T he C olumbia P ress
1
50 ¢
C latsop C ounty ’ s I ndependent W eekly n eWspaper
503-861-3331
October 6, 2017
Seaside crash
Nature takes life of
Hammond man
Many chases
test police
officer mettle
takes a
stroll
The Columbia Press
Police have been busy chas-
ing down crime. Literally.
Four incidents in eight days
had officers running through
the woods, jumping over fenc-
es and lurking around in the
dark attempting to capture
suspects who bolted when po-
lice arrived.
The first involved a group
of young people who’d been
drinking and crashed through
a fence and into a boat trail-
er at the Columbia River Bar
Pilots’ facility on Skipanon
Drive, causing an estimated
$10,000 damage.
The call came in at 8:51 p.m.
Sept. 25 and, when officers ar-
rived, a teenager took off run-
ning behind the Bar Pilots’
office toward the Pacific Coast
Seafood plant.
Sgt. Jim Pierce gave chase,
having to jump a fence at the
Skipanon
Condominiums
before catching him on the
entrance road to the seafood
plant.
The 17-year-old Seaside
youth, whose name was with-
held because of his age, was
arrested and booked at the
Seaside Jail on suspicion of
being a minor in possession
of alcohol by consumption,
driving under the influence of
intoxicants, reckless driving
and driving while suspended.
A 21-year-old woman from
Hermiston, Brianna Leigh
Vol. 1, Issue 40
Photos by
David Bogh
A large bull elk takes a walk along the
dike at Warrenton Marina on Tuesday
morning in these photos by Warrenton
resident David Bogh. Last fall, amid
increasing reports of aggressive elk
during the mating season, the city ad-
opted an ordinance prohibiting feeding
them within city limits. This guy, howev-
er, was helping himself to fresh grass.
The Columbia Press
A Hammond man was killed Saturday and
a Longview resident seriously injured when
an out-of-control vehicle jumped the curb
and ran into people waiting at a Seaside bus
stop.
Robert Miles, 42, was pronounced dead at
the scene.
The Longview man, Abdirisak Mohamed,
41, was taken to Columbia Memorial Hos-
pital before being transferred to a Portland
trauma hospital for treatment of serious in-
juries.
The crash was caused by a woman who had
just moments before been involved in an al-
leged assault on another woman in Seaside,
according to a joint investigation by the Ore-
gon State Police and Seaside Police.
Corissa Barnett, 38, of Seaside was ar-
See ‘Crash’ on Page 4
County is state’s first to adopt green power initiative goals
Clatsop County’s commit-
ment to renewable energy
earned it recognition from
the U.S. Environmental Pro-
tection Agency.
Clatsop County has become
the first county in Oregon and
only the second nationwide
to join EPA’s Green Pow-
er Partnership, an initiative
launched in 2001 to encour-
age the use of energy from
renewable sources such as
solar, wind and hydroelectric.
The designation recogniz-
es the county government’s
commitment to purchase at
least 10 percent of its electric-
ity from renewable sources.
See ‘Chases’ on Page 6
The county board of com-
missioners voted in March to
make the pledge.
The partnership has more
than 1,300 participating or-
ganizations voluntarily using
billions of kilowatt-hours of
green power annually. Part-
ners include colleges, Fortune
500 companies, small- and
medium-sized
businesses,
and local, state and federal
governments.
County commissioners also
voted to join the North Coast
Blue Sky Challenge.
Blue Sky is a voluntary pro-
gram of Pacific Power that
provides utility customers
the opportunity to support
newly developed renewable
energy now as a means to
build a larger market for re-
newable energy later. For ev-
ery customer who signs up as
a Blue Sky participant, Pacific
Power buys renewable power
certificates equal to that us-
er’s purchase.
The county was joined in
the Blue Sky Challenge by
the cities of Warrenton, Asto-
ria, Cannon Beach, Gearhart
and Seaside. Together with
Pacific Power, the entities
set a goal of enrolling 500
new residential and business
customers in the program to
bring the countywide partic-
ipation rate to 3 percent –
equal to 12,101 megawatts of
renewable power a year.
Pacific Power spread the
word
through
advertis-
ing, bill inserts and staffing
booths at local events, and
also sent representatives into
North Coast neighborhoods
with customized proposals
telling utility customers how
they could participate.
Pacific Power will pro-
vide Clatsop County with
a one-kilowatt solar power
installation as a reward for
reaching Blue Sky’s 3 percent
goal. The county and utility
are studying options for lo-
cating the installation, which
is expected to be put in place
early next year.