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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2017
Port: Boat
pulled out to
prevent further
contamination
Continued from Page 1A
Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Theft from vehicles is a common occurrence during this time of year.
Theft wave: ‘We have a huge problem right now
with drug addiction and drug-related crimes’
Continued from Page 1A
‘Take junk’
In Redburn’s case, more
expensive items like a phone
charger, a tactical flashlight
and a bottle of cologne were
in the car. Instead, just two
cheap pocket knives were
gone.
“They passed up a whole
bunch of stuff to take junk,”
Redburn said.
Items police have recov-
ered include sunglasses,
phones, vaporizers, ciga-
rettes, change, hunting equip-
ment and ammunition. While
not certain what the motives
were, Workman said the
thieves may have been search-
ing for items that could be eas-
ily sold — and not identifiable
by the owner — in exchange
for drugs. He also believes the
people involved are locals.
“We have a huge problem
right now with drug addiction
and drug-related crimes,” he
said.
For Murray, the timing was
telling. His surveillance foot-
age revealed that the thefts
took place after 4:20 a.m.
Neighbors on the street start
bustling around 5 a.m. on
workdays.
“He had to have known
somehow,” Murray said.
“They must be career
criminals.”
Unnecessary risks
Seaside Police Lt. Bruce
Holt said thieves typically
avoid unnecessary risks.
Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian
Authorities in Warrenton say a recent spike in vehicle break-ins, which began in October
and continued into November, took place mostly at night.
“Opportunists usually see
something in the car and say,
‘Holy smokes, his door is
unlocked,’” Holt said.
As authorities continue to
investigate the theft wave, the
venue will likely switch from
residential neighborhoods to
shopping mall parking lots.
Thefts inside cars parked
near stores are an annual holi-
day tradition for law enforce-
ment. Workman said that
while unlawful car entries and
thefts typically rise this time
of year, he does not foresee
the recent spree becoming an
aggravating factor. The crim-
inals involved may have been
deterred by the recent arrest.
“I think it got out that we
were doing more patrols and
ramping things up,” Workman
said.
Nonetheless, police expect
thefts to rise again as people
leave holiday presents in their
cars, unlocked, and hurry
from shop to shop.
“People go shopping and
they’re ready to fill up their
cars,” Holt said. “If they’re
wrapped, it’s even more
intriguing.”
Whether at home or else-
where, police ask residents
to lock their doors and report
any suspicious activity.
For their part, the Mur-
rays are looking into install-
ing $600 worth of new secu-
rity cameras. It will mark their
third security camera upgrade
since moving to the area five
years ago.
Grant: ‘We’re looking to offer as much as we can’
Continued from Page 1A
Superintendent Mark Jef-
fery said the district is look-
ing at the possibility of a
40-by-80-foot building behind
the high school at a cost of
about $150,000 to $200,000.
“Theoretically, we’d like to
do it by next fall,” Jeffery said.
“But in my experience, that
might be an aggressive time
schedule.”
The school district will cou-
ple the career-readiness grant
with funds from Measure 98.
State voters last year approved
approximately $800 per stu-
dent to expand college and
career-technical offerings and
improve dropout prevention.
The measure received about
half of the money expected by
the state Legislature.
While the grant helps kick-
start the construction of the
Warrenton center, the school
district is also trying to certify
classes such as a student-run
hatchery on the Skipanon
River and graphic arts as offi-
cial career-technical educa-
tion programs, Jannusch said.
Certification involves getting
teachers the right qualifica-
tions and aligning classes with
postsecondary study such as
the fisheries technology pro-
gram at Mt. Hood Community
College. But the district can
get additional funding by get-
Port Executive Direc-
tor Jim Knight said the Port
needs to remove the ves-
sel or pay rent to tug- and
barge-builder Hyak Tongue
Point, which bought the for-
mer Navy base from Wash-
ington Development Co.
after the Port terminated its
lease.
The boat’s previous
owner was Thomas Lewis,
according to a Port property
seizure list. He came in sev-
eral years ago for repairs and
abandoned the vessel before
it began to sink in the night,
Knight said.
“The Port, I still would
say wisely, pulled that ves-
sel out of the water to pre-
vent any further contamina-
tion of the Columbia River,
which was at risk because
of the fluids still aboard the
vessel,” Knight said. “We,
at our expense, pulled it
out, tried to track down the
owner for compensation and
were unable to do that.”
The Port seized the
Recruit and tried to sell it,
but nobody was interested.
Ever since, the boat has sat
on stands on the tarmac.
The Port had a proposal
from an excavation com-
pany to tear the vessel apart
but didn’t initially realize it
would also need contrac-
tors to remove harmful sub-
stances such as dirty bilge
water and oil to avoid con-
taminating the site, Knight
said.
The cost of disposing of
the vessel adds to the $2 mil-
lion staff estimates the Port
has lost operating North
Tongue Point over the past
eight years.
Port Commission Presi-
dent Frank Spence pointed
out how Warrenton Marina
staff recently pulled out of
the water and demolished the
43-foot fishing boat Western
Skies. Port Operations Man-
ager Matt McGrath noted
that they were on dirt in
Warrenton, whereas North
Tongue Point is on asphalt
feeding into a stormwater
treatment system.
“With these contractors,
there are several of them
that can come out of Van-
couver and pump the flu-
ids out,” McGrath said. “We
can get the bilge water out
ourselves.”
Staff hopes to have new
proposals for demolish-
ing the boat by the next
Port Commission meeting,
Knight said.
The Daily Astorian
Josh Jannusch, center, has been with the Warrenton-Hammond School District for 15
years as a science and technology teacher, and was recently named a vice principal at
Warrenton High School.
ting students through approved
programs of study, he said.
The school district’s goal
is to start the new programs
next year, even if the building
isn’t finished, Jannusch said. A
$100,000 portion of the grant
will help the district expand
summer programs at the high
school.
“The hope is even next
summer (to) offer some sum-
mer programming around
(career-technical education),
whether it’s welding, manufac-
turing,” Jannusch said. “We’re
looking to offer as much as we
can here on campus.”
The 74-foot fishing boat Recruit was abandoned at
North Tongue Point several years ago and towed onto
land by the Port of Astoria after it sank.
Marijuana: ‘This is
a democracy. ... The
community has decided’
Continued from Page 1A
But according to Kabeise-
man, the statement of policy
in the comprehensive plan is
general, and does not identify
any particular uses that are
prohibited. None of the iden-
tified provisions mention or
discuss marijuana in any way.
The ordinance that spells out
where and how marijuana
shops can operate does not
violate the plan just because it
allows for marijuana facilities
to exist, he said.
“What I think would
improve quality of life
and what you think would
improve quality of life is not
necessarily going to mesh. I
love seafood restaurants, but
if you are allergic to seafood,
your quality of life would
be enhanced without them,”
Kabeiseman said. “The plan
says, ‘the fundamental prin-
ciple of the plan is to foster
a community with a strong
sense of place which pro-
vides its residents the qual-
ity of life that they desire.’
The plan requires city coun-
cilors to consider what qual-
ity of life means to the city.
The vote of the people is one
way they can see it, and Can-
non Beach voted to not pro-
hibit marijuana facilities.”
There were other points
Frei had made about the plan
the attorney did not address
in the memo. The fact Five
Zero Trees operates multi-
ple stores across Oregon,
Frei argues, conflicts with the
plan’s guideline to promote
“small-scale, family-owned”
businesses and the plan’s
goal to “encourage the provi-
sion of permanent housing in
downtown by providing zon-
ing incentives for mixed-use
structures which incorporate
housing.”
Kabeiseman said in
the interest of time he nar-
rowed down some of Frei’s
points in an effort to “cap-
ture the essence” of his con-
cerns about quality of life and
character.
But Frei disagrees with
Kabeiseman’s interpretation.
He still asserts issues with the
application process that led to
the eviction of three residents
should be enough for the city
to deny Five Zero Trees a
business license.
“When (the plan) was
written, they weren’t think-
ing of marijuana stores yet,”
Frei said.
Other than a sign per-
mit, Five Zero Trees has all
the appropriate permits to
operate, City Planner Mark
Barnes said.
City Councilor George
Vetter said because retail
marijuana legalization has
been voted on twice — once
statewide and again locally
— that the outcome of the
elections should be respected
as what the people want.
“This is a democracy,
even if the vote was won by
13 votes, the community has
decided,” Vetter said.
While city council-
ors reached a consensus to
not move forward with any
changes to the comprehen-
sive plan, Mayor Sam Steidel
said the exercise led him to
believe the city should con-
sider re-evaluating the com-
prehensive plan in its entirety
as part of next year’s strate-
gic planning — and to think
about marijuana retailers as
they do it.