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
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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