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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2017
Court says Sweet
Cakes must pay fine
for refusing to bake
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
AP Photo/Rick Bowmer
A starfish clings to a rock near Haystack Rock in July 2010 during low tide in Cannon Beach. Starfish are making a come-
back on the West Coast, four years after a mysterious syndrome killed millions of them.
Starfish making comeback
after syndrome killed millions
Associated Press
NEWPORT
BEACH,
Calif. — Starfish are making a
comeback on the West Coast,
four years after a mysterious
syndrome killed millions of
them.
From 2013 to 2014, Sea
Star Wasting Syndrome hit sea
stars from British Columbia
to Mexico. The starfish would
develop lesions and then disin-
tegrate, their arms turning into
blobs of goo.
The cause is unclear but
researchers say it may be a
virus.
But now, the species is
rebounding. Sea stars are being
spotted in Southern Califor-
nia tide pools and elsewhere,
the Orange County Register
reported Tuesday.
“They are coming back, big
time,” Darryl Deleske, aquar-
ist for the Cabrillo Marine
Aquarium in Los Angeles, told
the newspaper.
“It’s a huge difference,”
Deleske said. “A couple of
years ago, you wouldn’t find
any. I dove all the way as far
as Canada, specifically look-
ing for sea stars, and found not
a single one.”
Similar die-offs of star-
fish on the West Coast were
reported in the 1970s, ‘80s and
‘90s, but the latest outbreak
was far larger and more wide-
spread, according to a report
by researchers at the Univer-
sity of Santa Cruz.
Beginning with ochre stars
off Washington state, the dis-
ease spread, killing off mottled
stars, leather stars, sunflower
stars, rainbows and six-armed
stars.
It hit Southern California
by December 2013.
“When it did (arrive), you
just started to see them melt
everywhere,” said Deleske.
“You’d see an arm here, an
arm there.”
The recovery has been
promising.
Four adult sea stars, each
about 7 to 8 inches long,
were spotted this month at
Crystal Cove State Park in
Newport Beach.
“It’s a treasure we always
hope to find,’ said Kaitlin
Magliano, education coor-
dinator at the Crystal Cove
Conservancy.
“We lost all of them,” she
said. “It’s good to see we have
some surviving and thriving
. Maybe the next generation
will be more resilient.”
The stars aren’t out of dan-
ger yet.
The wasting syndrome
never completely disappeared
in Northern and Central Cali-
fornia and it has reappeared in
the Salish Sea region of Wash-
ington state, according to a
November report by the Uni-
versity of Santa Cruz.
Suspect: Spent about 20 minutes in icy water
Continued from Page 1A
Officers did not follow
Erofeeff when he drove onto
a pier, but he continued and
launched the pickup off the
end into the Columbia before
exiting the vehicle. He swam
out a couple of hundred feet
into the frigid river. The Coast
Guard was called and prepared
a helicopter to rescue him,
but the mission was called off
when he swam back.
The pier was too high for
Erofeeff to be reached by
responders, who passed him
a life jacket and flotation ring.
Fishermen on the nearby ves-
sel Pacific Wind responded
to rescue him. Employees
from nearby shipwright WCT
Marine & Construction Inc.
Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian
Only an oil and gas sheen was visible Wednesday where a
suspect fleeing from police drove his truck off a dock into
the Columbia River.
pulled him out of the water
into a skiff and brought him to
shore.
All told, Erofeeff spent about
20 minutes in the icy water.
“I’m thankful the men from
WCT Marine and fishing ves-
sel (Pacific Wind) were there
and willing to help,” said
Deputy Astoria Police Chief
Eric Halverson. “Mr. Erofeeff
should be thankful too.”
Erofeeff was taken by
Medix Ambulance Service to
Columbia Memorial Hospital,
treated for hypothermia and
released to an officer.
He was eventually lodged
in the Clatsop County Jail
on charges of second-degree
criminal trespass, parole vio-
lation, interfering with a police
officer, attempt to elude a
police officer, reckless driving
and third-degree escape. He
has previous arrests in Clack-
amas County for burglary and
Deschutes County for theft.
A fuel sheen was visible
where Erofeeff entered the
water. The police have been in
contact with the Coast Guard
about retrieving the vehicle,
but have not formulated a plan
yet, Halverson said. Divers
were attempting to locate the
vehicle Thursday.
“It’s in the river for now,”
Halverson said.
Dogs: When leashes come off, the impulse control goes
Continued from Page 1A
Oregon
State
Parks
requires dogs be physically
restrained while hiking on
trails, unless the area is specif-
ically designated as off-leash.
That means an owner must be
holding them, holding onto
their collar, or have them on a
leash no longer than six feet.
Aside from getting lost,
leashing dogs also prevents
them from tangling with wild
animals or other people’s pets,
getting lost, ransacking camp-
ground garbage, damaging
plant life or being hit by a car,
Walkoski said.
While situations like this
are rare, staff offer many off-
leash warnings throughout all
of the state parks, and after
multiple warnings can issue a
fine of at least $110, Walkoski
said.
“We want to see all vis-
itors, including four-legged
kind, in the same good shape
they went out in,” Walkoski
said.
Stremming, a professional
dog trainer at The Cognitive
Canine in Seattle, chose to
walk Felix off-leash on the
hike, she said. If she were to
go back, she’d invest in a GPS
tracker that would have let her
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Felix the border collie was rescued Tuesday by the Sea-
side rope and rescue team.
know where he was sooner
and done more research about
the trail conditions.
“I knew there were out-
looks, but I wasn’t aware of
how close sheer cliff faces
were,” she said. “Had I
researched that more thor-
oughly, I would have kept him
closer on a leash.”
While Stremming was
aware of the rule, she stressed
the importance of what walk-
ing a dog off-leash can do for
their mental health, she said.
“The fact is, every other
dog I saw on the trail wasn’t
on a leash. Most don’t observe
the rule. They all happened
to be okay,” Stremming said.
“I know what people want to
hear me say is I’m going to
keep my dog religiously on
leash. But I will continue to
(go off-leash).”
She
recognizes
the
resources that were spent to
conduct the search and rescue
mission, and plans to make
“big donations” to Seaside
Fire and Rescue as well as
the Hamlet Fire Department
for contributing the drone that
helped locate her dog on the
rock face, she said.
“I know it wasn’t a safe
operation, and that’s why I
plan to give back,” she said.
To avoid similar situa-
tions, Cati Foss of Arnica-
dia Dog Training said hik-
ers should practice recalling
with their dogs and to check in
more often the usual. She also
suggested checking trail ter-
rain and weather conditions to
know what type of hazards to
expect.
“If you know there are
cliffs, check in more fre-
quently, so you aren’t running
into issues where they get
intent on smelling something
and get into situations where
they get stuck,” Foss said.
Foss recommends both
on-leash and off-leash train-
ing. Dogs are allowed to be
off-leash on Oregon beaches
as long as owners can exer-
cise “direct control,” accord-
ing to the Oregon State Parks
website.
“It’s an important skill set
to be able to maintain con-
trol and also walk on a leash
politely. A lot of dogs go on
their own when leash comes
off, and the impulse control
goes,” she said.
SALEM — Oregon’s
Court of Appeals has upheld
a decision to require the
owners of a Gresham bak-
ery to pay a lesbian cou-
ple $135,000 in damages
for refusing to make them a
wedding cake.
Sweet Cakes owners
Aaron and Melissa Klein’s
refusal to bake the cake for
Rachel and Laurel Bow-
man-Cryer in January 2013
made national headlines
and prompted Bureau of
Labor and Industries Com-
missioner Brad Avakian to
award the damages to for
emotional distress.
Today, the court affirmed
BOLI’s conclusion that the
Kleins violated the civil
rights of the couple and Ore-
gon’s law that businesses
not discriminate based on
sexual orientation, as well
as the associated damages.
“For the past 10 years,
the Oregon Equality Act of
2007 has protected Orego-
nians from unlawful dis-
crimination in housing,
employment and public
places,” Avakian said in a
statement. “Today’s ruling
sends a strong signal that
Oregon remains open to all.
“Within Oregon’s pub-
lic accommodations law is
the basic principle of human
decency that every person,
regardless of their sexual
orientation or gender iden-
tity, has the freedom to fully
participate in society.”
The court found that “the
record of the complainants’
emotional distress from the
denial of service was ade-
quate to support the dam-
ages award and that the
award was not inconsistent
with awards in other BOLI
enforcement actions.”
The court overturned
Avakian’s conclusion that
there was sufficient evi-
dence to show the Kleins
planned to continue the dis-
crimination, but the com-
missioner had awarded no
damages for that specific
violation.
The Kleins had appealed
the BOLI commissioner’s
decision, arguing that it vio-
lated their constitutional
right to free expression. It
was unclear Thursday morn-
ing whether the Kleins plan
to appeal the decision to the
Oregon Supreme Court.
The unanimous decision
of the Court of Appeals was
written by Judge Chris Gar-
rett and joined by Judges
Joel DeVore and Bronson
James.
The First Liberty Insti-
tute, which wrote a brief
in support of the Kleins,
was disappointed by the
ruling.
“Freedom of expression
for ourselves should require
freedom of expression for
others. Today, the Oregon
Court of Appeals decided
that Aaron and Melissa Klein
are not entitled to the Consti-
tution’s promises of religious
liberty and free speech,”
Kelly Shackelford, President
and CEO of First Liberty
Institute, says. “In a diverse
and pluralistic society, peo-
ple of good will should be
able to peacefully coexist
with different beliefs. We are
disappointed that the court
ruled against the Kleins.”
Family: Settled in Long
Beach because of slim
housing options in Astoria
Continued from Page 1A
the whole reason we moved
here is because the Goonies
house was closed.”
Mitch and Alethea, both
32, made the final deci-
sion in July and have lived
in the area since September
with their three children —
Ari, 8, Robin, 8, and Grif-
fin, 3 — and two dogs. Due
to the slim housing pickings
for a large family in Astoria,
they instead settled in Long
Beach, Washington — for
now.
The half-hour commute
did not stop them from con-
tinuing to explore Asto-
ria, though. When they first
arrived, the Eckhardts caught
a glimpse of the city in the
summertime and early fall.
The Texas natives immedi-
ately noticed how many peo-
ple in town, sporting smiles
and offering plenty of wel-
comes, wanted to take advan-
tage of the warm weather by
wandering about town.
“You have so many busi-
nesses close together that you
can just walk to each one on
the sidewalk,” Alethea said.
Mitch spends much of his
free time taking photographs
and making videos for Ref-
uge Media, a company he
started a few years back.
He launched a family blog
after his brother was incar-
cerated a couple years ago
so he could eventually catch
him up on his family’s lives.
Mitch has taken photographs
of locals and attached a brief
The Eckhardt family.
story of them in an Instagram
project called tellme.astoria.
“It’s been a really fun way
to get to know the people that
I photograph,” he said.
Continuing a hobby he
enjoyed in Texas, Mitch
is also by far the youngest
member of the Astoria Lion’s
Club, which he hopes to pro-
mote over the years.
“I was surprised to see
that our club was as small as
it is,” he said. “I want to be
here with dozens of people
keeping this club going.”
Alethea,
meanwhile,
plans to recapture her artis-
tic side. Since the move, she
has dabbled in calligraphy by
crafting hand signs for her
children’s schools.
“The artistic side of this
community has inspired me
to branch out a little more,”
she said.
Mitch is a financial con-
sultant at Thrivent Finan-
cial in Astoria, and Alethea
will soon work at Winder-
mere Real Estate as a cli-
ent relations specialist. They
would like to move across
the Columbia River within
five years.
“Eventually the goal is to
move closer to town where
we don’t have to commute as
much,” Alethea said.
Later in their working
lives, they hope to find a
home in the area with a view.
“I want us to be the
grandma and grandpa that
has that big house everyone
comes to for dinner,” Mitch
said.