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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 19, 2018)
3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2018 Astoria man sentenced for sexually abusing young boy Garcia sentenced to more than six years By JACK HEFFERNAN The Daily Astorian An Astoria man who sexu- ally abused a 12-year-old boy in 2009 was sentenced Tues- day to more than six years in prison. Anthony Robert Garcia, 49, was sentenced after he pleaded guilty to first-degree sex abuse. He originally faced 15 charges, including sex Anthony Robert Garcia abuse, attempted sex abuse, luring a minor, menacing and attempted furnishing alcohol to a person under 21, before reaching a plea deal with the Clatsop County District Attor- ney’s Office. Garcia fled the county while awaiting indictment, and was arrested in Los Angeles last year. Despite filing motions to continue the case and withdraw his attorney, Garcia was sched- uled for a trial this week. But he agreed to the plea deal hours before the start of the trial. The victim and his parents all spoke at Tuesday’s hearing. Now 21, the victim was “very forgiv- ing,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Ron Brown said. “He just doesn’t have any malice in him at all,” Brown said. “Some people just don’t seem to get as agitated.” Garcia did not offer a state- ment during the hearing. “The one thing that was conspicuously missing was any sort of apology from the defendant,” Brown said. Vicki Vernon, Garcia’s Hillsboro-based defense attor- ney, declined to comment on specifics of the case. Toward the end of the hear- ing, as Circuit Court Judge Cin- dee Matyas started issuing the sentence, Garcia interjected to ask if he could make a statement, Brown said. After he was given permission, Garcia addressed the victim. Rather than address- ing the case, though, he offered him tips on how to promote his self-help book. City, Port extend Maritime Memorial lease for 50 years By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian The Port of Astoria Commission on Tuesday approved a 50-year exten- sion of a lease with the city at the Maritime Memorial Park to help the volunteer committee running it begin expansion. The memorial, located underneath the Astoria Bridge, honors mariners lost at sea. While the city and state Department of Trans- portation own much of the land, the Port owns a western portion it has long leased to the city. “The Maritime Memorial Committee would very much like to expand the memorial walls soon in anticipation of future demand,” Astoria City Manager Brett Estes wrote in a letter to Jim Knight, the Port’s executive direc- tor. “Approval of this agree- ment by the Port Commis- sion and City Council would enable the city to move for- ward with this expansion in a timely fashion.” The lease, drafted by city attorney Blair Hennings- gaard, extends the Port’s lease with the city through 2068 for $1 a year, with an option to extend another 50 years. Consult a Survey: Oregon teacher salaries, PROFESSIONAL Q: compensation trail private sector What are dental sealants, who should get them and how long do they last? Associated Press JEFFREY M. LEINASSAR DMD, FAGD 503/325-0310 1414 MARINE DRIVE, ASTORIA www.smileastoria.com AP Photo/Don Ryan Students go through a lesson on the first day of school in 2015 at Nancy Ryles Elemen- tary School in Beaverton. lyst for the policy center, said the research method he used, known as a regression analy- sis, didn’t generate one aver- age wage or compensation level for teachers and another for all other full-time workers. Rather, he said, the study captured how much any teacher, given his or her age, gender, education level, race and marital status, would likely earn per week of work versus other full-time Ore- gon workers with the same characteristics. The 9 percent compensa- tion gap he calculated took into account whether the workers held bachelors, mas- ters or advanced degrees, Hauser said. But it did not take into account whether a degree was in science, math or engi- neering versus in art history, literature or education, he said. It also is possible that teachers overstated how many weeks they actually worked, as the American Community Survey instructs survey-takers to treat paid vacation as time worked, and some teachers may con- sider their summers off to be paid vacations. The Oregon Center for Public Policy receives some of its funding from employee unions, but is primarily funded by foundations and private individuals, said its commu- nications director, Juan Carlos Ordonez. Paying teachers compet- itively is important, Hauser wrote in the study, because that helps attract and retain high-quality employees. National and international studies have found that excel- lent teachers produce superior results for students. The most recent federal fig- ures, from 2016-17, showed Oregon’s average teacher sal- ary ranked No. 11 in the nation and was 5 percent higher than the national average of $59,000. The fact that teaching has historically been viewed as women’s work, and that 70 percent of Oregon’s teachers are women, may contribute to average pay lagging behind private sector rates, Hauser said. Sixty percent of Ore- gon’s private sector workers are men, he wrote. Oregon uses Facebook to remind voters to register SALEM — In this era of manipulators using social media to interfere in elections, Oregon officials moved Tues- day to use Facebook to bolster participation by reminding as many as hundreds of thousands of inactive voters to update their registration. “Utilizing cutting-edge technologies to empower eligi- ble voters isn’t just something we can do — it’s something we must do if we’re serious about outreach,” Oregon Secretary of State Dennis Richardson said in announcing what he called the first-of-its-kind program. The initiative comes as Facebook tries to recover from a privacy scandal in which a political consulting firm with ties to President Donald Trump improperly accessed the data of tens millions of Facebook users. In addition, Califor- nia-based Facebook stepped up policing of its social net- work after authorities said Rus- sian agents ran political influ- ence operations on its platform aimed at swaying the 2016 presidential election. Facebook applauded the Oregon initiative. “We’re glad the Oregon Secretary of State’s office is able to use Facebook to help reach inactive voters and let them know how they can cast a ballot this fall,” said Andy Stone, a Facebook spokesman. Oregonians can become teeth, protecting them from food and bacteria that can be hard to remove with brushing. We recommend having your child’s permanent molars sealed as soon as they are fully erupted. You can expect sealants to last upwards of 10-15 years and are a safe, inexpensive way to help ensure your child’s oral health. Call us today to make your appointment. LEO FINZI inactive voters after being mailed a ballot or other elec- tion material that is returned as undeliverable; not voting or registering in 10 years or as few as five years in some counties; if their ballot has been chal- lenged; or if they’re imprisoned on a felony conviction. Under Oregon law, the right to vote is restored upon release from incarceration. Oregonians receive ballots by mail and can either mail them back com- pleted or deposit them in drop boxes. Richardson’s chief of staff Deb Royal said the inactive voter list was cross-referenced with Facebook users who are F irst Oregon residents. “Facebook users who meet those two criteria will see the placement,” Royal said in an email. Oregon has 447,000 inactive voters, Royal said. Having inactive status means a person is still regis- tered to vote but won’t receive a ballot unless he or she provides a county with updated registra- tion information to return their registration status to active. An inactive-status voter can also complete an online voter reg- istration form at OregonVotes. gov to become active again. As of August, 2.7 mil- lion people were registered to vote in Oregon— a 3 percent increase over 2017, according to elections division statistics. Oregon’s total population is around 4.1 million. WANTED Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber Northwest Hardwoods • Longview, WA Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500 D ay oF s chool ! otos All a Send us p h g ld, welcom es i h c r u o y e! of , d l i h c d gran ep hew niece or n e mail : c lassiFieDs @D aily a storian .c om D eaDline : s ePtember 20 th @ 5 Pm P hotos s ePtember 24 th will be PrinteD eDition oF the We stock 1000’s of parts, cables, accessories, etc. for phones, TVs, Mon-Fri 10-6, Sat 11-4 computers, and Astoria, OR tablets. 503-325-2300 we are open. Just take 10th A: Yes Street toward the river, over the trolley tracks (but don’t go too far… that would be very wet). Park on the pier and you will see our big red building. You really can’t miss it. Come on in through the double doors, and you will see our store on your left. The construction will not affect our services in any way. 10th Street has always been the preferred entrance for our customers. Q: Are chiropractors real doctors? like all other doctors, A: Yes, we undergo four years of ASTORIA Barry Sears, D.C. 503-325-3311 2935 Marine Drive Astoria, Oregon graduate school including two years of life science and 2 years of clinical sciences with an internship. The degree conferred after successful completion of schooling is a D.C. or DOCTOR OF CHIROPRACTIC. We are also called chiropractic physicians. Yearly continuing education is required to keep skills up. Our approach is to find the simplest solution with the fewest tests. We are happy to accept new patients. Q: Do you charge a fee to come & go over Medicare medical & prescription plans? Steve Putman A: I get this question quite often and the answer is Medicare Products no. I am compensated by the companies I represent and 503-440-1076 they follow guidelines set by the Center for Medicare Licensed in Oregon Services (CMS). So give me a and Washington call. putmanagency@gmail.com is the Q: What Consult a Professional section and how can it help my business? T HE D AILY A STORIAN 503-325-3211 www.dailyastorian.com in the D aily a storian during the 11th Street bridge construction? Astoria’s Best.com CHIROPRACTIC By ANDREW SELSKY Associated Press sealants are a clear coating A: Dental place in the deep grooves of Q: Are you open ASTORIA TRANSIT CENTER PORTLAND — A study by a pro-worker group found that Oregon public school teach- ers are paid so skimpily that, despite their generous health and pension benefits, their overall compensation is 9 per- cent lower than they would receive in the private sector. The Oregon Center for Public Policy’s deep dive into results of the American Com- munity Survey found that, for each week they work, Ore- gon teachers make 22 per- cent less in salary and 9 per- cent less in total compensation than a comparable Oregon worker who is not a public school teacher, according to The Oregonian. Given that the average teacher earns $61,600, accord- ing to 2017 figures from the National Center for Educa- tion Statistics, and works 43 weeks per year, that suggests a similar full-time, year-round Oregon worker earns an aver- age of $90,000, which seems unlikely. In 2017, for instance, median pay for Oregonians with a bachelor’s degree was about $49,000, and for those with a master’s or professional degree, it was about $64,000, the American Community Survey found. But the researcher behind the study, made public Tues- day, says there’s more nuance and complexity to his findings. Daniel Hauser, policy ana- 949 Exchange St. Astoria, OR 503-325-3211 A : The Consult a Professional section in the Daily Astorian is a great & affordable way to advertise your business or service, by allowing you to educate the reader of exactly what you do on a professional level. All you need to do is come up with a question that a customer might ask about your line of expertise and then give them a detailed answer to help educate them before they even walk through your door. We are offering great rates and package deals that help save you money!
