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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (March 5, 2018)
SEASIDE BLASTS GLADSTONE, HEADS TO STATE TOURNEY DailyAstorian.com // MONDAY, MARCH 5, 2018 145TH YEAR, NO. 175 SPORTS 10A ONE DOLLAR Legislature adjourns short session with a cooperative tone Several bipartisan policy decisions By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau SALEM — Oregon legis- lative leaders Saturday cele- brated a 28-day policymak- ing session marked by some bipartisan legislation. Democratic leaders launched the session Feb. 5 with lofty ambitions of universal health care and a cap-and-invest program. Adjourning Saturday law- makers left the state Capitol having passed smaller pol- icy advancements with con- sensus from the Republican minority in many instances. “This session surprised me,” said state Senate Pres- ident Peter Courtney, D-Sa- lem. “I was worried that we were overcommitted, doing too much, but we just adjourned eight days before the constitutional deadline.” Lawmakers made a fix to the state’s domestic violence gun laws, passed some mea- sures to push back on Trump administration policies and made changes to help fund affordable housing and shed light on pharmaceutical drug prices. The Legislature’s short session — held in even-num- bered years — was sold to voters in 2010 as a time to fix laws and adjust the state budget. In 2016, the Legis- lature used the short session to pass major policies such as an increase in minimum wage and limits on the use of coal power. This time, lawmakers showed restraint as many of them prepared for re-elec- tion bids this year. The filing deadline for the May 15 pri- mary is Tuesday. See SESSION, Page 7A Oregon Republicans downplay Trump, tout the issues President should not be the focus of state races, some say By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE Capital Bureau SALEM — Republi- can gubernatorial candidate Jeff Smith claims he’s got a winning strategy, one that he’s willing to share with his competitors: Don’t talk about President Donald Trump. “I am working hard to convince them that the issue is not Donald Trump,” Smith said, standing in front of his booth at the 54th annual Dorchester Conference, the annual gathering of Ore- gon Republicans, in Salem on Saturday. “The issue is winning.” Although Smith is less- er-known among the broad bench of Republicans seek- ing the GOP nomination for governor, he’s confident enough that he says he bet the campaign manager for fellow candidate Sam Car- penter — whose slogan is “Make Oregon Great Again” Claire Withycombe/Capital Bureau Former Trump campaign adviser and self-styled provocateur Roger Stone was the headline speaker at Saturday’s Dorchester Conference in Salem. He is shown with a confer- ence attendee. — $100 that he beats Car- penter in the primary. “Should I make it $1,000?” he asked a reporter. Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Eric Owen and Brooke Watkins with the Haystack Rock Awareness Program examine a dead bird during a survey near Cannon Beach. ‘Part of a bigger picture’ Citizen science programs integral to supporting coastal research By BRENNA VISSER The Daily Astorian C ANNON BEACH — On a misty Friday morning, Eric Owen and Brooke Watkins of the Haystack Rock Aware- ness Program scanned the beach in search of dead birds. For the most part it’s a quiet, slow endeavor, marked by long gazes into driftwood piles and debris. But when they found a northern fulmar — a common seabird — they began to identify feet, measure wingspans and take photos. This monthly ritual is a part of the COASST survey, a program that relies on data taken by volunteers to study large-scale patterns in seabird populations on the West Coast. The Haystack Rock Awareness Program conducts similar surveys for sea stars and marine debris throughout the year. Surveys like these play a small part in a growing trend in the sci- ence community to use citizen sci- entists as a way to gather massive amounts of data. Over the weekend, marine scientists and conservation- ists came to Cannon Beach for an annual Coast Conference, a region- wide event to discuss coastal sci- ence and stewardship. Whether the presentation was about ocean debris, marine mam- mals, seabirds or ocean jellies, many relied on the data collection work of volunteers throughout the state. A database for citizen science programs called Citsci.org, which recorded only a few dozen groups 10 Eric Owen measures the wing of a dead bird during a survey. Volunteers with the Haystack Rock Awareness Program recently conducted a survey of dead seabirds near Cannon Beach. years ago, now has more than 500 groups registered across the country, with new ones registering every day. Owen, the citizen science coor- dinator for Haystack Rock Aware- ness Program, said it’s invaluable to feel like being “a part of a big- ger picture.” See SCIENCE, Page 7A See GOP, Page 5A New curator contextualizes county history Vaughn helps bring region’s history to life By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian helsea Vaughn was already delving deep into the history of post-World War I pageantry for her doc- toral dissertation when a call came from an academic adviser that Clatsop County Historical Society needed a new curator. She joined a five-person staff at the historical society maintaining the Clatsop County C Heritage Museum, Oregon Film Museum, Flavel House Museum and Uppertown Fire- fighter’s Museum. From the Portland area, Vaughn earned her bachelor’s at Portland State University before attending the University of Cali- fornia, Riverside for her master’s and doctorate in museum work and public history. Her husband, Ryan Hume, teaches writing at Clatsop Community Col- lege, and her daughter attends John Jacob Astor Elementary. Vaughn became interested in history, the stories people have to tell and how those are conveyed to the public. “Most people actually get their history from museums or other historic sites, rather than the classroom, at this point,” she said. As a costumer, Vaughn has always enjoyed working with physical objects, she said. She maintains and catalogs arti- facts coming into the histori- cal society, many from historic Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian See VAUGHN, Page 5A Chelsea Vaughn is the new curator for the Clatsop County Historical Society.