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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (April 26, 2018)
COAST WEEKEND: CRAB, SEAFOOD & WINE FESTIVAL INSIDE DailyAstorian.com // THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2018 145TH YEAR, NO. 213 ONE DOLLAR County manager strikes back over commissioner comments New examples of infighting revealed By JACK HEFFERNAN The Daily Astorian Clatsop County Man- ager Cameron Moore will not attend Board of Commission- Kathleen Sullivan Lianne Thompson ers meetings, citing repeated public criticism from Commis- sioners Lianne Thompson and Kathleen Sullivan. The county manager has also threatened legal action, according to sources familiar with the issue. Moore was not at Wednes- day’s meeting. Commissioner Scott Lee, the board’s chair- man, read aloud correspon- dence between Moore and commissioners in which the county manager said he would not attend “for the foreseeable future.” “As we discussed last Thursday I unfortunately find myself in the position of having to take steps to pro- tect myself from the abusive and hostile work environ- ment being imposed upon me by Commissioners Thompson and Sullivan. One of the pri- Seaside quarry changes hands mary weapons that they use against me is to make me their verbal punching bag at board of county commissioner meet- ings,” the email sent Wednes- day morning and addressed to Lee and other county officials read. “It is extremely unfortu- nate that this is the situation that I find myself in but based on our discussion I know that you understand my need to By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian A $5 million deal By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian EASIDE — The Teevin & Fischer Quarry in Seaside has been sold to North Dako- ta-based Knife River Corp. for $5 million. “We are excited to expand into the Northwest Oregon market and S are happy to welcome Teevin & Fischer to Knife River,” David C. Barney, Knife River’s president and CEO, said in a release. “We have extensive operations in Ore- gon, and this acquisition is a great strategic fit for us. It also signals that Knife River is in growth mode. Our company was built on strate- gic acquisitions, and we are look- ing forward to completing more deals in the right markets.” Knife River, one of the largest construction material producers in the United States, is a subsidiary of publicly traded MDU Resources Group Inc., based in North Dakota. The company has numerous loca- tions throughout Oregon, including nearly 10 other quarries. Local timber and mining magnate Shawn Teevin and See QUARRY, Page 7A Jacob Magley, a construc- tion worker injured in an explosion and fire at an Asto- ria marijuana production facility in 2016, has settled a lawsuit over the blast. Jonah Flynn, an attorney from Atlanta hired to repre- sent Magley, said the par- ties reached a confidential settlement. Magley was a contrac- tor working in the basement of a building leased by Wil- liam “Chris” West and Jason Oei for growing marijuana and manufacturing butane hash oil at the corner of Port- way and Industry streets By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Daily Astorian The Daily Astorian See MOORE, Page 7A in Uniontown. A flash fire ignited from odorless butane gas in the air blew him back- wards and badly burned his hands and face, Magley’s attorneys claimed. Magley sued Oei, West and three of their companies in Multnomah County Cir- cuit Court for $8.9 million. He claimed the two had been dabbing, a method of vapor- izing concentrated marijuana with an open heat source, while making hash oil in an open-ended system. Magley’s suit named sev- eral others involved in the property. The building, still a burned-out shell, is owned by Richard Delphia, who was named a co-defendant along with several of his companies. Sweet Relief, a downtown Astoria marijuana store, subleased space in the upstairs of the building for a See LAWSUIT, Page 7A Astoria parks budget on stronger ground Spending plan a ‘truth check’ The 45-acre quarry south of Seaside has been sold to Knife River Corp. take whatever actions are nec- essary to protect myself from further damage.” Lawsuit settled over explosion at pot processor Attorney knocks state regulators A Knife River Corp. truck sits in front of a gravel pile at the newly acquired Teevin & Fischer Quarry in Seaside. Cameron Moore Last year, the Astoria Parks and Recreation Depart- ment was in trouble. Programs were slashed. City leaders worried about losing key staff. There were even talks about closing the Astoria Aquatic Center. This year, some pro- grams that were cut to save money are still off the table, but community groups have stepped up to fund events. There are agreements in place, or in process, with volunteers to take over maintenance at several city parks. A City Council deci- sion to increase the lodging tax and funnel the money to parks provided room to breathe. On Tuesday, city staff pre- sented the budget committee with what they believe is the first parks budget to repre- sent the true costs of running the department. See PARKS, Page 5A Raising the Lihue II Tuna troller exhumed from watery grave By NATALIE ST. JOHN Chinook Observer ILWACO, Wash. — It takes a village to raise a boat. Last week, dozens of work- ers arrived by truck, boat and barge to help remove a derelict 79-year-old tuna troller from the Port of Ilwaco marina. The Lihue II was more or less an orphan. The owner abandoned it at the port, where it sank during a Novem- ber storm. Fast action by port employees, the Coast Guard and environmental agencies kept the boat from spilling much oil, but Port Manager Guy Glenn Jr. still had to fig- ure out what to do. With help from the state Department of Natural Resources derelict vessel pro- gram, Glenn gained legal cus- tody of the boat, and arranged to have Global Diving and Sal- vage, a Seattle company that has done a lot of work for the state, remove it. Getting rid of an old boat isn’t cheap — Glenn said it cost about $188,000. While the derelict vessel program will See LIHUE II, Page 5A Natalie St. John/Chinook Observer Workers supervised as a crane operator lowered the Lihue onto the barge. Global Diving and Salvage checked the boat for toxic waste, salvaged steel components and then sent the rest of the boat to a landfill.
