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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 24, 2019)
A2 THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, AUGUST 24, 2019 New editor named at The Astorian IN BRIEF Port sues boat owner for running into Pier 3 The Astorian The Port of Astoria is suing a boat owner for $147,000 in alleged damage to Pier 3. The Port claims the fi shing boat Marathon, owned by Marathon Fisheries out of Lincoln County, ran into Pier 3 in July, causing a large portion of the dock to fall off into the Columbia River. Astoria Police Offi cer Matt Hansen confi rmed the accident by speaking with crew members and review- ing video footage, according to the Port. The agency received a quote from marine contractor Bergerson Con- struction for $147,000 in necessary repairs, later con- fi rmed by a surveyor hired by the Marathon’s insurers. “Despite clear liability and sum certain damages that were confi rmed by defendant’s own contracted sur- veyor and are not subject to reasonable dispute, defen- dant Marathon recently failed to respond to the Port’s attempt to resolve this matter out of court, and has instead forced the Port to fi le this lawsuit to enforce its right of recovery,” the Port’s lawsuit said. Astoria police ask for help fi nding missing man The Astoria Police Department is asking people to help them fi nd a missing person. Thomas Joshua Hayes, 41, of Astoria, was last seen in the Long Beach, Washington, area on July 18. He is commonly known as “Josh” and “Worm,” police say. He is a Hispanic male with dark hair and a mustache and goatee. He is 5 feet 6 inches tall and about 140 pounds. He was wearing black athletic style shorts, a red T-shirt and a backpack. Thomas Hayes was recently experienc- ing diffi culty breathing and suspected Joshua Hayes to have an undiagnosed respiratory illness. Anyone with information can contact Detective Thomas Litwin at 503-325-4411 or tlitwin@astoria. or.us. Sunset Empire rec district selects new board member The Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District selected Rodney Roberts to fi ll the vacant board Posi- tion 1 seat on Tuesday. This is the second appointment this year. In February, Roberts temporarily fi lled the Position 5 seat left vacant by Alan Evans. “I am thankful to have been chosen! I really believe in SEPRD. They provide a much needed service to the community,” he said. He’s “looking forward to working with the board and staff at the district.” Roberts was one of three candidates interviewed at the district’s work session earlier this month, along with Patrick Duhachek and Katharine Parker. The Position 1 seat had been held by Veronica Rus- sell, who stepped down in June. “I’m excited to work with Rodney again. It was nice to see so much interest from people about serving on the board, which can be a pretty thankless position,” said Skyler Archibald, the district’s executive director. — The Astorian Judge knocks down ballot measure on whale watching rules Whale watch tour companies have knocked a pro- posed orca protection initiative off the November bal- lot in San Juan County, Washington. The ballot measure would have asked voters to greatly increase the stand- off distance between boats and endangered orcas. San Juan County is normally a prime feeding area for the dwindling population of southern resident killer whales. However, this year, the critically endan- gered orcas have been largely absent from the archipel- ago, probably because their preferred prey of Chinook salmon are scarce. — Northwest News Network DEATHS Aug. 20, 2019 HAIKKILA, LeRoy “Roy,” 96, of Estacada, formerly of Astoria, died in Estacada. Estacada Funeral Chapel of Estacada is in charge of the arrangements. KAUL, Janet of Sea- side, 77, died in Seaside. Hughes-Ransom Mor- tuary is in charge of the arrangements. PUBLIC MEETINGS MONDAY Seaside City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broad- way. TUESDAY Astoria Library Board, 5:30 p.m., Library Flag Room, Astoria Library, 450 10th St. Astoria City Council, 5:30 p.m., special session, City Hall, 1095 Duane St. Warrenton City Commis- sion, 6 p.m., 225 S. Main Ave. Astoria Planning Commis- sion, 6:30 p.m., City Hall, 1095 Duane St. Established July 1, 1873 Circulation phone number: 503-325-3211 Periodicals postage paid at Astoria, OR (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 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. The Astorian has a new editor. Derrick DePledge, a vet- eran journalist who has held editing and reporting roles at the newspaper for the past 4 1/2 years, will lead the newsroom. He replaces Jim Van Nostrand, the editor for the past two years, who has accepted a job as Mis- souri state editor for Gate- house Media, leading 22 newspapers. “There was no question who would be our next edi- tor,” said Kari Bor- more equitable. He gen, The Astorian’s has also covered city publisher. “We are government in Asto- fortunate to have ria and Warrenton. the combination of “At our best, we leadership, experi- hold up a mirror to ence and knowledge our community,” he Derrick of our community said. “Our staff rec- DePledge that Derrick brings ognizes we live in to the role.” a unique, historic DePledge, 53, has served place that deserves a news- as managing editor, dep- paper to match.” uty managing editor and DePledge has more than reporter at The Astorian. He 30 years of experience as has written about the gaps a journalist, including a in Clatsop County’s mental decade as a Washington, health safety net and policy D.C., correspondent and a changes intended to make decade as a state govern- the criminal justice system ment and politics reporter Warrenton settles with Shilo Inn over back taxes By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Astorian WARRENTON — The city has reached a settlement with Shilo Inn over thou- sands of dollars in unpaid lodging taxes. The agreement fi nal- ized this month required the hotel to pay the city $94,812 — an amount Shilo Inn has since paid in full following the signing of the settlement , according to April Clark, the city’s fi nance director. Around the time Warren- ton fi led its lawsuit against the hotel earlier this year, Shilo Inn owed just over $188,000. By July, the hotel made sev- Warrenton has sought lodging taxes from the Shilo Inn. eral payments, but still owed over $120,000 in unpaid taxes, fi nes and interest. Shilo Inn has had “an extensive history of late pay- ment of transient room taxes” By MALLORY GRUBEN The Daily News LONGVIEW — Mil- lennium Bulk Terminals’ years-long proposal to build a coal terminal in Longview received another blow this week after a state appeals court sided with the Wash- ington Department of Natu- ral Resources’ 2017 decision to deny the company a sub- lease needed to build a dock in the Columbia River. The decision reversed a previous decision by Cowlitz County Superior Court Judge Stephen Warn- ing that DNR acted “arbi- trarily and capriciously” in denying Millennium sub- lease for aquatic lands leased by Northwest Alloys Inc. But the state appeals court said DNR’s consideration of Millennium’s fi nancial con- dition and business reputa- tion was “expressly autho- rized under the lease” with Northwest Alloys, according to court documents. “And the additional infor- mation DNR sought from Millennium, which Millen- nium failed to provide, was relevant to DNR’s inquiry. Accordingly, we conclude that DNR’s denial of consent to sublease was not arbitrary and capricious,” the judges wrote in an opinion pub- lished Tuesday. Northwest Alloys is a subsidiary of Alcoa, which bought Reynolds Metals Co. and its Longview alumi- num plant in 2000. In 2008, DNR renewed the aquatic lands lease with Northwest Alloys, and the lease barred Northwest from subleasing the land without the DNR’s consent. The $680 million project cannot move forward with- out the sublease. Northwest Alloys requested a sublease for Mil- lennium in 2010, but DNR 5 $ Bill Wagner/The Daily News The site of the Millennium Bulk Terminals proposed coal export facility. denied it in January 2017, citing Northwest Alloys’ failure to provide DNR with essential information it requested about Millennium. That included fi nancial documents, which DNR rep- resentatives say would have shown whether Millennium was fi nancially fi t to take care of the aquatic prop- erty, according to court doc- uments. DNR noted that the previous subtenant, Chinook Ventures, “failed to obtain the required state and local regulatory permits for its petroleum coke business and failed to provide adequate environmental controls,” the court opinion says. Millennium appealed the 2017 denial in Cowlitz County Superior Court, where Judge Warning sided with company. He ruled that DNR acted “arbitrarily and capriciously” when it denied the permit. Soon after, several envi- ronmental groups and DNR appealed to the State Court of Appeals. The groups argued that DNR’s denial was fair because Northwest Alloys refused to provide adequate information about Millennium’s fi nances and business reputation. The state appeals court judges reversed Warning’s ruling and ordered the Supe- rior Court to issue a new OFF 28lb+ Dog Food 10lb+ Cat food 12 count canned cases until 9/7/19 order affi rming DNR’s sub- lease denial. In a prepared statement issued late Tuesday after- noon, Millennium stated, “We disagree with the Court of Appeals decision. ... The Court of Appeals got it wrong and we will explore all available remedies, legal and otherwise, to continue to move our project forward.” The statement contin- ued: “Lost in this decision is the fact that Millennium has already spent millions of dollars to clean up the site and remedy violations from the previous tenant — Chi- nook Ventures. Our compa- ny’s fi nancial commitment to the site cleanup, and the recent growth in new rev- enue-generating business activities on the site, demon- strates our strong fi nan- cial position and our com- mitment to creating shared value with our local commu- nity,” according to the state- ment, attributed to Kristin Gaines, Millennium’s senior vice president of regulatory affairs. Hilary Franz, DNR’s Commissioner of Public Lands, released a statement Wednesday applauding the court decision. “The company repeatedly refused to comply with rea- sonable requests for infor- mation related to its pro- PET TOYS, TREATS, LEASHES & COLLARS OFF Daphne 20% 3 year old American Bulldog Printed on recycled paper For a perfect adventure, just add Daphne-- majestic and house trained. Subscription rates Eff ective May 1, 2019 Helping Lower Columbia residents grow beautiful gardens & healthy animals since 1986 Out of County Rates available at 800-781-3214 DIGITAL EZpay (per month) .................................................................................................................$8.00 posal. Washington’s aquatic lands are too important to risk on projects that are not transparent and fi nan- cially sound,” Franz said. “I’m committed to mak- ing sure Washington’s pub- lic lands are used to improve our state, now and well into the future. That means pro- tecting our environment and our economy. Millennium’s proposed coal terminal does neither.” The environmental groups that joined DNR in the appeal also celebrated the decision. “DNR manages state lands for the benefi t of the public, not for the bene- fi t of hedge fund investors gambling on coal exports,” Marisa Ordonia, an Earth- justice attorney represent- ing the conservation groups, said in a prepared statement early Tuesday evening. “The Court of Appeals confi rmed that DNR was appropri- ately cautious about expos- ing Washington to a dam- aging and risky coal export terminal, particularly given Millennium’s deception early in the state permitting process.” Ordonia pointed to the court’s opinion, which states that Millennium “intention- ally concealed the extent of its plans for the coal export facility in order to avoid full environmental review” when it fi rst sought per- mits for the project about a decade ago. Millennium initially fi led a permit to export 5.7 mil- lion tons of coal annually. But in 2011, internal emails discovered from its parent company, Australia-based Ambre Energy, indicated company executives dis- cussed exporting as much as 20 million or 60 million tons. The fi nding led to alle- gations that Millennium had mislead public agencies. 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Other cities have fi led lawsuits against the com- pany over unpaid taxes. Sea- side has sued the hotel chain twice in recent years for back taxes. Portland fi led a lawsuit against the company in Feb- ruary seeking $314,000 in unpaid taxes. Appeals judges uphold denial of coal export lease COPYRIGHT © Entire contents © Copyright, 2019 by The Astorian. MEMBER CERTIFIED AUDIT OF CIRCULATIONS, INC. in Hawaii. He also spent four years as the top elected leader in Hawaii for the Pacifi c Media Workers Guild, a labor union that represented 200 newspaper workers. DePledge and Van Nos- trand both worked at the Washington Bureau for Knight Ridder Newspapers, though at different times. “In 35 years in the news business, I’ve seen few edi- tors better than Derrick at leading and mentoring young reporters,” Van Nos- trand said. “I’m leaving the newsroom in good hands.” 503-325-1562 www.brimsfarmngarden.com Open 9am-5:30pm Mon-Sat 34963 Hwy 101 Bus. 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