A2
THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2019
Fog and big waves impact Whale Watch Week
IN BRIEF
Two men arrested after pulling
knife on homeless group
An Astoria man allegedly pulled a knife on a
group of homeless people early Monday morning in
front of the American Legion in Astoria.
Greyson Ryder Saunders, 28, of Astoria, was
arrested for menacing. Jacob Martin Kitzman, 28,
who was with Saunders, was arrested for interfering
with a police offi cer and resisting arrest.
According to police, Saunders said he thought the
group was coming to steal from him so he started
swinging a knife around.
No injuries were reported.
Coastal hazard message
for the North Coast
A coastal hazard message is in effect for the North
Coast through Tuesday evening.
There is an increased risk of being caught in a
sneaker wave, which can suddenly knock people off
their feet and pull them into the ocean.
Offi cials advise people to keep children and pets
away from the surf and to stay off of jetties, rocks and
logs near the surf.
— The Astorian
SALEM — A plan that would require purchasing
a permit before entering three of Oregon’s most pop-
ular wilderness areas has received a largely negative
response.
The Statesman Journal reported that more than
13,700 comments were submitted on a proposal to
charge $4 to $11 per day to enter the Three Sisters,
Mount Jefferson and Mount Washington wilderness
areas beginning in 2020.
The comments, which came from across the coun-
try, echo the idea that while action is needed to com-
bat overcrowding and garbage on wilderness trails,
the proposal is too costly and restrictive.
“There is something amiss when an American cit-
izen has to pay a fee to hike on their lands, which are
really our birthright, not a commodity to be ‘sold,’”
said George Nickus, executive director of Wilderness
Watch.
The Montana-based advocacy group marshaled
more than 10,000 comments opposing the proposal
by having people submit a prewritten form letter.
U.S. Forest Service offi cials said they’ll use all the
comments to shape a fi nal decision. They pointed out
that public comments already played a role in limit-
ing the scope of the plan.
“I wouldn’t say the response was surprising —
fees are rarely popular,” said Matt Peterson, who led
the project for the Forest Service. “We appreciate
everyone that sent in suggestions. Public comments
have been important to this entire process.”
— Associated Press
DEATHS
Hughes-Ransom Mor-
tuary is in charge of the
arrangements.
WEAVER,
Rhea
Kathryn, 69, of Seaside,
died in Seaside. Cald-
well’s Funeral & Crema-
tion Arrangement Center
in Seaside is in charge of
the arrangements.
MEMORIAL
Saturday, Jan. 4
DUNN, Muriel Cleota — Celebration of life at
11 a.m., Warrenton Grade School, 820 S.W. Cedar
Ave. in Warrenton, with a reception to follow.
ON THE RECORD
Assault
• Francine Annette
Leach, 49, of Warren-
ton, was arrested Friday
on N. Wahanna Road in
Seaside for assault in the
third degree.
Disorderly conduct
• Benjamin Knell, 51,
of Seaside, was arrested
Saturday on S. Columbia
Street in Seaside for dis-
orderly conduct.
• Michael Crost, 59,
was arrested Saturday
on S. Columbia Street
in Seaside for disorderly
conduct.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
THURSDAY
Astoria Design Review
Commission, 5:30 p.m.,
City Hall, 1095 Duane St.
Established July 1, 1873
(USPS 035-000)
Published Tuesday, Thursday
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949 Exchange St., PO Box 210, Astoria, OR
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POSTMASTER: Send address changes to
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Seaside Parks Advisory
Committee, 7 p.m., work
session, City Hall, 989
Broadway.
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Periodicals postage paid at Astoria, OR
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2019 by The Astorian.
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Oregon Whale Watch
Week has begun as thou-
sands of gray whales make
their way down past the
West Coast toward the
warmer waters of Baja,
Mexico.
Over the next few weeks,
about 25,000 whales will
swim along the Oregon
C oast. That migration peaks
between Christmas and
N ew Y ear’s Day, when up
to 30 whales can pass each
hour.
People with binoculars
can whale watch anywhere
along the coast.
Or people can head to
one of Oregon State Parks’
24 whale-spotting sites,
which are staffed by volun-
teers throughout the week.
The Depoe Bay Whale
Watching Center is one of
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
A gray whale breaching in the Pacifi c Ocean.
the state’s most popular
whale watching locations
along the seabank on U.S.
Highway 101.
Volunteers there say fog
and massive waves have
made it a slow start for
spectators. But there will
be plenty more chances;
whales usually continue to
move through the area until
mid-January.
Oregon State Parks will
keep a livestream through
the week.
Seaside settles claim with Shilo Inn over back taxes
Wilderness fee plan
gets negative comments
Dec. 28, 2019
ASLAKSON, Roger,
78, of Astoria, died in
Astoria at the age of 78.
Hughes-Ransom Mor-
tuary is in charge of the
arrangements.
WALSH,
Jose-
phine, 95, of Sea-
side, died in Seaside.
By REBECCA ELLIS
Oregon Public Broadcasting
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Eff ective May 1, 2019
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By R.J. MARX
The Astorian
SEASIDE — The city has
dropped a lawsuit against the
Shilo Inn over unpaid lodg-
ing taxes after the hotel chain
agreed to pay.
Earlier this month , the city
fi led suit against the Shilo
Inn in Clatsop County Cir-
cuit Court seeking almost
$150,000 in unpaid lodging
taxes for the quarter ending
in September, with an addi-
tional 25% penalty of more
than $37,000.
Last week , City Attorney
Dan Van Thiel fi led a motion
to dismiss the case .
A total of $187,000 in third
quarter lodging taxes and
the penalty will be paid by
R.J. Marx/The Astorian
Seaside sought back taxes from the Shilo Inn.
Shilo Inn in two installments,
according to Van Thiel, with
half due Tuesday and the
remaining balance due Jan.
31.
“We will be getting the full
amount,” Van Thiel said .
In addition, Shilo Inn will
pay taxes due for the fourth
quarter of 2019 by the end of
January , with a report deliv-
ered Jan. 15. “We don’t know
what that will be until we
receive the report,” Van Thiel
said.
On Thursday, Judge Dawn
McIntosh dismissed the case
without additional costs to
either party beyond the taxes
and penalty.
“Because the penalties
are so high, I’m not going to
quibble over attorney’s fees,”
Van Thiel said.
In June, the city sued Shilo
Inn for more than $45,000 in
lodging taxes for the period
ending in April. With penalties
and interest, the total sought
was more than $58,000.
That suit was closed in
October after Shilo Inn paid
the taxes and the penalty.
New law to upgrade tribal living conditions
By MOLLY
HARBARGER
The Oregonian
Eighteen of the 31 tribal
fi shing sites along the
Columbia River have an
urgent need for upgrades.
Some currently don’t have
water safe enough for
drinking.
And after three years of
debating, the federal gov-
ernment is now authorized
to fi nally provide much-
needed maintenance and
sanitation services.
On Dec. 20, President
Donald Trump signed the
fi rst law bearing the name
of the Columbia River tribal
fi shing sites where hun-
dreds of Northwest tribal
members live at least six
months out of the year. The
law makes it possible to
allocate money to fi x up the
sites, which have fallen into
squalid conditions because
the federal government
underestimated how many
people would use them.
The issue has gotten
national, bipartisan atten-
tion since The Oregonian
reported on conditions at
the sites.
It has been spearheaded
by Oregon lawmakers,
but U.S. Rep. Deb Haa-
land, a New Mexico Demo-
crat and one of the fi rst two
Native American women
to be elected to Congress,
successfully called for the
bill to be voted on without
debate in the House.
The 31 sites were cre-
ated for members of the
Umatilla, Nez Perce, Warm
Springs and Yakama tribes
after the federal govern-
ment fl ooded their tradi-
tional fi shing sites and vil-
lages by building three
dams, starting with Bonne-
ville in Cascade Locks.
Nearly all fell into disre-
pair after a $6.3 million pot
of money allocated for their
maintenance for the next 50
years was nearly depleted in
less than two decades due
to a high volume of use and
inadequate facilities.
At the most used site,
Lone Pine, at least 35 fam-
ilies live year-round. They
share a single restroom
with four shower stalls and
four toilets, which at the
time of an investigation
Thomas Boyd
Lone Pine, located at the base of The Dalles Dam, is fi lled with the ramshackle housing of tribal
members who make their living along the Columbia River. Many lived there before the dam was built.
by The Oregonian had no
doors. The toilets occasion-
ally back up onto the fl oor
of the bathroom, sending
the smell of waste wafting
through the camp. With so
many families living there,
the sanitation truck almost
never arrives soon enough.
The U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers was supposed
to replace the housing
lost when the Bonneville,
Dalles and John Day dams
were built. That never hap-
pened. The federal govern-
ment also underestimated
how many people would
use the sites because the
dams depleted salmon runs
so drastically that offi cials
assumed that tribal mem-
bers would largely give up
fi shing.
However, members of
the four tribes have fi shed
the river for economic,
social and religious reasons
from time immemorial.
When the promised houses
were never built after the
dams were constructed,
tribal members moved on to
the fi shing sites to maintain
that way of life.
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley
and Rep. Earl Blumenauer,
both Oregon Democrats,
visited Lone Pine in 2016
after an investigation by
The Oregonian found that
the federal government had
ignored its promises to the
four tribes that live along
the river for 80 years.
That year, former Presi-
dent Barack Obama signed
a law that directed the Army
Corps to replace the fl ooded
housing. That work was
temporarily stopped by the
Trump administration, but
now continues.
Getting money to fi x up
the existing sites for peo-
ple who live there and use
them now has been a longer
journey.
The Bureau of Indian
Affairs was put in charge of
maintenance at the fi shing
sites after they were built.
The agency didn’t follow
through and so the Colum-
bia River Inter-Tribal Fish
Commission
currently
maintains and operates the
fi shing sites.
Even with weekly visits
from tribal maintenance and
cleaning crews, the sites
were never meant to accom-
modate so many people liv-
ing there for so long.
Charles Hudson, inter-
governmental affairs direc-
tor for the fi sh commission,
said that the tribal agency
has already started to inven-
tory needed upgrades and
repairs. Many sites need
adequate sewage septic sys-
tems, new wells for drink-
ing water, electrical lines
and more.
The Bureau of Indian
Affairs is in charge of
assessing the sites on its
own to create a list of needed
repairs. The law includes an
estimate that $11 million
over fi ve years is needed,
but that could change once
the assessments are done.
Hudson is confi dent
that the funding will come
through.
“I think that’s a signal
from Congress that they
know these safety and san-
itation issues will cost
money to remedy,” Hudson
said.
Merkley said he plans to
use his position on the Sen-
ate Appropriations Com-
mittee to allocate funding
to make improvements. He
has the backing of a bipar-
tisan coalition of Oregon
and Washington state law-
makers and now appears to
have buy-in from the White
House.
“These improvements
are an urgent fi rst step
that we must take while
we work towards the lon-
ger-term goal of replac-
ing housing and communi-
ties that were destroyed by
the dam creation process,”
Merkley said in a statement.
“I’ve seen fi rsthand that
this unacceptable reality is
nothing short of a crisis.”