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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (July 6, 2017)
THEATER TROUPE PRESENTS MUSICAL COMEDY ‘SHE LOVES ME’ COAST WEEKEND DailyAstorian.com // THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2017 144TH YEAR, NO. 4 ONE DOLLAR House shifts into drive for highways Taxes, fees will finance $5.3B plan By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian English language development teacher Emily Townsend works with first- and second-graders during the summer ses- sion at John Jacob Astor Elementary School on Wednesday. The students are part of a summer learning program de- signed to help young people of primarily Spanish-speaking and migrant families. Closing the opportunity gap Summer school helps students learning English I Extra instruction Students from incoming kindergart- ners to eighth-graders split between five classrooms at Astor Elementary. The sum- mer school program emphasizes reading, writing and math, as well as kindergarten readiness. See TRANSPORTATION, Page 4A Gearhart gives OK for lottery machines By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian n the basement of John Jacob Astor Elementary School Wednesday, Emily Townsend took her first-, second- and third-graders through a lesson about exotic mammals. The English language development teacher split students off into groups to read about the mammals and practice related vocabulary before sitting down to write sentences describing the animals. Townsend’s class is part of the Asto- ria School District’s migrant and English language learner summer school program, providing a 19-day refresher course for nearly 120 students from migrant and pri- marily Spanish-speaking families. The school is part of a bigger strategy that has recently started to show dividends for the school district by reducing the opportunity gap between English learners, migrant families and the broader student population. SALEM — The state House of Repre- sentatives Wednesday passed a $5.3 billion statewide transportation package, sending the plan to the Senate in the waning days of the legislative session. The bipartisan 39-20 vote exceeded the 36 votes that are constitutionally required to enact new taxes. However, lawmakers signaled concerns that the package could face a voter refer- ral. In another bill, they added a provision to bump up any vote by the electorate on the transportation package to May instead of the general November election. The 10-year plan includes hikes in the gas tax, registration and title fees and new taxes on payroll, new vehicle purchases and bicy- cles priced more than $200. The package also calls for conges- tion-priced tolling at some of Portland’s bot- tlenecks. The Oregon Transportation Com- mission is responsible for establishing the program under the bill. State lottery law sways City Council By R.J. MARX The Daily Astorian Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Astoria High School senior Victor Mendez, center, helps out with Townsend’s class during a summer learning program at John Jacob Astor Elementary School on Wednesday. Tim Mahoney, a second-grade teacher and on-site coordinator of this year’s sum- mer school, said it helps students avoid losing what they learned over the past years, while preparing them for what’s coming in the fall. He said each student receives a pre- and post-test in subjects they’ll be studying. “Even with about 20 days, you can defi- nitely see some growth there,” he said. During the regular school year, Townsend co-teaches in six different class- rooms around Astor Elementary, part of the school district’s push-in model blend- ing more robust English language learning into existing lessons, rather than pulling students out for separate instruction. “Any extra exposure and practice that they can have during the summer is won- derful,” she said. “Since I already know strengths and weaknesses of these stu- dents, it makes it easier for me to make these 19 days the most effective they can be.” GEARHART — City councilors decided not to roll the dice in a state appeals board and granted Terry Lowenberg a conditional use permit to install lottery machines at the Gearhart Crossing Pub and Deli. The move overrides a year and a half of testimony, along with Planning Commission and City Council denials, and allows video gambling machines to be placed in a walled area behind the main dining room. Up to six machines are permitted. Councilors decided not to test state law preemptions over city zoning code. “The City Council made a difficult deci- sion, but the decision was correct based on the facts of the law,” Gregory Hathaway, Lowenberg’s attorney, said after the meeting. “The city stopped the appeal process because See SUMMER SCHOOL, Page 4A See GEARHART, Page 4A Cannabis shop coming soon to Cannon Beach City’s first marijuana shop to open on Hemlock Street By BRENNA VISSER The Daily Astorian CANNON BEACH — Cannon Beach will welcome its first marijuana dispensary later this summer. The Portland-based, recre- ational dispensary Five Zero Trees will move into the for- mer location of the home goods store Fruffels at 140 S. Hemlock St. within the next six weeks, co-owner Case Van Dorne said. Van Dorne plans to open a similar store in Astoria by July 14, he said, and oper- ates six other locations around the Portland metro area. While other parts of the North Coast have had multiple dispensaries set up shop since the state legalized marijuana, this will be the first in Cannon Beach since the community narrowly defeated a retail can- nabis prohibition at the polls in November. “I’ve loved Cannon Beach for a long time. My friends and I would come down to the coast to fish for years. It’s the first place I ever went to on the coast,” Van Dorne said. “There is something so special about the aesthetic and the experi- ence people have in this place, and cannabis could add to that experience.” Fitting in Van Dorne watched Can- non Beach’s prohibition ref- erendum closely, but said his business prides itself on inte- grating into whatever commu- nity it is serving. “We’re not out there to have some in-your-face crazy inflatable guy on the corner or Brenna Visser/The Daily Astorian See POT SHOP, Page 11A Cannon Beach’s first marijuana dispensary Five Zero Trees is expected to open later this summer at 140 S. Hemlock St.
