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VOLLEYBALL: Two St. Helens players named to the 5A All-State team, see page A12
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The Chronicle
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
$1.00 Vol. 131, No. 48 14 Pages
www.thechronicleonline.com
Water customers to city: ‘Don’t raise our rates!’ BY DON PATTERSON publisher@thechronicleonline.com
Impassioned testimony at a sparsely attended hearing caused the St. Helens City Council to continue deliberations on a proposed utility rate increase and instruct Finance Director John Ellis to explore alternatives that would lessen the impact on low-income users. “Are you guys nuts for thinking about a rate increase?” St. Helens resident Cindy Matzen asked the council. “People out here haven’t had a pay raise in five years.” At the public hearing held on Nov. 19, Ellis explained the proposed rate increase of 4.5 percent per year for the next two years amounts to an average of $4.10 for a residential user in 2014 and $4.29 in 2015. This increase, he said, is far less than the double digit increases seen in past years. He also noted annual operating costs had actually fallen from $7 million in 2008 to $6.5 million in 2012. This was due, Ellis explained, to cost savings measures and staff reductions over the period. But that left resident Joy Boren unconvinced. Boren, who said she works for a nonprofit, claimed organiza-
See WATER, Page A3
Look for these stories at www. TheChronicleOnline.com · City of St. Helens continues negotiations for Boise properties · Gun policy overrides education concerns at school board meeting · County approves Port Westward rezoning; conditions could limit use
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SHARI PHIEL/The Chronicle
County commissioners and the sheriff’s office joined city council members, law enforcement, judges, the district attorney’s office, community corrections and others for a Nov. 25 roundtable summit to discuss the county jail’s future.
Jail closure options spelled out
BY SHARI PHIEL news@thechronicleonline.com
The county’s movers and shakers gathered Monday evening at the Columbia County Fairgrounds for what promises to be the first of several public meetings to discuss the steps necessary to close the county jail. A four-year levy that would have provided about $10 million in funding to the jail over the four years failed to pass on Nov. 5. Without additional funds, Sheriff Jeff Dickerson told those at the Nov. 25 summit that closing the jail is the only option. “It has taken several years of reduced funding and increased costs to get us here,” said Dickerson. For those worried about word spreading to other areas that the jail’s financial woes mean criminals spend little to no time behind bars, Dickerson said that has already happened. In mid October, Randy
Parker and Tomas Schlickeiser apparently traveled from Seattle to Columbia County with the intention of burglarizing some area homes. When the pair were caught breaking into a St. Helens home by an alert neighbor, police responded and a chase ensued. The two traveled down Highway 30 with speeds in excess of 100 mph before crashing into the athletics fields at Scappoose High. “Once they were in our custody, we received word from our other inmates that Parker and Schlickeiser were a little disappointed. They had heard we weren’t keeping people in jail in Columbia County and were shocked to find out they did not qualify for matrix release. They stayed in jail and were both sentenced to prison following convictions earlier this month. That’s the way it’s supposed to work,” Dickerson said, adding the pair may have been a little early. “What they’ve heard in Seattle about not going to
jail in Columbia County just might come true.” According to the sheriff, the jail already has a budget shortfall in excess of $600,000 for the next fiscal year, but will likely to climb to $1.7 million as the number of beds filled by federal inmates declines over the next several months. The summit meeting was held, in part, to get all of the city councils, mayors, law enforcement agencies, district attorney’s office, community corrections, municipal and circuit court judges and others directly impacted by the jail closing in the same room to consider ideas and options. “We are at a juncture here,” said Commissioner Tony Hyde. “We need to study the reality of the situation and put a path forward.” Dickerson outlined two options for moving forward. The first option would be to transition to a local lockup. “This first option is something we don’t have the money to do but it would
cost a lot less than running the jail,” Dickerson said. With a local lockup, anyone arrested could be held for a maximum of 36 hours (96 hours on holidays or on weekends). “The requirements of a local lockup are that we need at least one person to watch the people at all times. We have to be able to feed them and provide medical assistance once we take them in. We would still have to rent beds for our longer term holds – those serving time for murder, attempted murder, or sexual assault,” Dickerson added. The second option, and the one the sheriff said is the only one that would be affordable under the current budget, would be a total jail closure and then rent as many beds as possible from another county. “They won’t allow us to do book and releases. If we take them to that jail, we have to go get them. They don’t want our criminals in their county. Put yourself
in their place, we wouldn’t want that either. This is our only affordable option at this point,” the sheriff added. The summit meeting is just the first of several public meetings to be held in the upcoming months. The sheriff and commissioners will be scheduling town hall meetings throughout the county to allow, not just officials, but county citizens to offer input and comments on the any proposals being considered. The next meeting – which has yet to be scheduled – will be a hybrid meeting with one part being another “stakeholder” meeting and a second part inviting public comment. Look for the date and time for future meetings to be announced in the coming weeks. MORE ONLINE Read more on this story at thechronicleonline.com
Scappoose bank robber eludes police Hunting SCAPPOOSE — A Friday afternoon robbery at Chase Bank inside the Fred Meyer grocery story sent police officers from across the area on an hours long search for the suspect. At approximately 3 p.m. on Nov. 22, Scappoose Police received a report of a robbery that had just occurred at the Chase Bank inside the Fred Meyers grocery store at 51501 Columbia River Highway. Joining the search were officers from St. Helens, Columbia County
Sheriff’s Office, Oregon State Police and three K-9 officers from Tigard Police Department, Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office and St. Helens Police Department. According to reports from Scappoose Police, a white male was seen running from the Chase Bank in an unknown direction. A large perimeter was established around the area where the male suspect was last seen running, primarily in the area of Old Portland and Callahan roads. Despite
spending several hours searching nearby buildings the suspect was not found. Lt. Norman Miller of the Scappoose Police Department said his office is working with the FBI to find the suspect. Authorities are reviewing store security tapes from the time of the robbery. Miller said because of the investigation, he could not comment on specific details such as a description of the suspect or how much money was taken during the robbery.
accident victim on the road to recovery BY SHARI PHIEL news@thechronicleonline.com
SHARI PHIEL/The Chroniclea
Police are still searching for a suspect wanted in connection with a robbery at the Chase Bank inside Fred Meyer in Scappoose.
Lindsay Roub’s decision to take advantage of the last day of the hunting season is a decision the 24-year-old St. Helens woman isn’t likely to forget anytime soon. Roub and her boyfriend, Raymond Ozias, 39, also from St. Helens, headed out on the afternoon of Nov. 1 to go hunting just a few miles west of Scappoose. Roub said she and Ozias picked the area because her dad and her uncle had seen deer in the area previously. But just barely 10 minutes into the hunting trip, disaster struck. “We parked on the main road and we were walking down the bank side. As we got toward the bottom I started to slip,” said Roub. “So I asked him to grab my See RECOVERY, Page A3