A2
THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2019
LNG protesters arrested in Brown’s offi ce
IN BRIEF
Project near
Coos Bay
Peninsula razor clam digs
to open Sunday
LONG BEACH, Wash. — Razor clam diggers can
return to ocean beaches on the peninsula for a sev-
en-day opening beginning Sunday.
State shellfi sh managers with the Washington
Department of Fish and Wildlife approved the dig on
evening low tides after marine toxin tests showed the
clams are safe to eat.
“It’s great to fi nd time for digs over the Thanks-
giving holiday,” said Dan Ayres, state coastal shell-
fi sh manager. “Razor clams are a great addition to
your feast, and it’s fun to bring guests from out of
state along for a distinctive Washington experience.”
— Chinook Observer
Seaside names
new school and mascot
SEASIDE — The deafening cheers of more
than 700 students permeated the gymnasium at The
Heights Elementary School on Wednesday during
a joint assembly with Gearhart Elementary School
at which the school’s new name, mascot and colors
were revealed.
Effective July 1, the Seaside School District’s
elementary school at the new campus will be called
Pacifi c Ridge Elementary School, while Broadway
Middle School is being renamed Seaside Middle
School to refl ect the relocation.
The new elementary school’s colors will be tur-
quoise, black and silver, while the middle school will
transition to white, black and Columbia blue.
During the joint assembly, it was also revealed
that the new mascot of Pacifi c Ridge Elementary
School will be the puffi n, an iconic bird species of
the North Coast. The middle school will remain the
sharks.
Cannon Beach police offi cer
to graduate from academy
Christian Salinas of the Cannon Beach Police
Department will graduate Dec. 6 at the Oregon Pub-
lic Safety Academy in Salem.
The basic police class is 16-week training in areas
including survival skills, fi rearms, emergency vehi-
cle operations, ethics, cultural diversity, problem
solving, community policing, elder abuse, drug rec-
ognition and other subjects.
— The Astorian
Carcass of giant blue whale
brought to surface for study
NEWPORT — The carcass of a giant blue whale
that’s been submerged off the Oregon Coast for
more than three years is being hauled to the surface
so it can be reassembled, studied and put on public
display.
Oregon State University said Friday that the dead
whale washed ashore near Gold Beach in 2015.
It’s extremely rare for a blue whale to wash ashore
intact, as the creatures can be the length of two school
buses.
Scientists removed 58 tons of its fl esh and then
placed the bones in the water off Newport so scaven-
gers could pick them clean.
The university says the 365 bones were brought
back to land Thursday, including 18-foot-long man-
dibles and a skull weighing 6,500 pounds.
The skeleton’s reassembly will take a year.
— Associated Press
MEMORIALS
Sunday, Nov. 24
RODRIGUEZ-MAR-
TINEZ,
Ruben
—
Visitation from 3 to
6 p.m., rosary at 5 p.m.,
Hughes-Ransom Mortu-
ary, 576 12th St. Rodri-
guez-Martinez, 77, of
Astoria, died Wednes-
day, Nov. 20, 2019, in
Seaside.
Monday, Nov. 25
RODRIGUEZ-MAR-
TINEZ, Ruben — Visi-
tation from 10 to 11 a.m.,
funeral Mass at 11 a.m.,
Our Lady of Victory
Catholic Church, 120
Oceanway in Seaside.
Committal service fol-
lows at Evergreen Ceme-
tery in Seaside.
ON THE RECORD
Assault
• Sivai Folausaua Bennett, 59, of Seaside, pleaded no
contest Wednesday to assault in the second degree and
two counts of recklessly endangering another person.
By SAM STITES
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — State police
ended a protest and occupa-
tion of Gov. Kate Brown’s
offi ce Thursday night over
the Jordan Cove liquefi ed
natural gas project by arrest-
ing 21 people for criminal
trespass.
They were the remaining
demonstrators who fi lled the
governor’s ceremonial offi ce
Thursday afternoon to show
their opposition to the proj-
ect in Coos Bay.
The protest started with
hundreds on the Capitol
steps before moving inside
to the rotunda midday and
then to Brown’s offi ce on the
second fl oor.
Brown wasn’t in the
offi ce at the time but did talk
to protesters by phone. Later
in the evening, she returned
and talked with those occu-
pying her offi ce.
“I believe that Oregonians
are best served by knowing
TUESDAY
Astoria Planning Commis-
sion, 6 p.m., City Hall, 1095
Duane St.
Warrenton City Commis-
sion, 6 p.m., City Hall, 225 S.
Main Ave.
Seaside Airport Advisory
Committee, 6 p.m., City
Hall, 989 Broadway.
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.
COPYRIGHT ©
Entire contents © Copyright,
2019 by The Astorian.
MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MEMBER CERTIFIED AUDIT OF
CIRCULATIONS, INC.
that there is a fair process and
that I’m not putting my fi n-
ger on the scale one way or
another,” the governor told
the occupiers, according to
Oregon Public Broadcasting.
“Because as you know, your
community is quite divided
on this issue. Your commu-
nity is extremely divided on
this issue.”
Thomas Joseph, a leader
of the sit-in, said that around
By GENE JOHNSON
Associated Press
SEATTLE — Washing-
ton state dealt a setback Fri-
day to efforts to build one
of the world’s biggest meth-
anol plants on the Columbia
River, saying that fi ve years
in, its backers had failed to
provide enough informa-
tion about its greenhouse
gas emissions and how they
would be offset.
The $2 billion North-
west Innovation Works
project would take natural
gas from Canada and con-
vert it into methanol, which
would be shipped to China
to make olefi ns — com-
pounds used in everything
from fabrics and contact
lenses to iPhones and medi-
cal equipment.
Backers,
including
Cowlitz County and the Port
of Kalama, said the project
would reduce global green-
house gas emissions by dis-
placing China’s use of coal
to make methanol. They
provided regulators with
a third-party analysis sug-
gesting that over the proj-
ect’s life it would reduce
global emissions by at least
10 million metric tons per
year.
They called that the sin-
gle largest initiative in
Washington for reducing
emissions — equivalent to
removing more than 2 mil-
lion cars from the road.
But
environmental
groups said there was no
evidence to support that
statement and that the proj-
Amanda Cowan/The Columbian
Mark Keely, of Kalama, stands
with other protesters outside
the Washington Department
of Ecology’s Vancouver fi eld
offi ce in 2017.
ect would create huge emis-
sions of its own. In its deci-
sion Friday, the Washington
Department of Ecology said
further review was neces-
sary “to determine the ade-
quacy of the proposed miti-
gation for the project.”
The review is expected
to take about a year.
“The company continues
to rely on this very dubious
claim that their methanol
is going to replace dirtier
methanol made from coal,”
said Brett VandenHeuvel,
executive director of the
conservation group Colum-
bia Riverkeeper. “There’s
just no justifi cation for that.
The Department of Ecology
is doing its job.”
In emailed statements,
Northwest
Innovation
Works said Friday it was
disappointed but “prepared
for the long haul” and ready
to prove its project will
reduce global emissions.
The company, which is
backed by the Chinese gov-
In observance of Thanks-
giving Day on Thursday,
all federal and state offi ces
are closed. County and city
offi ces and services, includ-
ing Astoria, Warrenton,
Gearhart, Seaside and Can-
non Beach city halls, are
closed Thursday and Fri-
day. All U.S. post offi ces are
closed Thursday, and there
is no mail delivery.
Warrenton/Hammond
and Seaside (including Can-
non Beach and Gearhart)
school district schools are
closed Monday through
Friday. Astoria, Jewell and
Knappa school district
schools are closed Wednes-
day, Thursday and Friday.
Clatsop Community Col-
lege is closed Thursday and
Friday.
Please ADOPT A PET!
QUES O
8yr old Male Red Tabby
A classic work of nature’s art:
The statuesque Ginger Tabby
Subscription rates
Eff ective May 1, 2019
Out of County Rates available at 800-781-3214
DIGITAL
EZpay (per month) .................................................................................................................$8.00
ernment, has noted that it
offered to mitigate for all
greenhouse gas emissions
it generates in the state, and
that it was investing in tech-
nology that would eliminate
all water discharge from its
facility into the Columbia
River.
The company says that
because producing metha-
nol from natural gas costs
about half what it costs to
make from coal, it would
have a competitive advan-
tage — as well as an envi-
ronmental one — over Chi-
nese methanol production.
“If this doesn’t get built,
the result will not be less
material produced in the
world,” Kent Caputo, gen-
eral counsel of Northwest
Innovation Works, said ear-
lier this week. “It will be
that those materials will be
produced in countries that
do not adhere to the envi-
ronmental and regulatory
standards that Washington
state has.”
Ecology requested addi-
tional information about
the emissions in its com-
ments on a draft environ-
mental impact statement
last year. The backers then
fi led a supplemental envi-
ronmental impact statement
in August. Ecology again
requested more information
in October and gave sup-
porters 30 days to produce
it.
They responded on Nov.
4, objecting that some of
the information sought had
already been provided or
was beyond what state law
required.
Ecology’s decision Fri-
day came about a week
after conservation and pub-
lic health groups, includ-
ing Columbia Riverkeeper,
the Sierra Club and Wash-
ington Physicians for Social
Responsibility, sued in U.S.
District Court in Tacoma to
invalidate key federal per-
mits for the project.
The groups said the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers
did not properly consider
the huge amount of green-
house gases the project
would emit — more than
1 million tons per year, an
amount that would increase
Washington’s greenhouse
gas emissions by 1%.
They also said fed-
eral reviews had failed to
properly consider the proj-
ect’s effects on threatened
salmon runs and on endan-
gered orcas.
Local offi cials have sup-
ported the project, noting
it would bring about 1,000
construction jobs and 190
longer-term positions to the
region.
Washington Gov. Jay
Inslee used to support it,
saying it would help clean
up China’s plastics indus-
try. He changed his mind
last May amid his short-
lived presidential run,
which centered on combat-
ting climate change. He said
that because of the urgency
of the threat from global
warming, he could no lon-
ger support launching mas-
sive new fossil-fuel infra-
structure in the state.
Offi ces across region close for Thanksgiving
Printed on
recycled paper
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
9:30 p.m., the Oregon State
Police ordered about 65 pro-
testers to disperse.
At that time, many of
those remaining packed up
and left the Capitol, but 21
individuals stayed and were
arrested by state troopers.
The Jordan Cove proj-
ect includes a gas pipeline
running across 229 miles of
Oregon landscape, from the
border town of Malin east of
Washington state deals setback
to massive methanol plant
The Astorian
PUBLIC MEETINGS
Jake Thomas/Oregon Capital Bureau
Demonstrators protesting the proposed Jordan Cove
liquefi ed natural gas facility staged a sit-in Thursday at Gov.
Kate Brown’s ceremonial offi ce in the Capitol in Salem.
Klamath Falls to Coos Bay.
Proponents say the proj-
ect would be an economic
boon for Coos County, while
environmentalists say the
risks to Oregon’s environ-
ment are signifi cant.
According to a press
release from Southern Ore-
gon Rising Tide, one of those
arrested was 72-year-old
Sandy Lyons, a landowner
in Days Creek who would be
impacted by the pipeline.
Lyons said Thursday that
her family has lived and
worked on their Douglas
County ranch for nearly 30
years and have been fi ght-
ing the pipeline for the past
15 years.
“I am here today because
we have tried every possi-
ble way to be heard and want
somehow to gain the gover-
nor’s attention to how wrong
this is, and the negative ways
in which it will permanently
scar us and our land,” Lyons
said.
The Oregon Capital
Bureau is a collaboration
between EO Media Group,
Pamplin Media Group and
Salem Reporter.
The Astoria Library, Sea-
side Library and Warrenton
Library are closed Thursday
and Friday.
The Port of Astoria
offi ces close early Wednes-
day and are closed Thursday
and Friday.
There is no garbage col-
lection Thursday through
Recology Western Oregon.
Customers whose regular
pickup day is Thursday will
have their garbage picked up
on Friday. C ustomers with a
Friday pickup date will have
their garbage picked up Sat-
urday. The Astoria Transfer
Station is closed Thursday.
There is no garbage col-
lection Thursday by the city
of Warrenton. B oth Thurs-
day’s and Friday’s garbage
will be picked up on Friday.
The Sunset Pool in Sea-
side is closed Thursday.
The Astoria Aquatic Cen-
ter is open from 5 to 11 a.m.
Thursday.
The Clatsop County
Heritage Museum, Oregon
Film Museum and Flavel
House and Carriage House
are closed Thursday. The
Uppertown
Firefi ghters’
Museum is closed for the
winter.
Lil’ Sprouts is closed
Thursday and Friday. Fort
Clatsop is open Thurs-
day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Columbia River Mar-
itime Museum and Sea-
side Museum are closed
Thursday.
Sunset Empire Transpor-
tation (“The Bus”) is not
running Thursday.
The Astorian offi ces are
closed Thursday. Thurs-
day’s newspaper is being
mailed Wednesday.
See more on
Petfinder.com
CLATSOP COUNTY ANIMAL SHELTER • 861-PETS
1315 SE 19th St. • Warrenton | Tues-Sat 12-4pm
www.dogsncats.org
THIS SPACE SPONSORED BY BAY BREEZE BOARDING
WANTED
Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber
Northwest Hardwoods • Longview, WA
Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500