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A2 THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2019 Sunset in Seaside IN BRIEF Health advisory lifted for Short Sand Beach The public health advisory for Short Sand Beach in Oswald West State Park has been lifted. The Oregon Health Authority issued the advi- sory Wednesday after water samples showed high- er-than-normal levels of fecal bacteria in ocean waters. Recent samples taken by the state Department of Environmental Quality show bacteria levels are lower. However, offi cials recommend staying out of large pools on the beach that are frequented by birds, and runoff from those pools, as the water may contain increased bacteria from fecal matter. Offi cials encourage recreational activities on the beach, but warn water contact should be avoided when advisories are in effect. Explosive device in Seaside causes a scare SEASIDE — Authorities disposed of an explo- sive device that was found on the beach in Seaside on Thursday. The object, described by police as plastic tubing capped at both ends with duct tape, was viable and fi lled with black powder substitute. The fuse appears to have burned out before initiating the powder. Avenue A between S. Columbia and S. Edgewood was closed midday while authorities investigated. The Oregon State Police explosives unit took pos- session of the device for destruction at an undisclosed location. Columbia Memorial nurses hold town hall at Fort George Columbia Memorial Hospital nurses are holding an open house Sunday after the most recent round of negotiations with the hospital’s management. Nurses, union negotiators with the Oregon Nurses Association and other union representatives will gather at 6 p.m. Sunday in the Lovell Showroom at Fort George Brewery in Astoria. Nurses will provide updates on contract nego- tiations. Guest speakers will include Val Hoyle, the state commissioner of labor and industries; state Rep. Rachel Prusak, D-West Linn; state Rep. Tiffi ny Mitch- ell, D-Astoria; Tom Chamberlain, president of Ore- gon AFL-CIO; and Kevyn Paul, labor cabinet chair- man of the Oregon Nurses Association. Nurses and the hospital’s management have been negotiating to replace a contract that expired in May. The two sides remain apart on issues such as staffi ng and the docking of hours when patient counts are low. — The Astorian Strong quake rattles Oregon Coast COOS BAY — An underwater earthquake with an initial 5.9 magnitude struck Thursday off the southern Oregon Coast. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake hap- pened about 180 miles from land at a depth of 7 miles. There were no reports of damage or injuries. The quake happened around 8 a.m. in the same area where a 6.3-magnitude temblor struck on Aug. 29. The larger quake Thursday was preceded by one with a 3.7 magnitude. A 4.0 magnitude quake fol- lowed the larger one. The earthquakes off the coast of Coos Bay are being caused by slipping along an offshore fault that has nothing to do with the more well-known Casca- dia fault, which is believed to be overdue for a major Pacifi c Northwest earthquake. — Associated Press Jeff TerHar A sunset near the Prom in Seaside. North Coast man sentenced for sex crimes By NICOLE BALES The Astorian A N orth C oast man was sentenced Friday to more than six years in prison for sexu- ally assaulting three women. Parker Philip Whitsett, 22, pleaded no contest to one count of attempted rape in the fi rst degree and guilty to sex abuse in the fi rst degree and attempted sex abuse in the fi rst degree. The no-contest plea was not an attempt to to evade accountability, James Lee von Boeckmann, Whitsett’s attorney, said, but because he has no memory of the inci- dent since he was intoxicated at the time . Whitsett was accused of having sex with a woman who was unable to consent while she was unconscious and under the infl uence of intoxicants at a get-together in December 2017. At a different gathering in November 2018, he were in this situation was accused of hav- this would be really ing sex with a woman tough,” she said. “I while she was uncon- do forgive him and I scious and mak- want to move on with ing sexual contact my life and I think with another woman that looking for- who was unable to Parker Philip ward I have a pretty Whitsett consent. bright future so I’m Two of the three not going to let this women abused by Whitsett defi ne me.” shared their thoughts prior to Chief Deputy District sentencing. Attorney Dawn Buzzard “I just hope he gets help,” shared her pride for the wom- one woman told the court en’s strength and called them over the phone. her heroes. Another woman was in the “I understand I’ve caused courtroom and tearfully gave a lot of pain and, for that, I’m her testimony. deeply sorry,” Whitsett said. “I knew Parker before “I hope that by the time this and I don’t think he’s a this is all over I can change bad person even if he did bad the person I am enough to things and I do hope that he where I can more than make does get help,” she said. “I amends for the problems that just hope he learns from his I caused for these people, and mistakes and doesn’t make I want to thank them for their the same ones when he’s free willingness to forgive.” again.” Rape and sex abuse are “I do pray for his fam- violent crimes that take ily because I do know if I something away from a per- son while they are compro- mised, so the punishment is severe, Judge Cindee Matyas said. “We sort of cast off these young women who will have to draw upon their own strength and support and fam- ily and their own deep con- victions to move out of this,” Matyas said. “They don’t have the same structured support that offenders do and I think that’s so tragic.” The judge said the sen- tence could be an opportu- nity for Whitsett to learn and change, which would be a success for the women who were brave enough to come forward . “It’s just kind of the cul- ture we live in, sadly,” Matyas said. “B ut they’ll know that they have suffered not in vain, but for some pur- pose and that will be a good outcome, Mr. Whitsett, so you have a lot of work to do. ” Contenders emerge for Circuit Court vacancy New judge to replace Brownhill By NICOLE BALES The Astorian Six contenders have emerged to fi ll a vacancy on the Clatsop County Circuit Court. Gov. Kate Brown will appoint a replacement for Judge Paula Brownhill, who plans to retire in Novem- ber after 25 years on the bench. The presiding judge was appointed by Gov. Bar- bara Roberts in 1994 and has been elected four times. The primary election is next May. Brownhill hopes Brown will appoint a new judge before she retires. The contenders include Deputy District Attorney Beau Peterson and defense attorneys James von Boeck- mann and Kirk Wintermute. The other applicants are attorneys Arthur Saito, Kelly Stearns and Diana Taylor. Misha Isaak, t he g eneral c ounsel at Brown’s o ffi ce, is accepting comments on the applicants . DEATHS Sept. 4, 2019 GRAHAM, Gerald Richard, 70, of Warren- ton, died in Warrenton. Caldwell’s Luce-Lay- ton Mortuary of Asto- ria is in charge of the arrangements. Sept. 1, 2019 PHILLIPS, David W., 76, of Astoria, died in Astoria. Ocean View Funeral & Cre- mation Service of Asto- ria is in charge of the arrangements. PUBLIC MEETINGS MONDAY Youngs River Lewis & Clark Water District Board, 6 p.m., 34583 U.S. Highway 101 Business. Cannon Beach Rural Fire Department Board, 6 p.m., Fire-Rescue Main Station, 188 Sunset Ave. TUESDAY Astoria City Council, 9 a.m., work session, City Hall, 1095 Duane St. 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 Clatsop County Planning Commission, 10 a.m., Judge Guy Boyington Building, 857 Commercial St., Astoria. Warrenton City Commis- sion, 6 p.m., City Hall, 225. S. Main Ave. Lewis & Clark Fire De- partment Board, 6 p.m., main fire station, 34571 U.S. Highway 101 Busi- ness. 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Printed on recycled paper Subscription rates Eff ective May 1, 2019 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 Out of County Rates available at 800-781-3214 DIGITAL EZpay (per month) .................................................................................................................$8.00 Heat wave: Agencies stepping up monitoring efforts Continued from Page A1 National Oceanic and Atmo- spheric Administration’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center. Ocean conditions had yet to return to normal fol- lowing the Blob. Biologists aren’t sure yet what the full effects of this new heat wave will be but, given its size, they say it has likely already started to impact marine ecosystems. Commercial and sport fi sheries have noted poor landings off Washington state and Oregon this year, Mantua said . The conditions created by the Blob resulted in one of the largest harmful algal blooms ever recorded on the West Coast. Domoic acid, a naturally occurring marine toxin, shut down crab and shellfi sh fi sheries. Multi- ple fi shery disasters were declared and thousands of young California sea lions were stranded on beaches. Salmon entering the ocean endured unusually bleak conditions and returned in low numbers to freshwater habitats. Researchers have even drawn a connection between Colin Murphey/The Astorian Massive harmful algal blooms shut down the popular razor clam fi shery during an unusual warm ocean water event that began in 2014 and persisted for several years. Researchers are seeing a return of the same conditions this year. higher numbers of whales tangling with fi shing gear. In response to tempera- ture and forage conditions, the large mammals shifted into areas where they were more likely to tangle with gear, said Chris Harvey, a research fi sheries biologist with NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center. “We had a lot of expec- tations about how things would respond,” Harvey said about the years follow- ing the Blob’s appearance. “Some of them were cor- rect and some were not at all correct and then we got WANTED Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber Northwest Hardwoods • Longview, WA Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500 a lot of surprises.” Researchers are work- ing with a sample size of one, he noted. After the Blob, this new warm water expanse is the second larg- est marine heat wave in terms of area in the north- ern Pacifi c Ocean in the p ast 40 years, according to researchers. “And since we only have a sample size of one we should expect there to be some surprises we currently can’t anticipate if this event persists (for several years),” Harvey said. But while the Blob caught many people by sur- prise in 2014 — no one was quite sure what they were looking at as it formed and then persisted — research- ers were more familiar with the signs this time around. They may not be able to completely predict what will happen, but agencies have stepped up some mon- itoring efforts , particularly following the huge harmful algal bloom in 2015. “We also now have a lit- tle bit more of a better under- standing of the impacts of that harmful algal bloom in terms of how extensive it was, the duration of fi sher- ies closures that it caused, the socioeconomic impacts to fi shing communities,” said Stephanie Moore, research oceanographer with the Northwest Fisher- ies Science Center. This knowledge will “help us to get the message out so that those groups can be better prepared in the event that (another bloom) does occur,” she added. Researchers can’t say with certainty whether the heat wave is directly related to human-caused climate change or if the weather patterns that caused the heat wave and the Blob sig- nal the start of a new nor- mal . B ut the Blob’s effects did appear to be exacerbated by underlying warming in the ocean linked to climate change, Mantua said. For now, the question is whether the heat wave will stick around long enough to cause long-reaching prob- lems like the Blob or if a shift in weather patterns will break it up. F orecasts show the heat wave moderating but continuing for months.
