T he C olumbia P ress
November 16, 2018
Natural gas rates drop for fourth year
Northwest Natural Gas customers are
paying lower rates starting Nov. 1. It’s the
fourth straight year that the cost of natu-
ral gas has dropped, and customers still
are paying less than they did 15 years ago.
New rates for Oregon customers incor-
porate the conclusion of the general rate
case and the results of the annual pur-
chased gas adjustment.
Together, the adjustments result in a
2.1 percent or $1.10 savings for an aver-
age residential customer using 53 therms per
month. Commercial customers will save 2.41
percent or $4.92 per month based on an av-
erage usage of 237 therms.
“We’re pleased to pass these savings on to
customers,” said David H. Anderson, presi-
dent and chief executive of NW Natural.
“After 10 months of review with regulators
and stakeholders, … we look forward to con-
tinuing to provide customers with high-qual-
ity, affordable service.”
3
Remembering
World War I
veterans
Seized rental truck leads to hypothermia
The Columbia Press
A man who’d caused a dis-
turbance with a towing com-
pany attempting to retrieve
his long-overdue U-Haul
truck was treated for hypo-
thermia a few hours later
after sleeping on the asphalt
in the North Coast Business
Park, police reported.
Paul Lee Roebuck, 46, with
no known address, was tak-
en to Columbia Memorial
Hospital by Medix after he
called for medical assistance
at 1:45 a.m. Nov. 9.
A few hours earlier, War-
renton police were called to
assist a company retrieving
Public safety calls
Continued from Page 2
p.m. Nov. 7, 33200 block Sunset
Beach Lane.
• Male with possible hypother-
mia, 1:45 a.m. Nov. 9, behind
1400 Southeast Discovery Lane.
• Male who almost passed out,
9:18 a.m. Nov. 9, 0-100 block
North Highway 101.
• Intoxicated female, 3:04 a.m.
Nov. 10, Shilo Inn.
• Male with abdominal pain,
11:44 a.m. Nov. 10, 1900 block
Third Avenue.
• Female who fell outside store,
3:40 p.m. Nov. 10, 100 block
South Highway 101.
• Female fall patient, 8:31 p.m.
Nov. 11, 200 block Southwest
Birch Court.
the U-Haul pickup truck
Roebuck had rented. The
man was refusing to coop-
erate with the tow company,
according to police.
“The U-Haul company
had deactivated the pick-
up and dispatched Classic
Towing to retrieve their ve-
hicle,” according to a police
report.
Police told Roebuck to re-
move his necessary person-
al items and that he’d have
an opportunity to gather the
rest of his belongings from
the truck later.
“Roebuck began throwing
trash, clothing, empty bot-
tles and other junk items out
of the cab,” according to the
report. Facing a ticket for
offensive littering, he began
gathering his items into or-
ganized piles and agreed to
move along.
When police were asked
to assist Medix in the back
parking lot of TJ Max a
few hours later, they found
Roebuck had strewn junk
throughout the lot.
While Medix treated Roe-
buck in the ambulance, the
officer wrote up a criminal
citation for offensive litter-
ing with a mandatory court
date of Dec. 4.
The Columbia Press
A Hammond man was ar-
rested Nov. 2 after threaten-
ing members of his family
with a large filet knife, police
said.
Gary Milton Wood, 58, was
booked at Clatsop County Jail
on suspicion of domestic vio-
lence/menacing and unlawful
use of a weapon.
Wood is accused of attempt-
ing to break into his adult
son’s room within the family
apartment on Jetty Street.
His son, who was locked in
the room with his girlfriend,
called 9-1-1 to report his fa-
ther was outside the door,
sharpening a large knife and
threatening to kill him, ac-
cording to a probable cause
declaration filed by police.
Wood’s wife told police she
was extremely fearful for her
family because her husband
was yelling “I’m gunna kill you,
m—f—” and “You’re gunna die
tonight,” according to police.
He was making the threats
while alternately sharpening
the knife and pounding on the
door, police said.
Wood told police he wanted
to speak with his son because
the son owned him rent mon-
ey.
Police had been to the res-
idence earlier in the evening
to settle a verbal dispute,
which was civil at the time,
according to the declaration.
Unpaid rent leads to death threat
Courtesy Debbie Little, VFW Auxiliary
Participants in last weekend’s Bells of Peace ceremony at the
Veterans monument
Ocean Dungeness crab
season delayed
The traditional Dec. 1
opening of the commercial
Dungeness crab season will
be delayed until at least
Dec. 16 along the entire Or-
egon coast, the Oregon De-
partment of Agriculture an-
nounced Wednesday.
Testing shows crabs are
too low in meat yield.
Commercial
Dungeness
crab is Oregon’s most valu-
able fishery. Last year’s
season opening also was
delayed, yet still brought in
the highest ex-vessel val-
ue ever ($74 million) with
23.1 million pounds landed,
about 31 percent above the
10-year average.
Oregon’s season is tar-
geted to open Dec. 1, but
can be delayed to ensure
a high-quality product for
consumers and to avoid
wasting the resource.
Crab quality testing in ear-
ly November showed that
the majority didn’t meet the
criteria for a Dec. 1 opening.
A second round of crab
quality testing will occur in
late November or early De-
cember, and the results will
be used to determine if the
season should open Dec. 16.
Near-shore
commercial
and recreational harvesting
is open in bays, estuaries
and from jetties and piers
north of Cape Blanco.
In conjunction with the
delayed ocean commercial
season, commercial harvest
of Dungeness crab in Ore-
gon bays will close at 12:01
a.m. Dec. 1, but may reopen
if the ocean commercial
fishery opens in December.
The latest information on
closures is available by call-
ing the ODA shellfish safety
information hotline at 800-
448-2474.