DailyAstorian.com // MONDAY, JANUARY 28, 2019
146TH YEAR, NO. 150
ONE DOLLAR
A NEW VIEW OFF MARINE DRIVE
Columbia River Maritime Museum
demolishes auto center for pond
Flyers with the message ‘The KKK Wants
You!’ were found around downtown
Astoria this month.
Man behind
KKK flyers
comes
forward
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Police are concerned with
his safety after threats
Heavy equipment is used to demolish the North Coast Auto Service building.
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
here is a new view of the Barbey
Maritime Center and the Colum-
bia River off Marine Drive.
Demolition crews have
knocked down North Coast Auto Ser-
vice, where the Columbia River Mar-
itime Museum is planning a pond to
teach young people about sailing.
The museum will take geotechni-
cal borings of the ground and decide
the placement of the pond, a minimum
of 20 feet in diameter and 18 inches
deep. Construction is expected to start
in April and finish in mid-July.
A year ago, the museum purchased
the North Coast Auto property from
Denis Renaud. Sam Johnson, the muse-
um’s director, has billed the park as
Columbia River Maritime Museum
See Pond, Page A4
The Columbia River Maritime Museum is planning a park with a pond for sailing
model boats at the site of the former North Coast Auto Service.
T
Chamber honors local
citizens of the year from
Astoria, Warrenton
The Daily Astorian
WARRENTON — Local vol-
unteers Ray Merritt and Jennifer
Holen took home the Astoria-War-
renton Area Chamber of Com-
merce’s citizen-of-the-year awards
at the group’s 146th-annual banquet
Saturday, while Albert and Debbie
Little took home Warrenton’s.
The Chamber Ambassadors’
Choice Award went to Lewis and
Clark Golf & RV Park, owned by
Richard Lee.
About 230 people attended the
banquet, held at the Astoria Golf &
Country Club.
“The Richard Ford Award and
the George Award are among the
most prestigious, highest hon-
ors our community can give to the
super-volunteers in our midst,”
David Reid, executive director of
the chamber, said in a news release.
“It is more evidence that we live in
a truly special place that we have
not several, but dozens, of worthy
nominees each year.”
See Chamber, Page A7
The Daily Astorian
Jennifer Holen, middle, was given the George Award on Saturday
by the Astoria-Warrenton Area Chamber of Commerce for
her volunteer efforts around Astoria. She and her husband,
Christopher, background, co-owners of seafood restaurant Baked
Alaska, received a Lady Liberty Award in 2014 for their catering of
fundraisers and support of the arts.
A Washington state man who says he
is responsible for posting Ku Klux Klan
flyers in downtown Astoria told police he
does not have official ties to the klan but
wanted to attract politically like-minded
people.
Astoria police have declined to pub-
licly name the man because of safety con-
cerns. He told police he received threats
after he was identified through social
media.
Flyers pasted on the sides of build-
ings this month depicted a klansman in
full regalia and the message, “The KKK
Wants You!” Along the bottom were pull
tabs with a hyperlink to a server page on
Discord, an anonymous voice and text
chat website and mobile application.
The content of the flyers is protected
as free speech. But posting flyers with-
out the permission of property owners is
a violation of a city ordinance. The issue
will be forwarded to City Attorney Blair
Henningsgaard for review. The violation
comes with a fine of up to $1,000.
“The individual advised that he does
not have any official ties to the Ku Klux
Klan and only intended to seek politi-
cally like-minded people to engage in
discussion and discourse,” Astoria Dep-
uty Police Chief Eric Halverson said in
a news release. “As a result of the post-
ings, the individual reported that he has
received threats, and others acquainted
with him including family members have
been contacted and threatened.”
Halverson also pointed out “that
threats of violence against individuals
do not constitute freedom of speech and
may constitute criminal conduct. Asto-
ria Police Department has made contact
with the law enforcement agency where
the individual lives because of threats and
related safety concerns for the individual.
“The Astoria Police Department takes
all threats and potential threats of vio-
lence and hate crimes very seriously and
will commit appropriate resources to
identify responsible individuals and pros-
ecute to the fullest extent of the law.”
New code enforcement officer in Cannon Beach
Thompson-Kiefer
is a longtime
coastal resident
By BRENNA VISSER
The Daily Astorian
ANNON BEACH —
For years, Jenny Thomp-
son-Kiefer got to know the
world of vacation rentals as
a house cleaner with a local
management company.
Now, she will be return-
ing to that world, but this
time as Cannon Beach’s new
code enforcement officer.
“I’ve seen the other side,
and now I’m going to be
C
coming from a completely
different side. I think see-
ing the backside of short-
term rentals and knowing
what it’s like will help in this
job a lot,” she said. “And, I
know where a lot of them
are already.”
Last year, the city decided
to hire a code enforce-
ment officer after not hav-
ing one since the 1990s.
Thompson-Kiefer will look
at everything from design
review and planning codes
to vacation rentals.
Thompson-Kiefer’s jour-
ney to this job started about
20 years ago as an 18-year-
old girl in the Columbia
River Gorge with a dream
to go into law enforcement.
After high school, she began
college but left early when
“life unfolded,” and even-
tually moved around and
worked a variety of jobs.
In 2004, she made it out
to the coast, where she was
drawn by the natural beauty
and outdoor recreation
opportunities.
“I love the coast, the
beach, the atmosphere,” she
Brenna Visser/The Daily Astorian
See Officer, Page A7
Jenny Thompson-Kiefer joined the Cannon Beach Police
Department as the new code enforcement officer this month.