Yankton fire consumes historic logging camp structure, Page A3 Project2:Layout 1
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
2/21/12
3:24 PM
TODAY’S WEATHER Sunny Highs to 73 Page A12 Lows to 42
Page 1
The Chronicle
$1.00 Vol. 131, No. 17 16 Pages
www.thechronicleonline.com
Sheriff’s office faces many challenges BY SHARI PHIEL The Chronicle
SHARI PHIEL / The Chronicle
Columbia County Sheriff’s Deputy Bill Haas assists a stranded motorist hook up a trailer that had come loose while traveling a county road.
Each working day, Columbia County Sheriff’s Deputy Bill Haas starts his 12-hour shift like many of us – with paperwork. Haas begins by reviewing the calls and reports that have come in since he was last on duty to learn what individuals or crimes are under investigation, what phone calls need to be returned and what reports need to be completed. After all that, he heads out on the road to look for the “bad guys.” “The bad guys don’t usually use
the highway,” said Haas. “Back in the county, there’s a network of roads people will use to bypass the highways.” Haas often spends hours patrolling these back roads, looking for individuals he may recognize as being wanted or having an outstanding warrant. Sometimes it may mean helping a stranded motorist. “For me, it’s all about being proactive,” Haas said. Since being elected in 2008, Sheriff Jeff Dickerson has both implemented and seen changes come to the Sheriff’s Office. One of the biggest changes was how
deputies responded to the nearly 10,000 calls the office receives each year. Dickerson established a triage system, with critical calls like assaults, robberies in progress, car accidents and other urgent calls getting immediate response. Other calls – like those for property stolen days or weeks ago – may only receive a follow up call and report for insurance records. It’s a system that seems to be working and one that the deputies seem to approve of. One of four deputies that actively patrol Columbia County, Haas has been with the Sheriff’s Office
for a little less than three years and spent six years in the U.S. Marines before that. After leaving the military, Haas headed to the police training academy in Salem. Like many young men with a family, Haas wonders what the future holds in store. As one of the newest additions to the CCSO, Haas worries the ongoing budget crisis could result in his position being eliminated. For now, he focuses on his job instead. “It’s rewarding to help people, to try to make this a better place to be,” Haas said.
See SHERIFF, Page A3
Kyle’s Trials: Run until you fly BY KYLE BOGGS The Chronicle
I couldn’t help feeling like Wile E. Coyote on Saturday. There I was, running as fast as I could – which wasn’t very fast – until I ran out of land. And then my legs were still pumping away. But instead of pausing in midair, looking at the camera and dropping to a splat, I lifted up higher and scanned the horizon in awe as I glided out over the Pacific Ocean. Spectacular. The running part felt, well, goofy. I was harnessed to my pilot, Dave Cantrell, and a giant banana-shaped wing connected to us by lots and lots of cords. So when we were sprinting down the gravel runway toward the Three Arch Rocks off in the distance, we must have looked like an offensive guard and tackle practicing pulling in tandem by being hooked together and dragging tires behind them. We were even wearing helmets. Then 10 short seconds after Dave yelled “Run!” for the first time, the parachute lifted us into the air and we were in flight See KYLE’S TRIALS, Page A3
p U , p U and Away !
West Texas:
Could it happen here? BY DON PATTERSON The Chronicle
“I couldn’t help feeling like Wile E. Coyote. There I was, running as fast as I could – which wasn’t very fast – until I ran out of land. And then my legs were still pumping away.”
INSIDE Classified Ads . . . . . A9-10 Legal Notices . . . . A10-11 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . . . A6 Opinions . . . . . . . . . . . . A5 Out & About . . . . . . . . . A7 Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . A2 Sports . . . . . . . . . . A12-16 TV Guide . . . . . . . . . . . A8 Weather . . . . . . . . . . . . A12
A paragliding tandem comes in for a spot landing at the Ocean.
KYLE BOGGS / The Chronicle
On April 17 at about 7:30 p.m. local time, emergency crews responded to a fire at a fertilizer plant in the small town of West, Texas. Twenty minutes later, while emergency personnel battled the blaze and evacuated the town’s residents, a huge explosion rocked the area. Fourteen people were killed, including eleven first responders. Blocks were destroyed or damaged including a middle school and a nursing home. Could such a horrific event like that happen in our community? The Dyno Nobel plant sits along Highway 30 in Deer Island, surrounded by grass fields and bordered by a gravel mining operation. The plant manufactures an industrial fertilizer, urea, in a pellet form called prill. Unlike the West Fertilizer Company’s plant in Texas, the Dyno Nobel plant has only small quantities of the chemical ammonium nitrate, the product that created the explosion. “Based on the MSDS, there’s not that kind of risk,” said Ron Youngberg, Division Chief of Operations for Columbia River Fire and Rescue. Youngberg, who studied the Texas event, said the product manufactured at Dyno Nobel was a purer form of nitrogen that would burn, but not explode. His main concern was release of the toxic anhydrous ammonia held in tanks at the plant. About half a mile away are the quiet residential streets of Columbia City. The community See DYNO NOBEL, Page A3
Unique items up for grabs at Booster auction The 14th annual Lite Up the Nite Auction and Dance is coming up on April 27 from 5-11 p.m. The annual event is the biggest fundraiser each year for the St. Helens Sports Boosters. The event is so successful year in and year out is because of the quality items donated for the silent and oral auctions. Some of the items – tickets to Mariners games, flights, weekend getaways – are donated by those who are generous with their pocketbooks. Other items come from the sweat, labor and creativity of Booster Club members like Bert Mueller. Mueller usually donates 10-15 items per auction and they almost always find a home in someone else’s garden. In the past, his creations have included planter boxes, benches and maple limb planters, among other things. For the most part, Mueller gets wood either from his yard or salvages it from other places — some is donated from fellow Booster Rich
MORE INFO Who: St. Helens Sports Boosters What: Lite Up the Nite Auction and Dance When: April 27, 5-11 p.m. Where: Columbia County Fairgrounds How much: $20 per person in advance; $25 at the door Order ahead: Contact Johneta Johnson at 503-397-2292
Bailey, other wood comes from the old storage barn that was recently torn down near the St. Helens High School football field. His planning comes from elsewhere. “I tell people I get my ideas while I’m sitting on the toilet,” Mueller said. His wife Sue dresses up some of the planter boxes. Using her experience as a florist, she creates arrangements to go inside the boxes. Bert said that usually helps bring in more money for the Booster Club. That money in turn has gone to such
KYLE BOGGS / The Chronicle
Arjil Shrock’s Intarsia Roaring Lion was made from 140 pieces of wood, all hand cut and then pieced together.
projects as scoreboards in the gyms, wrestling mats, track renovations and several other facility enhancements. The group is currently taking on the task of demolishing and replacing the tennis courts at the high school.
Another St. Helens-specific item up for bid this year is an Intarsia Roaring Lion made from segmented wood by Arjil Shrock. Shrock found a pattern, then cut out 140 pieces of wood before painstakingly sticking them together to create a Lion’s head. While the head appears to have been painted, Shrock said those are the natural colors of the different types of wood. Even local law enforcement has got in on the action: St. Helens Police Chief Terry Moss made a duck hunter-themed poker table. In the past, Moss has donated similar items decorated in Oregon Duck and Oregon State Beaver theme. The auction will take place at the Columbia County Fairgrounds. Cost is $20 to get in for those who purchase tickets in advance or $25 at the door. For information on purchasing tickets, contact Johneta Johnson at 503-397-2292 or visit www.sthelensboosters.com.