Election results on Page A2 Wednesday November 14, 2012
See how Scappoose fared in its state semifinal match vs. Gladstone at thechronicleonline.com
TODAY’S WEATHER Chance of showers PAGE A11
The Chronicle
DEQ meetings will examine coal project The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality is scheduled to hold a series of informational meetings regarding Ambre Energy’s proposed coal export project at Port Morrow in Boardman. Ambre Energy, which is headquartered in Australia, is proposing to transport as much as 8.8 million tons of coal a year from its mining operations in the Powder River Basing in Montana and Wyoming by train to the Coyote Island Terminal at the Port of Morrow in Boardman and store the coal there in covered buildings. The company would then ship the coal in covered barges to a Port of St. Helens dock at Port Westward in Clatskanie where the coal would then be off loaded onto Panamax-sized ships for export primarily to Asian markets. DEQ said it is holding the meetings across the state to help answer questions, as well as receive comments, about DEQ permit applications for Ambre Energy’s proposed Coyote Island Terminal at the Port Morrow. According to DEQ officials, the agency’s role is to evaluate environmental permit applications based on stringent regulations and issue and enforce permits that meet these requirements. Ambre Energy is applying for an air quality permit and three water quality permits for the proposed Coyote Island Terminal. All three meetings will begin at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 4: Port of Morrow River Front Conference Room, 2 Marine Drive, Boardman. Wednesday, Dec. 5: Clatskanie High School Auditorium, 471 Bel Air Drive, Clatskanie. Thursday, Dec. 6: University of Portland Buckley Center Auditorium, 5000 North Willamette Blvd., Portland. For more information, go to www.deq.state.or.us/er/CoalExportProject.htm.
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75¢ Vol. 130, No. 45 12 Pages
It’s business as usual after the elections BY SHARI PHIEL The Chronicle
For the thousands of Columbia County voters used to getting election night results on the county’s website, technical difficulties left many wondering what was happening. Shortly before 8 p.m. on Nov. 6, thousands attempted to connect to the county site at the same time causing a major system overload. The heavy traffic eventually crashed the county’s web host on the East Coast, leaving the elec-
tions site down until after midnight. Now that the results are final (but not official), it seems it will be business as usual across the county. Most positions on the ballot were retained by incumbents, with only a handful of new faces joining their ranks. Among the more contested races were the county commissioner and sheriff’s races. Current county commissioner Tony Hyde (61.17%) won his race against Tammy Maygra (38.18%). For now, it appears that Commissioner Earl Fisher won his race as well, but with a much nar-
rower margin. Fisher had 10,170 votes (50.40%) compared to opponent Wayne Mayo’s 9,903 votes (49.07%). With some 300 ballots still left to count, the race is too close to call. Election officials should have the outstanding ballots counted by early next week. Sheriff Jeff Dickerson will serve another term in office after getting 12,092 votes (59.07%) compared to opponent Dave Fuller’s 8,253 votes (40.32%). Dickerson said he was grateful for the support of local citizens and will now focus his attention
on solving some of the larger issues his department and the county will face in the upcoming year. Also returning for another term is county treasurer Jennifer CuellarSmith, who ran unopposed. Clatskanie Clatskanie Mayor Diane Pohl also ran unopposed and will serve another term, as are city council members Stephen Constans, Kathy Engel and James (Jim) Morgan. See ELECTION, Page A4
Honoring our
Veterans
SHARI PHIEL / The Chronicle
Soldiers from the Oregon National Guard complete the flag folding ceremony in front of the Blue Star Marker during the Veterans Day tribute held at McCormick Park on Nov. 11. This was the first year
Bad news for business owners comes in threes BY SHARI PHIEL The Chronicle
ST. HELENS — There’s an old saying that bad things come in threes. That certainly is proving to be true for small business owners in St. Helens. Over the past several weeks, three popular stores in the city announced they have or will be closing their doors. Two of the three are located in Olde Towne. Marie’s Gifts, at 290 S. First St., has already shuttered its doors and Maya’s Palace, at 239 S. First St., will close within the next one or two weeks. The third business to announce its closing is St. Helens Book Shop on Columbia Boulevard, which will close up shop by the end of the month. “We responded to the economic slow-down by shrinking our floor plan, tightening our belt, and pushing through the elections and into the holidays, but unfortunately, given our daily sales, it just wasn’t enough,” said St. Helens Book Shop owner Lori Cardiff. “I had hoped we could stay open through the holidays, but negotiations with the landlord have fallen through and we must close by the first week of December.” St. Helens Book Shop had been the only independentlyowned store in town to offer
SHARI PHIEL / The Chronicle
St. Helens Book Shop owner Lori Cardiff hangs a store closing sign in the window. The store’s last sales day will be Dec. 1.
new books, book signings, specialized customer service and author readings. It is also the second book shop in St. Helens to close its doors this year. Grammy’s Used Books just a couple of blocks away also went out of business this year. That leaves just Word for Word Books, a small used book shop in Olde Towne, as the city’s only independent book seller. “Closing the store at this time of year will be hard not only on the community, but also on me, on my employees and on my family,” said Cardiff. “I am asking all friends of the bookstore to please come help us send off the store on the best note possible.” Cardiff will hold an open house on Nov. 17 complete with Christmas cookies and
holiday music so customers wanting to get their holiday shopping done will be able to do so before the store closes for good. Saturday, Dec. 1 will be the last shopping day at the store. With a few weeks still left before the doors close, Cardiff hasn’t had time to think about what she will do next. At least not yet. “I will probably looking for something to do with kids, education, books or maybe events,” Cardiff said, “…but definitely, also spending more quality, stress-free time with my family!” Across town at Maya’s Palace, the economy has also played a part, albeit a smaller one, in the store’s closing. “The decision to close was 60 percent physical,” said Maya’s owner Rex Alley,
who had triple bypass surgery just two years ago. The procedure left him with permanent physical issues that include pain and numbness in his chest, which can be aggravated by moving heavy items inside his store. “I need to focus on my health and find some lifestyle that I can do without hurting every day,” said Alley. “I love this job, it’s the best job I’ve ever had and I hate to give it up.” But that’s not to say economic issues didn’t play a part in his decision to close. Since opening, Alley said he has been able to make a living, pay his rent and a salary to himself strictly from his store revenue without having supplemental income from other sources to rely on. “I’m proof that it can be done,” he said. But Alley said while summer festivals like the Maritime Heritage Festival and the Portland Pirate Festival help bring people to the area, not enough attention is being given to sustaining that traffic through the fall and winter months, which can be tough times for shop owners. Alley’s shop won’t sit empty for long though. The space has already been rented to another resale store, which is expected to be open by early December.
BPA proposal not likely to affect locals BY SHARI PHIEL The Chronicle
Bonneville Power Administration is seeking a 9.6 percent average wholesale power rate increase to compensate for reduced revenue expectations and to continue funding needed investments. BPA is also proposing a 13 percent increase in its transmission rates mainly due to continued efforts to maintain system reliability and meet increasing demands for transmission in the Pacific Northwest. If adopted, it would be the first transmission rate increase in eight years. But local power users aren’t likely to see any change in their utility bills. “Our goal is to keep rates stable and affordable for customers,” said Columbia River PUD Communication Specialist Libby Calnon. “The 9.6 percent proposed increase that BPA announced is their initial proposal for an increase that would take effect in October 2013. The 9.6 percent represents a system-wide average; each utility that buys power from BPA will have a slightly different increase depending on the utility’s specific load profile.” Calnon said that while Columbia River PUD has not seen exact numbers from BPA yet, they are expecting their increase to be somewhat lower than announced. Calnon also said the increase was already anticipated. “When we conducted our cost of service analysis in 2011 we included an October 2013 wholesale increase from BPA in the analysis. Our hope is that their final numbers will come in at or below what we projected, to minimize impacts on rates for our customers.” BPA began discussions about its proposed programs, future costs and potential rates for fiscal years 2014 and 2015 last January. At the beginning of those discussions, BPA forecast that its power rates could increase between 12 and 21 percent for those years. Transmission rates were forecast to increase by approximately 12 percent. “We are acutely aware of the economic impact of our rates and have worked closely with the region to develop a plan that keeps rates as low as possible while making needed investments in infrastructure,” said Steve Wright, BPA administrator and chief executive officer. “We remain committed to covering all our costs and providing timely repayment to the U.S. Treasury.” The rate proposal will be considered during a public rate setting process in the See RATES, Page A4
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