The Chronicle
SHC-0725-A01, 03:Layout 1
7/24/12
3:36 PM
Miss the fair already? You can find a round-up of photos on Page A4
Wednesday July 25, 2012
Cowboys and cowgirls put on a show at the rodeo, Page A13
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Police go high tech to mow down thief
Officers from the St. Helens Police Department had a little high tech help in the war on crime. On July 20, St. Helens Police responded to a complaint that a hole had been cut in the security fence at Sunset Equipment at 100 Port Michael McElroy Avenue. While investigating, a brand new Husqvarna riding lawnmower valued at $1,700 was found hidden nearby. The mower, which was determined to be the property of Sunset Equipment, was secluded behind blackberry vines and covered with wood pallets. Believing the suspect(s) would soon return for this valuable piece of equipment, the investigating officers attached a motion-sensing silent alarm on the mower, which would instantly notify them of any movement. Just after 2 p.m. on the following day, that alarm was triggered. St. Helens Police responded and upon arrival saw a vehicle leaving the area. The vehicle was towing a small utility trailer with the mower inside. The officers stopped the vehicle to question the driver, Michael Wayne McElroy, 34, of Gresham, about the mower. When McElroy could not adequately explain how he came to be in possession of the stolen equipment, he was placed under arrest. McElroy was then transported to the Columbia County Jail where was booked and lodged on charges of first-degree theft, criminal mischief and criminal trespass. The matter has now been referred to the Columbia County District Attorney for prosecution.
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Mostly sunny PAGE A15
TODAY’S WEATHER Highs to 80 Lows to 50
75¢ Vol. 130, No. 30 16 Pages
Coal barge project hits rough waters BY SHARI PHIEL The Chronicle
Thank a volunteer for another successful fair! BY SHARI PHIEL The Chronicle
Volunteers and organizers from the Columbia County Fair and Rodeo can take a deep breath and relax now that annual event has wrapped up another successful year. With a theme of “A Tradition to Treasure,” the fair kicked off five days of events on July 18 with the raising of the flag and a live rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner.” More than 20,000 visitors were estimated to have passed through the gates over the five days. “I pulled it off, by golly,” said event organizer Heather Kennedy. “We broke records on Saturday. Our bleachers were full on Friday and Saturday.” This was Kennedy’s first year at the helm of the nearly all-volunteer run fair. She said that although most things ran smoothly, there were a few areas that needed improvements. A glitch in the computer system miscalculated payouts at the end of the fair, meaning payments would have to be mailed rather than paid out at checkout. Aside from that though, Kennedy said the efforts of all the volunteers made for a relatively easy event. “There were very long days,” said Kennedy. “And there’s not enough names that I could tell you to thank all those who helped. I could go on and on and on.” As for the schedule of events, there were plenty of favorites back this year, like
SHARI PHIEL / The Chronicle
Fair volunteers help customers pick out items, check out at the register and load up the car at the annual plant sale. The plants are provided by Means Nursery in Scappoose.
the My Fair Lady pageant, the junior rodeo, carnival games and rides, 4-H competitions, rodeo court pageant, pro rodeo and more (see related story on page A13). New this year was the talent show. Winners from the talent show are now eligible to participate in the Oregon State Fair talent show to be held in Salem on Sept. 2. “It went really, really well,” said Columbia County Commissioner and fair board member Henry Heimuller. “It is a little unusual for fairs to be entirely volunteer run anymore because with all the rules and regulations we have to be concerned about animal health and welfare, e coli and all of the regulations.” Heimuller said there’s a lot that goes into organizing the county’s largest event
and it takes the dedication of the fair board members, volunteers, sponsors and partners to pull it off. “Everybody really stepped up,” said Heimuller. “I can’t say enough about them.” When it comes to the future of the fair, Heimuller said volunteers will be even more important. “Going forward we’re going to have to probably rely a lot more on volunteers to do it because the county’s general fund can’t support those things. Dollars are pretty scarce.” Heimuller said this year’s relatively mild weather, compared to last year’s steady rain, helped drive up attendance as well. “I think we’ll find that Saturday, we’ll have broken all fair records,” he said. “It was really packed and we even brought in an extra
900 seats for the rodeo and we still had standing room only.” Heimuller cautioned that while having a record turnout for the fair was great, keeping the fairgrounds maintained throughout the rest of the year takes work as well, something that will become even more important as the 100th anniversary of the fair gets closer. The 100th anniversary of the fair might still be three years away still, but Heimuller and all of the fair staff and volunteers are already thinking about what’s to come. “We don’t know what it is just yet but we certainly plan on going into the next century full speed,” he said. A photo roundup of all of the fair highlights is on page A4.
For Ambre Energy, it’s been anything but smooth sailing in getting its proposed barge-based coal export terminal into Oregon. Those waters got a little bit rougher last week when Cloud Peak Energy, Ambre’s partner at the Decker Mine in southeast Montana, filed suit against the Australia-based company in a U.S. District Court in Montana on July 9. The complaint alleges that Ambre developed its plans for the mine without Cloud Peak’s knowledge or consent and engaged in “various selfdealing transactions” since acquiring a half-share in the Decker Mine in November 2011. Cloud Peak Enery said the intent was to give Ambre a “disproportionate share” of profits on its Asian-market sales. Cloud Peak has asked the court to remove Ambre’s representative, KCP, as the mine manager stating the company violated a joint management agreement in which “neither party is permitted to unilaterally make decisions related to the operation of the mine or disregard the objections or disapprovals of the other party.” Among those “self-dealing transactions” is the proposed Morrow-Pacific project to float coal barges along the Columbia River from Port Morrow in Boardman to Port Westward, and the Millenium Bulk Terminal project in Longview, Wash., according to Cloud Peak. Ambre is hoping to complete the Morrow Pacific project by 2013. “Cloud Peak’s claims are unfounded and we will vigorously defend this attempt to remove KCP as manager,” said Everett King, president and CEO of Ambre Energy North America. Could the newly filed lawsuit delay Ambre’s timeline for the Columbia County project? According to Brian Gard of Gard Communications, a Portland public relations firm representing Ambre Energy, See BARGE, Page A3
Burglar hits paydirt at Klondike Restaurant BY SHARI PHIEL The Chronicle
ST. HELENS — One of Columbia County’s favorite dining establishments isn’t so popular with at least one person. For the second time in just a year, someone broke into the Klondike Restaurant in Olde Towne and stole an undisclosed amount of money. This time, the thief or thieves made off with the safe and the day’s receipts. The burglary occurred on July 18. “In the middle of the night last night, someone broke out a window into their office and a safe was stolen,” said St. Helens Police Lt. Terry Moss. “They close up at 11 p.m. and they came in this morning at 8 a.m. to get ready for the day and came across the discov-
ered the missing items. We’re still working on narrowing that time down a little closer.” Moss said that while he couldn’t release the amount stolen while the investigation is ongoing, he did say it SHARI PHIEL / The Chronicle was a substantial quantity. A window above the entrance to the Klondike Restaurant in Olde “It was the receipts from Towne St. Helens is boarded up after a burglar broke into the poputhe last day. I’m sure it’s lar dining establishment and made off with the safe. going to hurt,” said Moss. Restaurant chef and difference in the case. bad guy thing,” reads the owner Dave Wuollet and post. “We may look like re“We have some things general manager Roni ally wealthy people who can we’re following up on but at Bartlett took to Facebook to afford to lose a little money, this time nothing concrete. address their burglar(s) in a but you would be wrong. We We’re hoping some of these July 19 post. have bills, children, child leads might turn into some“Dear bad guys, please support, and really, really, thing but we’ll see how it knock it off! Whereas robreally old cars. We do not go goes,” said Moss. “Property bing folks is easy money, it on vacation. We do this job crimes with no suspect inforhas great impact on our because we love the business mation can be incredibly difcommunity. Now people in of restauranting and we ficult to solve. Usually it our old town are looking takes a tip from someone in around suspiciously wonder- adore our guests.” Moss said his department the public.” ing who is next, considering Anyone with information is continuing to investigate bars on windows and other the crime but said the pubshould call the non-emerextreme acts of mistrust belic’s help could make a big gency line at dispatch at cause you have done this
(503) 397-1521. And if the burglar happens to be the same person who stole the silk fan from the women’s bathroom at the Klondike, Wuollet and Bartlett said in the same Facebook post, “that was just bad form...geez.”