Commissioner Stephen Fulton and newcomers Dick Hellberg and Pat O’Grady, political allies who have shared many of the same viewpoints and criticism of Port management. In the other were their opponents Commissioner James Campbell, Dirk Rohne and Frank Spence, who have presented a more positive view of the Port’s direction. Divisions between the two groups became clear when questions turned to the agency’s fi nances, management and a $1.96 million bond POSITION 1 Airport bond The bond would improve infrastructure on about 10 acres at the southeastern corner of the airport’s tarmac, making 6 to 8 adjacent acres of land shovel-ready for future development and building a pad for new potential hangars and for Life Flight, which has secured state fi nancing for its own new hangar and crew quarters. The location has been recommended by the Port’s staff, Federal Aviation Administration and Life Flight. Despite the recommendations and their support of Life Flight, Fulton, Hellberg and O’Grady have all come out in opposition to the See PORT, Page 7A POSITION 2 POSITION 5 Two contested races on Astoria School Board By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian Four years ago, the Astoria School Board voted 3-2 against further pursuit of a school-based health center, a nationwide concept some argued would improve physical and mental health outcomes, and by extension, the academic performance of students. The concept has not been revived, but has infl u- enced two subsequent elections. The failed health center was still a clear dividing point in the two con- tested races for the school board on display Wednes- day at the American Association of University Women’s candidate forum. Jenna Rickenbach, a stay-at-home mother, part- time employee with her family’s company Ricken- bach Construction and avid volunteer in the schools, was appointed in 2014 and elected in 2015. She is running for re-election against Bob Goldberg, a vol- unteer with KMUN radio and a former teacher. Jeanette Sampson, a sales executive at a local radio station, was appointed in 2012 and elected in 2013. She is being challenged by recent Indiana transplant Andy Davis, a data analyst with Greater Oregon Behavioral Health Inc. See SCHOOL BOARD, Page 7A James Campbell Stephen Fulton Dick Hellberg Dirk Rohne Pat O’ Grady Frank Spence Astoria man gets 40 years in prison for abusing daughter ‘I hate what you did,’ teen girl says By JACK HEFFERNAN The Daily Astorian An Astoria man was sentenced to 40 years in prison Wednesday after being convicted of sexually abusing his daughter. Gregory Guy Tarvin, 62, reached a plea deal last week after originally being indicted on 48 counts of fi rst-degree sex abuse, one count of fi rst-degree sodomy and one count of unlawful sex- ual penetration. He pleaded guilty to 10 counts of fi rst-degree sex abuse as part of the agreement. Tarvin was arrested and indicted in January. Just before Tarvin’s arrest, an Astoria P olice offi cer saw Tarvin’s teenage daughter walk- ing on the sidewalk while wear- ing her pajamas in sub freezing temperatures. The girl told the offi cer she was running away Gregory Guy Tarvin from home after a physical con- frontation with her father. She later disclosed the abuse she had been facing. The incidents for which Tarvin was convicted took place in a two-month span in 2015, though the original charges alleged that the abuse continued through May 2016 . First-degree sex abuse car- ries a mandatory minimum sen- tence of six years, three months for each count. Police received reports of the abuse in April 2016, but Tarvin’s daughter did not want to press charges or discuss the matter at the time. Because the girl’s mother, who was 17 years old at the time of her birth, was abusive toward her, Tarvin was given custody. She moved in with him at the Emer- ald Heights A partments in July 2015, when the abuse began. The two slept in the same bed, where the girl would wake up multi- ple times each week to her father touching her inappropriately. Chief Deputy District Attor- ney Ron Brown read a transcript from a recorded conversation between Tarvin and his daughter. The girl demanded that her father explain his actions. He told her he “had not the slightest idea” why he felt the need to commit the crimes, but that he did see her differently than other girls. Tarvin speculated that he might have been immature and afraid of los- ing her. See SENTENCE, Page 7A College board candidates talk PAC, innovation Forum featured two contested races By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian Clatsop Community College hosted the American Association of University Women’s candidate forum Wednesday, which i ncluded the two contested races for the college’s own board. Pamela Mattson McDonald is an author, pro- fessional artist and former merchant marine who has taken the college’s maritime sciences and busi- ness programs. She is challenging incumbent Patrick Wingard, a land use planner with the state who was appointed to the college board in 2012, for Zone 2, Position 2. Mary Beth Cottle, a former K-12 instructor with a focus in bilingualism and a newcomer to Cannon Beach, is challenging Rosemary Baker-Monaghan, who was appointed in 2000 and is running for re-election a fi fth time. Robert Duehmig, deputy director of Oregon Health & Science University’s Offi ce of Rural Health, is running unopposed. Performing Arts Center The college board has been deciding what to do with the Performing Arts Center, a popular com- munity rehearsal and performing space that no lon- ger holds academic programs. The daily opera- tions of the center are paid for by a coalition of See COLLEGE BOARD, Page 7A