A2
THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2022
IN BRIEF
Astoria police offi cer honored for rescue
Kevin Berry, a senior offi cer with the Astoria Police
Department, was honored during a City Council meeting
Monday night for rescuing a woman from the Columbia
River in June.
Just after midnight on June 17, emergency crews
responded to a call about a woman who was stranded in
the water after a late-night swim. When she tried to get
out, police said her foot got pinned beneath a large boul-
der, leaving her stuck torso deep in the water.
Emergency responders initially used a pike pole and
throw bag to free the woman, but eff orts were unsuccessful.
Because the water was nearly 50 degrees and the tide
was coming in, the city said Berry took swift action in a dan-
gerous and high-risk situation. He swam into the water and
lifted the boulder enough for the woman’s foot to be freed.
Berry was presented the Meritorious Service
Commendation.
Portland man found dead on Highway 30
A Portland man was found dead on Saturday on
U.S. Highway 30 near the Claremont Road intersec-
tion, Oregon State Police said.
The deceased is Kevin Lilly, 32.
The case does not pose a risk to public safety, state
police said.
State police said that anyone who was in the area
and saw a maroon Mercedes passenger car between
midnight and 2:30 a.m. on Saturday, or who has any
information on the case, is asked to contact Oregon
State Police at *677 or 800-442-0776.
Police release identity of human
remains found near Alderbrook
The human remains discovered on railroad tracks
near Alderbrook on Aug. 10 belong to Astoria resident
John Mattson, 74, police announced on Tuesday.
Mattson died of natural causes, police said.
Fire danger increases with hot weather
The fi re danger has been raised to high — or yellow
— for people recreating in forests in the region, the
Oregon Department of Forestry announced.
At Nicolai Mountain’s riding area for off -high-
way vehicles, trails will close every day at 1 p.m., the
department said.
Campfi res and barbecues are banned at dispersed
campsites in Nicolai’s off -highway vehicle area —
Viewpoint, Kerry, Plympton and Shingle Mill — as
well as at Lost Lake, the department said.
Campfi res are allowed in designated metal fi re pits
at Gnat Creek Campground, Northrup Creek Horse
Camp, Henry Rierson Spruce Run Campground and
Beaver Eddy sites, the department said.
In addition, residential campfi res and burn barrels
are prohibited.
Fireworks, sky lanterns and exploding targets and
tracer ammunition are banned throughout fi re season,
the department said.
— The Astorian
DEATHS
Aug. 13, 2022
In LILLY,
Brief
Kevin Michael,
32, of Portland, died
in Astoria. Caldwell’s
Deaths
Luce-Layton Mortuary of
Astoria is in charge of the
arrangements.
Aug. 12, 2022
JARVIS,
Wayne
Edwin, 80, of Warrenton,
died in Warrenton. Cald-
well’s Luce-Layton Mor-
tuary of Astoria is in charge
of the arrangements.
MEMORIAL
Saturday, Aug. 20
Memorial
RAY, Harold Mark — Memorial and celebration of
life at 11 a.m., Calvary Assembly of God, 1365 S. Main
Ave. in Warrenton. Graveside service follows at 2 p.m.,
Ocean View Cemetery, 575 S.W. 18th Ave. in Warrenton.
ON THE RECORD
Theft
for driving under the infl u-
On
the
Record
• Marcy
A. Fincher,
59, ence of intoxicants.
of Long Beach, Washing-
ton, was arrested on Mon-
day at Walmart in War-
renton for second-degree
theft and third-degree
criminal mischief.
DUII
• Kaile Hart Crowell,
40, of Seal Beach, Califor-
nia, was arrested on Sun-
day at Lief Erikson Drive
and 34th Street in Astoria
• Jared Richard Gardner,
44, of Nehalem, was arrested
on Friday on U.S. Highway
26 near the Kampy Road
intersection for DUII and
reckless driving.
• Andrea Lyn Fugle-
berg, 31, of Colorado
Springs, Colorado, was
arrested on Aug. 9 on Sev-
enth Street in Astoria for
DUII and reckless driving.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
THURSDAY
Seaside Transportation Advisory Committee, 6 p.m.,
City Hall, 989 Broadway.
Gearhart City Council, 6:30 p.m., work session, (electronic
meeting).
FRIDAY
Astoria City Council, 9 a.m., work session, City Hall, 1095 Duane St.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
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HERO DIES
Jeff Clemens/Chinook Observer
Crews work to remove the R/V Hero. The wooden research vessel sank at Bay Center, Washington, in 2017. The recovery is
costing taxpayers $2.5 million.
Court denies preliminary
injunction in Ilwaco RV suit
Owners push back
against the state
By BRANDON CLINE
Chinook Observer
SOUTH BEND, Wash.
— In one of several law-
suits connected to the ongo-
ing dispute at Beacon RV
Park, a judge ruled against
a preliminary injunction
sought by the state against
the owners.
At a hearing last Fri-
day , Judge Katherine L.
Svoboda, of Grays Harbor
County, denied a motion
for preliminary injunctive
relief that was being sought
by the state a ttorney g ener-
al’s offi ce over alleged vio-
lations of the state Con-
sumer Protection Act by
Michael and Denise Wer-
ner. The state alleges that
the Werners, as owners of
Beacon RV Park, have com-
mitted unfair and deceptive
acts and practices that have
impacted the public interest.
The state, in its fi ling,
made a litany of allegations
against the Werners, includ-
ing that they issued illegal
vacate notices, aggressively
attempted to intimidate ten-
ants into leaving , threat-
ened to shut off utilities ,
neglected a rodent infes-
tation, failed to off er writ-
ten rental agreements and
refused to accept rent from
tenants.
Similar or identical
violations of state land-
lord-tenant laws have also
been alleged by the attorney
general’s offi ce through its
Manufactured Housing Dis-
pute Resolution Program, a
process that remains ongo-
ing in addition to cases that
were fi led in Pacifi c County
Superior Court. That case
also could end up before the
court.
In their response oppos-
ing the preliminary injunc-
tion, attorneys for Beacon
RV said the new owners
were wrongly being blamed
for conditions at the RV
park and that it had long
been neglected by the pre-
vious owner, Ilwaco Mayor
Mike Cassinelli. They also
claimed that 30 former res-
idents of the RV park have
moved out and found alter-
native housing options,
including 18 who received
a fi nancial incentive and
physical assistance from
Beacon to make their RVs
movable again.
“Defendants did not
cause the dangerous con-
ditions that were allowed
to exist for years by Mr.
Cassinelli and the Port of
Ilwaco,” Beacon’s attorneys
Lydia Ely/The Astorian
The new owners of an Ilwaco RV park are challenging the state’s allegations of their treatment
of tenants.
THE STATE, IN ITS FILING, MADE A
LITANY OF ALLEGATIONS AGAINST
THE WERNERS, INCLUDING
THAT THEY ISSUED ILLEGAL
VACATE NOTICES, AGGRESSIVELY
ATTEMPTED TO INTIMIDATE
TENANTS INTO LEAVING ,
THREATENED TO SHUT OFF
UTILITIES , NEGLECTED A RODENT
INFESTATION, FAILED TO OFFER
WRITTEN RENTAL AGREEMENTS
AND REFUSED TO ACCEPT RENT
FROM TENANTS.
wrote. “Defendants’ only
sin in that regard was to
agree to improve the p ark’s
conditions.”
The
attorneys
also
claimed the new owners
were victims and claimed
that the attorney gener-
al’s offi ce has launched an
“assault” on Beacon RV
that will have an adverse
eff ect on low-income, hous-
ing-vulnerable citizens.
“And while making Bea-
con appear evil plays well
in the sympathetic press
eager for a juicy story in
a rural community such
as Ilwaco on a slow news
day, the long-term logical
consequences of the AG’s
full frontal assault on Bea-
con does not get any trac-
tion in the press,” Beacon’s
attorneys wrote, also alleg-
ing that the attorney gen-
eral’s offi ce fi lings have
the “incendiary eff ect of
emboldening the remaining
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residents of Beacon to con-
tinue to fi ght, despite their
stated desire to move out
of the ( RV p ark) , and with-
out any regard to the long-
term consequences of such
fi ght.”
To support its claim that
the remaining residents of
the RV park want to move
out, Beacon’s attorneys rely
on a comment from a law-
yer with Thurston County
Volunteer Legal Services,
representing the tenants in a
lawsuit brought forward by
Beacon against the tenants
in an attempt to evict them,
in a recent KMUN article
saying, “I know none of ( the
tenants) really want to be
there … It’s not a great sit-
uation to be living in.”
Beacon’s attorneys fur-
ther claim that the attorney
general’s evidence is “chock
full of hearsay and innuen-
dos, not supported by fact or
taken out of context for the
shock factor alone.”
They also cast them-
selves as a defender of the
housing-vulnerable.
“Without a doubt, if AG
cannot be counted on to
think through their incredi-
bly adverse position on the
fates of hundreds of RV park
residents across the state and
remaining residents at Bea-
con, then this c ourt is the
last resort to restore sanity
in the RV park market and
provide the most vulnera-
ble residents with a peace of
mind that the road to hous-
ing hell paved with AG’s
good intentions will not
come to pass,” they wrote.
The attorney general’s
offi ce had sought in its pre-
liminary injunction for the
court to restrict the Werners
from continuing or resum-
ing the alleged unlawful
conduct in violation of state
consumer protection laws.
They also sought the court
to levy civil penalties of up
to $7,500 for each alleged
violation, as well as an
enhanced $5,000 penalty for
each violation because the
“unlawful acts or practices
targeted or impacted spe-
cifi c individuals or commu-
nities based on demographic
characteristics,
including
age and the presence of any
sensory, mental, or physical
disability.”
A permanent injunc-
tion continues to be sought
by the state against Bea-
con RV. The case is being
heard by Svoboda, rather
than Pacifi c County Supe-
rior Court Judge Donald J.
Richter, because Beacon
fi led a notice of disqualifi ca-
tion requesting a judge out-
side of the Pacifi c County
community to hear the case.
State law allows any party
to disqualify a judge from
hearing the matter in S upe-
rior C ourt proceedings, if
done within the appropriate
time frame.
Beacon RV also fi led a
notice of disqualifi cation
in all of its active lawsuits
seeking to evict the remain-
ing tenants of the RV park.
Those cases will also be
heard by a judge from Grays
Harbor County.