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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 2018)
SEASIDE FOOTBALL DOMINATES IN ROAD WIN SPORTS • 12A DailyAstorian.com // MONDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2018 146TH YEAR, NO. 66 ONE DOLLAR Family fights to keep decorations on grave The installation is against city rules By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Daily Astorian Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian The Cascadia Chamber Opera performs ‘Tango of the White Gardenia’ at the Performing Arts Center in Astoria. TANGO IN ASTORIA WARRENTON — A controversy is brew- ing over the gravesite of a young woman buried at Ocean View Cemetery. When a family friend installed a layer of white stones, butterfly decorations and a bench on Jade Morgan’s plot in July, she wanted it to be a nice surprise for Morgan’s family. Morgan, a popular student at Astoria High School, was 16 years old when she died in a traffic accident on state Highway 202 in 2015. But the decorations are against cemetery regulations, which allow for temporary dec- orations but not permanent installations. The Astoria Parks and Recreation Department, which oversees the cemetery, requested that the family remove the decora- tions from Morgan’s grave. Jonah Dart-Mc- Lean, the interim parks director, said they See GRAVES, Page 3A Robin Risley Pianist Natalie Fortin prepares to perform with the Casca- dia Chamber Opera. Yvonne Hsueh warms up prior to the performance of ‘Tan- go of the White Gardenia.’ Greg Swedenborg Mike Benefield Housing and tourism shape campaign in Cannon Beach Three vying for two council seats By BRENNA VISSER The Daily Astorian CANNON BEACH — Affordable hous- ing, distribution of lodging tax revenue and tsunami preparedness are issues on the minds of the three candi- dates vying for two open seats on the Cannon Beach City Council. City Councilor Mike Benefield is running in November against Greg Swedenborg, a hote- lier and the Cannon Beach Chamber of Com- merce board president, and Robin Risley, a real estate agent and planning commissioner. Members of the North Coast Chorale wait for the performance to begin. See CANNON BEACH, Page 7A From Mexico to US, contractor feels at home Building a business on the North Coast By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian R aymundo Robles was a 21-year-old undocu- mented immigrant when he left Mexico to work with his brother in Idaho’s Sun Valley doing wood finishes. Nineteen years later, Robles is a U.S. citizen and construction contractor whose crews are finishing developer Richard Krueger’s Pacific Rim Apartments in Warrenton. Robles is originally from Manzanillo, a coastal city due west of Mexico City. He stud- ied accounting in high school, but saw how much money his brother was making and decided to go north, he said. He ended up in Hailey, Idaho, working at a wood-fin- ishing company for 16 years. There he met his first wife, who helped him gather his documents and gain citizen- ship in the mid-2000s. “When I go to the cere- mony, I’m feeling so excited,” he said. “It was a big feeling of accomplishment.” Gaining citizenship allowed Robles to visit fam- ily in Mexico, and to get his mother a green card to visit him in Idaho. Robles and a close friend, Martin Torres, started a wood-restoration business called Brother’s Wood Fin- ishes Painting & Plaster in Idaho three years ago. The two eventually split but remain Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian See ROBLES, Page 7A Raymundo Robles is a general contractor helping to build the Pacific Rim Apartments in Warrenton.
