146TH YEAR, NO. 70
ONE DOLLAR
WEEKEND EDITION // FRIDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2018
After new state law, felony
drug convictions plummet 63
BY THE NUMBERS
A new Oregon law reduced the penalty for drug possession from a felony to a
misdemeanor for first-time offenders.
Possession a
misdemeanor for
first-time offenders
By DERRICK DePLEDGE
The Daily Astorian
Felony drug convictions in Clat-
sop County dropped by more than 40
percent in the year since a new state
law reduced the penalty for drug pos-
session to a misdemeanor for first-
time offenders.
The stark decline was part of a
trend across Oregon, as prosecutors
adjusted to a law meant to soften the
consequences of being caught with
small amounts of heroin, metham-
phetamine and other illegal drugs.
Drug offenders often face jail,
probation and treatment, but a felony
conviction can also make it harder to
find a job or housing, eroding the sta-
bility that can help people overcome
drug abuse.
The Oregon Criminal Justice
Commission, in a report to the state
Legislature in September, said the
law has already had a profound
impact on the criminal justice system.
Statewide, the number of felony drug
convictions fell from 5,145 in the fis-
cal year before the law to 2,889 over
the past year, or 44 percent. In Clat-
the number of felony
drug convictions in
Clatsop County in the
fiscal year before the
law took effect.
37
41%
felony drug convictions
in the county in the
year since the law.
the difference in felony
convictions.
*Source: Oregon Criminal
Justice Commission
sop County, felony drug convictions
tumbled from 63 to 37, or 41 percent.
The report also found that racial
disparities in felony drug convictions,
a significant issue in Portland and
other urban areas, have narrowed.
Ship-repair
company
set to close
in 2019
State Attorney General Ellen
Rosenblum told state lawmak-
ers the law reflects the belief that
“addiction cannot be addressed
See CONVICTIONS, Page 7A
Photos by Colin Murphey
The Daily Astorian
Diana Gulley examines
part of the basement
underneath her Astoria
butcher shop.
Astoria Marine
negotiated with state
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
Astoria Marine Construction Co. will
likely close sometime next year as the state
Department of Environmental Quality final-
izes a proposed $3 million cleanup sched-
uled to begin next summer.
The Lewis and Clark River shipyard,
which repairs and refits much of the region’s
fishing fleet, has been negotiating with the
state and its insur-
ers on a final plan
to clean up his-
PUBLIC
contami-
COMMENT torical
nation from when
The state is taking
the company built
comments on the
wooden
mine-
proposed cleanup
sweepers
for
through October.
the Navy during
Submit comments
World War II and
to Project Manager
the Korean War.
Erin McDonnell at
The proposed
700 N.E. Mult-
cleanup
would
nomah St., Suite
600, Portland,
excavate
and
OR., 97232 or
remove the most
mcdonnell.erin@
contaminated soil
deq.state.or.us. For
and sediment in
more information,
the river. Remain-
visit tinyurl.com/
ing
contami-
ycdvsjmu
nated soil will be
capped in place to
prevent movement and exposure, while con-
taminated sediment would be covered with a
layer of clean sand. Laura Gleim, a spokes-
woman for the state, said the cleanup should
take two to three months.
Tim Fastabend, owner of Astoria Marine
Construction Co., referred comments to his
attorney, Carson Bowler.
Astoria Marine’s “going to go out of
business, which is disappointing,” Bowler
said. “But … the DEQ followed the cleanup
laws, and AMCCO will comply with them.”
The company has provided a $3.8 mil-
lion escrow account via its insurer to fund
the cleanup, with the remainder going to
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
Gleim said. The company will also pay
$100,000 to the state for oversight costs,
while the state will wave $40,000 worth of
past and future oversight. After the cleanup,
the company will be released from further
liability.
‘Kind of creepy’
‘Ghost Adventures’ TV show features Astoria
By ERICK BENGEL
The Daily Astorian
A
Diana Gulley sees something on a wall in the basement she said was not
there during a previous tour.
WHEN TO WATCH
‘Graveyard of the Pacific,’ four episodes of ‘Ghost Adventures,’ debuts at 6 p.m.
Saturday on the Travel Channel.
storia, a port town where
the history feels haunted
and spooky sites abound,
gets a starring role in the
Travel
Channel
series
“Ghost
Adventures.”
Four episodes airing Saturday titled
“Graveyard of the Pacific” investigate
the landmarks and hidden corners that
locals know well — the rusted bones of
the Peter Iredale at Fort Stevens State
Park, Cape Disappointment’s North
Head Lighthouse, and Astoria’s Nor-
blad Hotel and cavernous underground
tunnels.
When The Daily Astorian spoke
with the crew last spring, they said
the research team had homed in on
the Columbia-Pacific as a place
practically vibrating with paranor-
mal possibilities — a ghostly, fog-en-
shrouded region with a dangerous river
bar, a long catalogue of shipwrecks,
unidentified bodies washing ashore,
well-preserved old structures and mari-
time mysteries.
See TV SHOW, Page 7A
See COMPANY, Page 7A
Neighbors consider Goonies house parking options
Discussion at a
lively town hall
By JACK HEFFERNAN
The Daily Astorian
Jack Heffernan/The Daily Astorian
Astoria Police Chief Geoff Spalding appeared at a town
hall on issues related to the Goonies house.
Between creating a neigh-
borhood watch association and
suing Steven Spielberg, ideas
about how to curb parking
near the Goonies house ranged
from serious to lighthearted
Thursday.
Astoria officials hosted a
discussion at Alderbrook Hall
about the nagging issues for
residents who live near the
famous — or infamous —
house in Uppertown. About 20
people attended what largely
became an informal brain-
storming session.
Astoria Public Works Direc-
tor Jeff Harrington explained
the city code and zoning laws
that apply in the neighborhood.
That spurred a conversation
about the driveway leading up
to the 38th Street home perched
atop a hill.
While the shared dirt drive-
way is a public right of way, it is
privately maintained. The pub-
lic can legally go up that hill
even though unofficial signs
discourage it. Walkers some-
times trespass on nearby prop-
erties, and drivers damage the
road, forcing property owners
to constantly maintain it.
“They do whatever they
want once they get up there,”
said Catherine Fuller, who lives
next to the house. “They are
brazen.”
The driveway is a candidate
to be vacated as a public right
of way, Harrington said. If that
happens, some suggested plac-
ing a gate or fence to prevent
people from entering.
“If we did that, there
wouldn’t be any reason to be up
there at all, and all these prob-
lems would go away,” Fuller
said.
But that would require each
of the surrounding neighbors,
who may prefer the driveway to
access their property, to sign on.
See PARKING, Page 7A