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.”