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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 21, 2019)
WEEK 3 OF HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL • SPORTS EXTRA • INSIDE WEEKEND EDITION // SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2019 147TH YEAR, NO. 36 A SEASON OF CHANGES Scientists look to lichen for insight at Lewis and Clark $1.50 CHECK OUT MORE PHOTOS IN WEEKEND BREAK • B1-B2 Port’s cruise ship marketer faces ethics violations Conner used role to support company By EDWARD STRATTON The Astorian Photos by Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian Carla Cole, the natural resources project manager at Lewis and Clark National Historical Park, peers through a magnifying glass at a patch of lichen on a bridge on the Netul River Trail. Surveys tell a story By LUCY KLEINER The Astorian S waying in the wind on a tree out- side of Fort Clatsop hangs what looks like a web of long, pale green ropes. It dangles and drips in the rain, twisting through branches and swooping toward the ground below. It’s called usnea, a type of lichen, but it’s more commonly referred to as “old man’s beard.” It’s beautiful, but easy to miss, u nless you’re walking alongside Bruce McCune or Daphne Stone. Their colleagues call them Mr. Lichen and Dr. Usnea, and they helped improve the nation’s understanding of lichen , a slow-growing compound organism often compared to moss. They can’t help but stop as they walk toward, below and under the tree, followed by fi ve other lichen enthusi- asts. They crouch down and pick up bits of the fallen specimen, pull their Bruce McCune, a professor at Oregon State University and a leader in the fi eld of lichenology, analyzes a sample of fruticose lichen. hand lens necklaces toward their faces and press their noses against the tree bark. They stand there for min- utes, asking and answering questions, exchanging joyful exclamations, jot- ting down notes on brown paper. Bruce Conner, the cruise ship marketer for the Port of Astoria and the owner of Sundial Travel, used his offi cial posi- tion to support his company and failed to properly disclose the confl ict of interest, a state ethics investiga- tion found. Conner has marketed Astoria as a destina- tion for cruise lines since 2008. His travel com- pany also organizes tours approved by the cruise Bruce lines and pitched on Conner board to passengers. Conner took “offi cial actions such as posting descriptions of his company’s shore excursions on the Port of Astoria’s website and communicating with cruise line shore excursion manag- ers to gain support for a Port of Astoria policy that had the effect of prohibiting other tour operators from competing,” an investigation by the Oregon Government Ethics Commission concluded. The Ethics Commission charged Con- ner with seven violations of public dis- closure law: one for the improper use of confi dential information, three for using his offi cial position for fi nancial gain and three for not disclosing confl icts of interest. The investigation did not implicate any other public offi cials at the Port. Conner called his interactions with the Ethics Commission enlightening in regards to his role as a public offi cial with the Port and as a private businessman. He faces a civil penalty of up to $5,000 for each violation and has indicated he will settle rather than contest the charges. “I think the change is that I’m going to be declaring a confl ict of interest,” Con- ner said. “Any time that the Port of Asto- ria comes up in Sundial Travel, that’s going to be the change.” The investigation started after a com- plaint fi led by Brett Applegate, an attorney for Lori Beth Kulp, a tour operator who See Lichen, Page A8 See Violations, Page A8 J.E. McAmis lands South Jetty repairs Knappa struggles on state tests $140M agreement Tracing a path on English and math By EDWARD STRATTON The Astorian Heavy marine contractor J.E. McAmis has landed a $140 million contract from the federal government to repair the South Jetty over the next fi ve years. McAmis will oversee the placement of 400,000 tons of rock along the 6-mile j etty, the fi nal piece of a three-phase rehabilita- tion of the jetties protecting the mouth of the Columbia River. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers maintains the riv- By EDWARD STRATTON The Astorian The Astorian Heavy marine contractor J.E. McAmis secured a $140 million contract to repair the South Jetty along the Columbia River. er’s jetties, pile dikes and shipping channel, which facilitates more than $20 billion in estimated com- merce each year. “We’re commencing work in the next couple of weeks, getting the road pre- pared,” said Scott Vande- grift, vice president of the Chico, California-based contractor, which maintains a large yard in Longview, Washington. McAmis will start plac- ing rocks in March. Repairs will happen from the root outward on the jetty, worn down over the years by tidal and storm surges. See Contract, Page A8 Knappa students were half as likely to be on track in English, language arts and math compared with their peers statewide, according to Smarter Bal- anced assessment results released Thursday. Students begin taking the assessment each spring in third grade through high school. The assessment traces whether students are on track academically for college or workforce training. Statewide, s tudents reg- istered their poorest perfor- mance in fi ve years . Clat- sop County students also Students in Knappa had diffi culty with state English, language arts and math tests. showed a drop in aptitude and continued to mostly lag behind statewide marks . Just more than a quar- ter of Knappa students were on track in English and lan- guage arts in last spring’s tests, compared to more than half statewide and far below the county’s other four school districts. The results continued a precipi- tous drop in Knappa , where 37.7% were on track in English and language arts two years ago. See Students, Page A8
