DYNASTY
KNAPPA LOGGERS FINISH PERFECT SEASON,
CLAIM THIRD STATE 2A/1A BASEBALL TITLE
IN FOUR YEARS. SEE STORY, PAGE 10A.
The Knappa
Loggers
celebrate
winning
the state
championship
in Keizer.
Colin Murphey
The Daily Astorian
145TH YEAR, NO. 240
ONE DOLLAR
DailyAstorian.com //
FOUR DIE IN CRASH
ON US HIGHWAY 30
Judges dismiss
appeal against
new Walmart
Store opens
this month in
Warrenton
By EDWARD
STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
Clatskanie Chief
A fatal crash closed U.S. Highway 30 Friday morning.
Family from
Gig Harbor and
South Korea
The Daily Astorian
Four people were killed
Friday morning in a crash
that closed U.S. Highway 30
west of Bradley State Scenic
Viewpoint.
A Honda minivan with eight
people inside was westbound
and attempted a left turn onto
Shingle Mill Road near Clifton
Road into the path of a Ford
pickup truck towing an empty
horse trailer. The driver said
he was concerned that a large
commercial truck was going to
hit the van from behind, caus-
ing him to suddenly acceler-
ate into the turn, according to
Oregon State Police. The crash
occurred about 10 a.m.
Four people in the mini-
van were killed and four were
taken to hospitals. Two of those
killed were from Gig Harbor,
Washington — Yun Hee Lee,
44, and a juvenile male — and
two were from South Korea —
Soon Ja Lim, 71, and Jung Hee
Lee, 39.
The driver of the van —
Yong Gi Kim, 45, of Gig Har-
bor — was taken to a hospital
by ambulance. Yoon Kyung
Lee, 42, of South Korea, was
taken to a Portland-area hos-
pital by Life Flight, along
with two more juveniles —
one from South Korea and the
other from Gig Harbor.
Occupants of the minivan
appeared to be an extended
family on the way to the
beach, Oregon State Police Lt.
Andrew Merila said.
Three people in the Ford
F-450 pickup were also taken
to hospitals. The driver — Ste-
vie R. Smith, 21 — was taken
by ambulance, along with
Charlie A. Dockins, 25, and a
juvenile passenger. Everyone
who was in the pickup is from
Roy, Washington.
Dockins, in a Facebook
post, said Smith was her sister
and they were traveling with
her baby. “Thank goodness he
was secured safely and prop-
erly,” she wrote.
The highway was reopened
to traffic Friday afternoon.
From parkour to police officer
Anderson
pursued dance
before law
enforcement
By BRENNA VISSER
The Daily Astorian
C
ANNON BEACH —
Before being able to
serve, every police officer can-
didate in Oregon must pass a
physical abilities test — think
a police work-themed obstacle
course.
The course involves bal-
ance beams, jumping under
and over a variety of objects
and racing up staircases. It’s a
grueling feat, but Jacob Ander-
son — Cannon Beach Police
Department’s newest recruit
— couldn’t help but feel
uniquely qualified.
“The first time I saw it, I
was like, ‘Ah — this is just
like parkour,’” Anderson said.
Before becoming a police
officer, Anderson spent the
majority of his life training as
See ANDERSON, Page 7A
Brenna Visser/The Daily Astorian
Jacob Anderson is the new-
est recruit at the Cannon
Beach Police Department.
Judges with the 9th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals
have affirmed the earlier dis-
missal of a lawsuit brought
by Clatsop Residents Against
Walmart and Sara Meyer
against the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers.
The group of residents
and business owners, formed
in 2010 to oppose Walmart’s
move to Warrenton, sued
the Corps in 2015 after the
agency granted a 0.37-acre
wetland fill permit to Peaks-
view LLC, developer of the
retailer’s new location at
Ensign Lane and U.S. High-
way 101 in the North Coast
Retail Center.
A federal judge in U.S.
District Court dismissed the
case in 2016, after which the
group appealed.
Karl Anuta, the group’s
lawyer, has argued the Corps
failed to do an independent
review of the wetland fill
application, and didn’t fairly
consider alternatives, such as
a previously proposed site for
Walmart at Dolphin Avenue
and Highway 101. Nearly 15
acres of designated wetlands
at the site had been filled in
for a development.
The Walmart store is
scheduled to open June 13.
Anuta’s appeal sought fur-
ther wetland mitigation from
the retailer and from future
nearby developments.
The Corps’ attorneys
argued the characteristics of
the Dolphin Avenue loca-
tion would have required too
much wetland mitigation,
and that the 0.37-acre fill per-
mit did not require as exhaus-
tive a review. Three appeals
court judges concurred.
“Given that the fill permit
at issue in this case relates to
a .37-acre wetland, we have
little difficulty concluding
that the Corps adequately
‘considered a range of alter-
native sites for the project,
See WALMART, Page 7A
Herman to run
for City Council
the Astoria Planning Com-
mission in October to fill a
seat left vacant after former
Commission President David
By KATIE
Pearson resigned to take a job
FRANKOWICZ
outside of the area. While she
The Daily Astorian
has enjoyed her time on the
commission, Herman said
Radio program-
she wants to be more
mer and planning
involved in city gov-
ernment and would
commissioner Joan
like “to devote more
Herman announced
time to a broader
Sunday she will
range of tasks.”
run for Astoria City
The city’s hous-
Council.
ing crunch is one of
Herman will vie
the foremost issues
for the downtown
Joan
on her mind, but she
Ward 3 seat held by
Herman
is also interested in
City Councilor Cindy
working on the Riverfront
Price.
Price has said she is con- Vision Plan, which gov-
sidering a run for mayor erns development along the
and is expected to make an waterfront.
announcement this week.
See HERMAN, Page 7A
Herman was appointed to
She will seek
Price’s seat