The daily Astorian., November 30, 2018, WEEKEND EDITION, Page 7A, Image 7

7A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2018
WORLD IN BRIEF
Associated Press
Massive, extended data
breach within Marriott’s
hotel empire
BETHESDA, Md. — A security breach inside
Marriott’s worldwide hotel empire has compro-
mised the information of as many as 500 million
guests, exposing in some cases credit card num-
bers, passport numbers and birthdates, the com-
pany said today.
Alarming security analysts, Marriott said that
unauthorized access to data at the hotels, once run
by Starwood, has been taking place since 2014.
It may be among the largest data breaches
on record. Last year’s startling Equifax hack
affected more than 145 million people.
The affected hotel brands operated by Star-
wood before it was acquired by Marriott in 2016
include W Hotels, St. Regis, Sheraton, Westin,
Element, Aloft, The Luxury Collection, Le Méri-
dien and Four Points. Starwood branded time-
share properties are also included.
None of the Marriott-branded chains are
threatened.
Credit card numbers and expiration dates of
some guests may have been taken, according
to the company. For as many as two-thirds of
those affected, data exposed could include mail-
ing address, phone number, email address, pass-
port number, Starwood Preferred Guest account
information, date of birth, gender, arrival and
departure information, reservation date and com-
munication preferences. For some guests, the
information was limited to name and sometimes
other data such as mailing address, email address
or other information.
Email notifications for those who may have
been affected begin rolling out today.
“The names, addresses, passport numbers
and other sensitive personal information that was
exposed is of greater concern than the payment
info, which was encrypted,” said analyst Ted
Rossman of CreditCards.com. “People should
be concerned that criminals could use this info to
open fraudulent accounts in their names.”
Tariff tensions shadow
US, Canada, Mexico
trade pact signing
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — President
Donald Trump teamed up with the leaders of
Canada and Mexico today to sign a revised
North American trade pact, a deal that fulfills
a key political pledge but faces an uncertain
future in Congress. The celebratory moment was
dimmed by ongoing differences over Trump’s
steel and aluminum tariffs, as well as plans
for massive layoffs in the U.S. and Canada by
Stan Lim/Orange County Register
A mudslide trapped several vehicles in San Bernardino County, Calif.
Flooding hits California
area scarred by wildfire
SAN FRANCISCO — Flash flooding hit a wildfire-scarred area of Northern California on
Thursday, forcing officials to deploy swift water rescue teams to save people stuck in vehicles
and rescue them from homes after a downpour near the Paradise area.
Authorities said they used boats to rescue people from three homes and told people in about
100 vehicles to stay in place until the rain receded in late afternoon. They received reports of
flooding on roads and of downed trees and utility poles.
Thursday’s storm brought 1½ inches of rain in an hour, toppling trees and trapping motorists
in flooded roads downstream, said National Weather Service meteorologist Craig Shoemaker.
The Butte County Sheriff’s Department ordered evacuations but could not say how many
people were affected. The water rescues were in an area of Chico, which is downhill from Par-
adise, and a city where many of the wildfire evacuees have been staying since the town of
27,000 was destroyed just three weeks ago by a deadly wildfire.
Paradise has been under mandatory evacuation orders for nearly three weeks since a wild-
fire killed at least 88 people and destroyed nearly 14,000 homes.
Residents could begin returning early next week, but only if the storm doesn’t hinder efforts
to clear roads and restore power, authorities said.
General Motors.
The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement is
meant to replace the 24-year-old North American
Free Trade Agreement, which Trump has long
denigrated as a “disaster.”
Trump appeared with Canadian Prime Min-
ister Justin Trudeau and outgoing Mexican Pres-
ident Enrique Pena Nieto at the Group of 20
nations summit in Buenos Aires for the formal
signing ceremony. Each country’s legislature
must also approve the agreement.
“It’s been long and hard. We’ve taken a lot of
barbs and a little abuse and we got there,” Trump
said of the pact. “It’s great for all our countries.”
Legislative approval could prove to be a diffi-
cult task in the United States, especially now that
Democrats — instead of Trump’s Republicans
— will control the House of Representatives
come January. Democrats and their allies in the
labor movement are already demanding changes
to the agreement.
Within hours of the signing, Senate Demo-
cratic Leader Chuck Schumer said the deal must
have stronger labor and environmental protec-
tions in order to get majority support in Con-
gress and “must prove to be a net benefit to mid-
dle-class families and working people.”
GOP senator’s opposition
likely sinks Trump
judicial nominee
WASHINGTON — A second Republican
senator, Tim Scott of South Carolina, has said he
will vote against President Donald Trump’s nom-
inee to serve as a district judge in North Carolina,
likely dooming the prospects of Thomas Farr fill-
ing the nation’s longest court vacancy.
Civil rights groups such as the NAACP have
heavily criticized Farr for his work defending
state laws found to have discriminated against
African-Americans. Farr is nominated to serve
as a district court judge in North Carolina.
Scott announced Thursday that he would not
vote for Farr, joining Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona
and 49 Democratic lawmakers in opposing the
nominee.
Farr once served as a lawyer for the re-elec-
tion campaign of Republican Sen. Jesse Helms in
1990. The Justice Department alleged that about
120,000 postcards sent mostly to black voters
before that election was intended to intimidate
them from voting.
The postcards targeting black voters said they
could be prosecuted and imprisoned for up to five
years if they tried to vote in a precinct in which
they had lived for fewer than 30 days.
A 1991 Justice Department memo raised
questions about Farr’s claim that he was never
consulted about the postcards. The memo said
Farr had met with key campaign officials and
had advised them “that a postcard mailing like
the mailing conducted in 1984 would not be par-
ticularly useful” except as evidence in post-elec-
tion challenges.
Scott, who is African-American, cited the
memo as to why he would vote against Farr.
US urged to send Ebola
experts in as Congo
outbreak worsens
JOHANNESBURG — Global health experts
are urging the Trump administration to allow
U.S. government disease specialists — “some
of the world’s most experienced” — to return to
northeastern Congo to help fight the second-larg-
est Ebola outbreak in history.
The U.S. experts have been sidelined for
weeks, ordered away from the region because
of State Department security concerns. Two
top medical journals this week have published
commentaries calling on the U.S. to change its
mind and send them back where they are sorely
needed.
This Ebola outbreak is like no other, since
health workers have compared the region to
a war zone. Dozens of armed rebel groups are
active, and their deadly attacks have forced
responders to pause crucial Ebola containment
work for days. Many new cases have been unre-
lated to known infections, alarming evidence that
gaps in tracking the disease remain.
Late Thursday, the World Health Organiza-
tion declared this outbreak second only to the
devastating West Africa one that killed more than
11,000 people from 2014 to 2016. Congo’s health
ministry said the number of confirmed and prob-
able Ebola cases has reached 426, edging past the
Uganda outbreak in 2000. So far this outbreak
has 198 confirmed deaths and 47 probable ones.
Port of Astoria Issues Continue to be Failed by Port Staff and Port Commission
At the last port meeting, the POA announced that they were going to
close down the East End Basin causeway. ODOT told them it needed
to be closed down immediately for safety reasons. The causeway is the
only way for commercial fishermen to get to their vessels. The port staff
told us that they were trying to find homes for the big vessel commercial
fleet that is moored there.
The POA said they contacted the boat owners about the new informa-
tion and that they would not be able to tie there after that day. 3 boat
owners who fish for Bornstein Seafoods called me to complain about
the procedure in which this happened. They said they were notified at
3:50 pm Tues. Nov. 20, the date of our port meeting. Had they been
given more notice, they could have come to the meeting to voice their
opinion.
The government vessels were moved to the West End Basin, but the
commercial vessels do not have a moorage. They can’t just moor
anywhere. It takes time to find a new place and they are fully paid up
until at least June, 2019. If these vessels were to move to Ilwaco for
moorage, they would most likely deliver to Ilwaco, not Astoria.
Bornsteins depends on these vessels for production for their plant and
to pay on their loan from the POA. They still owe $7.5-8 million. If the
boats were to go away, so might Bornsteins.
Once again, the port has dropped the ball in taking care of it’s tenants
and the tax payers of Clatsop County. The port has known for the last
couple of years that something needed to be done with the causeway.
They could have made a pathway so that our tenants could get their
groceries and their equipment and crews to their boats. The port re-
ceives $40,000 for these vessels from moorage fees. Couldn’t they have
at least met with the fishermen and worked out some kind of solution?
The port continues to throw millions to dollars to the airport. They want
us to vote on grant money for upkeep on the airport, but the match is
$220,000. If the airport is losing $37,000 a year, how do you get the
match money back?
This is how the port has treated the fishermen over the last year and a half.
4. ODFW meeting in Seaside, OR., 4 years ago. All entities more or less 8. The mascot at our school is the “Fighting Fisherman” and it is time
1. Commercial gillnet fishery wanted a letter from the port to take to
for the fisherman to fight back. They contribute an awful lot of
in Clatsop County standing room only, wanted to speak.
ODFW meeting to explain the amount of money these people bring
revenue to Clatsop County, as well as the people from WA. that shop
into our community. No letter from POA chairman and port manager
5. Kicking tax payers and people who raise their children here, boat
here, eat, and buy marine supplies from another one of our tenants.
said we represent other groups, not just one. Plenty of support letters
pullers, from access to public moorages.
from the community, which also represents multiple groups.
6. Our commercial fishermen who bring their money to Clatsop County
2. Security giving tickets to commercial fishermen for waiting to deliver
from offshore fisheries in OR., WA., CA., & AK. don’t deserve this kind
their products.
of treatment from people who don’t know the history of Astoria, OR.
3. Tariffs for commercial fishermen and processors to deliver their fish in
7. I guess it si time to put in float houses and cruise ship docks at the
the POA. No other port on the west coast does this.
East End Basin.
November 19, 2018
6)
A few days after the jury verdict regarding the Riverwalk Inn that determined the Port Director
knowingly made false statements and that this was the basis of the $4 million judgement against the
Port, the Port Commission gave the Port Director a 3 year contract and raise. This verdict was not
appealed by the Port.
a. Given the final verdict found by clear and convincing evidence that Director Knight knowingly made
false statements of fact, why does this Commission continue to reward Director Knight’s failure with a
new contract and raises?
7)
After the $2 million Airport Bond failed, Life Flight came forward and testified that it was never needed
for them, and that they could safely build right where they are located without any noise or safety
issues. Life Flight’s manager also testified at a Port meeting that the Port Director lied to him about
what the Port Director said Port would provide to Life Flight. Life Flight is now building in the exact
same place they said they could all along.
a. Why have we not been honest with the public that there was no actual need for the Airport Bond,
and that Life Flight was able to build exactly where they exist without requiring public funds to do so?
8)
The Port of Astoria continues to do nothing regarding the Sea Lions taking over our docks, as I noted
in my letter to the Commission dated December 5, 2017.
a. Where is the plan to prevent Sea Lions taking over our docks?
9)
The Port Director brought an action item for the Port Commission to walk away from all of its invest-
ment in Tongue Point without publicizing it as an agenda item for the public to comment on. Business
Oregon Regional Development Officer, Melanie Olson said the public definitely has a right to speak on
as big of an issue as the Port of Astoria getting rid of Tongue Point with a possible railhead, ship, and
barge facility.
a. Tongue Point represented about 10% of the Port’s budget and has now been given away, so why
has the Port Director’s pay not been reduced proportionally?
10)
The Port Director has failed in his duties to keep the Port’s strategic plan up to date, when he knew
this was required to get funding to help fix the Port’s depleted infrastructure. The Port is currently
short 630k to pay the Oregon grant match for repairing Pier 2. The Port keeps putting off this pay-
ment by asking for extensions, as the Port Staff continues to refuse to answer the Port Commission
and public as to where this money will come from.
a. How much short term and long term debt does the Port of Astoria have?
11)
Take a look at the Port of Astoria’s marinas and compare them to the other 4 marinas below Tongue
Point: Ilwaco, Chinook, Hammond, and Warrenton. You will find the Port of Astoria’s marinas are in
terrible shape by comparison. The Port’s East Mooring Basin is full of seas lions, and the Port’s West
Mooring Basin is full of sand bars.
a. What is the plan to resolve these issues, as I raised tem on December 5, 2017?
12)
The Port Director is proposing new fees for seafood, including dockage charges for fishing vessels,
wharfage charges for seafood crossing the dock, and a seafood processor tariff, yet Director Knight
says he cares about our fisherman.
a. Wouldn’t these charges encourage fishermen to deliver seafood to other processors instead of at
the Port?
b. How would these seafood charges not hurt Bornstein Seafoods, one of the Port’s major tenants
and increase risk to the +$7.5 million loan remaining that the Port is ultimately responsible for?
Port of Astoria Commission,
There was no response regarding my December 5, 2017 letter to this commission outlining 11 issues that
the POA and it’s commission fail their elected duty to be transparent to the public and refuse to address
the mistakes Port Director Knight continues to cost our community.
I am providing to the public several other issues that I think need to be addressed in an open public
meeting so the public will get some answers which they deserve, and also to allow the public to evaluate
Director Knight’s performance.
1)
The Port was fined over $60k by Oregon DEQ over stormwater violations at Pier 3 and Tongue Point.
The Port Director did not inform the Port Commission about these fines until they appeared in a
Daily Astorian article, even though the Port Director had them in hand by certified mail. Later the
Port Director said the Port would be challenging these DEQ fines, but this should have been a Port
Commission decision.
a. Were these fines challenged, or what is their status?
b. Have there been any more fines from DEQ?
c. Has the Port been meeting all of its stormwater benchmarks in its required tests?
2)
The Port’s stormwater system contract with Conway Construction on Pier 3 went over budget, took
longer than required, and required the Port hiring another contractor to complete in addition to being
fined. Director Knight has also represented that Port tenants will be paying 50% of these costs.
a. What documented proof is there that Port tenants have agreed to pay 50% of these costs, and
when will they be paying?
b. Despite assurances from Commission President Spence 8 months ago, that this question would
be answered at the next meeting, it has not been, why does Commissioner Spence keep the public in
the dark on these major issues?
3)
The Port Director transferred the Port’s security interest in the Buoy Beer building without Port Com-
missions approval, and directly against the Port Commission’s specific order to have this building
appraised first. The Port Director transferred this interest without Port Commission approval for
$390,000 based on several years old appraisal that was done before major improvements were done
to this building that likely make it worth more than $1 million that was collateral for the Port’s loan
with the State of Oregon for Bornstein Seafoods.
a. Has there been any process to prevent Director Knight from unilaterally transferring Port property
without permission in the future?
4)
5)
Port staff gave away United Seafoods equipment to Da Yang without doing any inventory or appraisal
of this property. At the time the Port was owed over $70k in back rent from United Seafoods that
this equipment may have been sold to recover what it was owed. The Port Staff did not even have a
written lease agreement between the Port and United Seafoods, and was well aware of this. More re-
cently this Commission learned Director Knight unilaterally modified a lease for the Chinook Building
without documenting it.
a. Has there been any process to prevent Director Knight from unilaterally making non-written con-
tacts without first getting approval from this Commission?
The Port was supposed to get the Oregon State Building at the East Mooring Basin back from the
State when they quit using it as a seafood lab. The Port continues to take no action to fix this or take
possession of this building.
a. Has there been any update to correct this contract error so the Port can own this property as I
raised from my letter dated December 5, 2017?
Paid For By Bill Hunsinger