145TH YEAR, NO. 186
ONE DOLLAR
DailyAstorian.com //
ONE
OF A
KIND
Seaside Aquarium
A sea star relative that looks nothing like what people are used to seeing clinging to tide pool rocks is now on display at the Seaside Aquarium. The basket star’s five arms branch
out into hundreds of tiny branchlets giving it a bizarre twiggy, plant-like appearance. Basket stars live in deep ocean waters, usually among rocks and coral on the ocean floor. They
use the hooks and spines that cover their arms to capture their prey.
Historic house on Alameda will come down
Preservationists were
divided on value
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
T
Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
ABOVE: A house at 347 Alameda St. in Astoria has been the source of a preservation debate. BELOW: A sign posted on
the house warns people to avoid the property.
‘I KNOW HOW DIFFICULT
THESE PROJECTS ARE. I’VE
BEEN THROUGH IT MYSELF.
IT’S NOT FUN, IT’S NOT EASY,
BUT IT’S WORTHWHILE.’
Doug Thompson | a volunteer with
the Lower Columbia Preservation Society
he owner of a 110-year old house
on Alameda Avenue has called the
neglected building a dead body, a
cadaver. Now, it’s going to be buried.
The Astoria City Council unanimously
approved Ted Osborn’s request to demol-
ish the large house-turned-apartments in
the Uniontown-Alameda National Regis-
ter Historic District. In January, Osborn’s
request was rejected after the Historic
Landmarks Commission ended in a grid-
lock vote of 3-3. Osborn, an architect and
former president of the Lower Columbia
Preservation Society, appealed the deci-
sion to the City Council.
A slow-moving landslide has kicked
the house off its foundation while years of
neglect have eaten away at the rest of the
structure, Osborn argued. He and his wife,
Wendy, who live in a home they built next
door, estimate rehabilitation costs could
soar above $690,000. The appraised value
of the property was $250,000 in 2017 and
is now $189,000, according to Osborn.
No one debated the fact that restor-
ing the building would be costly. But
City Planner Nancy Ferber noted in her
report that Osborn had not shown he
had exhausted all other options to either
reduce the cost of restoring the building or
fund the work through tools like tax cred-
its and grants. The City Council, however,
found that the repairs were too costly and
that the building was dangerous and of
questionable restoration value.
City Councilor Cindy Price wondered
what the city would gain from any resto-
ration. To recoup his costs, Osborn would
likely not be able to turn the building into
affordable housing, something the city
See HOUSE, Page 5A
Local legal experts skeptical of Trump’s
call for death penalty for drug pushers
Marquis, a
longtime death
penalty advocate,
opposes idea
By JACK HEFFERNAN
The Daily Astorian
While President Donald Trump’s
call to impose the death penalty in
severe drug trafficking cases has
reignited the national debate over
capital punishment, local legal
experts are skeptical.
As part of a plan to address the
opioid epidemic — announced
Monday in a speech in New Hamp-
shire — the president proposed that
penalties for drug traffickers be tough-
ened, especially when they cause
deaths.
“This isn’t about nice anymore,”
Trump said. “This is about winning a
very, very tough problem, and if we
don’t get very tough on these dealers,
it’s not going to happen folks. I want to
win this battle.”
See TRUMP, Page 5A
President
Donald Trump
spoke about his
plan to combat
opioid addiction
at Manchester
Community Col-
lege Monday in
New Hampshire.
AP Photo
Elise Amendola