T he C olumbia P ress
1
50 ¢
C latsop C ounty ’ s I ndependent W eekly n eWspaper
503-861-3331
January 26, 2018
Vol. 2, Issue 4
Wind, rain pose
special problems
on Oregon Coast
Police crackdown
on DUIIs yields
results while calls
for service drop
The Columbia Press
The Columbia Press
Keeping the city clean can
be a messy predicament.
Torrential rain and cyclon-
ic winds pose trash prob-
lems for nearly every person
on the North Oregon Coast.
Those who live downwind
can grow to hate recycling
days.
“People should secure
their stuff better,” said Frida
Fraunfelder, who lives on a
corner lot on Southwest Ju-
niper. “It all ends up here
because the wind drives it
here.”
When it’s windy or wind is
in the forecast, she waits to
put out her trash and recy-
clables.
“I feel more than frustrat-
ed. I’m angry about it,” she
said. “I wish others would be
Calls for police service decreased last
year while arrests and citations rose.
Traffic problems decreased while drunk
driving arrests rose significantly.
The seemingly incongruent statistics are
due, in part, to the fact that Warrenton
is a small town and any change can seem
significant. Also, when the police depart-
ment chooses to throw its resources at
particular crimes, statistical changes can
be significant.
“Stats can be a valuable tool for any or-
ganization, but they can also be extreme-
ly subjective, depending on your point of
view,” Police Chief Matt Workman said.
“Especially police statistics, since an in-
crease in any category could be viewed as
bad, but from another standpoint good if
the police are being more aggressive.”
And that’s the case with drunken driving
in 2017.
“Take DUII stats. We went from 14 in
2014 and 15 in 2015 to 37 in 2016 and 52
When recycling becomes a burden
The city’s recycling center is a constant
source of windblown waste for Dawna
Rekart and her family, who live nearby.
Several recycling bins on the right tipped
over during Tuesday’s storm.
Cindy Yingst/The Columbia Press
more sensitive. I think people aren’t
aware of what they’re doing.”
For Dawna Rekart and her family,
living behind the city’s recycling cen-
ter can be a nightmare.
“I’m on the other side of a fence
and I’m collecting and picking up and
putting it in the garbage constantly,”
Rekart said of the things that blow over
and under the fence. “I like being a good
neighbor. The city has provided us with
a nice recycling center. People need to
honor and respect it.”
See ‘Recycling’ on Page 6
See ‘Crime’ on Page 4
Clatsop County District Attorney Marquis announces retirement
DA put county on map through high-profile interviews on the death
penalty, remained an advocate of victims’ rights and animal rights
B y C indy y ingst
The Columbia Press
Fishermen describe disappoint-
ments through stories of the ones
that got away.
For lawyers, it’s the sucker-punch
cases of innocents who don’t find
justice in court.
Prosecutors have the easy court-
Photo courtesy Josh Marquis
room job because most defendants
Marquis with Sandra Day O’Connor at a Na-
are guilty, Clatsop County District
tional District Attorney’s Association confer-
Attorney Josh Marquis said. “The
ence in Napa, Calif., in 2010.
cases you never forget are the ones
you lose.”
For him it came in 1988, during
the trial of a man accused of raping
his 13-year-old daughter.
“What’s burned in my memory is
that it was third time this guy had
been tried. The other two times it
went to a hung jury. It was, basi-
cally, the girl’s word against her fa-
ther’s,” Marquis said.
And the jury chose to believe the
father.
It is the case Marquis recalls as
most regretful in a career full of
wins and reknown.
Two and a half decades later, the
girl “friended” him on Facebook.
“She wrote me an extraordinari-
ly moving letter that said ‘thanks
for what you did for me.’” Marquis
said. “I still felt guilty that I, on be-
half of the system, had failed her.”
After 24 years as Clatsop Coun-
ty’s district attorney, Marquis an-
nounced last week that he won’t
See ‘Marquis’ on Page 8