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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (June 28, 2017)
7A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, JUNE 28, 2017 Library: Staffed by two part-time employees and multiple volunteers Continued from Page 1A Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian A knife was found in this alley near the scene of the stabbing last week in Astoria. Authorities are still in the process of conducting forensic analysis to determine if it was used in the assault. Stabbing: Cause of fight in question Continued from Page 1A Witness accounts Most of the people at the scene of the brawl quickly fled. Glaser and Erika N. Rasmussen, 21, of Ochelata, Oklahoma, were taken to the Astoria Police Station for questioning but later released. Witnesses attending a baby shower at the nearby El Tapa- tio restaurant that night indi- cated Glaser had allegedly stabbed Ashby with a knife provided by Rasmussen. But interviews with witnesses, people of interest and vic- tims have produced alternative explanations. Some say Rasmussen allegedly stabbed Ashby her- self, while others recall Ashby causing the injury to himself, Halverson said. Witnesses at the baby shower also said Gla- ser had allegedly kicked Hol- men repeatedly, though others say Ashby was the aggressor who may have knocked him unconscious. What’s the cause? The exact cause of the fight is also in question. John White, who was work- ing at the Nature’s Choice Alternative Medicine mari- juana dispensary at the time of the brawl, believes Ashby’s desire to find marijuana may also have played a role in the fight. Glaser and Rasmussen had purchased marijuana from the dispensary — just a few feet away from the Doughboy Monument — prior to the inci- dent, he said. Soon after, a couple of baby shower attendees walked Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian toward new programs or staff, City Manager Linda Engbretson said. “We’ve run conservative for a very long time,” said Librarian Nettie-Lee Calog. “We can stay frugal.” The funds levied cur- rently aren’t enough to fund the library, said Commis- sioner Rick Newton during a work session Tuesday, pointing out that the library required a transfer of funds from the city budget’s gen- eral fund. Mayor Henry Balen- sifer and recently appointed Commissioner Mark Bald- win pushed for more, though. They asked city staff and library board mem- bers to give them the “full picture” of what the library needs and wants, and bring back numbers that reflect an even bigger increase to the levy, in addition to the pro- posed 25-cent increase. For comparison, a police levy voters passed assesses 28 cents per $1,000 property value and only covers a sin- gle position, city staff said. “And we’re talking about a whole library,” Newton said. The city is still figuring out what it costs to be at the new location. They simply haven’t been in the building long enough to know what a full month’s worth of util- ity bills looks like, Finance Director April Clark said. Nor do they know what it will cost to be in the build- ing during the winter. Meanwhile, the needs of the library have changed. The new location is much bigger and the uptick in busi- ness makes managing the large space more difficult. “It used to be I could run the place by myself because you (could) see everything that’s going on,” Calog said. “That’s not going to happen here.” The library is staffed by two part-time employees — Calog works 25 hours a week and another employee works only 11.5 hours — and multiple volunteers. The library has just shy of 4,000 cardholders, pri- marily Warrenton residents but with several out-of- town users. If voters pass an increased levy, the library board contemplates add- ing staff, increasing hours of operation and expand- ing programs and services. For example, none of the library’s collection is cat- aloged in a digital system. Calog and her volunteers still stamp date-due slips in the backs of books. Since moving into the Serendipity building, the library has gained a host of new volunteers in addition to new library cardholders. Calog has spoken to a num- ber of people who told her they didn’t even know War- renton had a library. “But now we’re right on Main street and people can see us,” Calog said after the meeting. “I think people are going to fall in love with this loca- tion,” Engbretson said. She and the commis- sioners believe the com- munity would support an increased levy. But, Eng- bretson warned, “there are some folks we’re not going to be popular with.” The library board and city staff plan to collect more information about several different levy rate increase scenarios and what they could mean for the library. They will discuss this infor- mation with the commission at a future meeting. Several individuals in the area of a stabbing incident in Astoria on June 19 were searched and then held briefly by authorities before being released. Ashby toward the area near the dispensary, where they cov- ered his wound as he leaned against a window near the dispensary. White recalls a bleeding Ashby saying, “All I wanted was some weed.” White recalled seeing Ras- mussen — knife in hand — walk quickly toward an alley area before briefly falling out of view. She then returned to the scene of the fight seconds later to encourage Glaser to leave, he said. White was taking a break from his shift in the alley later in the week when he spot- ted a knife with a 4- to 5-inch blade and what appeared to be blood stains. His boss then snapped a picture of the knife and reported it to police, who went to the dispensary to col- lect it shortly after. Forensics tests on the knife likely will not be completed for several weeks, Halverson said. The dispensary has also turned in surveillance video from the night of the stabbing to police. Moved on Ashby, Glaser and Rasmus- sen likely are no longer in Asto- ria, Halverson said. Ashby has since been arrested on a war- rant from Washington state, while Glaser and Rasmussen have moved to another area. White no longer works at the marijuana dispensary. He and the dispensary’s gen- eral manager gave different accounts of his departure. The Clatsop County Dis- trict Attorney’s Office is still reviewing witness testimony and other evidence in the case to determine if charges will be filed. Police, meanwhile, will continue to sort through evi- dence in the hopes of finding more clarity to a violent inci- dent that is relatively rare in Astoria. “At the end of the day, we need to present a prov- able case to the District Attor- ney’s Office,” Halverson said. “Sometimes these things do not move quickly.” Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian Nettie-Lee Calog, Warrenton Community Library site manager, checks out books to Warrenton resident Con- stance Davis at the old location for the Warrenton Com- munity Library in Hammond in March. The new location in downtown Warrenton is attracting more attention. Gearhart: Park is higher than the current fire station location Continued from Page 1A Limited options After a two-year study of nine locations, the fire- house committee narrowed the choices down to three: Gear- hart Park at the corner of South Marion and Pacific Way; the current firehouse on Pacific Way; and Trail’s End, directly across from the fire station on the south side of Pacific Way. “Unfortunately the cur- rent location of the fire sta- tion would not be approved by DOGAMI (Oregon Depart- ment of Geology and Mineral Industries) to build there, and the current condition of the building there is not good,” Brown said. The Trail’s End site was eliminated because of low ele- vation, poor soil quality and public opposition. Locations to the east are vulnerable to flooding from the Neacoxie. Now, the city is left with only the park site. But at a May public forum, many res- idents expressed their dis- content with the park even being considered as an option. Despite the park’s 48-foot ele- vation — the fire station prop- erty stands at an elevation of 27 feet — the proposal met R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian Of sites considered, Gearhart Park remains the only one still under consideration. stiff resistance. Many of those who spoke said they con- sidered the park a part of the “character of the town.” Is park best choice? Some city councilors and fire committee members still consider the park location the most optimal for a new firehouse. City Councilor Sue Lorain, a member of the firehouse committee, said misconcep- tions arose over the park site in terms of its size, location and elevation. The park is higher than the current fire station, she said at a City Council dis- cussion in early June, and the location is far more secure in an earthquake or tsunami. “I would recommend we go ahead with the park, and get rid of misconceptions, and have another town hall meet- ing at the end of September,” Lorain said. “If nothing comes up, I think we go with the park.” Lorain asked councilors to extend the search process until September, and eliminate the current firehouse as a potential location. “I feel it’s important to keep this ball rolling,” City Councilor Dan Jesse said at that meeting. “At some point a large earthquake is going to happen. I don’t know when that’s going to be. But we should keeping propelling this forward. At some point we will have to decide, ‘This site is the best we’re going to get,’ and be willing to move for- ward, even if we lose.” What’s ahead At the City Council’s June meeting, councilors agreed to continue the location search. One privately owned site under consideration reaches an elevation of 75 feet, Brown said. The property is close to The Gearhart Firehouse is considered obsolete and at- risk in a Cascadia Subduction Zone event. the condos on North Mar- ion and across from the golf course, Brown said, and con- versations with the owner have begun. “We’re starting another conversation with another property owner on North Mar- ion,” City Administrator Chad Sweet said Tuesday. “We want to make sure everyone’s com- fortable with the deal before making it public.” Once new locations are determined, the City Coun- cil intends to provide $5,000 to conduct studies of alterna- tive properties. Money would come from the hazard mitiga- tion or building reserve funds, Sweet said. That money could be spent on an architectural rendering, geotechnical studies, deter- mining basic costs or toward an estimator to take a look at the building, location and type of ground to determine what costs would be, Sweet said. “I would be happy if we could find another spot that was not the park, because I understand all of our attach- ments to that park,” Sweet said. “I’m anxious to see if one of these other real estate deal- ings and locations could be worked out.”
