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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 20, 2020)
A2 THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2020 IN BRIEF Two Seaside men charged with attempted murder Two Seaside men have been arraigned for attempted murder in the second degree. Christopher Neil Quiggle-Boyer, 35, and Gary Alen Lane Gobin, 40, were arrested on Oct. 7 after an assault at a Seaside apartment that left three men injured. Boyer was charged Thursday with attempted murder in the second degree, assault in the first degree, three counts of assault in the second degree, burglary in the first degree, two counts of unlawful use of a weapon and two counts of menacing. Gobin was charged Friday with attempted murder in the second degree, assault in the first degree, two counts of assault in the second degree, burglary in the first degree, unlawful use of a weapon and menacing. — The Astorian DEATH Oct. 17, 2020 HENDRICKSON, Virginia Sue, 41, of Astoria, died in Astoria. Caldwell’s Luce-Layton Mortuary in Astoria is in charge of the arrangements. MEMORIALS Cemetery, 575 S.W. 18th St. in Warrenton. Flowers can be delivered to the War renton First Baptist Church DEAL, Charles (Chuck) Warren — Burial at 2 p.m., Greenwood Cemetery, 91569 Oregon Highway Saturday, Oct. 24 ANDRIESIAN, Lor raine Adelle — Memorial at 11 a.m., Warrenton First Baptist Church, 30 N.E. First St. in Warrenton, fol lowed by a social hour and potluck, then a grave side service at Ocean View CLAMMING Hailey Hoffman/The Astorian Elizabeth Cronen pushes her clam gun into the wet sand at Sunset Beach on Thursday evening. 202 . BIRTH Sept. 19, 2020 JENSEN, Jess, and PAINTER, Anthony, of Jewell, a girl, Haze’Leigh Jeanette Painter, bom at Columbia Memorial Hos pital in Astoria. Grand parents are Pam and Ken Gibson, of Victor, Mon tana, Mike and Carrie Jensen, of San Jose, Cal ifornia, Jeanette Painter, of Astoria, and Timothy Painter, of Seaside. CORRECTIONS at 636 14th St. was con structed in 1902 and served as a convent for teachers at St. Mary Star of the Sea School. An A1 story on Aug. 29 incor rectly stated it was con structed in 1920 and later used as a convent for the Young Ladies Catholic Academy. Wrong date — Floyd Holcom, a candidate for Astoria City Council, grew up in Astoria and returned in 2003 after military ser vice in Iraq. An A1 story on Thursday incorrectly said he returned in 2005. Construction date, school name — The Frank Patton residence ON THE RECORD Highway 30 for attempting to elude police officers and reckless driving. • Robin Deen Rich ardson, 68, of Gearhart, was arraigned Friday for attempting to elude a police officer, reckless driving and recklessly endangering another person. Unlawful vehicle use • Jeremy P. Barber, 43, of Gig Harbor, Washing ton, was arrested Saturday at the foot of 22nd Street in Astoria for unlawful use of a motor vehicle. Assault • Lynsi Jewell, 35, of Warrenton, was arrested Saturday on S.W. Har bor Place in Warrenton for assault in the fourth degree, menacing and strangulation. Harassment • Chase Daniel Rusi- novich, 23, of Astoria, was arrested Saturday on Bond Street in Astoria for harassment. Attempting to elude • Samuel Alvin Dar ling, 46, of Portland was arrested Friday on U.S. PUBLIC MEETINGS TUESDAY Union Health District of Clatsop County Board, 8 a.m., Seaside Convention Center, 415 First Ave. Port of Astoria Commission, 4 p.m., (electronic meeting). Astoria Historic Landmarks Commission, 5:15 p.m., City Hall, 1095 Duane St. Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District Board, 5:15 p.m., Bob Chisholm Community Center, 1225 Avenue A, Seaside. Seaside School District, 6 p.m., (electronic meeting). Shoreline Sanitary District Board, 7 p.m., Gearhart Her- tig Station, 33496 West Lake Lane, Warrenton. WEDNESDAY Clatsop Soil and Water Conservation District Board, 10 a.m., (electronic meeting). Seaside Tourism Advisory Committee, 3 p.m., 989 Broadway. THURSDAY Sunset Empire Transportation District Board, 9 a.m., workshop, (electronic meeting). Columbia River Estuary Study Taskforce, noon, (elec tronic meeting). Clatsop County Recreational Lands Planning Advisory Committee, 1 p.m., (electronic meeting). the Astorian Established July 1,1873 I Circulation phone number: (USPS 035-000) . 503-325-3211 Periodicals postage paid at Astoria, OR ADVERT,S.NG OWNERSHIP 949 Exchange St., PO Box 210, Astoria, OR A " advertising copy and lustrations 97103 Telephone 503-325-3211, prepared by The Astorian become the 800-781-3211 or Fax 503-325-6573. property of The Astorian and may not POSTMASTER: Send address changes to be reproduced for any use without The Astorian, PO Box 210, Astoria, OR explicit prior approval. COPYRIGHT© 97103-0210 Ent ¡re contents © Copyright, DailyAstorian.com 2020 by The Astorian. MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MEMBER CERTIFIED AUDIT OF CIRCULATIONS, INC. I Printed on recycled paper Subscription rates Effective May 1,2019 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 Out of County Rates available at 800-781 -3214 DIGITAL EZpay (per month)........................................................................................................$8.00 AP Photo The Big Questions linger on Oregon’s coal-free future By NICK ROSENBERGER For EO Media Group Every day, electricity crackles across power lines hanging over the sparsely populated counties of Uma tilla, Morrow, Gilliam and Sherman that border the Columbia River. With the ongoing global climate cri sis, the debate about how this electricity can be produced by cleaner, renewable energy continues to heat up. Nowhere is this more obvious than with the case of Portland General Electric’s attempts to shift away from coal-generated electricity. As the state’s last coal-fired plant closed last week, utilities are facing a complex road ahead to close the gap between renewable and nonrenewable generation. PGE, along with Nex- tEra Energy — one of North America’s leading renewable energy companies — is build ing the Wheatridge Renew able Energy facility in Morrow County. The 380-megawatt facility will employ wind, solar and battery storage as one of the nation’s largest emissions-free electricity pro ducers. It will open this year to power 100,000 homes. Despite breaking records for Oregon’s largest renew able energy facility, how ever, it will not fully cover the roughly 600 megawatts pro duced by the now shuttered Boardman coal-fired plant. This raises a series of ques tions about how utilities will fulfill the needs of Oregonians while promoting a cleaner, sustainable future for energy generation. PGE and Oregon’s other providers, such as PacifiCorp, have several avenues for ward in the coming years as the effects of climate change continue to ravage parts of the state. Climate Changed Declining cost of renewable energy The most popular option for Oregon, and most ben eficial for combating cli mate change, is expanding the state’s renewable energy infrastructure. It is likely the best, cheapest and saf est option that utilities can undertake. petitive with traditional non renewable energy sources such as coal. In 2019, wind cost roughly $41 per mega watt hour, compared with $109 for coal. And, while 2016 legisla tion set a goal of 50% new renewable energy production in the state by 2040, many experts believe it can reach an even higher percentage. “Most people who work in the electricity indus try agree that anywhere from 80-90% of renewable energy is totally doable,” said Rebecca Smith, a senior policy analyst at the Ore gon Department of Energy. “That last 10% is where you see a lot more difference of opinion between people,” she said. DESPITE BREAKING RECORDS FOR OREGON'S LARGEST RENEWABLE ENERGY FACILITY, HOWEVER; IT WILL NOT FULLY COVER THE ROUGHLY 600 MEGAWATTS PRODUCED BY THE NOW SHUTTERED BOARDMAN COAL-FIRED PLANT. However, it comes with its own set of limitations and challenges. As technology advances, Oregon utilities have rec ognized the evolution of the industry as the costs of renewables decrease and consumer appetite increases. Over the past decade, the cost of solar energy gener ation has fallen 89% and wind power costs have been trimmed by 70%, according to Lazard’s 2019 Levelized Cost of Energy Analysis. These decreases have made renewables more com Bryson Robertson, asso ciate professor of civil and construction engineering at Oregon State Univer sity and co-director of the Pacific Marine Energy Cen ter, agrees. “Fifty percent is low. Like, that’s not a high bar so Oregon should nail that,” said Robertson. “When I start to have misgivings is when people say 100% because getting up to 80 or 90 is actually not incredibly difficult — it’s that last 10% that is incredibly difficult,” he said. According to Robertson, getting beyond 80% to 90% renewable energy would be expensive to implement, offers diminishing returns and puts the system’s resil iency at risk. Switching entirely to renewable energy would put the state’s electrical grid at risk of not meeting Oregon’s electrical demands, accord ing to industry experts. Weather patterns play a role “You cannot turn the wind on and off when you need it, or the sun,” said Steve Corson, a spokesper son for PGE. “They are vari able. Their output may come and go during any given day and we need other resources that we can turn on and off to ensure reliable supply for customers.” The diminishing returns and reliability factor of renewables force utilities to rely on energy sources that can be stockpiled in case of emergencies and called upon when needed. These “dis- patchable resources,” such as coal or natural gas, can be used to stabilize the electric ity system if the renewable energy system fails to gener ate enough power, according to Corson. In the future, however, reliance on dispatchable resources could decline with a diversified electrical grid and new technologies that meet consumer demand every second of every day. These new capabilities add another safety net to meet ing the needs of Oregonians. New technologies Along with the increas ing amount of renewable energy, utilities are develop ing technologies to expand See Coal-free future, Page A3
