DailyAstorian.com // WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2017
145TH YEAR, NO. 23
ONE DOLLAR
Port poised to leave North Tongue Point
Hyak Maritime aims to build a full shipyard
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
Jim Knight
The Port of Astoria is looking to
leave North Tongue Point.
The Port Commission voted Tues-
day to send a letter asking landowner
Washington Development Co. to ter-
minate the agency’s remaining lease
fronting a channel of the Columbia
River and backed by a derelict rail
spur owned by Portland & Western
Railroad.
“Within the last few days, discus-
sions really fi nalized to the extent
that we’re bringing it to the commis-
sion tonight,” Port Executive Direc-
tor Jim Knight said.
The Port signed a 10-year lease
in November 2009 with an option to
and allow tug- and barge-builder
Hyak Maritime to negotiate the
purchase of the former U.S. Navy
base.
The agency has struggled to turn a
profi t on the World War II-era prop-
erty, which includes two large sea-
plane hangars, about 30 acres of
paved land and fi ve fi nger piers
buy or extend at the end of the ini-
tial term in 2019. Knight said the Port
originally had a vision of creating
jobs at North Tongue Point but has
seen a parade of unsuccessful devel-
opment proposals and a small amount
of business at the site. Port s taff have
said the agency loses about $250,000
annually on the property.
MORE
INSIDE
Port,
FEMA
far apart
on storm
damage
Page 5A
See PORT, Page 7A
Deviney
admits to
rape, sex
crimes
NEARLY A MILLION COHO, CHINOOK LIKELY UP RIVER
Allegedly nabbed
California girl in 2015
By JACK HEFFERNAN
The Daily Astorian
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Fishermen were off to an early start Tuesday morning from the Hammond Marina as the Buoy 10 recreational fishery on the Co-
lumbia River got under way. Early results from several fishermen returning with their catch indicated a good start to the season.
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
T
he Buoy 10 recreational retention
fi shery on the Columbia River
got off to a strong start Tuesday
morning.
By 10:30 a.m., fi shermen had only
brought back eight fi sh to the Hammond
Marina, according to Oregon Fish and
Wildlife employees at the docks, but two
of those salmon measured 36 inches long
and weighed in at well over 20 pounds.
Fishermen reported seeing dozens of
salmon in the water, especially on the
Washington state side near the Astoria
Bridge. Humpback whales also foraged
nearby, following runs of anchovies.
Fishing guide Tom Burgess of Bigulp
Guide Service said his fi rst clients of the
day caught their limit early. He even got a
chance to fi sh, as well.
“It’s a robust start,” he said. “I hope
it’s a sign of things to come.”
The opening days of the Buoy 10 fi sh-
ery, which runs from the mouth of the
Columbia River to Tongue Point, can
start off with a bang, but sometimes slow
down before building up toward the mid-
dle of the month. Records maintained by
the Washington Department of Fish and
Wildlife showed 58 boats on the water on
Aug . 1 last year. There were 137 anglers
trying for fi sh but only four Chinook kept.
By Aug . 13, there were 137 boats on the
Columbia River, 399 anglers and 70 Chi-
nook kept.
Chinook are usually the fi rst salmon
to make an appearance in the fi shery, fol-
lowed later in the month by coho.
“We’re not going to have those huge
numbers of fall Chinook we had in the
past up until last year,” said Ron Roler,
Columbia River fi shery manager with
the Washington Department of Fish and
Wildlife.
See FISHING, Page 7A
‘IT’S A ROBUST START.
I HOPE IT’S A SIGN OF THINGS TO COME.’
Tom Burgess | fi shing guide with Bigulp Guide Service
The man accused of kidnapping a Califor-
nia girl and leaving her in a car in Astoria in
2015 pleaded guilty Tuesday to fi rst-degree
rape and other sex charges.
Russell Wayne Deviney, 50, of Everett,
Washington, also pleaded guilty to fi rst-de-
gree unlawful sexual penetration, fi rst-degree
sodomy and using a child in a display of sex-
ually explicit conduct
after reaching an agree-
ment with the Clatsop
County District Attor-
ney’s Offi ce.
The plea agreement
includes a presumed
sentence ranging from
more than eight years
to more than 33 years in
prison. Clatsop County
Circuit Court Judge
Russell Wayne
Dawn McIntosh is
Deviney
scheduled to sentence
Deviney next week.
Deviney allegedly nabbed the 15-year-
old girl in Sanger, California, in May 2015.
The girl allegedly left her house in the mid-
dle of the night and entered a 2004 Nissan
pickup driven by Deviney, who had posed as
an 18-year-old man named James Russell and
communicated with her on Instagram.
He then allegedly drove the girl north
without letting her leave the car. Along the
way, he raped her at a rest stop somewhere
in Oregon and took pictures of her perform-
ing sex acts. After being contacted by police,
Deviney parked the truck at McDonald’s in
Astoria and fl ed. Police located him south of
Cannon Beach a couple of days later.
When Deviney subtly, but repeatedly,
shook his head and rolled his eyes Tuesday
afternoon before pleading guilty to the four
charges, it marked the end of a more than two-
year legal battle. Deviney originally was also
charged with fi rst-degree kidnapping, three
counts of fi rst-degree sexual abuse and sec-
ond counts of the four charges for which he
pleaded guilty.
Requests for text messages on Deviney’s
phone and video surveillance from a Walm art
in Salem were among the factors that led to
numerous motions — and delays — in the case.
Federal prosecutors, who were consider-
ing charges because of the FBI’s involvement
in the investigation, have agreed not to pursue
further charges.
Weed rule leads to ‘unintended consequences’
Cannon Beach MORE INSIDE
Astoria Warming Center
votes to keep
decision delayed
Page 2A
pot out of
Dollar General under
in Astoria
mixed facilities scrutiny
Page 3A
By BRENNA VISSER
The Daily Astorian
CANNON BEACH — In a
3-2 vote, the City Council on
Tuesday affi rmed an ordinance
that forbids marijuana retailers
from moving into buildings
that house both residences and
businesses.
The issue came up after
Matt Ennis, a resident at 140
S. Hemlock, told city council-
ors at a July meeting that his
landlord planned to evict him
to rent the commercial space
under him to marijuana retailer
Five Zero Trees.
Changing the ordinance
would have allowed marijuana
stores to apply for permits in
buildings that also have resi-
dences, a setup that is common
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
In a 3-2 vote Tuesday night, the Cannon Beach City Coun-
cil decided retailers that sell marijuana cannot occupy
buildings that house both businesses and residences.
in downtown Cannon Beach.
The vote ensures that future
applications from marijuana
retailers will not be consid-
ered at mixed -use locations,
which follows the communi-
ty’s desire to keep marijuana
out of residential areas. The
vote also means the landlord
will likely evict the three ten-
ants living at 140 S. Hemlock
St. to comply with the ordi-
nance and allow Five Zero
Trees to rent the commercial
space below.
Ennis and the other two
tenants were not immediately
available for comment .
“This was a case of unin-
tended consequences,” City
C ouncilor Mike Benefi eld said
after the meeting.
See WEED RULE, Page 5A