A2
THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2022
IN BRIEF
Open houses planned for workforce
housing project at Heritage Square
Astoria and Edlen & Co. will host two open houses
in March to collect public feedback on the proposed
housing development at Heritage Square.
The open houses will be be held from 4:30 p.m. to
7:30 p.m. on March 14 and March 24 at the Astoria
Armory.
City councilors voted 3 to 2 last week to enter into
an exclusive negotiating agreement with Edlen & Co.,
which will allow the city and the Portland-based devel-
oper to negotiate and refi ne the housing concept.
So far, in response to community feedback, the
developer has created a new option that would incor-
porate all the housing units into one building instead of
two. The building would sit on the eastern portion of
the block, and the parking lot on the southwest corner
would remain.
Nordic park receives grant
from Oregon Cultural Trust
The Oregon Cultural Trust has awarded a $8,729
grant to the Astoria Scandinavian Heritage Association.
The funding will help with the construction of the
arrival plaza at Astoria Nordic Heritage Park, which is
expected to open downtown off of Marine Drive this
summer.
The park was one of 90 projects in the state sup-
ported by cultural development grants for the 2022 fi s-
cal year.
Spring whale watching season on tap
The spring whale migration begins this month, with
around 25,000 gray whales swimming past the Oregon
Coast from late March until June.
The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department lists
the best locations for spotting whales on its website,
including Ecola State Park, Fort Stevens and Cape
Disappointment.
Spring Whale Week has been canceled this year,
meaning trained volunteers will not be on-site. The
Whale Watch Center in Depoe Bay also remains closed
until late spring.
The Oregon State Parks YouTube channel will
be bringing back its whale watching livestream from
10 a.m. to 2 p.m. from March 21 to March 25.
State reports fi ve new
virus cases for county
The Oregon Health Authority reported fi ve new
coronavirus cases for Clatsop County on Tuesday.
Since the pandemic began, the county had recorded
4,520 virus cases as of Tuesday.
— The Astorian
Ocean Beach School District
seeks $96.2 million bond measure
LONG BEACH, Wash. — The Ocean Beach School
District Board has cleared the way for voters to decide
the fate of a $96.2 million bond measure in April.
The bond will appear on the April 26 special elec-
tion ballot, where it will need to receive at least 60% of
the vote — a supermajority — in order to pass. Ballots
are expected to be mailed to voters beginning April 8.
— Chinook Observer
DEATH
Feb. 28, 2022
In McGAULEY,
Brief Harold
William, 73, of Astoria, died
in Portland. Caldwell’s Luce-Layton Mortuary of
Astoria is in charge of the arrangements.
Death
MEMORIAL
Friday, March 4
Memorial
PEARSALL, Rodney — Graveside service at
2 p.m., 33395 Beerman Creek Road in Seaside. A
memorial will take place on March 12; details will be
announced soon. Pearsall, 65, of Seaside, died Tues-
day, Feb. 22, 2022, in Seaside. Hughes-Ransom Mor-
tuary in Seaside is in charge of the arrangements.
ON THE RECORD
Theft
crimes are alleged to
On
the
Record
•
Jacob
Michael
have occurred in Clatsop
Rivers, 35, of Oyster-
ville, Washington, was
arraigned on Tuesday
for fi rst-degree theft,
two counts of second-de-
gree theft and fl eeing
or attempting to elude
a police offi cer. The
County in January.
• Gregory Lee Daw,
25, of Astoria, was
indicted on Tuesday for
fi rst-degree theft and
fi rst-degree forgery. The
crimes are alleged to
have occurred in August.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
MONDAY
Clatsop County Board of Commissioners, 10:30 a.m.,
work session, (electronic meeting).
Astoria City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 1095 Duane St.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
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Judge halts parole board hearings for
juvenile off enders commuted by governor
Astoria killer was
on Gov. Brown’s list
By NOELLE CROMBIE
The Oregonian
A state judge on Tuesday
directed the Oregon parole
board not to hold hear-
ings for a group of juvenile
off enders whose sentences
were commuted last year by
Gov. Kate Brown.
Marion County Circuit
Court Judge David Leith’s
ruling came amid a legal
challenge to the governor’s
commutation authority.
The decision underscores
Brown’s broad clemency
power but concluded that the
Board of Parole and Post-
Prison Supervision does not
have the statutory authority
to take up the cases.
In a controversial move,
Brown commuted the sen-
tences of 72 off enders who
were convicted as juveniles,
eff ectively making them eli-
gible to seek release through
the parole board. Patrick Lee
Harned — who in 1999, at
age 16, kidnapped, sexu-
ally abused and strangled his
neighbor, 7-year-old Ashley
Ann Carlson in Astoria —
was on the list. Harned has
changed his name to Jessie
Davin Payne-Rana.
Brown sought to apply
a landmark juvenile jus-
tice reform law approved
in 2019 to those individu-
als. That law applies only
to cases going forward and
aims to keep teens accused
of the most serious crimes in
the juvenile system, which
places an emphasis on
rehabilitation.
The ruling represents
a signifi cant roadblock to
Brown’s commutation push.
Her offi ce fi rst fl oated the
idea of juvenile commuta-
tions early last year and kept
those discussions largely
under wraps until fall.
The Oregon Depart-
ment of Justice is deciding
whether to appeal.
Linn County District
Attorney Doug Marteeny
called the ruling “a victory
in the right direction.”
“I think this is a victory
for crime victims and a vic-
tory for transparency in gov-
ernment and truth in sen-
tencing,” he said.
Leith’s opinion came in
a lawsuit fi led by Marteeny,
Lane County District Attor-
ney Patricia Perlow and rel-
atives of three homicide
victims.
judge concluded in his let-
ter opinion that the g over-
nor has the ‘unlimited pre-
rogative to choose who gets
clemency.’”
Merah said Brown “con-
tinues to believe that execu-
tive clemency is an import-
ant tool that can be used to
address systemic failures
in our criminal justice sys-
tem while we work to make
lasting change, and she will
continue to exercise her
clemency authority in, for
example, cases of extraor-
dinary transformation to
give people the opportunity
to become positive, con-
tributing members of their
communities.”
The ruling was mixed
for the plaintiff s. Leith dis-
THE GOVERNOR HAS GRANTED
CLEMENCY TO ABOUT 1,200
PEOPLE, INCLUDING 912 FOR
THE PANDEMIC AND 41 FOR
INCARCERATED PEOPLE WHO
FOUGHT WILDFIRES.
The suit alleged Brown
claimed she delegated her
clemency power to the
parole board, which would
decide the fate of dozens of
juvenile off enders.
Brown’s spokesperson
said the governor is pleased
that the judge “affi rmed that
her use of clemency powers
was within her authority and
upheld every single com-
mutation granted to date,
impacting almost 1,200
individuals.”
“In fact,” Liz Merah
said in an emailed state-
ment to The Oregonian , “the
missed most of their claims,
including their challenge to
the governor’s authority to
initiate clemency actions as
she did when she released
hundreds of prisoners in
response to the pandemic
and dozens more as a reward
for fi ghting historic wildfi res
in 2020.
He ruled that in situations
where the governor initi-
ates a clemency action, the
requirements that victims be
notifi ed and given an oppor-
tunity to provide input do
not apply.
Aliza Kaplan, a Lewis &
Clark Law School profes-
sor who leads a clemency
clinic and has helped shape
Brown’s thinking on the
topic, said Leith’s decision
shows that the governor’s
authority “is intact.”
“The judge is clear that
the governor’s power is
enormous and plenary,”
Kaplan said.
The problem, as he saw it,
was the parole board’s lack
of authority to hold hear-
ings for the youths whose
sentences were commuted,
Kaplan said.
Brown has been among
the busiest governors in
modern Oregon history and
among sitting governors to
use her clemency authority.
Clemency includes com-
mutations, which is a reduc-
tion in a person’s sentence,
and pardons, which forgives
a person for the crime they
committed.
The governor has granted
clemency to about 1,200
people, including 912 for the
pandemic and 41 for incar-
cerated people who fought
wildfi res.
In another group, she
commuted the sentences
of 72 juveniles off enders,
including convicted killers,
making them eligible to pur-
sue parole after they served
at least 15 years.
Some in the group were
already on track for release
and are out. Others have
not yet served long enough
to be eligible. According to
the parole board, 26 are eli-
gible for a hearing. Fifteen
were scheduled for hearings
between March 16 and Sept.
22.
“As of right now, we
are stopping,” said Dylan
Arthur, the executive direc-
tor of the parole board .
Man sentenced to prison for role
in Oregon State Capitol protest
By ZANE SPARLING
The Oregonian
A right-wing demon-
strator who prosecutors say
acted as the ringleader of
an “attempted occupation”
of the Oregon State Capitol
was sentenced Friday to 13
months in state prison.
Chandler Pappas, now 28,
sent a plume of bear spray
into the eyes of six Salem
police offi cers while trying
to breach the Capitol during
a Dec. 21, 2020, rally oppos-
ing COVID-19 rules that had
closed the statehouse to visi-
tors, prosecutors said during a
sentencing hearing in Marion
County Circuit Court.
The clash happened after
former state Rep. Mike Near-
man opened a secure side
door to the Capitol as part of a
predetermined plan. Nearman
later pleaded guilty to offi cial
misconduct and was expelled
from the Legislature.
Caught off guard by the
intruders, Salem police offi -
cers were not wearing full
protective gear when they
were sprayed by Pappas, who
was clad in body armor, Dep-
uty District Attorney Keir
Boettcher said in court.
After police eventually
secured the door using a pair
of handcuff s, Pappas kicked
the glass several times and
later carried a “purported”
rifl e near the door, Boettcher
said.
“This is a dangerous man
that came to create a dan-
gerous situation,” Boettcher
said. “This was very much
premeditated.”
Boettcher entered a num-
ber of statements Pappas
made on Twitter into evi-
dence, including a tweet in
which Pappas invited his fol-
lowers to join him in a fi re-
arms training course. Pappas
posted the tweet after agree-
ing not to possess fi rearms
while out on bail.
Boettcher told the court
that authorities never deter-
mined whether Pappas actu-
ally had a gun but said the
tweet showed Pappas felt “no
remorse.”
Facing a nine-count indict-
Zane Sparling/The Oregonian
A Marion County Circuit Court judge sentenced Chandler Pappas, 28, to 13 months in state
prison on Friday.
‘THE CASE THE STATE IS MAKING
AGAINST ME SEEMS TO BE MORE
ABOUT WHO I AM RATHER THAN
WHAT I’VE DONE.’
Chandler Pappas
ment fi led last January, Pap-
pas agreed earlier this week
to plead guilty to three counts
of fi rst-degree use of m ace,
for which the presumptive
sentence is probation. Pros-
ecutors said the circum-
stances of the Capitol inci-
dent warranted a sentence of
18 months.
Pappas’ court-appointed
attorney, David Kuhns, said
none of the fi ve other men
who were also charged in the
clash were ultimately sen-
tenced to prison, including
Pappas’ father, Alexander
Pappas, who was convicted
of spraying an offi cer with
chemical spray.
Chandler Pappas, who has
moved to Arizona, told the
court he was “not in a good
place mentally” during the
Capitol incident after witness-
ing the fatal shooting of his
friend Aaron “Jay” Danielson
during a downtown Portland
protest in August 2020.
“The case the state is mak-
ing against me seems to be
more about who I am rather
than what I’ve done,” Pap-
pas said, adding that “what
happened that day was not
the way to aff ect positive
change.”
In his ruling, Marion
County Circuit Judge Court-
land Geyer said that while the
six offi cers recovered from
the bear spray, the situation
could have turned deadly if
protesters had grabbed the
offi cers’ guns while the offi -
cers were blinded. Geyer said
videos submitted into evi-
dence showed Pappas mov-
ing his hand in order to spray
all six offi cers.
“You tried to get as many
of them as you could,” Geyer
told Pappas.
Geyer sentenced Pappas
to 13 months in state prison
on one of the three counts,
plus 36 months of probation
beginning while he is incar-
cerated and 24 months of
post-prison supervision for
the other two counts.
Two of the offi cers hit by
the chemical agent, Anthony
Burke and Jeff rey Lucenti,
sat in the audience during
the hearing but declined to
address the court.
Pappas was taken into
custody immediately after
sentencing.
In February, Ryan Ernie
Lyles, 43, of Svensen, pleaded
guilty in Marion County Cir-
cuit Court to three counts of
unlawful use of a chemical
irritant and to being a felon in
possession of body armor for
his role in the protest.
Lyles, who acknowledged
using bear spray, was sen-
tenced to three years of pro-
bation, will have to perform
120 hours of community ser-
vice, pay a $2,000 fi ne and
have no contact with the Cap-
itol building or with other
individuals charged in the
protest.