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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 4, 2021)
A2 THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2021 IN BRIEF Astoria man dies in crash on Highway 26 An Astoria man died Monday afternoon in a sin- gle-vehicle crash on U.S. Highway 26. Kenneth Rislow, 77, was heading eastbound when he traveled off the road. Police believe he had a medi- cal emergency prior to the crash. Emergency crews arrived to the crash near mile- post 17 at about 12:40 p.m. Several bystanders had performed CPR on Rislow. Police investigate stabbing in Astoria Police are investigating a stabbing that occurred Monday evening in Astoria. Offi cers received a report at about 7 p.m. of a stab- bing on the Astoria Riverwalk side of the Motel 6 on W. Marine Drive. One of the people involved walked away from the area and was found near the Astoria Library being treated for three stab wounds to his arm. Police say witnesses and all others involved stayed near Motel 6, along with another man who had facial injuries. Witnesses or anyone with video of the altercation are asked to contact Detective Nicole Riley at 503- 741-6118 or nriley@astoria.or.us. OHSU to offer free weekly virus testing in Astoria Oregon Health & Science University will offer free weekly coronavirus testing in Astoria beginning Monday. The Portland hospital’s community outreach testing program will set up from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Mon- day at the Clatsop County household hazardous waste facility off of Williamsport Road. Testing will be available to people 2 months and older. To register, visit www.ohsu.edu/COVIDVans or call 503-494-4911. The Clatsop County Public Health Department will continue to offer its own testing at the household haz- ardous waste facility on Tuesdays and Fridays. For more information, visit the county’s website. Annual Goodding remembrance goes virtual SEASIDE — The fi fth anniversary of the fatal shooting of police Sgt. Jason Goodding takes place Friday with a ceremony beginning at 6 p.m. on the city’s YouTube channel. Goodding was patrolling downtown on the night of Feb. 5, 2016, when he was slain while attempting to serve a warrant on a felon. Goodding was 39 at the time of his death. He is sur- vived by his wife and two daughters. The remembrance will include a posting of the col- ors, comments from two recipients of the Jason M. Goodding Scholarship, a table of honor and comments from police staff. — The Astorian In Brief Death Feb. 1, 2021 WEEKS, Lee Merrill, 82, of Gearhart, died in Port- land. Caldwell’s Luce-Layton Mortuary in Astoria is in charge of the arrangements. ON THE RECORD Burglary inal mischief in the third On the Sanftle- Record • Benjamin degree. Criminal trespass • Dorothy Olsen, 35, was arrested on Third Street in Astoria for crim- inal trespass in the sec- ond degree, resisting arrest and aggravated harassment. Hit-and-run • Gregorio Abundiz Garcia, 23, of Astoria, was arrested Friday on W. Marine Drive in Astoria for hit-and-run and reck- less driving. PUBLIC MEETINGS THURSDAY Maritime Memorial Committee, 2 p.m., City Hall, 1095 Duane St. Seaside Parks Advisory Committee, 6 p.m., (electronic meeting). PUBLIC MEETINGS Established July 1, 1873 (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 Died last week at 74 By EDWARD STRATTON The Astorian Thane Tienson, a promi- nent environmental, fi sher- ies and human rights attor- ney from Astoria, died from a heart attack on Jan. 28 . He was 74. Tienson is survived by his brother, John; son, Erik; daughter, Julia; and grand- son, Gavin. He was preceded in death by his mother, Dor- othy; father, John; and broth- ers, David and Donald. Julia Tienson said her father, an avid runner who was still a practicing lawyer with the fi rm Landye Bennett Blumstein, called her while driving himself to the hos- pital after experiencing sud- den chest pains Jan. 27 . He died of a heart attack while in transport to another hospital for surgery, she said, but not before his family was able to gather and spend some time with him. “We got to really say our goodbyes,” she said. “I was doing voice memo record- ings of my dad. He was just such an excellent storyteller and had decades of life, and activism, and friendships and stories to share.” Erik Tienson described his father as a Type A per- sonality who loved help- ing people, from represent- ing them in the courtroom to teaching law and the C onsti- tution classes in local high schools. Tienson’s children also described their father as an unabashed liberal fi ghting for environmental causes, with a client list including the Sierra Club, Columbia Riv- erkeeper and the Wild Fish Conservancy. “He changed water rights on the John Day River in Thane Tienson, a prominent lawyer from Astoria, has died. central Oregon,” Erik Tien- son said. “He was just a free- dom fi ghter for the Pacifi c Northwest. His life goal was to have The Dalles Dam be blown up, and restore Celilo Falls.” Tienson’s family moved away from Astoria to the Bay Area when he was a boy . Tienson attended Santa Clara University in California before serving in the Vietnam War, where Erik Tienson said his father earned two Purple Hearts for injuries sustained in battle. After serving in the mil- itary, he attended Lewis & Clark College in Portland, becoming a lawyer in 1977. John Tienson, his only sur- viving brother, said he wanted to become a lawyer in honor of his father. Tienson’s family said his heart was always on the coast. He represented the Chinook Indian Nation in its fi ght for federal recognition, Warrenton when its water fi l- tration system malfunctioned and even members of the Fla- vel family. “He did a ton of pro bono work for Astoria,” Erik Tien- son said. “He just loved the people and the commercial fi shermen of Astoria.” Tienson represented the Port of Astoria on several occasions, most recently in negotiations with oil compa- nies to clean up historic fuel contamination. “I worked closely with Thane over the last couple of years, most notably on the environmental cleanup along the Astoria waterfront,” said Will Isom, the Port’s execu- tive director . “Thane loved Astoria and he would often begin our conversations by probing for information on the recent happenings within the community.” Tienson represented numerous fi shermen and was counsel for Salmon for All, an association repre- senting the Columbia River salmon-fi shing industry. He won a federal court ruling on behalf of both fi shermen and environmental groups that required changes in the way dams are operated to protect endangered salmon species. Steve Fick, a seafood pro- cessor, fi sherman and mem- ber of Salmon for All, said Tienson was always an advo- cate for fi shermen and a sus- tainable West Coast fi sh- ery. He sued to stop a mine near Bristol Bay, Alaska, and for the right of gillnetters to fi sh on the main stem of the Columbia. Circulation phone number: 800-781-3214 Periodicals postage paid at Astoria, OR 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, 2021 by The Astorian. MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MEMBER CERTIFIED AUDIT OF CIRCULATIONS, INC. Printed on recycled paper Subscription rates Eff ective January 12, 2021 MAIL EZpay (per month) ...............................................................................................................$10.75 13 weeks in advance ...........................................................................................................$37.00 26 weeks in advance ...........................................................................................................$71.00 52 weeks in advance ........................................................................................................ $135.00 DIGITAL EZpay (per month) .................................................................................................................$8.25 “Truly, never forgot where he came from,” Fick said . In the 1990s, Tienson handled several high-profi le cases of sexual assault at sea, helping improve standards for women aboard fi shing and processing vessels. Anne Mosness, president of the Women’s Maritime Associa- tion, said Tienson stepped in — often pro bono — to rep- resent women who had been assaulted at sea. “He was so dedicated to safety, to helping vulnerable people,” Mosness said. State Sen. Betsy Johnson, a Democrat from Scappoose, described Tienson as a per- sonal confi dant. “Thane Tienson was as close as anyone in my acquaintance to a R enais- sance man, a decorated Viet- nam Veteran, global traveler, convivial companion, a capa- ble and compassionate law- yer —frequently on the side of the little guy,” Johnson said. Tienson’s family said his heart was always in Astoria, where his mother had lived since 1976 until her death in October. He was planning to retire in the coming year and move back to the coast. “I’m saddened for him that he didn’t make it to retirement, and that he didn’t make it to some fi ner plea- sures in life on the other side of COVID, getting to be a grandpa,” Julia Tienson said. “We’ve got a 6 month old who always smiled at him, and I really wanted him to know my dad.” The family is planning a number of smaller virtual and in-person tributes over the next several months. They suggested donations in Tienson’s honor be made to Columbia Riverkeeper and the Chinook Indian Nation. Locals remember founder of Gearhart Facebook pages Furnish was a critic of local government By R.J. MARX The Astorian DEATHS ben, 49, of Woodburn, was arrested Saturday for burglary in the sec- ond degree after report- edly breaking a window at Deals Only in Astoria and taking items from the store. Assaulting an offi cer • Patricia Marie Hill, 33, of Seaside, was arrested Monday on U.S. Highway 26 for assault- ing a public safety offi cer, resisting arrest and crim- Tienson was a prominent lawyer from Astoria GEARHART — James “Jim” F. Furnish, who lived the last years of his life as the founder of the Gearhart Facebook pages “A Million Friends of Gearhart” and the “Pacifi c Way Group,” died Saturday morning. He was 70. “This morning we have lost a father, brother, grandfa- ther, and above all a friend,” his son, James, wrote in announcing his death. Furnish was born Sept. 8, 1950, in Portland and moved to Gearhart at age 9. His mother, Elna Fur- nish, was a longtime colum- nist for the Seaside Signal, writing “Let’s Talk Food” for decades. His father, Wil- liam Wallace Furnish, a for- mer World War II pilot, was a rancher and insurance broker. Furnish was a 1968 grad- uate of Seaside High School. He lived in Gearhart for most of his life and worked as a commercial fi sher- man, an able hand on fi shing boats and a professional clam digger. He worked as a drug and alcohol counselor in Seaside for many years. A self-described “fi sh- monger,” he was a famil- iar face at Bell Buoy of Seaside , Country Traveler Online wrote in a 2015 pro- fi le. “Behind the counter, the retired fi sherman’s energy and enthusiasm for the job belies his age. One minute he is outside tidying up the park- ing lot, the next minute he’s bringing someone a taste of something new at the little eating bar by the window and then he’s popped back behind the counter helping and jok- ing with a customer he hasn’t seen for a while.” Furnish was a man of many talents and a wealth of local and other knowl- edge, Jay Pitman, of Clat- Rudy Krueger Bell Buoy in Seaside remembers Jim Furnish. sop County Sons Furnish dedicated of Beaches, said. his online social “He was a member media pages to fond whom I’ll never for- memories of Gear- get, a great outdoors- hart days gone by, as man with respect to well as pointed dia- our commercial and logues on city policy Jim Furnish sportsman culture of and personalities. the fi shing industry,” The private group he said. “He will be greatly Million Friends of Gearhart, missed on our beach therapy created in 2011, now has sessions.” 1,500 members. Furnish was an encyclope- “Can’t help to think about dia of information about the the founder of this site and North Coast, with a knowl- how he has been the voice edge of the characters of days of truth in Gearhart,” wrote gone by. Kathleen Piner Zimmer- As an inveterate beach- man on the Million Friends comber, he was often fea- of Gearhart page. “Love him tured in The Astorian for his or hate him he is a voice of tsunami debris fi nds, like the reason, common sense and large upside down boat dock love for ‘keeping Gearhart, with writing on the tires in Gearhart.’” Japanese from Japan’s March Like others in numerous 2011 tsunami or the very large tributes online, Zimmerman U.S. Coast Guard navigation described Furnish as “the best buoy he found on a Gear- Gearhart historian I know and hart beach. He could discuss a true icon in the community at length Rimas Meleshyus, and not afraid to stand up for the wayward sailor who only what he thinks is the right knew how to drift, the long thing.” history of Terrible Tilly or The Pacifi c Way Group, “Batman” actor Adam West’s started by Furnish in 2019, summers in Gearhart . took over conversations con- sidered too political for the Million Friends of Gearhart page. It now has 241 mem- bers. The page has become a heated repository for dis- cussions of all topics relating to Gearhart, often no holds barred. Jack Zimmerman, a co-ad- ministrator of the Pacifi c Way Group page, said Furnish was very private during his last few years and determined to keep his health challenges from interfering with his Facebook efforts . He said Furnish’s social media presence was driven by his ability to critique city government, which kept him from running for offi ce. He was a good friend to all, lifelong Gearhart resident Helen Dawson-Leach said. “He loved Gearhart as all of us old-timers do,” she said. “He stood up to the pow- ers that be for the town he loved.” Furnish fought cancer for the p ast decade, accord- ing to a fundraising site orga- nized by his friend, Stewart Schultz, and went through surgeries and several bouts of chemotherapy and radiation, including a botched surgery that required a lengthy and painful recovery. A year-and-a-half ago, Furnish was diagnosed as cancer-free and in good health, Schultz wrote. His symptoms returned in November. After two weeks in a Port- land hospital, he was diag- nosed with new metastatic cancers in his liver and pel- vic bone. “He would give whatever he had to help people even though he didn’t have much,” his son, James, said. “I remember setting up his Yahoo email account in 1998, not realizing I helped create the greatest internet scourge the world would ever know. “He loved, laughed and lived a life too complex for one person to detail. I don’t know what the afterlife holds, but I know the greatest Clat- sop County clam digger is now a part of the whole.”
