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THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2022
IN BRIEF
Astoria City Council OKs new budget
The Astoria City Council voted Monday night to
adopt a $58.7 million budget for the new fi scal year
that starts in July, which includes funding for new staff
in parks and recreation and the police department.
The budget is an increase over the $49.6 million
spending plan for this fi scal year.
The city converted a part-time community service
offi cer position to a full-time offi cer position assigned
to handle homelessness and livability issues. The City
Council also approved a full-time position for the
Parks and Recreation Department to provide addi-
tional janitorial and maintenance services in parks,
restrooms and other public spaces.
Water and sewer rates will each rise by 4.5%, up
from a 2.5% increase this year, which the city said is
necessary as it prepares to replace aging equipment
and as costs are anticipated to increase.
Juneteenth to become city holiday
The Astoria City Council on Monday unanimously
proclaimed June 19 as Juneteenth and moved to make
the day a city holiday.
President Joe Biden established Juneteenth as a
federal holiday last year. The holiday marks the day
enslaved people in Texas learned they were free and
commemorates the end of slavery.
Mayor Bruce Jones proposed making Juneteenth a
city holiday eff ective June 19, 2023.
“I think (it’s) pretty important that we do that, given
the history of that holiday throughout much of our
country that many of us grew up, frankly, not knowing
anything about,” he said.
— The Astorian
Outage knocked out power
for thousands in Astoria
By ERICK BENGEL
The Astorian
A power outage on Tuesday
afternoon aff ected more than
7,400 customers in the Astoria
area, according to Pacifi c Power.
The outage, which began at
about 2 p.m., was traced to dam-
age at the substation south of
Youngs Bay. Crews rerouted
power around the substa-
tion, restoring power at about
3:30 p.m.
The outage aff ected Astoria
south to the new and old Youngs
Bay bridges and east toward the
Tongue Point area, Tom Gauntt,
a Pacifi c Power spokesman, said.
The disruption impacted busi-
nesses and local government.
Safeway
in
Uppertown
remained open but only accepted
cash for purchases. The Astoria
Co+op announced on their Face-
book page that they closed.
The
Port
of
Astoria
Commission meeting sched-
uled for Tuesday afternoon was
canceled and postponed to next
Tuesday.
The Astoria Aquatic Cen-
ter canceled swimming lessons
on Tuesday and closed for the
remainder of the day.
Astoria Police Department
Lissa Brewer/The Astorian
Traffi c lights were out in
downtown Astoria on Tuesday
afternoon after a power outage.
radio equipment had to be reset
and switched over to a backup
radio channel, but the depart-
ment stayed operational.
Columbia Memorial Hospi-
tal in Astoria remained open for
patients.
Within minutes, the outage
caused generators at various
locations — the Clatsop County
Jail, a sewer pump station at the
Astoria roundabout — to fi re up
and produce exhaust that people
interpreted as fi res.
A fi re alarm went off at a hotel
on Hamburg Avenue in Astoria.
“Fire alarms don’t like it when
the power goes out. And so their
fi re alarm activated, but there
was no issue,” Fire Chief Dan
Crutchfi eld said.
DEATHS
June 4, 2022
NELSON,
Ronald
Gerard, 69, of Astoria,
died in Astoria. Caldwell’s
Luce-Layton Mortuary of
Astoria is in charge of the
arrangements.
June 3, 2022
HREHA, George Don-
ald, 86, of Astoria, died
in Astoria. Caldwell’s
Luce-Layton Mortuary of
Astoria is in charge of the
arrangements.
Deaths
June 1, 2022
WEEKS, Edward Harri-
son, 56, of Seaview, Wash-
ington, died in Astoria.
Caldwell’s Luce-Layton
Mortuary of Astoria is in
charge of the arrangements.
May 27, 2022
FINUCANE, Bruce
Jay, 68, of Warren-
ton, died in Seaside.
Hughes-Ransom Mor-
tuary is in charge of the
arrangements.
MEMORIAL
Memorial
Tuesday, June 14
DOUGLAS, Michael Steven — Funeral at Our
Lady of Victory Catholic Church, 120 Oceanway in
Seaside. Rosary is at 9:30 a.m., a Mass follows at
10 a.m. Personal eulogies are welcome. After the
Mass, there is a reception, given by the Women’s Aux-
iliary, in the adjoining cafeteria. The celebration of life
then continues at 1540 Lea Way in Seaside.
CORRECTION
Incorrect sex — Ginnette Renee Marberry, 43, of
Manzanita, was arrested for driving under the infl u-
ence of intoxicants on Sunday after driving her Hyun-
dai Tucson into the back of a Seaside police offi cer’s
parked patrol car along U.S. Highway 101. An In Brief
item on A2 on Tuesday incorrectly identifi ed the driver,
whose identity had not been publicly released, as male.
ON THE RECORD
Encouraging
of Seaside, was arrested
On
the abuse
Record
child sexual
on Friday in Seaside for
• Gabriel Burton
Walker, 35, of Seaside,
was sentenced on Mon-
day to a year and seven
months in prison for two
counts of encouraging
child sexual abuse in the
fi rst degree and one count
of online sexual corrup-
tion of a child in the sec-
ond degree. The crimes
occurred in June 2021.
Assault
• Joshua Lloyd Sal-
ber, 29, of Hammond, was
arrested on Tuesday for
fourth-degree assault con-
stituting domestic violence
and contempt of court.
DUII
• Mackenzie Alaga, 22,
driving under the infl u-
ence of intoxicants and
reckless driving.
• Joseph Michael Winn,
24, of Redmond, Wash-
ington, was arrested on
June 2 at Del Rey Beach
State Recreation Site for
DUII, reckless driving,
four counts of recklessly
endangering another per-
son, fourth-degree assault
constituting domestic vio-
lence and menacing.
• Kathleen Kay Metter-
nich, 44, of Ocean Park,
Washington, was arrested
on June 1 on U.S. High-
way 30 east of Astoria for
DUII. She allegedly struck
an elk with her vehicle.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
THURSDAY
Seaside Civic and Convention Center Commission,
5 p.m., 415 First Ave.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
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State Supreme Court declines to review
convictions in death of Newport man
By ERICK BENGEL
The Astorian
The Oregon Supreme
Court has denied further
review of a case involving a
couple who beat a Newport
man to death and dumped
his body off the highway
east of Astoria.
In September 2016,
Adeena Marilyn Copell,
now 45, and Christian John
Wilkins, now 43, murdered
Howard Vinge, 71, stole his
RV and a luxury sedan, and
left the man’s corpse near
U.S. Highway 30. The RV
was found on U.S. Highway
26.
The pair was appre-
hended in Arizona in Octo-
Smith to serve as
interim Gearhart mayor
GEARHART — Kerry Smith, the
City Council president, will serve as
interim mayor after Paulina Cockrum’s
resignation.
His term of offi ce begins immedi-
ately and continues through Cockrum’s
unexpired term in 2024.
Last month, two-
thirds of voters rejected
a $14.5 million bond
measure to build a fi re-
house and a police sta-
tion on property off
Highlands Lane north
of the city. The elec-
Kerry Smith
tion was driven by pas-
sion on both sides, with
competing social media campaigns and
sign wars.
Cockrum’s decision to resign came
the day after a heated meeting in which
speakers called for a council recall.
Cockrum cited personal reasons when
she resigned.
“I believe it’s going to be a chal-
lenge being mayor, in that we have
such a polarization of the population
among the voters in Gearhart,” Smith
said. “I’m going to try and work with
all sides and fi nd a resolution for this
fi re station.”
He said he will start with a town
hall.
“That’s going to be my focus for the
summer is trying to work with these
diverse groups of people that feel that
they’ve got some — I don’t want to call
them more important — but they’ve
got an important message they want to
deliver to everybody. I want to be able
to listen to it,” he said. “But I’m cer-
tainly my own person. I will do what I
feel is right for the city.”
Smith is a property owner and
manager.
He was elected to the coun-
cil in 2014. In 2018, he won reelec-
tion against Jack Zimmerman, a lead-
ing opponent of the fi rehouse bond
measure.
A majority of the remaining city
councilors will appoint a replace-
ment to serve the unexpired portion of
Smith’s term.
“My message to the voters of Gear-
hart is we need to move on and not
dwell on the past anymore,” Smith
said.
State fi shery managers
add halibut fi shing days
The Columbia River subarea all-
depth recreational Pacifi c halibut fi sh-
New manager named
for county fairgrounds
By ERICK BENGEL
The Astorian
The board of the
Clatsop County Fair
approved Jason Brim,
a former manager of
Brim’s Farm & Garden
in Astoria, as the interim
fair manager on Tuesday.
Brim replaces John
Lewis, who served in
the position for the last
few years. The board
approved a separation
agreement with Lewis,
who was not present.
Michael Autio, the
board chairman, said
after the meeting that the
board could not comment
on a personnel matter.
Subscription rates
Eff ective January 12, 2021
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ber 2016.
In 2019, the couple was
sentenced in Clatsop County
Circuit Court to at least 25
years in prison for mur-
der, second-degree abuse of
a corpse and two counts of
unauthorized use of a vehi-
cle. Wilkins pleaded guilty;
Copell had a jury trial.
Copell turned to the state
WANTED
Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber
Northwest Hardwoods • Longview, WA
Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500
Court of Appeals. The state
Offi ce of Public Defense
Services claimed Copell’s
Miranda rights were vio-
lated and that prosecutors
had engaged in misconduct
— calling Copell a liar —
during closing arguments.
The
appeals
court
affi rmed Copell’s conviction
without issuing an opinion.
ery will be open Thursdays and Sun-
days throughout June, and has added
two additional Mondays.
The additional days are Monday
and June 20. The subarea runs from
Leadbetter Point, Washington, to Cape
Falcon.
Fishing days were added due to a
low angling eff ort leaving about 13,000
pounds remaining of the initial halibut
quota.
State fi shery managers
add sturgeon fi shing days
State fi shery managers have added
two sturgeon retention days in the
lower Columbia River estuary due to
a lower than expected preseason catch.
The additional season started
Wednesday and runs to Saturday, with
a bag limit of one white sturgeon per
day. The allowed size is between 44
and 50 inches fork length.
The area includes the main stem
Columbia River from the Wauna power
lines downstream to Buoy 10, includ-
ing Youngs Bay and all adjacent Wash-
ington state tributaries.
Sturgeon angling, including catch
and release, is prohibited after 2 p.m.
on these days.
— The Astorian