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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 24, 2018)
DailyAstorian.com // WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2018 146TH YEAR, NO. 83 SOPHISTICATED SCAMMING ONE DOLLAR Kitzhaber re-emerges to back gillnet ban A campaign to influence governors By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Daily Astorian Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian John Lewis, operations manager for the Clatsop County Fair, was recently the target of a scam. Law enforcement notices a rise in elaborate scams By JACK HEFFERNAN The Daily Astorian I n the middle of the Clatsop County Fair, John Lewis, the fair’s opera- tions manager, read what seemed like an innocuous email. Brenda Mayberry, president of the Oregon Fairs Association, appeared to ask him to pick up some iTunes gift cards for an event. Lewis obliged, spending about $200. But, when exchanging emails about how to hand the gift cards over, the per- son who claimed to be Mayberry said she was in a meeting and asked Lewis to sim- ply give her some information from the cards. Lewis became suspicious, stopped replying to the emails and eventually gave the gift cards to 4-H competition winners. “I’m usually pretty savvy to that kind of stuff, but this was, it was perfect tim- ing, perfect person,” Lewis said. Law enforcement agencies have noticed a rise this year in the number of sophisticated phone and internet scams. In the first six months of 2018, local police documented hundreds of thou- sands of dollars lost. “It’s been going on for quite a while, and it’s been a steady increase,” said Detective Justin Dersham, who investigates property crimes for the Clatsop County Sheriff’s Office. “I just know that I didn’t use to get this many calls.” Scams have included claims that peo- ple can collect a large prize for a small fee, owe money to the Internal Revenue Service, have a kidnapped or arrested family member or have a virus on their computer that can be repaired by clicking on a link. Phone and email scammers often Former Gov. John Kitzhaber has re-emerged to champion a divisive plan he implemented to ban gillnets on the Colum- bia River — even as state fishery managers say the plan is not living up to expectations. Kitzhaber appears in several videos in a campaign to urge Gov. Kate Brown and Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee to stick with the reform policy adopted in 2013. The two states, which jointly manage fisheries on the river, are engaged in a comprehensive five-year John review of the policy and are Kitzhaber set to meet Nov. 1. The states attempted to replace gillnets — vertical nets that catch fish by their gills — with other types of gear to protect salmon. Commercial fishermen argue gillnet gear is selective and does not unduly impact salmon runs, while sport fishing and conser- vation groups disagree. So far, neither state has come up with a replacement gear for gill- nets, though Washington has continued to experiment with seine nets. Under the Kitzhaber plan, gillnet- ters were directed to off-channel areas like Youngs Bay. The videos of Kitzhaber appear on a website called gillnetskill.com. The videos See KITZHABER, Page 7A Planners dive into Urban Core New restrictions possible downtown Jack Heffernan/The Daily Astorian A sign in a window at the Clatsop County Sheriff’s Office warns the public about a recent spike in phone and internet scams. SIGNS OF A SCAM • Government agencies typically already know basic personal information. • Agencies won’t usually call to announce a coming arrest or seek money through prepaid debit cards. • If people don’t apply for a prize, they probably don’t win a prize. • It’s best to avoid sending money over the internet or phone when possible. • If a computer has a virus, taking it to a repair store is the ideal option. access personal information through social media accounts to seem credible during conversations and are skilled at building long-term rapport with potential targets. Lately, the sheriff’s office has fielded a slew of reports of scammers claiming to be local law enforcement officials. Scam- mers often claim that people have a war- rant for their arrest. “This is the one that’s really, really bugging us lately,” Dersham said. By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Daily Astorian The Astoria Planning Commission on Tuesday night looked at the possibility of restricting the height of new buildings along the Columbia River downtown and estab- lishing spots where no new development over the water could occur at all. The work session was the commission’s first stab in a long process to define what will be allowed in the city’s Urban Core. The section of the waterfront stretching from Second Street to 16th Street is the last piece of the city’s Riverfront Vision Plan, which guides development along the river. The Urban Core was intended to be the most densely developed of the four areas outlined in the plan, but some residents want to restrict new projects to pro- tect views and curtail growth. See SCAMMERS, Page 7A See PLANNERS, Page 7A Peninsula shelters will not open this winter Outreach was unsustainable By ALYSSA EVANS Chinook Observer LONG BEACH, Wash. — Peninsula Poverty Response will not host homeless shelters at churches in Long Beach, Seaview and Ilwaco this win- ter, a loss for people in need of a warm place to stay. Pastor Karen Humber, a board member for the non- profit, said the shelter program “is not sustainable for what we want to achieve.” The nonprofit made the decision after looking at the number of people served by the shelters compared with the number of volunteers and volunteer hours the Overnight Winter Lodging program took to run. “We know the need is out there. We’re not denying that,” Humber said at a meeting of the nonprofit in September. Peninsula Poverty Response is exploring the pos- sibility of building a relation- ship with the Astoria Warm- ing Center and Astoria Rescue Mission, which do homeless outreach on the North Coast. The nonprofit is also con- sidering taking on long-term projects, such as offering hygiene-related services and child care services. The shelter program typi- cally served about 30 people during the winter months when shelters opened five nights a week. From last December to Feb- ruary, for example, 33 people received shelter. Twenty-nine people received shelter from January to February 2016. From November 2016 to mid-March of 2017, when shelters opened seven days a week, the program served 134 people. Chinook Observer See SHELTERS, Page 7A AmeriCorps member Nichole Lopez works with volun- teers to prepare a shelter for the homeless in 2016.
