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THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2019
IN BRIEF
Astoria marijuana store fi ned
for unpermitted remodel
An Astoria marijuana store faces a fi ne or suspension
of its license after doing a remodel without the state’s
permission.
The Oregon Liquor Control Commission leveled
a $1,485 or nine-day recreational license suspension
against Hi Casual Cannabis on Marine Drive because
the owner, Wayne Zallen, remodeled the store without
prior permission. He instead detailed the remodel in a
renewal application for his recreational license.
Zallen was charged with a Category III violation,
defi ned as one that creates a potential threat to public
health or safety. It was his fi rst such violation in a two-
year period. He must pay the fi ne by Jan. 15 or start serv-
ing the suspension Jan. 20.
Rec district implements
new code of conduct
SEASIDE — No fi ghting, no alcohol or drugs, no
touching or physical contact with other individuals.
The standards were among 10 new rules of conduct
presented this month to the Sunset Empire Park and
Recreation District board.
“We’ve had a number of challenging incidents at the
pool over the years,” Skyler Archibald, the rec district’s
executive director, said afterward.
He said the new policies will enable staff to “know
how to handle these situations.”
After meeting with outside legal counsel and the
Special Districts Association of Oregon, the rec district
worked to strengthen the standards of conduct.
“There are some situations where a behavior is
repeated or it rises to the level of where we do have to
involve the police or consider trespassing that person,”
Archibald said. “This policy will give us clearer guide-
lines how to enforce the conduct policy.”
— The Astorian
North Jetty
renewed
Jeff rey Henon/U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed repair work on the North Jetty at Cape Disappointment State Park.
Salem homeless told to leave
Oregon Capitol grounds
Salem homeless followed up on a plan to set up tents
on the state Capitol grounds in protest after being dis-
placed from downtown under a camping ban passed by
the City Council earlier this month.
About 25 people with about a dozen tents occupied the
park before Oregon State Police and Oregon Parks and
Recreation Department offi cials arrived Monday morning.
State offi cials and Salem Housing Authority staff
told the homeless they had two hours to leave the Ore-
gon Capitol State Park. At least one homeless man was
arrested on an outstanding warrant. By 1:30 p.m., the
camp was mostly dismantled.
City offi cials briefl y revisited an idea Friday to allow
sanctioned tent camping, but they have backed away
from that proposal. Instead, they redoubled efforts to fi nd
a space to operate a 90-day warming shelter after Salem
First Presbyterian Church decided not to participate.
Offi cials have yet to announce a location, however.
Urban Development Director Kristin Retherford
told the Statesman Journal: “Our consistent message on
enforcement of the ordinance is that we will be respond-
ing to complaints, but that we do not have the capacity
to actively look for campsites.”
Retherford is acting city manager while City Man-
ager Steve Powers is on vacation.
“Nobody has been directed to go to parks,” Rether-
ford said. “If people are in small groups and not really
visible, or doing things that will result in complaints,
(the Salem Police Department) does not have the capac-
ity to go searching for campsites.”
— Statesman Journal
Oregon’s unemployment reached
historic low in November
Oregon’s unemployment rate in November was the
lowest its been in at least 43 years, according to the state
employment department.
A November unemployment rate of 3.9% is the low-
est recorded since 1976, dipping from a 4% October
unemployment rate, which the state revised from an
originally-reported 4.1% rate. The statewide rate has
hovered near 4% for 37 months, according to state data.
Total nonfarm employment increased in November
by 6,300 jobs. In October, the state gained 2,100 jobs,
according to state data.
Oregon has gained 2,600 jobs on average each month
this year, state data said. Last year, the average was
3,000 new jobs per month.
The state employment department said industries that
normally shed jobs during the autumn months, such as
construction and manufacturing, instead added jobs in
November. The state employment department said dry
weather and a tight labor market may have caused those
industries to retain jobs they normally would have cut.
— The Register-Guard
ON THE RECORD
Hit-and-run
• Robert Koontz, 21, of Seaside, was arrested Mon-
day on S. Franklin Street in Seaside for hit-and-run,
failure to perform duties of a driver and reckless
driving.
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Photos by Ashley Nerbovig/Chinook Observer
Ricky Benavidez Jr., 48, is taking classes at Columbia Education Center in Ilwaco. He graduated from Pacifi c County Felony Drug
Court in November.
Accountability key to drug court success
Shayne Moseley
By ASHLEY NERBOVIG
Chinook Observer
SOUTH BEND, Wash. —
Pacifi c County Felony Drug
Court graduates all believe
in doing one thing when they
leave the program: helping
others who are struggling
with addiction.
Ricky Benavidez Jr. is
seven months sober and
graduated from drug court
in November . For the fi rst
nine months in the program,
the joke was that he was the
poster child for drug court, he
said. He was in the paper for
earning honor roll at Grays
Harbor Community College.
“I didn’t want that kind
of praise, that pressure,”
Benavidez said. “And then I
relapsed.”
He tried to hide it at fi rst.
He thought it was the right
thing to do.
“But I wasn’t trusting the
process,” he said.
After his relapse, the drug
court sent him back to treat-
ment. And one of the coun-
selors there gave him advice
that seemed to click with him
in a way nothing had before.
The counselor was a former
addict and Benavidez asked
him how he’d stayed clean
for so long. The counselor
said he did it day by day.
Benavidez called it the
magic pill. Every person with
addiction wants to hear that
one thing that will change
them, and it isn’t always real.
There isn’t always that one
thing. But for Benavidez,
the mantra “day by day” has
stuck with him.
When Benavidez was 10
years old, he was kidnapped,
abused and then almost
killed when his abductor
tried to drown him in a river.
It took almost three
decades for Benavidez to
come to terms with what
happened to him in the two
weeks he was held cap-
tive. For most of his adult
life he was angry and some-
Kari Wiegardt gives Shayne Moseley, right, a gift after Moseley
graduated from drug court in December.
times violent. He used drugs
to cope with his trauma.
Benavidez’ mom, Linda
Diaz, said she understood
her son’s drug use.
“Ricky’s been through it,”
Diaz said. “He’s had a tough
life. We all have.”
Diaz said she was proud
of him for completing drug
court. But she worries about
him falling back into addic-
tion. Benavidez does as well.
But he’s going to the gym,
and he’s made connections
in the community.
And he is focused on get-
ting his degree so he can start
working with kids in places
like the Naselle Youth Camp.
Working with kids is differ-
ent than working with adults.
With kids, there isn’t always
a change right away, because
they are still young, Benavi-
dez said.
“With kids you’re just
planting seeds, seeds you
hope they’ll pick up later,”
he said.
Stevie Brown
When Stevie Brown
joined drug court, she thought
she knew better than anyone
how to get clean, said Don-
ald Richter, Pacifi c County
Superior Court judge.
“You wanted sobriety,
but you wanted it on your
terms,” Richter said.
But she became a shining
star in the program, Rich-
ter said at Brown’s gradua-
tion ceremony in December .
Brown was also recognized
for being 17 months sober.
Brown shared her recov-
ery journey at a commu-
nity panel during the 2019
Pacifi c County Opioid Sum-
mit. Her message to people
with addiction then and now
is the same: There are people
in the community who want
to help you.
“You come in and you
think that they don’t know
what they’re talking about.
T hey don’t know you and
they don’t know your situ-
ation, but they know what
works,” Brown said.
Brown is studying to
become a chemical depen-
dency counselor. She learned
through drug court that the
best way to stay sober is to
give back. And having come
into the court pregnant and
graduating the program with
her second child on the way,
Drug Court Coordinator
Tessa Clements said Brown
was an amazing mentor to
the other young moms’ in
recovery.
Former Pacifi c County
Superior
Court
Judge
Michael Sullivan reminded
Brown how worthy she was
of success.
“You deserve everything
that is good. Y ou deserve
good things in your life,”
Sullivan said.
But for Pacifi c County
Sheriff’s Offi ce Deputy
Randy Wiegardt, Shayne
Moseley would likely not
have made it into drug court.
Wiegardt was Moseley’s
arresting offi cer. And while
she was being arrested, she
kicked him. Moseley said
she hates to think about that
night and her actions.
And yet, Wiegardt and
his wife, Kari, both came to
her graduation ceremony in
December .
Chief Criminal Deputy
Patrick Matlock said it was
a reminder that law enforce-
ment offi cers at the sheriff’s
offi ce care about the people
in the community, even the
ones who they have to arrest.
“He wouldn’t be here
today if he didn’t care,” Mat-
lock said.
Richter called the change
he’d seen in her nothing
short of miraculous.
Moseley
beamed
throughout the entire grad-
uation, something Clements
pointed out was a marked
change from when Mose-
ley fi rst entered the pro-
gram. And Moseley’s beauti-
ful smile is something worth
sharing, Clements said. Cle-
ments also recognized Mose-
ley’s countless hours as a
volunteer for the Harbor
Association of Volunteers for
Animals .
Moseley’s mother and
sister sat beside her during
the ceremony and posed for
pictures with her and Rich-
ter afterward. Missing was
Moseley’s father, who died
in October. But even while
she struggled to cope with
the immense loss of her dad,
she said she never considered
backtracking in her recovery.
For Moseley, the thing
drug court gave her that
helped her the most was the
accountability it provided.
And while she said she will
miss the support , she is
excited to move forward.