CHOOSING TO LIVE WEEKEND BREAK • INSIDE
145TH YEAR, NO. 85
GIVING BACK
A GUIDE TO MAKING
A DIFFERENCE • INSIDE
ONE DOLLAR
WEEKEND EDITION // FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2017
JUSTICE REINVESTMENT
County uses new tools for pretrial release
Data-driven
screening of
defendants
By DERRICK DePLEDGE
The Daily Astorian
On another day, Kyle Long would
have probably stayed in jail.
The 24-year-old faced an escape
charge for allegedly running from
Warrenton police in May. His score
on a new risk assessment tool to help
judges decide whether defendants
should be released before trial was 95
out of 100.
Long could not keep a job because
of his drug abuse and had been living
on the streets of Portland.
But a pretrial release specialist rec-
ommended Long be freed — over the
objection of District Attorney Josh
Marquis — since his mother told his
probation officer her son could live
with her in Seaside before his next
date in Circuit Court.
“Tell me why I should let you
out of jail,” Judge Dawn McIntosh
asked Long at a hearing in early
October.
“Are you going to go live with
your mom if I let you out?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Long said. “I also
… I know this isn’t … it’s not a ‘poor
me’ story, but …”
“I don’t want you to talk about
anything that could be used against
you related to this crime,” the judge
said. “All I want to know is, if I let
you out will you go live with your
mother?
“Yes, ma’am,” Long said.
‘Presumed innocent’
Clatsop County’s 60-bed jail in
Astoria is chronically overcrowded.
KMUN HUMS A NEW TUNE
While the county explores whether
to renovate the former North Coast
Youth Correctional Facility in War-
renton into an expanded jail, the jail
commander and the courts have tried
to make more effective use of space.
Seventy percent of inmates at
the jail are awaiting trial, a figure
criminal justice experts consider too
high.
See COUNTY, Page 7A
Sea lions
battle
bacterial
disease
At least eight cases
confirmed on the coast
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Graham Nystrom makes some adjustments to equipment in one of the studios at Coast Community Radio in Astoria. He
is getting ready to assume new duties as general manager.
Rideout heads to news; Nystrom takes reins
By JACK HEFFERNAN
The Daily Astorian
C
oast Community Radio General
Manager Joanne Rideout is leav-
ing her position, but listeners will
begin to notice her deeper influence on
news content.
Seven years after taking over the orga-
nization and steering it out of choppy
financial waters, Rideout will become the
news director, a part-time position, begin-
ning in November.
Operations
Manager
Graham
Nystrom, a veteran technician who has
been with the station for 2 1/2 years, will
take her place. Kate Brewster, the former
news director, resigned over the summer
because of family issues.
“This is a big change for us,”
Rideout said. “I’m kind of worn out, but
I still really enjoy being part of the
station.”
See KMUN, Page 6A
A bacteria that can sicken dogs, livestock,
wildlife and people is showing up in sea lions
on beaches in Clatsop, Tillamook and Lin-
coln counties and elsewhere along the Ore-
gon Coast.
At least eight cases of leptospirosis have
been confirmed by Oregon State Universi-
ty’s Diagnostic Laboratory since the outbreak
began in late September.
The disease shows up sporadically in
marine mammals and was last seen in Oregon
in 2010. That was a significant outbreak and
coincided with a time of warmer waters and
changes in the food supply in California that
pushed both healthy and sick sea lions north
to Oregon in search of prey, said Julia Burco,
a veterinarian with the Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife.
“So far with this outbreak, it looks like
we’re having lower numbers than in 2010,”
Burco said, adding that the disease, when it
does occur in sea lions, usually peaks in the
fall.
See SEA LIONS, Page 7A
Joanne Rideout works the airwaves at Coast Community Radio in Astoria. She
will become the news director at the radio station beginning in November.
Oregon State University
A sea lion lays on the beach, sick with
leptospirosis.
City may lose parking spots
Intersection setbacks
governed by state rules
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
Downtown Astoria could lose 142 park-
ing spaces if the city finds it needs to comply
with a state law that requires setbacks at all
intersections.
City Engineer Jeff Harrington estimates com-
plying with an Oregon law that requires 20 feet
between a parking space and an intersection
would eliminate roughly 10 percent of parking
spots downtown.
Some intersections already have a setback
where fire hydrants are placed to allow for fire
engine access. However, few cities in Oregon,
including Salem, the state capital, appear to fol-
low the law, he said.
Parking is already a contentious issue down-
town, where spots are limited and become even
more scarce in the summer when tourist traffic
swells.
“We already face parking complaints on a
very regular basis,” said Sarah Lu Heath, execu-
tive director for the Astoria Downtown Historic
District Association.
Parking on some streets and parking lots
needs to be addressed, she added. Several build-
ings — empty or underutilized for many years
— on the west side of downtown are about to
house businesses again, and there is ongoing
development of the downtown core that will
increase the demand for parking.
“We cannot afford to lose those park-
ing spaces,” she said. “There isn’t anybody in
See PARKING, Page 7A
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Parking can be a challenge in downtown Astoria. A state
law requiring setbacks at intersections could cost the city
parking spaces.