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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, JULY 27, 2017
Board to vote on change to public pension system
Associated Press
SALEM — The board
overseeing Oregon’s pub-
lic pension system is set to
vote on whether to downgrade
assumptions about how much
return the system will get on its
investments.
Changing the assumptions
about returns on the invest-
ments that fund payments to
public employees in retirement
could increase the pension’s
unfunded liability from $22
billion to $50 billion, mean-
ing that state agencies and
school districts would have
to put more money into the
system in the coming years,
The Oregonian reported. The
decision would also impact
employee benefits, employer
benefits, public services and
the state’s long-term economic
competitiveness.
Astoria man charged
with drug crimes
By JACK HEFFERNAN
The Daily Astorian
An Astoria man has been
charged with numerous drug
crimes after a traffic stop last
weekend.
Astoria Police stopped
Michael Konecny, 29, in a
pickup Saturday night for
allegedly driving without
insurance. He also allegedly
did not present a driver’s
license because it was crimi-
nally suspended.
He was wanted for a parole
violation and arrested. While
searching the car, police
found a large amount of cash,
syringes, two grams of her-
oin, 10 grams of methamphet-
amine, 30 Suboxone prescrip-
tion pills and several other
drug-related items.
In addition to the parole
violation and license-related
charges, Konecny has been
charged with possession and
delivery of heroin, metham-
phetamine and a schedule III
controlled substance for the
Suboxone.
Wyden bill encourages recreation
By CASSANDRA
PROFITA
Oregon Public Broadcasting
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden
introduced a bill Wednesday
that aims to simplify the per-
mitting process for outdoor
recreation on public lands.
The Oregon Democrat says
getting outdoors often requires
obtaining permits, parking
passes and camping fees that
can be confusing, complicated
and time-consuming.
He wants to cut the red
tape around access to public
lands to encourage outdoor
recreation, giving an eco-
nomic boost to surrounding
communities.
The Recreation Not Red
Tape Act, co-sponsored with
U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah,
requires the Forest Service and
the Bureau of Land Manage-
ment to review their permitting
processes with an eye toward
minimizing costs and process-
ing times, and create educa-
tional materials to help people
applying for permits.
The Public Employees
Retirement Systems Board cur-
rently assumes its investments
will earn 7.5 percent annually.
Market experts have said that
is a gross overestimate that
does not reflect the real size
of today’s underfunded pub-
lic pension system and it min-
imizes required contributions
from government employers.
The state’s actuary, Milliman
Inc., estimates the board will
make a 6.7 percent earning on
its investments over the next
two decades.
The board has voiced its
intention of lowering the rate,
but it is unclear by how much
the rate will be lowered. Board
member and Eugene business-
man John Thomas said should
the board vote for a rate higher
than what is being recom-
mended “we better have some
very specific reasons and meth-
odologies to back that up. I per-
sonally don’t see where those
changes would be.”
Some employers sup-
port cutting employee bene-
fits that they say are too gen-
erous as an alternative solution
— in addition to lowering the
assumptions.
“If they’re trying to cover
someone politically, stop it,”
said Jim Green, deputy exec-
utive director of the Oregon
School Boards Association.
“The system needs to be looked
at and reformed, and keeping
the assumed rate high, or using
rate collars is just allowing pol-
icymakers at the state level to
say, ‘It’s really not that bad.’”
If the board does not lower
its assumption on Friday, Milli-
man has said it will flag the dis-
crepancy in its next report card
on the system. The action could
hurt Oregon’s credit rating.
Brownsmead man pleads not guilty
to sex abuse and drug charges
Indicted for
crimes against
a teenager
By JACK HEFFERNAN
The Daily Astorian
A Brownsmead man
accused of multiple sex
abuse and drug charges
against a teenager pleaded
not guilty Wednesday.
Greg Howard Smith, 50,
was indicted last week on
charges of luring a minor,
three-counts of first-degree
sodomy, first-degree sexual
penetration with a foreign
object, delivery of a con-
trolled substance to a minor
and furnishing alcohol to
a person under 21 years of
age.
He allegedly gave alco-
hol, marijuana and possi-
bly
other
drugs to a
16-year-old
boy earlier
this month.
While being
treated
at
C o l u m -
Greg
bia Memo-
Howard
rial Hospi-
Smith
tal, the boy
said he woke up to Smith
sexually abusing him inside
a camp trailer near the res-
idence at 42800 Fish Lane
where Smith was staying.
The boy had spent the previ-
ous night with Smith, whom
he described as a friend.
The Clatsop County Sher-
Clatsop Post 12
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Call Kerby
503-298-7835
Clatsop Post 12
1132 Exchange Street
325-5771
iff’s Office arrested Smith, a
registered sex offender, later
in the week. Also known as
Greg Tyrone Jesus, he pre-
viously was sentenced to six
years in prison in Columbia
County in 2006 after being
convicted of first-degree
sex abuse and second-de-
gree sodomy. A third-de-
gree rape charge in Clatsop
County that same year was
dismissed.
In a previous court appear-
ance, Smith used a profanity
to liken the charges against
him to bull feces. Circuit
Court Judge Paula Brownhill
warned him that he would be
held in contempt of court if
he used that language in fur-
ther proceedings.
Bail has been set at
$250,000, and an early res-
olution conference has been
scheduled for August.
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