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Wednesday, August 7, 2013
2/21/12
3:24 PM
Scappoose grad Paul Revis shines among four locals in the 61st annual East-West Shrine All-Star game, Page A12 Page 1
The Chronicle
TODAY’S WEATHER Mostly sunny Highs to 83 Page A11 Lows to 56
$1.00 Vol. 131, No. 32 14 Pages
www.thechronicleonline.com
Trio of Armed robbers sentenced to prison talented authors are just right for summer reading BY SHARI PHIEL The Chronicle
BY SHARI PHIEL The Chronicle
What better way to escape the summer heat than spending some time with a good book? You certainly won’t have to look far. Three local authors – Val Linn, Collette Cameron and Penny Lockwood – call Columbia County home and all three have new books available.
Three men from St. Helens have each been sentenced to nearly six years in prison for the April armed robbery of Muchas Gracias restaurant on Columbia Boulevard. Joshua Phillip Walker, 18, pleaded guilty to second-degree robbery in June. Daniel Thomas Rehrig, also 18, also entered a guilty plea to the same charge in July. A third man, Terrance Anthony Cochran, 18, entered a plea of no contest to firstdegree attempted robbery on July 24.
The robbery took place on April 13, 2013, when all three men entered the fast food restaurant wearing hoods and bandanas to conceal their identities at around 2 a.m. Two of the three men brandished handguns, pointing the weapons at the clerk – sometimes within just a few inches from the clerk’s face – and demanded money. They fled with an undisclosed amount of cash. The entire event was captured on surveillance video. Just days after releasing the video footage, St. Helens Police received a tip that led investigators to a St. Helens address where Walker was ar-
Joshua Walker
Daniel Rehrig
rested. Detectives also seized a 1999 Honda Accord at that address after a search of the car turned up two handguns and clothing associated with the robbery. Rehrig was taken into custody on April 18 when
Portland Police received a call about a man firing shots into the air at North Lombard Street and Ida Avenue. Police officers were en route to the scene when an update was provided that the suspect – later determined to be Reh-
Twenty-one cheers for Vernonia
“Boos Bad Day” by Penny Lockwood Boo is an adventurous – and somewhat bored – kitten ready to grow up and explore the world. But Boo’s escape into the world shows him sometimes there’s no better, and no safer, place than home. This picture book is sure to be a delight for parents and youngsters alike and works as a wonderful tool for teaching children about pet care. Lockwood may be new to children’s books, but she’s certainly not new to writing. “I started writing professionally in 1993, but before that I had written numerous stories and actually tried submitting them when I was younger,” she said. After taking some time off from writing, she began writing grant applications for a nonprofit group and then took some creative writing classes. Now, she has pub See BOOKS, Page A3
Photo by April Bamburg
Vernonia cheerleaders pump the crowd up during the 2013 Friendship Jamboree and Logging Show parade. Find more pages of the Vernonia festival on Page A4.
Costly courthouse cleanup continues BY SHARI PHIEL The Chronicle
INSIDE Classified Ads . . . . A9-10 Legal Notices . . . . A10-11 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . . . A6 Opinions . . . . . . . . . . . . A5 Out & About . . . . . . . . A7 Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . A2 Sports . . . . . . . . . . A12-14 TV Guide . . . . . . . . . . . A8 Weather . . . . . . . . . . . A11
Terrance Cochran
rig – had fired his gun until it was empty then dropped the gun on the ground. Officers arrived and found Rehrig in the parking lot of the 76 gas station and took him into custody without incident. Cochran was arrested that same day after a family member brought him to the St. Helens Police station. In addition to serving 70 months behind bars, each man will have three years of post-prison supervision. All three men were ordered to pay $300 each in restitution to Muchas Gracias, along with other court fines and fees.
Courtesy photo
The Port of St. Helens has opened a new 23-space RV park and campground at Scappoose Bay Marine Park.
Port opens RV park and campground BY SHARI PHIEL The Chronicle
WARREN – The Port of St. Helens announced recently it has opened the Bayport RV Park and Campground inside the Scappoose Bay Marine Park at 57420 Old Portland Road. The RV park has 23
spaces, all with fire rings, 20- and 30-amp power, and water. The spaces are also extra wide to accommodate campers wanting to bring their boat along and launch it at the marina. Port planner Scott Jensen said the park was a hit with a group of Airstream owners that gave the new park a trial run. “They were great test
subjects,” Jensen said. A launch fee is included with each stay. Most sites feature paved pads, with several gravel spaces for use by tent campers. The site features restrooms (with showers available later this month) for guests and a gazebo for group use. Space fees will be $28 See RV PARK, Page A3
Planned utility hike still on track BY SHARI PHIEL The Chronicle
Bonneville Power Administration announced in July that it has adopted a 9-percent average wholesale power rate increase and an 11-percent average transmission rate increase. The transmission rate increase is the first in six
years. “That is exactly what we were expecting to see,” said Libby Calnon, communications specialist for Columbia River PUD. In October of 2011, Columbia River PUD implemented a 4-percent rate hike for both commercial and residential customers – its first in nearly a decade – in response to
rising wholesale costs from BPA in addition to system upgrades and maintenance costs. At that time, company officials said an additional rate increase was likely within the next two years. So when Columbia River PUD’s board of directors approved a $33.2 million
See PUD, Page A6
ST. HELENS – Efforts to return the Columbia County Courthouse to a fully operational status continue. But it’s a project that will ultimately be very expensive. On July 26, Columbia River Fire & Rescue crews were called to the courthouse after receiving a report of a burning smell in the building. Upon investigation fire officials tracked the smell, which was described as smelling like sulphur or rotten eggs, to the building’s computer room. Suspecting either a gas leak and/or a fire, the decision was made to evacuate the building. Although county offices are closed on Fridays, state courts are still in session and some county employees were also working in the building. Division Chief Ron Youngberg activated the fire alarm system using the fire alarm pull station in the computer room, which also activated the Stat-X (a potassiumbased aerosol designed as a replacement for halon) fire suppression canisters in the computer room. However, when the fire system is activated, there is a two-minute delay before the Stat-X canisters actually deploy. The computer room door was left open, and when the canisters deployed, the chemical reached the HVAC system, sending it throughout much of the building. With now more than a
week behind them, county officials have a better understanding of the series of events that led to the massive cleanup effort. Just over a year ago, the courthouse underwent several upgrades. At the same time, a state court grant provided by the Department of Justice provided more than $1 million for the courthouse’s sprinkler and fire systems to be upgraded. Patriot Fire Systems in Vancouver received the contract for the upgrades. “If the state mandates a particular thing for state courts, often they will pay for it,” said Columbia County Commissioner Henry Heimuller. “The fire suppression piece was the state part. But we did this as part a great big project. We updated all of the lighting, we did all of the HVAC system, and we did all of the fire suppression systems at the same time. We also updated the front of the building to be handicap accessible and have security measures in place; that was a grant by federal elections.” Questions have been raised about how the fire department handled the response and how knowledgeable crews were of the system installed in the courthouse. “What’s interesting about Stat-X is that they way its described isn’t necessarily how it works,” said Fire Chief Jay Tappan. Although touted as being more environmentally See CLEAN, Page A6