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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (April 19, 2019)
A2 THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, APRIL 19, 2019 Congressional delegation reacts to the Mueller report By MEERAH POWELL Oregon Public Broadcasting Members of Oregon’s congressional delegation reacted to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investiga- tive report on Russia’s inter- ference in the 2016 election . Statements fell along party lines. U.S. Sen. Jeff Merk- ley called Attorney Gen- eral William Barr’s actions in Thursday morning’s press conference, and in the weeks leading up to the report’s release, “inappro- priate and an abuse of his offi ce.” “The a ttorney g eneral is supposed to act as the peo- ple’s lawyer, not the p resi- dent’s PR lackey,” Merkley, a Democrat, said. “It’s clear that Barr took President (Donald) Trump’s admoni- tion to his predecessor that ‘You were supposed to pro- tect me’ as a job description, and this creates an incredi- bly dangerous precedent for the future.” In regard to the Muel- ler report itself, Merkley said he and his staff are still making their way through it. Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Construction work continues on a bridge at the waterfront in Astoria. Waterfront bridge project delayed Work will continue through June By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Daily Astorian Work to replace Asto- ria’s waterfront bridges will continue through June. Legacy Contracting Inc. has submitted an updated work schedule to the Ore- gon Department of Trans- portation, according to the city. The contractor now expects work on the Seventh and Ninth s treet bridges to continue into June. Work on the 11th Street bridge likely will not wrap until late June. Construction was orig- inally set to be completed before the end of May. The city received fund- ing from the state to replace six short bridges at the bases of Sixth Street through 11th Street that connect the road ends to over water piers . The waterfront bridges were in need of repairs to keep them open. The state is managing the project and awarded a construction contract to Legacy last year. The con- tractor began to tackle the fi rst of the three bridges — at the bases of Sev- enth, Ninth and 11th s treets — last October. Work will pause for the summer and resume on the Sixth, Eighth and 10th s treet bridges in October. Businesses have remained open during con- struction, but those clus- tered at the end of 11th Street and out on the 11th Street Pier — as well as Buoy Beer near Seventh Street — have felt the effects of the project. Some restaurants have seen a major drop in cus- tomers, especially a decline in the usual foot traffi c they would see from the Astoria Riverwalk. They were looking forward to when the work, the fencing and the machinery would fi nally go away. Construction has also kept the Astoria River- front Trolley from running its full route. For s pring b reak, the trolley ran an abbreviated course, only able to go as far as Sixth Street. SALEM — The Ore- gon Ethics Commission has unanimously accepted a settlement agreement with former fi rst lady Cyl- via Hayes. The commission agreed today to let Hayes pay a fi ne of $50,000 after she was accused of committing 22 violations of state eth- ics laws. Hayes has fi led for bankruptcy and isn’t expected to pay the full amount. Hayes personally apol- ogized to the committee, saying she “blurred the line” between her role as a fi rst lady and her posi- By GILLIAN FLACCUS Associated Press tion as an unpaid policy adviser to former Gov. John Kitzhaber, her fi ancé. Commissioners had previously rejected a set- tlement, saying they were offended Hayes didn’t appear in person to apologize. Kitzhaber resigned in 2015. FIVE-DAY FORECAST FOR ASTORIA TONIGHT SATURDAY SUNDAY 45 Partly cloudy ALMANAC 60 47 A blend of sun and clouds Shown is tomorrow's weather. Temperatures are tonight's lows and tomorrow's highs. ASTORIA 45/59 Tillamook 43/61 Last Salem 45/65 Newport 45/55 Apr 26 First May 4 Lakeview 45/52 TOMORROW'S TIDES Astoria / Port Docks Time 9:05 a.m. 9:06 p.m. Low -0.9 ft. 1.1 ft. City Baker City Bend Brookings Eugene Ilwaco Klamath Falls Medford Newberg Newport North Bend Hi 76 71 60 65 54 74 77 60 55 58 Today Lo 49 44 49 47 46 46 52 44 45 48 W pc sh c c r pc c sh c c Hi 57 54 58 64 57 55 60 65 55 56 Sat. Lo 37 32 46 41 44 33 44 39 44 45 W pc pc pc s s sh pc s s s City Olympia Pendleton Portland Roseburg Salem Seaside Spokane Springfi eld Vancouver Yakima Hi 58 73 61 71 63 55 66 65 60 73 Today Lo 42 49 47 50 45 45 46 47 44 45 W r t sh c sh r c c sh c Hi 64 62 67 65 65 59 63 62 65 70 Sat. Lo 37 40 43 45 41 42 38 40 40 40 W s pc s pc s s pc s s pc TOMORROW'S NATIONAL WEATHER NATIONAL CITIES W r c pc s s r s pc pc r s s s sh t sh c c s sh c s pc r t Hi 58 70 62 78 73 52 91 45 87 50 75 89 67 68 80 61 73 66 77 73 68 75 61 61 73 Sat. Lo 46 56 44 47 52 40 64 28 71 35 55 62 55 49 61 42 54 54 57 54 49 53 50 43 52 OREGON Thursday’s Pick 4: 1 p.m.: 2-4-5-0 4 p.m.: 7-5-2-5 7 p.m.: 0-0-5-4 10 p.m.: 3-6-6-1 Thursday’s Lucky Lines: 2-5-11-16-19-22-26-30 Estimated jackpot: $23,000 WASHINGTON Thursday’s Daily Game: 1-6-1 Thursday’s Keno: 16-18-27-36-38-39-42-47-48- 49-56-59-62-67-68-70-72-73-75-78 Thursday’s Match 4: 07-12-15-20 REGIONAL CITIES Source: Jim Todd, OMSI Hi 68 75 52 71 64 45 84 41 87 47 63 90 78 52 86 51 70 73 66 76 58 74 68 58 77 LOTTERIES Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2019 Tonight's Sky: Full 'pink' moon (4:12 a.m. PDT). Today Lo 44 61 39 47 40 39 57 24 71 37 40 67 57 42 68 40 53 61 44 64 41 54 53 46 63 Baker 49/57 Burns 47/56 Ashland 50/58 Dozens of people, includ- ing leader Ammon Bundy, occupied the remote Malheur National Wildlife Refuge from Jan. 2, 2016, to Feb. 11, 2016, to protest federal con- trol of Western lands and the imprisonment of two Oregon ranchers convicted of setting fi res on federal land. Members of the group were allowed to come and go for several weeks as author- ities tried to avoid blood- shed seen in past standoffs at Waco, Texas, and Ruby Ridge, Idaho. But authori- ties moved in Jan. 26 when key standoff leaders left for a community meeting, pulling over two vehicles and arrest- ing the occupiers inside. Standoff spokesman Robert “Lavoy” Finicum was shot and killed by Oregon State Police. Most occupiers left the refuge after Finicum’s death, though four holdouts stayed an additional 16 days. Federal prosecutors tried to convict occupation lead- ers Ammon and Ryan Bundy and fi ve others in a 2016 trial, but jurors acquitted them of charges of conspiring to impede federal workers from their jobs. Tuesday, April 23 KENYON, Karen Rai — Remembrance of life service at 2 p.m., Grace Episcopal Church, 1545 Franklin Ave. Reception follows in the Fellowship Hall. Ontario 56/66 Klamath Falls 46/55 A small-town sheriff who gained national attention for his leadership during a 41-day standoff with armed occupiers at a wildlife ref- uge in Oregon is resigning, citing chronic underfunding for his department and con- cerns about liability caused by an outdated and under- staffed jail. Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward announced his decision to resign on Dec. 31 in an opinion piece pub- lished Wednesday in the Burns Times-Herald. He said he was not willing to con- tinue operating a jail “that is not funded to meet the min- imum standards required” or to stand by while more staff- ers are laid off. Ward was sheriff in 2016 when armed protesters angry about federal control of West- ern lands overtook the Mal- heur National Wildlife Ref- uge in the remote county and stayed there for weeks. Ward became the face of local gov- ernment authority. In the letter, Ward says Harney County faces a seri- ous budget shortfall because of an accounting error — a defi cit that he says has worsened the already woe- ful funding for the sheriff’s department. County workers already work 10 unpaid hours on fur- lough each month, he said, and the only way to address budget cuts to the sheriff’s department would be layoffs. The defi cit in the general fund is more than $800,000 in the next fi scal year, accord- ing to county budget docu- ments cited by Oregon Pub- lic Broadcasting. “I am no longer willing to accept the civil liability associated with the failure to appropriately fund/staff our jail, search and rescue, or law enforcement services to our community. These are not frivolous expenditures; they are duties and responsibili- ties of the sheriff, mandated by law,” he wrote. The jail staffi ng levels in the county fall below the minimum requirements in Oregon, and the facility is severely outdated, with no hope of making repairs, he added. Harney County Trea- surer Bobbi Jo Heany didn’t immediately return a call or email seeking comment. MEMORIAL La Grande 46/54 Roseburg 50/65 Brookings 50/60 May 11 John Day 46/54 Bend 44/54 Medford 52/60 UNDER THE SKY High 9.6 ft. 8.3 ft. Prineville 45/57 Lebanon 46/63 Eugene 47/64 New Pendleton 49/62 The Dalles 51/70 Portland 47/67 Sunset tonight ........................... 8:08 p.m. Sunrise Saturday ........................ 6:21 a.m. Coos Bay Moonrise today .......................... 8:40 p.m. 47/55 Moonset today ............................ 6:57 a.m. City Atlanta Boston Chicago Denver Des Moines Detroit El Paso Fairbanks Honolulu Indianapolis Kansas City Las Vegas Los Angeles Memphis Miami Nashville New Orleans New York Oklahoma City Philadelphia St. Louis Salt Lake City San Francisco Seattle Washington, DC Periods of clouds and sunshine Mostly sunny SUN AND MOON Time 2:27 a.m. 3:14 p.m. TUESDAY 58 47 REGIONAL WEATHER Precipitation Thursday .......................................... 0.02" Month to date ................................... 4.90" Normal month to date ....................... 3.38" Year to date .................................... 19.95" Normal year to date ........................ 28.22" Apr 19 57 42 Mostly sunny Astoria through Thursday. Temperatures High/low ....................................... 63°/48° Normal high/low ........................... 57°/41° Record high ............................ 74° in 2016 Record low ............................. 26° in 1927 Full MONDAY 59 43 U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, in a post on Twitter, said, “AG Barr proved beyond a doubt he is here to defend Trump at all costs, facts be damned . This kind of spin is unworthy of an a ttorney g eneral.” The Oregon Democrat also called for Congress to be able to view the investi- gative report, unredacted. “(T)he materials must be provided to Congress so that members and staff can review them and provide a check on the abuse of the redaction process,” Wyden said. “No one should have to trust (Barr’s) word when it comes to the special coun- sel’s report.” U.S. Rep. Earl Blume- nauer, a Democrat, also took to social media to share his thoughts . “The Mueller report points out that it is the job of Congress, not AG Barr or Trump, to conduct an inves- tigation and determine if the president obstructed jus- tice,” Blumenauer tweeted. “Anything less than that is an affront to our democracy and our oath to uphold the Constitution.” Oregon sheriff known for standoff to resign over funds Former Oregon fi rst lady settles ethics case Associated Press “It’s already clear that it paints a very detailed and disturbing portrait of a pres- ident utterly obsessed with executing a massive cov- er-up and preventing the truth from coming out,” he said. “As Robert Mueller noted, there are many unan- swered questions here that Congress can and should look into.” U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, an Oregon Republican , asserted in a statement that the report “confi rms what we already knew from Attorney General Barr’s summary: President Trump and his campaign did not collude with the Russian government.” “I supported making sure Mr. Mueller had the unfet- tered ability and resources to conduct a thorough inves- tigation, which he did. I supported releasing as much of the report as allowed by law, which the attorney gen- eral has done,” Walden said. “Now, it’s time for the par- tisans to move on and for Congress to get to work on issues such as border security and immigration reform.” Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. W c r s pc s r s pc sh r s pc pc s s sh s r s pc s pc pc s pc Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow fl urries, sn-snow, i-ice. OBITUARY POLICY The Daily Astorian publishes paid obituaries. 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