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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 18, 2017)
7A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 2017 Guilty: ‘This is not about cannabis’ Continued from Page 1A would have meant a manda- tory prison sentence, before reaching a deal with the Dis- trict Attorney’s Office. They were sentenced today in Circuit Court to three years of probation after pleading guilty. “What makes it unusual is that to my knowledge this is the first time, in at least Oregon, and maybe in the United States, in which a legally permitted or licensed marijuana production facility — the people operating it — have been found guilty of a felony for injuries resulting from it,” Marquis said. Oei and West would serve 20 months in prison if either violate probation. Both men did not have any criminal his- tory before the explosion. Cir- cuit Court Judge Dawn McIn- tosh said the district attorney’s willingness to not ask for guar- anteed prison time, due to the lack of criminal history and because the fire was started accidentally, was unusual. West, 41, and Oei, 44, owned and operated Higher Level Concentrates, a mari- juana processor located in the basement underneath Sweet Relief Natural Medicine on the corner of Industry and Portway Streets in Uniontown. The October blast left West and Jacob Magley, a worker at the facility, with severe burns and the building in ruins. The reckless endangerment charges stem from the dan- ger caused to emergency per- sonnel working to contain the fire, Marquis said. Second- ary explosions occurred as fire personnel attempted to extin- guish the blaze. “This is not about cannabis. This is about a manufacturing process that is very danger- ous,” Marquis said. “Nobody believes they intended to do this but that they acted reck- lessly with a dangerous weapon, in this case butane.” West, Oei and Magley, who listened to the proceedings over the phone, declined to make statements to the court. Magley, who spent several weeks recovering in a Portland burn unit, is suing the two men in Multnomah County Cir- cuit Court for premises liabil- ity and violations of the Ore- gon Safe Employment Act. His attorney claims Oei was “dabbing,” inhaling the mari- juana smoke from butane hash oil pressed against a heated surface, while West was using butane to remove tetrahydro- cannabinol, or THC, from marijuana leaves. Butane vapors emitted from a cannister can quickly fill an enclosed space, where even a pilot light can cause a fire. Hundreds of previously punctured cannisters that con- tained butane were found during the fire investigation. The heat from Oei’s dabbing mixed with vapors emitted from the cannisters caused the explosion, Magley’s attorney claims. The lawsuit is ongoing in Multnomah County after a judge denied a motion to move the case back to Astoria. Marquis has been critical of the Oregon Health Author- ity for not inspecting licensed marijuana manufacturers, including Higher Level Con- centrates. The state Occu- pational Safety and Health Administration fined the com- pany $5,300 in April for work- place safety violations. Had the same incident occurred in a building in downtown Asto- ria, it could have started a mas- sive fire similar to the inferno that leveled the city in 1922, Marquis said. “That’s, frankly, indefen- sible,” Marquis said of the state’s lack of inspections before the explosion. Eclipse: Begins shortly after 9 a.m. Monday Continued from Page 1A expect there to be any out- ages due to overcapacity. “Full hotel rooms and campgrounds are something the company plans for,” the utility company said in a statement, “and there is no reason to believe power supply or equipment issues will surface.” For government agencies countywide, with the excep- tion of police departments, Monday will be “business as usual.” But law enforcement and transportation officials say traffic snarls could occur as people traveling toward central Oregon for the eclipse turn to the coast’s back routes to avoid traffic jams on major highways inland. Clatsop County Cir- cuit Court is shutting down on Monday from 9:45 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. due to “the expected high volume of traf- fic for the eclipse,” while Sun- set Empire Transportation Dis- trict has warned customers that some bus routes could be significantly delayed or can- celed if traffic is bad. The Ore- gon State Police office in War- renton plans to conduct extra patrols starting today and, on Monday, will have all hands on deck — patrol troopers as well as fish and wildlife enforcement. “Again, we don’t know exactly what’s going to occur,” Lt. Andrew Merila said, “or how bad it’s going to be.” ‘A major winter storm’ “We’re treating this like a major winter storm,” said Lou Torres, a Department of Trans- portation spokesman, and they are maneuvering resources into place. The big difference between the eclipse and a win- ter storm is that they have been anticipating this eclipse for almost a year, he explained. The department announced it is halting construction around the state over the weekend, and there will be no lane closures during the eclipse weekend on roads and bridges under- going maintenance work. This includes the Astoria Bridge, where crews are recoating the steel below the span. Merila thinks the big issues in Clatsop County will be the traffic before and after the event. U.S. Highway 30, for instance, could become an issue. It runs in a direct line from Portland to coastal high- ways and arteries that can take people south toward the path of totality. Similar scenarios Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Specialized glasses to pro- tect the eyes of those who choose to observe the total solar eclipse are in short supply on the North Coast. Experts are urging those who wish to observe the phenomenon to properly protect their eyes as the event can cause perma- nent damage. will likely play out on U.S. Highways 26 and 101, too. The Astoria Bridge is expected to be another pinch point because of people traveling from Wash- ington state. Fire is the other big worry. Dry, hot conditions and concerns about the sheer num- ber of people expected in the state prompted Oregon State Parks to ban all camp- fires, beach bonfires and open flames on property it owns or manages since Wednes- day. The ban includes Clatsop County and is in effect until after the eclipse. The local Oregon Depart- ment of Forestry office in Astoria has staged wildfire fighting crews at key points across the county so they can quickly respond to any threat of fire over the weekend. On Wednesday, in conjunction with other majority landown- ers in Clatsop County, the office announced it was clos- ing a gate on the east end of Pipeline Road to lessen the risk of fire. Dramatic Unlike people in Salem or Lincoln City, North Coast res- idents won’t witness a total solar eclipse or see that famous image: The moon, a black disc, outlined by the sun’s fiery corona hanging in a darkened sky. But what they could see from their viewing place of choice — whether that’s the Astoria Column, a boat on the Columbia River, or Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach — will still be dramatic. Beginning at about 9:06 a.m., the moon will start to move in front of the sun, whittling it down to a cres- cent and making the sky go dark at 10:18 a.m. The moon will completely block the sun for about two minutes and 40 seconds. As the moon passes, that crescent of sunlight will appear to swing to one side and then flip upside down, like a Cheshire Cat grin. Then, as the moon continues on its jour- ney, the sun will begin to reap- pear. The entire event will be over by 11:37 a.m. The North Coast last expe- rienced a total solar eclipse on Feb. 26, 1979 — also a Mon- day — and Astoria was in the path of totality then. But an article in The Daily Astorian before the event warned res- idents not to get too excited. The writer noted that since 1953, the date of Feb 26 in Astoria had been rain-free five times and cloud-free only four times. “And if the weather pat- tern of the last quarter-century holds true,” the writer con- cluded, “North Coast residents may get their best view of the event sitting in front of a tele- vision set.” On the day of the 1979 eclipse, Clatsop County was covered in clouds. Residents experienced the sudden plunge into darkness, but otherwise went about their lives as usual. A reporter noted children wait- ing, unimpressed, for their school bus. So far, people this time around are in luck. The fore- cast for Monday is partly cloudy skies, no rain and a high of 69 degrees. And those reports of ani- mals panicking because of the sudden plunge into nighttime darkness in the middle of the morning? Domestic animals and pets probably won’t notice a thing, scientists say. Birds are another story. “Stimulated by the dark- ness which set in about 8:13 a.m. to think that sunset was returning only minutes after dawn, sea gulls, crows and other feathered creatures cir- cled nervously in flocks and cawed noisily,” a Daily Astorian reporter wrote on Feb. 26, 1979. Where you’ll see it Crowds are expected on Clatsop County’s beaches and peaks. In Astoria, a number of locals shrugged when asked where they would go. “The Column?” they said. The Column was Astoria Parks and Recreation Director Angela Cosby’s first thought, too, and it is a spot particularly ripe for traffic jams, she said. “I would encourage people to walk up,” she said. “Use the Cathedral Tree trail!” The trail- head is located on Irving Ave- nue, east of 26th Street. Cosby also recommended the Astoria Riverwalk, which is specifically set up for pedes- trian traffic and which is able to provide many views of the early morning sun over the Columbia River. Local, state and national parks will hold viewings. At Lewis and Clark National Historical Park, Superinten- dent Jon Burpee plans to be at the south Netul Landing, past the park’s main entrance, and invites visitors who want a good view of the sky to join him there between 9:05 and 11:36 a.m. At Fort Stevens State Park, a ranger and volun- teer will be posted on the beach at the Peter Iredale shipwreck with a few glasses. On Sun- day night, the park will hold a “Fort Stevens Family Trivia: Eclipse Edition” in the camp- ground amphitheater at 7 p.m. What not to worry about NASA addresses a num- ber of misconceptions on web- pages dedicated entirely to the upcoming event, including the belief that if you are pregnant, watching the eclipse will harm your unborn baby. It won’t, but observatories report that this is a frequently asked question. Then there is the worry that eclipses produce some kind of extra radiation that will poison any food prepared during the event. Again, no. Are eclipses harbingers of some kind of doom? Nope, that’s just confirmation bias, NASA says, meaning “we tend to remember all the occasions on which two things happened together, but forget all of the other times when they did not. … Total solar eclipses are not often recorded in the historical record, but they do tend to be recorded when they coincide with other historical events.” Schools: ‘Short of an economic downturn, I see funding increasing’ Continued from Page 1A teacher since drastic budget cuts several years ago. The district’s answer is to add a part-time, Measure 98-funded counselor to work with eighth- and ninth-grad- ers who will spend the other part of their time as a dis- trict-funded foreign lan- guage high school teacher. The school district is also adding a math and science instructor out of its own bud- get to free up another to teach more technology and science classes aided by Measure 98. Astoria Superinten- dent Craig Hoppes said the school district is using Mea- sure 98 funding for a smat- tering of efforts. The district is adding a social worker to interface with families, increasing a middle school counselor from part time to full time, starting a pro- gram to help middle-school- ers transition to high school, expanding college course and career-technical offerings, providing more professional development for staff, start- ing a robotics program and exploring a program to con- nect employers with students. Warrenton-Hammond Superintendent Mark Jeffery said that while his school district already does a good job of connecting kids with college courses, he wants to do more on vocational education. “We’re starting pretty much from ground zero with our career tech,” he said. “We have the high-tech in, but it’s our intent to develop … welding and some woods.” Jeffery said Measure 98 will help the district start a three- to five-year process of building a career-techni- cal center similar to what the Area Vocational Center in Miles Crossing used to offer students. “My vision for it would be to construct a facil- ity of some sort that would house everything from high- tech and welding to woods and autos,” Jeffery said. In South County, Super- intendent Sheila Roley in Seaside and Superintendent Alice Hunsaker in Jewell said they will invest their Mea- sure 98 funds in freshman advising and career-technical expansion. Funding floor Measure 98 passed last year with a nearly two-thirds majority. The measure was to provide $800 per student to help with expanding college courses, career-technical programs and dropout pre- vention, but did not identify a funding source. The state Legislature, facing a budget gap, was left to decide how much would be funded. “Initially, we thought we were only going to get $100 per student,” Johnson said. But by early June, she said, educators learned the funding would be set at $400 per student. The coun- ty’s five districts will receive about $726,000 in the com- ing school year, and around $755,000 in the 2018-19 school year, after which the Legislature must decide again on the funding level. Hoppes said he doesn’t see the money slipping for a measure with such clear sup- port from the public. “Short of an economic downturn, I see funding increasing,” Jeffery said. “Even in hard times, they found at least half the fund- ing. I think as the economy continues to improve and they find revenue streams, they’ll continue to increase funding.” Port: Candidate will be appointed after interviews Continued from Page 1A Pamela Wev, a land use planner and economic devel- opment consultant who moved to Astoria in 2014, wrote in her application that she was motivated to apply by a concern over negative publicity for the Port, a com- mitment to bring strategic thinking, the need for a fresh perspective and support for the staff. Russ Earl, a land devel- oper and former Clatsop County commissioner and Seaside planning commis- sioner, had applied to fill one of the vacancies left by Jack Bland and Ric Gert- tula when the two resigned within weeks of one another in 2014. The positions were eventually filled by Mushen and former Port Commis- sioner John Raichl. Ronald Meyer, 87, a retired machinist, inven- tor and designer of lighting and hospital equipment, said he has closely followed the financial difficulties of the county and the United States. The Daily Astorian Seven candidates have applied for a vacancy on the Port of Astoria Commission. TIMBERLANDS CLOSED DUE TO HIGH FIRE DANGER Lewis & Clark Timberlands are CLOSED as of August 1, 2017 to all public entry and will remain in effect until further notice. Expires 8/25/17 For up-to-date information please call our RECREATIONAL HOTLINE 503-738-6351 Ext. 2 TIMBERLANDS CLOSED