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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 17, 2019)
A2 THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, AUGUST 17, 2019 Foreclosed properties sell at auction IN BRIEF Gillnetters get time on Columbia River in August Commercial gillnet fi shermen will get more time on the Columbia River main stem this month than they did last August. Returns of coho have been high through the sum- mer, but the fall Chinook salmon run is anticipated to come in at less than half of the 10-year average at nearly 350,000 fi sh. This is still higher than in 2018, when returns of fall Chinook totaled less than 300,000 fi sh. Commercial gillnetters hit the water on Wednes- day and will have fi ve openings through Aug. 29. Last August, commercial gillnetters landed 8,320 fall Chi- nook and 380 coho over four fi shing periods at the end of August. Free fi shing days this weekend People can fi sh, crab or clam for free anywhere in Oregon this weekend. The state will not require people to have fi shing licenses or tags Saturday and Sunday. All other fi shery regulations still apply, however, including closures, bag limits and size restrictions. Crabbing is open along the entire Oregon Coast and reports of ocean fi shing for rockfi sh, tuna and coho salmon have been strong. Communal dog dish in Astoria fi lled with antifreeze Astoria police received a report on Wednesday afternoon that someone had left a dog dish fi lled with antifreeze at the 14th Street stop of the Astoria River- front Trolley. “We have always kept fresh water outside of our studio for our doggy friends that walk the Riverwalk,” Kim Gibbs, the co-owner of RiversZen Yoga, said in an email. “Some sick-minded individual stole our dog dish from our business, fi lled it with antifreeze and placed it along the Riverwalk.” “Please make sure you check to see what your dog is drinking before it drinks.” Police are not aware of any animals harmed as a result of the incident. If anyone has information about who is responsible, they are asked to contact Sgt. Andrew Randall at the Astoria Police Department at 503-325-4411. Local insurer helps with Oregon Health Plan enrollment Linda Dugan Insurance in Astoria is among the fi rms chosen to help people enroll in the Oregon Health Plan. The local insurance company is one of 33 insurance agencies granted money to help publicize the upcom- ing health insurance open enrollment period and to help people enroll. Open enrollment for 2020 cover- age runs from Nov. 1 to Dec. 15. “If you don’t deal with premiums, fi nancial assis- tance, deductibles, and copays every day, you might not want to sift through all that information alone, under a deadline,” Chiqui Flowers, administrator of the Oregon Health Insurance Marketplace, said in a news release. “An agent or partner in your commu- nity can help you understand the options and enroll in coverage.” Grantees were judged on ties to community net- works, the ability to reach underserved populations and the capacity to serve consumers whether they are eligible for HealthCare.gov plans or other programs, such as the Oregon Health Plan or Medicare. — The Astorian Small earthquake off the Oregon Coast A 5.4 magnitude earthquake struck Friday about 260 miles off the Oregon Coast. The U.S. Geological Survey said the temblor hap- pened before 7:30 a.m. west of Newport. There was no tsunami danger, according to the National Weather Service. The quake was about 6 miles deep. — Associated Press PUBLIC MEETINGS MONDAY Astoria City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 1095 Duane St. TUESDAY Astoria Historic Land- marks Commission, 5:15 p.m., City Hall, 1095 Duane St. Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District Board of Directors, 5:15 p.m., Bob Chisholm Community Established July 1, 1873 (USPS 035-000) Published Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday by EO Media Group, 949 Exchange St., PO Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103 Telephone 503-325-3211, 800-781-3211 or Fax 503-325-6573. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Astorian, PO Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103-0210 DailyAstorian.com Center, 1225 Avenue A, Seaside. Seaside School District Board of Directors, 7 p.m., 1801 S. Franklin, Seaside. Shoreline Sanitary Dis- trict Board, 7 p.m., Gear- hart Hertig Station, 33496 West Lake Lane, Warrenton. Seaside Planning Com- mission, 7 p.m., work session, City Hall, 989 Broadway. Circulation phone number: 503-325-3211 Periodicals postage paid at Astoria, OR ADVERTISING OWNERSHIP All advertising copy and illustrations prepared by The Astorian become the property of The Astorian and may not be reproduced for any use without explicit prior approval. COPYRIGHT © Entire contents © Copyright, 2019 by The Astorian. MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MEMBER CERTIFIED AUDIT OF CIRCULATIONS, INC. Printed on recycled paper Hope for an eyesore on G Road By NICOLE BALES The Astorian Five tax-foreclosed prop- erties were put up for auction in July and Clatsop C ounty sold two of them, includ- ing a dilapidated house on G Road in Jeffers Garden. County c ommissioners enthusiastically accepted the bids on Wednesday night and were hopeful for the future of G Road. The property was sold to John Harper, a regional cig- arette and marijuana store fi nancier, for the minimum bid of $45,000. Harper has purchased property from county auc- tions in the past and “has done a wonderful, beauti- ful job restoring those prop- erties,” said Sirpa Duoos, a county property manage- ment specialist. Harper plans on restoring the house on G Road into reasonably priced housing for his employees, like he’s done with the last two prop- erties he bought at auctions. With about 25 employees in Clatsop County, Harper said it is important to him that they have housing that is affordable. Clatsop County fore- closed on the G Road prop- erty, known to neighbors as Nicole Bales/The Astorian Clatsop County has sold a foreclosed property on G Road in Jeff ers Garden. the “purple house,” because of unpaid taxes. The county hired a fi rm to clean up gar- bage and other debris, but there is still deferred main- tenance to the home, includ- ing cracks in the foundation, sloping fl oors and dry rot. James Neikes, who owns property next door , said it became known as a drug house where sheriff’s dep- uties were routinely called about complaints. He called the former occupants a “community of destruction.” “I think that we certainly know that in any area, urban or rural, a house that is such a blight ... it’s hard on the whole neighborhood,” Com- missioner Pamela Wev said. “Especially given what was going on in that house. That house was kind of a perfect storm of violations. I don’t think there was anything that didn’t happen on that site.” Neighbors were thrilled the property was being auc- tioned and were hopeful it would be turned into some- thing good. “I’m hoping we can Port of Kalama opposes Astoria’s harbor fee Letter follows Longview protest By KATIE FAIRBANKS The Daily News Port of Kalama com- missioners Wednesday approved a letter oppos- ing a new fee charging cargo vessels traveling to or through the Port of Astoria. The Port of Astoria implemented the fee in March. It charges any trade vessel 250 feet or longer a $300 fee, whether it docks there or continues upriver. Revenue from the fee will fund the operation and maintenance of a pier that Edward Stratton/The Astorian The Port of Astoria hopes a new harbor fee will help maintain infrastructure on Pier 1. provides an emergency berth to distressed vessels. The P ort is not required to offer the service. The Port of Longview already sent a similar letter to the Port of Astoria, and the Port of Vancouver is By AUBREY WIEBER Oregon Capital Bureau A fi rst-ever survey of Oregon public agencies sheds light on how well gov- ernment of all sizes complies with public records law. The results are a mixed bag, said Ginger McCall, the state’s public records advo- cate. The survey was sent to 132 bodies, a mix of state agencies, counties, cities, school districts, boards and special services districts. Ninety-seven responded and 35 did not. “I was very pleased with the rate of response,” McCall said. “I was pleased to see that broadly agencies are taking this seriously.” Public records law works to ensure the public has access to documents and information produced by public agencies, employees and offi cials. It can be any- thing from emails between the governor and her staff to police reports to docu- mentation showing sexual abuse by a public school teacher. Journalists rely on public documents for their reporting, but the public has the same right to that information. The point of the survey is to see how well public agen- cies are following the law. The survey asked gov- ernment bodies how many records requests they received in 2018, how many they completed within the 15-day deadline, how many were completed within 60 days of the original request, how many fee waivers they granted and how much money they collected in fees for fulfi lling the requests. The results were all over the board. Some, like the Oregon Medical Board, completed all 1,414 requests within the 15 days. Oregon State Police completed 800 of its 4,764 requests within the 15-day statutory dead- line. Oregon State Police and the Department of Envi- ronmental Quality each received more than 4,000 RE-OPENING WINTER OF 2019! requests — far more than any other agency. Wendy Landers leads the Oregon State Police’s records division, which is a team of fi ve, though she said most work is done by two people. “Our requests are so large,” she said. “We have to, of course, review them for exemptions and all of that.” Oregon State Police has several divisions, and gets all kinds of records from the public in addition to media. Sometimes it’s a copy of a citation, sometimes it’s information from about the sex offender registry. The requests are large, and often “weird,” said Capt. Tim Fox. Oregon State Police has to run things by partners like district attor- neys to make sure the infor- mation won’t impact an ongoing case, and some requests, like for video, can take a long time. “I think we do pretty well on public records given the inordinate amount we get,” Fox said. Other state agencies, like the Department of Justice, reported they don’t track this information. McCall said many agen- cies who struggle to fi ll requests on time say it’s a staffi ng issue, but she said that speaks to the priorities of the agency. She suggested uniform software to help agencies . “It seem like one poten- tial area for improvement would be to procure and pro- vide to state agencies at least some kind of tool to track and fulfi ll public records requests,” McCall said. Fox said public records aren’t a low priority — he said despite it not being in his job description, he spends about 20% of his time working on records requests. It’s just a busi- ness decision. If you add to records staff, are you going to pull from sex offender registry staff, or troopers on the highway? VOLUNTEER PICK OF THE WEEK Peaches INQUIRIES PLEASE PHONE (541) 305-5389 Young Adult Calico With richness of texture and color, sweet Peaches is visual poetry. Adopt, Protect. Love. MAIL (IN COUNTY) EZpay (per month) ...............................................................................................................$11.25 13 weeks in advance ...........................................................................................................$37.00 26 weeks in advance ...........................................................................................................$71.00 52 weeks in advance ........................................................................................................ $135.00 DIGITAL EZpay (per month) .................................................................................................................$8.00 considering the same, said Mark Wilson, Port of Kala- ma’s executive director. “I’m always hesitant to talk to another port about their choice, but it has an impact on us,” Wilson said. “It’s not the right way to do things, and I’m not sure it’s legal.” The Columbia River Steamship Operators’ Association said in July it is prepared to sue the P ort because it believes the fee conflicts with the com- merce clause of the U.S. Constitution. The Port announced this month that it would hold off on collecting the fee while awaiting a likely legal challenge. Public records survey shows mixed bag for Oregon Subscription rates Eff ective May 1, 2019 Out of County Rates available at 800-781-3214 strengthen our nuisance ordinance in the county,” Wev said. “In Oregon, we have pretty strong tenants’ rights rules, etcetera, and of course, exercise due process in everything we do. And so, it just takes so much time to be able to act on properties like that. “And I’d like to see maybe our ordinance have a little bit more teeth in it so that we don’t have to put neighborhoods through what those folks have been through.” Sponsored by Bayshore Animal Hospital CLATSOP COUNTY ANIMAL SHELTER 1315 SE 19th St., Warrenton • 861- PETS www.dogsncats.org Noon to 4pm, Tues-Sat
