The Chronicle Look for Holiday Gift Guide inside this week’s Chronicle
Wednesday December 5, 2012
Butts hearing delayed pending appeal
Mostly sunny PAGE A14
TODAY’S WEATHER Highs to 45 Lows to 35
75¢ Vol. 130, No. 48 14 Pages
Boating safety gets a hand at docks BY SHARI PHIEL The Chronicle
This weekend marks the return of an annual holiday favorite, the Christmas Ship Parade. The flotilla of decorated boats from the Columbia and Willamette Fleets will make its way up the Columbia
BY SHARI PHIEL The Chronicle
ST. HELENS — The second round of aid and assist hearings scheduled in the Daniel Butts case has run into further delays. According to Columbia County District Daniel Butts Attorney Stephen Atchison, Butts’ attorneys are in the process of appealing a recent ruling made by Judge Ted Grove, leading the judge to reschedule the hearing dates. Atchison said prior to scheduling the aid and assist hearing, attorneys for Butts had filed three motions in the case pertaining to the use of a stun belt; whether Butts should be housed in the Columbia County Jail or at another jail; and requesting a guardian be appointed because of Butts’ alleged mental status. Just days before the aid and assist hearing was scheduled to begin on Nov. 28, Grove denied all three of the defense’s motions. “The defense said they were going to appeal those decisions on the theory that the stun belt issue is going to be an issue for further hearings because ‘If you don’t
River to the St. Helens City Docks at 6 p.m. on Dec. 8 before heading downriver to Columbia City. If the weather holds out, the fleets will cross to the Washington side before heading back to the city docks, where the boats will remain overnight and then head up the Multnomah Channel the next day. But last year’s tragic death of John Sullivan, a St. Helens man who died after falling from one of the parade ships, has organizers focusing on safety. Sullivan had been a guest on board one of the ships, which had already completed the parade route and returned to the docks. Sullivan fell from the ship into the Columbia River. Witnesses said he may have been injured during the fall. High school junior Danny Romjue, the son of longtime parade
organizer Doug Romjue, has found a way to not only remind participants about the need for safety but to also help improve safety. Danny is building a life vest station to be housed near the city docks where donated life vests can be borrowed and used while visiting the docks or out on a boat. “It’s really a two-part project. The first part would be the awareness of the need for safety. On Dec. 8, we’re having a fundraiser to make a permanent solution and to bring awareness to the fact that the docks can be unsafe,” said Danny. Under Oregon State Marine Board law, all boats are required to have one personal flotation device for each person aboard. Also, all children age 12 and under must wear See SAFETY, Page A4
SHARI PHIEL / The Chronicle
St. Helens teen and Boy Scout Danny Romjue is working to make boating safer at St. Helens City Docks.
A holly, jolly Christmas Employees at Oregon Holly in Yankton work to fill the thousands of orders for holiday wreaths the farm receives each holiday season. Oregon Holly was recently featured on KPTV Channel 12’s “On the Go with Joe” program.
See APPEAL, Page A4
New security measures in place at courthouse
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BY SHARI PHIEL The Chronicle
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New security measures in place at the Columbia County Courthouse mean the east parking
On Nov. 19, a total of 17 courthouses across Oregon received phoned in bomb threats. The threats appeared to be similar to eight reported bomb threats in Washington State on Nov. 15 and nine reported threats in Nebraska made on Nov. 2. The Oregon State Police General Headquarters in the Public Service Building in Salem also received a similar report that same day. Many of the locations receiving threats evacuated while law enforcement officials conducted checks for suspicious objects.
DEQ meeting to focus on Port Morrow coal export project BY SHARI PHIEL The Chronicle
CLATSKANIE — The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality will hold an informational meetings regarding Ambre Energy’s proposed Port Morrow coal export project in Clatskanie on Dec. 5. The Austraila-based energy company has proposed creating a coal export terminal to transport as much as 8.8 million tons of coal a year from its mining opera-
tions 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. See DEQ, Page A4
Thankfully, all of the reports were determined to be unfounded. But the recent security threat also shed light on a recent change at the Columbia County Courthouse that is expected to make that building a little safer. “People visiting the courthouse are used to parking in the back lot on the riverside of the building are not any longer going to be able to access the building from those doors,” said Columbia County Commissioner Henry Heimuller. As of Nov. 19, all visitors coming into the courthouse will have to do so through the main entrance on the west side of the building. The entry doors, which were particularly
popular with those doing business with the land development offices, will now only be accessible to county employees. “We’ve moved our employee parking and our county vehicle parking to the riverside of the building and public parking is on the west side of the building by the main entrance. That will be the only door open to the public,” said Heimuller. Although the county recognizes this may be an inconvenience, officials believe it is far outweighed by the increased security. “This is a security measure that See SECURITY, Page A4
Watts House invites you to their home for the holidays BY SAMANTHA SWINDLER The Chronicle
SCAPPOOSE — The Watts House Pioneer Museum, Scappoose’s 110-year-old Victorian house and home to the Scappoose Historical Society, has opened its doors to the community for the holiday season. The house and museum is open for Christmas tours from 4–8 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays throughout December, in addition to its regular 10 a.m.– 2 p.m. hours on Saturdays. “Every room is decorated for Christmas,” said Barb Hayden, president of the Scappoose Historical Society. “We have for the first time this year invited the community in to help. The boosters, the
Friends of the Library and the Chamber of Commerce all adopted a room.” Also new this year, the rope barriers that once kept visitors outside of each room have been removed, and the community is invited to explore the entire historic house. “We’re opening this museum back up to the community,” said Hayden, who is completing the first of her two-year term as president. “In the past you had to have somebody with you and there were ropes inside the doors, and I have totally done away with that. People are free to roam throughout the house and look at things.” Museum representatives will be inside the home, ready to answer questions about its history or contents. Tours are free, but See WATTS, Page A4
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