DailyAstorian.com // TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2018
145TH YEAR, NO. 211
ONE DOLLAR
Oregon
adopts
new rules
for crab
Quality control on
the way to market
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
Harmful algal blooms complicated com-
mercial Dungeness crab seasons on the
Oregon Coast for the past three seasons,
threatening the viability of the state’s most
valuable fishery.
Now fishery managers and industry rep-
resentatives hope new rules will allow more
flexibility for where and how fishing clo-
sures occur when toxin levels spike, as well
as improve the state’s ability to track con-
taminated crab through the seafood market.
Traceability measures were put in place
on a temporary basis last December. The
Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission made
the rules permanent at a meeting Friday in
Astoria. The five commissioners present all
voted in favor of adopting the new rules,
though Commissioner Bruce Buckmaster of
Astoria said he did not want to inadvertently
penalize companies who already might have
efficient tracking systems in place.
He supported the “intent and efforts”
of the rules, though, saying, “It is of ben-
efit to the fishing fleet, it’s a benefit to the
processors.”
Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
James Long looks out over a restoration project on Commercial Street in downtown Astoria.
Long restoration ahead
for the Flavel Building
Couple involved in
an ambitious remodel
See RULES, Page 4A
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
L
Astoria schools
explore how to
pitch a bond
Poll of voters found
challenges ahead
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
Modernizing and rebuilding the class-
room wing at the 50-year-old Astoria Mid-
dle School was the highest priority in a needs
assessment for the Astoria School District.
But a survey of potential voters in a likely
November bond campaign found lackluster
support.
The Astoria School Board met Wednes-
day with state Sen. Rob Wagner, D-Lake
Oswego, a public relations consultant and
Lake Oswego School Board member. Wag-
ner cautioned the school board to be out in
the community educating voters about the
value of the school district and how a bond
would help.
“A lot of folks, even though they may
start in a place where they’re inclined to sup-
port you, they need to be reminded about
why, and also what” he said.
The school district’s architectural con-
sultants have identified more than $83 mil-
lion in needed improvements at four schools,
including $46.6 million for the middle school
and $24.2 million at Astoria High School. A
committee has begun winnowing down the
ABOVE: James Long looks at historic photos of downtown Astoria which are
displayed in the windows of the Commercial Street location. BELOW: The lo-
cation used to contain a department store but has been vacant for decades.
ast summer, James and Lisa Long’s
dream came true when they sold a
rental house in Portland and pur-
chased the 94-year-old Flavel Building at
the southwest corner of Ninth and Com-
mercial streets. The building was the last
piece of real estate owned by the locally
famous Flavel family in downtown
Astoria.
“It’s a really nice building,” James
Long said. “We walked in and were like,
‘Wow. This is available?’”
The couple started by sealing the
roof and restoring the building’s brick
facade. Not much work was needed
to Drina Daisy, a popular local Bos-
nian restaurant the two frequent, and a
corner office space they are trying to rent
out.
Now James Long has begun a res-
toration of the building’s third and
largest storefront at 943 Commercial
St., a former clothing and department
store that historic restoration expert John
Goodenberger once described as “argu-
ably the most elegant commercial space
in town.”
The Flavel Building is the first
commercial
restoration
for
the
Portland-area residential contractor. His
wife, Lisa, is a real estate agent who
runs a property management com-
pany. He visits Astoria twice a week,
staying in an apartment building the
family owns. To enter the storefront,
he peels back the chicken wire fence
meant to dissuade loiterers from the large
alcove and glass display case, before lift-
ing sheets of plastic hung over the win-
dows to hide the inner storeroom from
passers-by.
See RESTORATION, Page 7A
See BOND, Page 7A
BOLI: ‘The most important race you’ve never heard of’
Ogden, Hoyle
vie for labor
commissioner
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
The campaign for Oregon
Bureau of Labor and Indus-
tries commissioner may be
“the most important race
you’ve never heard of,” said
Val Hoyle, a former state
House majority leader who is
seeking the office in the May
election.
The labor commissioner
oversees state workforce
development through certify-
MORE INSIDE
Local voters’ pamphlet
contains errors
Page 2A
Lou
Ogden
Val
Hoyle
ing apprenticeship programs
and sealing partnerships with
government and the private
sector. The position also is
charged with encouraging and
enforcing compliance with
wage and hour and civil rights
laws, such as equality in the
workplace, housing and pub-
lic accommodations.
Hoyle, who works as a pol-
icy fellow at the Wayne Morse
Center for Law and Politics at
the University of Oregon, is
pitted against Tualatin Mayor
Lou Ogden.
Union County Commis-
sioner Jack Howard also filed
for the office but did not sub-
mit the fee and paperwork
required to be included in the
voters’ pamphlet, which was
mailed out last week.
The winner of the May 15
election will succeed Brad
Avakian, who is not seeking
another four-year term.
Hoyle, who ran for secre-
tary of state in 2016, said if
elected as labor commissioner
she would use her connec-
tions in state government and
the private sector to make sure
that apprenticeship programs
are “feeding out the work-
force that the private sector
needs.” That involves foster-
ing strong relationships with
business and communicating
their needs to the state Leg-
islature and schools, she said.
“I would work to make
sure my door would be open,
and I facilitate that communi-
cation,” she said. “In the Leg-
islature, I do believe that was
my strongest suit. … I was
able to connect people from
different areas to get them to
understand that they had com-
mon interests.”
Ogden said he wants to put
the “I” (for industries) back
into BOLI, an area he criti-
cized Avakian for neglecting
during his tenure.
Instead of focusing on
heavy-handed enforcement,
he said he would seek to
pare down regulations and
work closer with industry to
develop the workforce.
He said he can expand
on his leadership success in
creating jobs in Tualatin and
See BOLI, Page 4A