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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 31, 2018)
ASTORIA FISHERMEN FALL SPORTS PREVIEWS PAGES 8A-9A INSIDE WEEKEND EDITION // FRIDAY, AUGUST 31, 2018 146TH YEAR, NO. 45 ONE DOLLAR Woman in fatal Seaside drunken-driving crash sentenced Robert Miles, 42, of Ham- mond, died, while the other man, Abdirisak Mohamed, 41, of Longview, Washington, By JACK HEFFERNAN was critically injured. The Daily Astorian When police arrived, the street was littered with shat- A woman who crashed an tered glass from the damaged SUV into a Seaside bus stop bus stop and blood from the shelter while drunk last year, two victims. Officers spot- killing one man and critically ted Barnett running toward a injuring another, pleaded bush, where she hid and was guilty Thursday to several soon arrested. Barnett was taken to the crimes and was sentenced to more than 13 years in prison. hospital, where her blood One night in Septem- alcohol content was more ber, Corrissa Barnett had than four times the legal limit for driving, Dep- been drinking heav- uty District Attor- ily while she was ney Dawn Buzzard with Casey Fulmer, a said. She admitted longtime friend, and to being the driver some children at Ful- mer’s house. Later in and drinking prior the night, she indi- to the crash and was cated she wanted to taken to the Clatsop County Jail. leave and take her Corrissa Barnett, now 39, teenage daughter Barnett pleaded guilty Thurs- with her. When Fulmer tried to pre- day to first-degree man- vent her from leaving, Bar- slaughter, three assault counts nett started a fight in which and driving under the influ- she punched and choked her. ence of intoxicants as part Fulmer had taken the keys to of a deal with the Clatsop the SUV, but Barnett was still County District Attorney’s able to start the 1999 Dodge Office. She originally faced Durango and drive away as charges of strangulation, two additional assault counts and Fulmer dialed 911. Seaside police responded three counts of felony fail- to the area, located the ure to perform the duties of a Durango — driving at high driver. If convicted on all the speed with the headlights off charges in the indictment, she — and attempted to make would have faced at least 16 a traffic stop. Barnett, how- years in prison. ever, continued driving and Barnett was ordered to pay partially sideswiped a police nearly $5,400 in restitution car, injuring Officer Elise for funeral expenses and med- ical bills. Her driver’s license Parkman. She kept driving and has been suspended for life. turned northbound onto Roo- sevelt Drive. The car jumped Emotional hearing Several of Miles’ relatives a sidewalk outside of McDon- ald’s restaurant, struck a con- spoke Thursday in Circuit crete light pole and slammed Court. Each of them cried. into a bus stop shelter occu- pied by two men. See BARNETT, Page 6A Barnett gets 13 years in prison Common misconception Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian A young common murre dries off after a bath at the rehabilitation center. Young common murres washing ashore near Haystack Rock could mean a healthier colony By BRENNA VISSER The Daily Astorian ANNON BEACH — Since the beginning of August, volunteers with the Hay- stack Rock Awareness Pro- gram can expect a beachgoer to approach them at least once a day with a report of a stranded young seabird. While it is normal to see some birds wash ashore both dead and alive this time of year, more than 23 stranded baby common murres have been documented, a finding that has piqued interest. “The reason for concern is just that there has been a large number in a small amount of time,” Melissa Keyser, the awareness program’s director, said. As of Wednesday, the Wildlife Center of the North Coast had about 30 baby common murres in its care, said executive director Josh Saranpaa, the major- ity of which came from Cannon Beach. But the strandings shouldn’t be an immediate cause for alarm. So far, there has been no evidence to suggest this year’s rates of mortal- ity are anything out of the ordinary, said Miel Corbett, of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Though see- ing small black-and-white seabird chicks washing ashore inevitably C See MURRES, Page 6A Common murres swim together in an enclosure at the Wildlife Center of the North Coast. Pauline Baker treats a common murre that was brought to the Wild- life Center of the North Coast. Corrissa Barnett was charged with manslaughter after a fatal drunken-driving crash in Seaside last September. Methadone clinic pitched for Clatsop County Travel costs are eight times higher than treatment By DERRICK DePLEDGE The Daily Astorian Eighty-eight people in Clat- sop, Columbia and Tillamook coun- ties received methadone through the Oregon Health Plan last year to help treat heroin or prescription opioid addiction. The drug cost $87,972. The cost of travel to the Portland metro area for treatment? $725,758. “It’s astonishing,” said Leslie Ford, the director of clinical inno- vation at Greater Oregon Behavioral Health Inc., which helps adminis- ter drug treatment and mental health care in several rural counties. Motivated to lower travel costs, and to treat people for drug addic- tion where they live, regional health care administrators are scouting loca- tions for a methadone clinic in Clat- sop County. Underwritten by the Columbia Pacific Coordinated Care Organi- zation, which oversees the Oregon Health Plan in the three counties, the methadone clinic would likely be operated by CODA, a Portland-based drug treatment provider. “I think that what people under- estimate is how much is happening already in the community and it’s just badly treated,” Ford said. Methadone is a powerful pain reliever that mimics some of the same effects as heroin or prescription opioids and eases withdrawal symp- toms. The drug, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat heroin addiction since 1972, is prescribed for at least a year and often much longer to reduce harm as addicts move from treatment to recovery. Medication-assisted treatment has been embraced by the U.S. Depart- ment of Health and Human Ser- vices as having the highest proba- bility of success for people addicted to opioids. In Clatsop County, See CLINIC, Page 7A BY THE NUMBERS 88 the number of people in Clatsop, Columbia and Tillamook counties who received methadone through the Oregon Health Plan to treat opioid addiction in 2017 $87,972 $725,758 the cost of the methadone the travel cost to send people to the Portland metro area for treatment *Source: Greater Oregon Behavioral Health Inc.
