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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2018
Hammond Marina loses out
on state money for dredging
Grant application
was denied
By KATIE
FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
WARRENTON — The
group steering development
of the Hammond Marina must
look elsewhere for money to
dredge the increasingly silted
property.
A grant application to the
Oregon State Marine Board
for dredging funds has been
denied,
Warrenton
City
Commissioner Pam Ackley
announced at a City Commis-
sion meeting Tuesday.
The city set aside some
money for dredging, but was
told the work — identified as
the top priority for the marina
— may cost as much as $1.3
million.
Grants and other funding
will be necessary to bridge the
gap. City Manager Linda Eng-
bretson said staff is looking at
a variety of options. Harbor-
master Jane Sweet said she is
now looking at smaller grants
available through the Ore-
gon Business Development
Department, also known as
Business Oregon.
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Warrenton has dredging concerns at the marina.
Either way, the city missed
the window for dredging the
marina before the busy sum-
mer fishing months on the
Columbia River. Hammond
is an especially popular spot
for anglers participating in the
Buoy 10 salmon fishery.
“We should have gotten it,”
Ackley said about the grant,
commending Sweet for her
hard work.
Ackley, who serves on the
Hammond Marina Task Force,
believes the fact that War-
renton does not yet own the
marina complicated the grant
application. Warrenton is still
waiting on a promised trans-
fer of ownership from the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers.
Corps representatives plan to
be on site today for an envi-
ronmental assessment, one of
several assessments required
before the agency will pass on
ownership to the city.
The Hammond Marina had
one of its best years in 2017,
hitting several revenue records,
and was on track to exceed its
budget thanks to camping and
launch fees alone. Behind the
success looms concerns about
what happens if Warrenton
can’t dredge the marina soon,
however.
Last year Ackley and Sweet
said they couldn’t wait for the
city to have full ownership
before dredging takes place.
Fishermen had reported that
at the docks there were some-
times only a couple of inches
of water under their boats at
low tide.
“If we don’t dredge that
marina, we’re not going to
have a marina to put boats in,”
Ackley said in March when
asked for an update on the
work. Dredging, she said, is the
“first and foremost thing that
we need to accomplish in order
to expand and do all the other
things we’d love to do there.”
An engineering firm is con-
tinuing to develop a feasibility
study for dredging. The marina
task force has until November
to update a master plan for the
site and hopes to have a com-
pleted feasibility study in hand
before then.
Governor signs ‘net neutrality’ rules
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
PORTLAND — Gov. Kate
Brown has signed into law
a bill requiring public bod-
ies to contract only with inter-
net providers that practice net
neutrality.
House Bill 4155 passed
both legislative chambers with
bipartisan support earlier this
year. The law is meant to dis-
courage broadband companies
from blocking, slowing down
or charging more for certain
content.
“I’m so pleased and very
proud that Oregon passed this
legislation due in part to the
voices of young people who
made their voices heard,”
Brown said before the signing
the bill at Mount Tabor Middle
School in Portland Monday.
The Federal Communica-
tions Commission repealed
a federal rule or universal
net neutrality in December.
The move prompted about 20
states, including Oregon, to
urgethe federal government to
restore the protections and for
dozens of states to consider
laws to counteract the decision.
Washington in March
became the first state in the
nation to enact statewide net
neutrality regulations that
make it illegal for broadband
providers to block or slow
down certain content, accord-
ing to the Washington Post.
The two new laws could
mark the beginning of patch-
work internet regulations
around the nation, the paper
reported.
Consult a
PROFESSIONAL
Q: Do you
service Apple
computers?
LEO FINZI
We are experienced with
Astorias A: making both software and
Best.com
hardware repairs on Macbooks.
Upgrades to macOS High
Sierra, startup problems, data
backup and restore, hard drive
Computers, $79.99 replacements, upgrades to Solid
to $1999.99, and State hard drives and memory
everything in
upgrades are all services we
between.
can provide Mac users. Have a
M-F 10-6 Sat . 11-4
77 11th Street, Suite H
question? Feel free to call. We
Astoria, OR
love to help.
503-325-2300
Q: I don’t drive any
longer, are you
able to come to
my home for an
appointment?
Steve Putman
Medicare Products
503-440-1076
Licensed in Oregon
and Washington
putmanagency@gmail.com
A: Yes, in fact most of my
appointments regarding
Medicare products take place in
the privacy of your own home.
With the latest technological
advancements of mobile devices
along with paper, information is
at our fingertips. And please, feel
free to invite a friend or a family
member to sit in on the meeting.
Q: Is it true that
Hughes-Ransom also
does pet cremations?
If so, what is the cost?
John R. Alcantara - Funeral Director
Governor’s Office
Gov. Kate Brown signs House Bill 4155 at Mt. Tabor Middle
School on Monday.
“We faced on this issue a
unique challenge of balancing
what we could do legally as a
state with something that actu-
ally would be effective in mov-
ing the policy forward,” state
House Majority Leader Jenni-
fer Williamson said Monday.
“I think this bill, House Bill
4155, will achieve that balance
with a perfect middle ground.
“The internet should create,
encourage and grow oppor-
tunities. It should allow us to
develop the potential of all of
our people.”
as a full-service mortuary &
A: Yes,
crematory, Hughes-Ransom will also
handle fi nal arrangements for the beloved family
pet. We do ask that you make arrangements
to bring your beloved pet to the crematory in
Astoria. Cremation costs depend on size/
weight of the animal, so it is recommended that
you call us to receive an accurate quote (the
median average is approximately $115.00) which
includes cremation and a plastic urn. While the
majority of requests are for cremation I have
Astoria: 576 12th St.
had the occasion to embalm a pet. Any inquiries
503.325.2535
Seaside: 220 N. Holladay about embalming a pet would best be addressed
directly with myself or our other licensed funeral
503.738.6622
www.hughes-ransom.com director in Seaside, Eric Anderson.
Hughes-
Ransom
Mortuary
Q: Does Medicare
cover chiropractic
care?
Brown backs Cleaner Air Oregon program
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
PORTLAND — Gov. Kate
Brown on Tuesday signed into
law a bill that assesses a fee
on industry to fund a program
designed to reveal health risks
posed by emissions from spe-
cific factories.
Brown proposed Cleaner
Air Oregon in Senate Bill 1541
as a response to the discovery
of toxic metals in Portland’s air
in 2016.
“Now communities will
know what they’re being
exposed to and what risks are
posed,” said state Rep. Karin
Power, D-Milwaukie, during
a speech asking lawmakers to
pass the bill in March.
The initial legislation would
have strengthened state regula-
tors’ authority to require indus-
try to reduce air pollution. But
in the interest of getting enough
votes to enact the new fee and
to give industry more predict-
able expectations on allowable
emissions, the bill’s proponents
said they had to agree to limit
the state’s authority to respond
to pollution.
The law authorizes the
Environmental Quality Com-
mission to adopt rules to dis-
cover and, on a limited basis,
address the public health risks
from emissions of toxic air
contaminants from individual
industrial sources and to estab-
lish a schedule of fees to cover
the cost of the program. The
law also calls for the commis-
sion to develop a pilot program
to assess the potential cumula-
tive health effects from emis-
sions from multiple sources.
Many lawmakers, includ-
ing House Speaker Tina Kotek,
D-Portland, expressed mixed
emotions about the ultimate
product. While Kotek voted for
the bill, she later wrote that the
compromise “undermined an
18-month public process that
brought together stakehold-
ers from all sides of the issue”
to address the air toxics prob-
lem and propose the original
legislation.
She said the program
would still make “Oregon a
leader in air quality programs
nationwide.”
“Since
the
program
addresses both new and exist-
ing facilities, it provides stron-
ger protections than many air
toxics programs across the
country.”
The Capital Bureau is a col-
laboration between EO Media
Group and Pamplin Media
Group.
Report: Oregon off track on mentally ill prisoners
Isolation can
exacerbate
symptoms
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
PORTLAND — Inmates
with severe mental health con-
ditions at Oregon State Pen-
itentiary in Salem spend an
average of nearly 23 hours a
day in solitary confinement,
according to a report released
Tuesday by Disability Rights
Oregon.
The state in many cases
may be violating the inmates’
constitutional rights, the non-
profit advocacy group alleged.
Isolation can exacerbate
symptoms of mental illness,
including depression and anx-
iety, and many prison systems
around the nation have discon-
tinued the practice, said Eliza-
beth Seaberry, a spokeswoman
for the advocacy group.
The report recommends
that the Oregon Department of
Corrections end solitary con-
finement, transfer acutely men-
tally ill patients to a therapeu-
tic environment and improve
access to mental health care.
A Department of Correc-
tions spokeswoman did not
immediately return messages
Tuesday.
Oregon State Penitentiary
holds inmates from around the
state.
More than three dozen
men in the prison’s behavioral
health unit spent almost 23
hours a day confined to “dark,
cramped cells” during the final
quarter of 2017, the study
showed.
The progress report fol-
lows revelations by Disability
Rights Oregon two years ago
that about 40 male inmates in
the behavioral health unit were
kept in isolation and received
inadequate mental health care.
In some instances, prison staff
acted violently toward the
inmates, according to the advo-
cacy group.
In early 2016, Department
of Corrections leaders agreed
to take steps in the subsequent
four years to improve the con-
ditions for inmates in the spe-
cialized unit.
“The agreement strives to
reshape this unit to live up to
its original vision: an environ-
ment that’s safe for prisoners
and the prison staff who work
with them, where prisoners can
heal through effective treat-
ment for their mental health
conditions, and where their
intrinsic human dignity is safe-
guarded,” said Joel Greenberg,
report author and staff attorney
with Disability Rights Oregon.
Tuesday’s report marks
the midpoint of that four-year
improvement plan.
Disability Rights Oregon
alleged that the corrections
department is failing to ensure
that inmates with mental health
conditions are released from
their cells for a minimum of 20
hours a week. That number is
the minimum to protect inmates
with mental health conditions
from “cruel and unusual pun-
ishment” as defined by the
Eighth Amendment.
“Unless there is a dramatic
shift, DOC is unlikely to meet
the goals it agreed to within the
timeframe,” Greenberg said.
The Capital Bureau is a col-
laboration between EO Media
Group and Pamplin Media
Group.
WANTED
Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber
Northwest Hardwoods • Longview, WA
Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500
ASTORIA
it does! Medicare
A: Yes,
covers chiropractic
503-325-3311
services. If you have
secondary insurance, that
can help as well!
Call us today for more
information or to schedule
your appointment.
2935 Marine Drive
Astoria, Oregon
Now accepting new
patients.
CHIROPRACTIC
Barry Sears, D.C.
Q: Why don’t my
dentures fi t
anymore?
teeth are lost the gum and
A: Once
bone have a tendency to shrink and
JEFFREY M. LEINASSAR
DMD, FAGD
503/325-0310
1414 MARINE DRIVE,
ASTORIA
www.smileastoria.com
recede. Just like a leg in a cast for several
months getting no stimulation, then
removing the cast and seeing a withered
leg, the dental jaw bone is stimulated by
the function of the teeth and the forces
of chewing. When teeth are removed
this stimulation is lost and for many
denture wearers the bone will shrink
resulting in a change of bone volume
and a stable denture fi t. If your situation
does require loss of teeth or you now
have dentures ask about dental implants
which can help support dentures and
minimize loss of bone volume. Please
contact our offi ce at 503-325-0310 for an
evaluation.
Q: Do you offer
classes on
raising poultry?
A: Yes! Thursday, April 12 at 6pm
BRIM’S
Farm & Garden
34963 Hwy. 101 Business
Astoria • 503-325-1562
For beautiful gardens
& healthy animals
www.brimsfarmngarden.com
we will host our free Purina
‘Flock Talk’ at our store for every-
one interested in backyard poultry
projects. Learn about best manage-
ment practices from chick to retire-
ment stage. Mark Silva will present
feeds for your birds, Kathrine Kahl
will talk about care in raising birds
and Daniel Lacey will cover unusu-
al and popular breeds.