WILDFIRES RAVAGE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA WITH SHOCKING SPEED PAGE 4A
DailyAstorian.com // TUESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2017
145TH YEAR, NO. 72
FIRST GYMNASTICS GYM ON NORTH COAST IN A DECADE
GYMNASTICS BRINGS
FORMER LUM’S TO LIFE
ONE DOLLAR
Driver in
fatal Seaside
crash faces
more charges
Ten felonies and
one misdemeanor
By JACK HEFFERNAN
The Daily Astorian
Corrissa Barnett has been indicted on
additional assault charges after allegedly
crashing an SUV into a Seaside bus stop
shelter in late September, killing one man
and critically injuring another.
Barnett now faces 10 felony charges —
first-degree
manslaugh-
ter, second-degree assault,
three counts of third-de-
gree assault, fourth-de-
gree assault, strangulation
and three counts of failure
to perform the duties of a
driver. She is also charged
Corrissa
with misdemeanor driv-
Barnett
ing under the influence of
intoxicants. She pleaded
not guilty to the charges Monday in Circuit
Court.
The incident took place about 9 p.m.
when Seaside Police responded to a dis-
turbance call at a residence. A woman was
reportedly being assaulted with two minor
children present at the home.
See BARNETT, Page 7A
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Students at the Infinity Gymnastics Academy in Astoria practice on the balance beam on Monday.
a possible housing development, had
most recently played host to the Clatsop
County Sheriff’s Office’s parole and pro-
bation division.
“It’s just a good fit,” John Toyooka
said of Infinity, lauding the exercise and
social interaction inherent in gymnastics.
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
A
former Astoria auto dealership is
getting a new life as home to the
region’s only gymnastics program.
Nancy Taylor, a former high school
dance coach, recently opened Infin-
ity Gymnastics Academy in the former
Lum’s Auto Center at 16th and Exchange
streets.
Taylor had been helping teach a
weekly, two month gymnastics circuit in
the Seaside School District with physical
education teacher Brian Sigler.
“Every time, we were just always
talking about how we couldn’t believe
there was no gymnastics anywhere
around here,” she said. “And the kids
loved it when we had our little circuit in
PE, but they had nowhere else to go to do
it. That was it, for two months … one day
a week.”
The closest gymnastics programs
besides Infinity are in Hillsboro and Rain-
ier. There had not been a gymnastics gym
on the North Coast for more than a decade
when Taylor, an experienced instructor in
piano, dance, gymnastics and CrossFit,
decided last year to put the word out. She
sent flyers to local schools before holding
an open house at Valhalla Combat mar-
tial arts academy in Gearhart to gauge
interest.
“I had 250 kids, so that was my sign,”
she said.
After holding a summer camp in
Gearhart, she started Infinity Gymnas-
tics on the basketball courts of the Astoria
Armory in January. The space was a good
‘We will miss
you Robert’
Seaside crash victim
remembered with sign
Community gymnastics
Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian
Gymnastics instructor Doug Old-
ham, left, leads Monica Olivar
through a back flip off a high beam
at Infinity Gymnastics Academy with
assistant instructor Tayler Feldman
looking on.
stepping stone, but she needed a dedicated
space her bulky and expensive equipment
wouldn’t have to set up and torn down.
One of Taylor’s students was the
daughter of John and Lori Lum Toyooka,
whose family runs Lum’s Auto Center
and owns their former dealership across
Exchange Street from the Armory. The
building, once rumored to be a part of
Infinity is a nonprofit overseen by a
five-member board meeting quarterly.
Taylor learned about the model when
coaching for Riverside Gymnastics Sports
& Arts in The Dalles.
“They were able to cater to so many
more kids and have them be a part of their
program because of that,” Taylor said.
Infinity offers baby to teen classes,
along with tumbling, cheerleading and a
special needs program for students with
disabilities. The school has two students
on scholarship but is pursuing grants to
add more subsidized slots and help cover
operating costs.
Four adult coaches and four assistants
from local high schools lead kids through
classes in padded beginner rooms and, for
the more advanced pupils, a harder, higher
set of bars, beams and a trampoline in an
adjacent concrete-floored gym. Doug
Oldham, one of the adult coaches, used
to lead competitive gymnastics teams in
Alaska, but said he was also drawn to the
recreational side and how it can help kids.
“It’s the smiles on the kids’ faces
when they accomplish something they’ve
worked so hard to do,” he said. “It’s about
self-motivation.”
By R.J. MARX
The Daily Astorian
SEASIDE — Outside Gorilla Gas on
U.S. Highway 101, a sign reads: “We will
miss you Robert.”
Robert Miles, 42, of Hammond, was
killed in late September when an SUV
crashed into a bus stop shelter near McDon-
ald’s restaurant in Seaside. Abdirisak
Mohamed, 41, of Longview, Washington,
was critically injured.
Gorilla Gas attendant Jesse Jones remem-
bered Miles as “one of our regular customers
at our store here.”
See MILES, Page 7A
See GYM, Page 7A
R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian
A sign in Seaside honors Robert Miles.
State prison population declining from new programs
Economists say
new law already
made an impact
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
‘WE KNOW THAT ADDICTION
AND MENTAL ILLNESS ARE THE
PRIMARY CONTRIBUTORS TO MANY
DRUG AND PROPERTY CRIMES.’
Andy Ko | executive director of Partnership for Safety and Justice
SALEM — Oregon’s prison popu-
lation in the next decade is forecast to
be 11 percent less than previously pro-
jected, largely due to a law passed ear-
lier this year, according to a report by
the state Office of Economic Analysis.
The Oregon Safety and Savings Act
came out of state legislators’ desire to
avoid having to open a second wom-
en’s prison in the state.
The programs are “just in the forma-
tive stages and data do not exist to pro-
duce reasonable estimates. However,
these programs are impacting intakes
already, and as such are having an
impact on prison usages,” state econo-
mists wrote.
Opening the second prison would
have cost the state nearly $10 million at
a time when state legislators were fac-
ing a $1.4 billion revenue deficit. The
Oregon Emergency Board in Decem-
ber denied a request from the Depart-
ment of Corrections to fund the second
prison.
Instead, lawmakers and the non-
profit Partnership for Safety and
Justice crafted bills aimed specifi-
cally at reducing the female prison
population.
Gov. Kate Brown signed the act into
law in August.
The new law made three changes
to curtail the number of women pris-
oners. It expands the eligibility crite-
ria for the Family Sentencing Alterna-
tive Pilot Program so more parents can
participate, and also increases the limit
for a supportive early-release program,
known as short-term transitional leave,
from 90 to 120 days.
Finally, it decreases sentences for
first-degree theft and identity theft,
from 18 months down to 13 months,
while adding more community super-
vision. Lawmakers targeted those two
crimes to reduce the number of women
inmates. Women are statistically more
likely to commit property crimes than
violent crimes and are often driven by
drug addiction.
See PRISON, Page 4A