WARRENTON WARRIORS HOPE FOR SUCCESS AT 2A LEVEL DailyAstorian.com // TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2018 146TH YEAR, NO. 42 PAGE 10A ONE DOLLAR Sheriff takes leading role in sanctuary law debate Ballot measure would repeal a 1987 state law By JACK HEFFERNAN The Daily Astorian Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Amy Hutmacher and Catherine Dunn search for a place to reintroduce native plant species in the John Day Marsh Habitat Reserve. PURPLE REIGN Conservationists hunt invasive plant In his clearest sign of support yet, Clatsop County Sheriff Tom Bergin has penned a letter endorsing a November ballot measure that would repeal Oregon’s sanctuary law. Released Monday, the letter includes signatures from 15 other Oregon sheriffs. Bergin first expressed his support for Measure 105 earlier this summer. The measure would over- turn sanctuary protections that have been in place since 1987 and largely prohibit state and local police from enforcing federal immigration laws. “The statute undermines respect for law in significant ways,” Bergin wrote. “It tells ille- Sheriff gal immigrants that Oregon con- siders immigration-law violations Tom Bergin so inconsequential as to be unwor- thy of police and sheriffs’ attention. In doing so, it legitimizes those violations and encourages more. As well, the statute invites the contempt of U.S. cit- izens and legal residents, whom Oregon expects to abide by all laws.” See LETTER, Page 4A By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Daily Astorian Penny Wise will close O n foot and by boat, volunteers and staff with two land con- servancies spent the week- end hunting down and pulling wetland invaders from sites along the Colum- bia River. On Monday, they tackled the last site, the North Coast Land Conservan- cy’s John Day Marsh Habitat Reserve. It was the last day and the first year of what will be part of a larger, ongo- ing effort to free marshland from an invasive plant, purple loosestrife, and replace the interlopers with native plants. It is the first time the land con- servancy has attempted this kind of replanting in wetlands, said Melissa Reich, stewardship director, as she showed volunteers the wapato and other native plants they’d be ferrying around the wetland in green canoes Monday morning. They are trying to create strong- holds of good, native habitat, said Amy Hutmacher, project manager for the land conservancy. Purple loosestrife, native to Europe and Asia, was introduced to the United States in the early 19th century. It is considered widespread in Clat- sop County and neighboring Colum- bia County, according to the Oregon Department of Agriculture. In fact, it is common in most Ore- gon counties where the wetland habitat it thrives in exists. Once introduced to an area, purple loosestrife can quickly take over, out-competing native plants and reducing what kind of food is See PLANTS, Page 7A Thrift store in Warrenton had a larger social mission Amy Hutmacher and Catherine Dunn introduce a native plant species to an area in the John Day Marsh Habitat Reserve. Volunteers with conservation groups prepare seedlings for reintroduction to the wetland near Knappa. By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian WARRENTON — Peter and Patricia Fessler are closing Penny Wise Thrift Store after nearly a decade of running the shop, which supports awareness of depression and bipolar disorder. The couple started a local chapter of the Depres- sion and Bipolar Support Alliance about a decade ago after their granddaughter was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and they learned how little sup- port was available locally. In October 2008, they opened the thrift store on Harbor Drive to support the alliance’s mission. The store is mostly run by the Fesslers and vol- unteers, with no paid employees. Peter, 73, and Patricia, 82, have both dealt with recent health issues and are looking to slow down and do some traveling. “I retired nine years ago, and I’ve never worked so hard in my life,” Peter Fessler said of running the store. In 2012, the Fesslers opened Heaven Sent Boarding House at Fifth Street and Main Avenue. The boarding house rents five units to everyone from Tongue Point Job Corps Center students and nurses to a couple in the fishing industry. See PENNY WISE, Page 7A Girls Build promotes interest in trades A traveling summer camp By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian WARRENTON — Local elementary school girls were busy being industrious last week on the track behind War- renton Grade School. They learned to drill, bend and rivet sheet metal into lan- terns; operate excavators; sol- der copper wiring; fix leaks in a water main; mix and pour concrete into planter boxes; saw and screw lumber into stools; and build a playhouse from the ground up for a local preschool. They were part of Girls Build, a traveling one-week summer camp that introduces girls between 8 and 14 to con- struction in the hopes of shrink- ing the gender gap. Katie Hughes, founder of Girls Build, said the pro- gram was born in 2016 out of the concerns of women in the trades. “A lot of tradeswomen were coming to me and saying there’s this gap where, nation- ally, 3 percent of tradespeople are women, but there’s no pipe- line helping them get there,” she said. “There are a lot of programs set up to help women once they’re interested in the trades, once they’re adults. But that doesn’t help them get into the trades at a younger age, and doesn’t help them get into trades at a higher rate.” The Girls Build camp trav- els to several different commu- nities each summer. Hampton Lumber sponsored the camp in Warrenton, taking in stu- dents from around the county and women from the trades to teach them in rotating work- shops. Warrenton volunteered a simulator to teach girls how to fix a broken water main. Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian See GIRLS BUILD, Page 7A Girls in the Girls Build summer camp built a playhouse that will be donated to a Head Start preschool program.