A2
THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JULY 23, 2019
IN BRIEF
Fire danger level raised to moderate
The fi re danger level in Northwest Oregon has
been lifted to moderate.
The Oregon Department of Forestry said that as
temperatures increase, fi re managers will raise the
fi re danger level. The change is effective at 1 a.m.
on Tuesday.
Offi cials say campfi res will only be allowed at
designated camping sites. Also, motorists traveling
on forest roads are required to have a shovel and
1 gallon of water or a 2.5 pound or larger fi re
extinguisher. Nonindustrial use of chain saws is
allowed.
— The Astorian
Oregon will get $2.8 million
for Equifax data breach
SALEM — Oregon will receive $2.8 million as
part of a settlement with the credit monitor Equifax
after an enormous 2017 data breach affected nearly
1.8 million Oregonians.
The settlement, announced Monday, was between
Equifax and 48 states, the District of Columbia and
Puerto Rico.
The
agreement
also
settles
ongoing
investigations by the Federal Trade Commission
and the federal Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau.
About $175 million of that is going to the
states and territories, while up to $425 million will
go to redress consumers’ losses and for credit
monitoring.
Equifax is also paying a $100 million fi ne to the
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
The breach affected about 147 million people,
compromising their Social Security numbers, birth-
dates, addresses, credit card numbers and for some,
their driver’s license numbers.
“These self-described ‘stewards’ of our data
turned out to be incredibly careless with Orego-
nians’ personal information and let down consumers
— who had no choice about providing access to their
data in the fi rst place — in a big, big way,” Oregon
Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said in a state-
ment Monday.
— Oregon Capital Bureau
A block party downtown
Katie Frankowicz/The Astorian
Kids play with giant soap bubble wands at a block party on 14th Street in Astoria on Friday afternoon. A portion of 14th Street
closed down for a block party presented by Coast Community Radio that featured performances by local musicians and DJs, a
beer and wine garden, barbecue, lawn games and several pop-up activity tents and shops.
The Astorian wins 4 state journalism awards
The Astorian
DEATH
July 21, 2019
FREEL, Raymond Alfi e, 65, of Astoria, died in
Astoria. Caldwell’s Luce-Layton Mortuary of Astoria
is in charge of the arrangements.
Colin Murphey/The Astorian
Erick Bengel was honored for a story about Video Horizons in
Astoria, pictured, and Universal Video in Seaside.
MEMORIAL
Sunday, July 28
SMITH, Marjorie Jean — Celebration of life at
2 p.m., at 240 S.W. Kalmia Ave. in Warrenton.
Burglary
• Genine Celeste Tuifua,
39, of Astoria, was arrested
Saturday on Grand Avenue
and 27th Street in Asto-
ria for burglary in the sec-
ond degree and theft in the
second degree. She was
arrested June 8 for bur-
glary in the second degree
and theft in the third degree
at the same property.
DUII
• Luz Greenfi eld, 48,
of Long Beach, Wash-
ington, was arrested Sun-
day on U.S. Highway
101 near Camp Rilea for
driving under the infl u-
ence of intoxicants. Her
blood alcohol content
was 0.17%.
• Dylan Henry Len-
nard Clodgo, 26, of Asto-
ria, was arrested Satur-
day on Marine Drive in
front of Astoria High
School for DUII.
• Manuel Juan Alanis,
39, of Las Vegas, was
arrested Friday on the
Astoria Bridge for DUII.
His blood alcohol con-
tent was 0.24%.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
TUESDAY
Astoria Library Board,
5:30 p.m., Flag Room, 450
10th St.
Seaside Airport Advisory
Committee, 6 p.m., City
Hall, 989 Broadway.
Warrenton City Commis-
sion, 6 p.m., City Hall, 225 S.
Main Ave.
Astoria Planning Commis-
sion, 7 p.m., City Hall, 1095
Duane St.
WEDNESDAY
Clatsop County Board of
Commissioners, 6 p.m.,
Orca sanctuary pitched for San Juan Islands
Haven for whales
from theme parks
ON THE RECORD
Judge Guy Boyington
Building, 857 Commercial
St.
THURSDAY
Sunset Empire Trans-
portation District Board,
9 a.m., Astoria Transit Cen-
ter, 900 Marine Drive.
Columbia River Estuary
Study Taskforce, noon, 818
Commercial St., Suite 203.
Clatsop County Recre-
ational Lands Planning
and Advisory Committee,
1 to 3 p.m., fourth fl oor, 800
Exchange St.
By TOM BANSE
Northwest News Network
An environmental non-
profi t is gauging interest in
the creation of an orca enclo-
sure in Washington’s San
Juan Islands.
The leaders of the Whale
Sanctuary Project say a cor-
doned-off bay or cove some-
where in the San Juan Islands
could be the ideal home for
orcas retired from theme
parks. It also could serve as
a rehabilitation site if gov-
ernment biologists temporar-
ily corral an ailing wild orca
for treatment.
But the sanctuary idea
is drawing fl ak from some
quarters, and a brush-off
from the owners of captive
killer whales.
“We need a community to
embrace our vision in order
for this to work,” said Lori
Marino, founder and presi-
dent of the Whale Sanctuary
Project . “We don’t want to
be anywhere where it is not
embraced.”
Over the past couple of
years, the sanctuary team
scouted the Washington state,
British Columbia and e ast-
ern Canada coasts looking
for sites of 60 to 100 aquatic
acres with quiet surroundings
and nearby utilities for the
staff facilities. The goal is to
secure a natural setting where
former show orcas could live
out their lives with higher
quality of life than in a small,
concrete tank.
In particular, whale lov-
ers in the Pacifi c Northwest
have long wanted to bring
home the last surviving cap-
tive orcas of the many taken
from the Salish Sea in the
1960s and ‘70s. A s outhern
r esident killer whale named
“Lolita” — also known as
Tokitae — lives at the Miami
Seaquarium and a n orthern
r esident named “Corky” is in
SeaWorld’s care.
The Miami Seaquari-
um’s ownership has stead-
fastly refused entreaties to
consider retiring Lolita, their
sole orca, to her natal home.
SeaWorld holds 20 orcas, the
majority of whom were born
in captivity, at three theme
parks in Orlando, San Anto-
nio and San Diego.
“We’re not interested,”
said Dr. Chris Dold, chief
zoological
offi cer
for
SeaWorld.
“Putting them in a sea pen
introduces a tremendous level
of risk,” Dold said . “Envi-
EMERALD HEIGHTS
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SeaWorld San Diego
SeaWorld parks said it has no interest in turning over its
captive orcas to the Whale Sanctuary Project.
ronmental changes, weather,
potential harmful algal
blooms, potential infectious
diseases of which our whales
would not have been exposed
to — not having grown up in
that environment.”
Dold insisted the orcas
in his care “have great lives
and receive the utmost of
care” and contribute to scien-
tifi c understanding for killer
whale conservation.
The principals in the
Whale Sanctuary Project
said they are confi dent the
attitudes of orca owners like
SeaWorld will evolve in due
course. The nonprofi t’s plan
is to establish their sanctuary
fi rst, then make agreements
to receive suitable orcas.
“The ethic around keep-
ing whales in captivity for
performance purposes has
really shifted,” said Charles
Vinick, the sanctuary proj-
ect’s executive director. “We
have to move forward and
acquire the site so there is
a facility fully staffed and
ready to accept a whale from
a captive facility.”
The Whale
Sanctu-
ary Project board and staff
includes people who helped
return the orca “Keiko,”
the star of the movie, “Free
Willy,” to Icelandic waters
from Newport . The advisory
board also includes environ-
mental luminaries such as
explorer and oceans advo-
cate Jean-Michel Cousteau,
oceanographer Sylvia Earle,
and OrcaLab co-director
Paul Spong.
One fi gure not on board
is the director of the Seat-
tle-based orca advocacy
group, The Whale Trail.
Donna Sandstrom said she
is alarmed by the possibility
that nonnative whales could
be released into a saltwa-
ter net pen in Puget Sound.
She said this creates risks of
disease transmission to the
endangered native popula-
tion. Sandstrom also won-
dered if resident orcas might
hear the calls of nonna-
tive orcas and decide to stay
away.
“With all the threats fac-
ing the s outhern r esident
killer whales, putting nonna-
tive cetaceans in the heart of
their range is about the most
foolhardy thing I could think
of,” Sandstrom said .
Vinick responded that the
proposed refuge enclosure
will have quarantine areas to
prevent pathogens from pass-
ing back and forth.
Multiple
government
bodies would be involved in
permitting an orca sanctuary
once the nonprofi t settles on
a fi nal location to submit for
approval.
for more information call 503-325-8221
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News staffers at The
Astorian were honored last
week with four awards in
the Oregon Newspaper Pub-
lishers Association annual
journalism competition.
Former features edi-
tor Erick Bengel won fi rst
place for lifestyle coverage
for a story about how two
North Coast video stores
— Video Horizons in Asto-
ria and Universal Video in
Seaside — have managed to
hold on, even as traditional
brick-and-mortar
outlets
have become a rarity.
Former
photographer
Colin Murphey won sec-
ond place for a photo essay
about the fi re devastation in
Paradise, California.
Elleda Wilson won third
place for her In One Ear
columns.
And former reporter
Brenna Visser won third
place for a feature story
about a Seaside man killed
by police.
The competition was
judged
by
members
of the Kentucky Press
Association.
“I’m proud of our jour-
nalists, and I’m glad their
work is recognized by their
peers in the industry,” said
Jim Van Nostrand, The
Astorian’s editor.
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