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Wednesday, March 19, 2014

2/21/12

SPORTS: Don’t miss our Spring Sports Preview, a special section in this issue of The Chronicle. 3:24 PM Page 1

TODAY’S WEATHER Partly Cloudy Highs to 50 Page A12 Lows to 34

The Chronicle

Heym looks for a seat on court bench

$1.00 Vol. 132, No. 12 12 Pages

www.thechronicleonline.com

Three arrested in St. Helens check fraud case ST. HELENS — All it took was a few stolen account numbers, blank check stock and a home computer. That’s what local police are saying three suspects used to create and pass fake checks, defrauding local businesses out of several thousand dollars. St. Helens Police arrested the trio – two men and one woman – over the past week in connection with the check-cashing scheme.

Norman Hoag, 29, of St. Helens, was arrested on March 12 after he was identified as the suspect in the counterfeit check case. Hoag is suspected of cashing phony

Norman Hoag

Carley Munderloh

Robert Owens

checks at the St. Helens IGA Market using account numbers from local businesses including Pacific Stainless, Anderson’s Western Safety Supply and K&C Landscaping.

“At one time he was an employee of Pacific Stainless,” said St. Helens Police Chief Terry Moss. “So he did get payroll checks. How he got [the account numbers] from other businesses we don’t know yet... the other two that got arrested could have worked for any of the places.”

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See FRAUD, Page A2

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BY SHARI PHIEL news@thechronicleonline.com

During the month of March, The Chronicle will profile each of the three candidates running for Columbia County District Court judge. This week, we profile Portland attorney and Scappoose resident Jason Heym. After earning his undergraduate degree in history from John Carroll University near Cleveland, Ohio, Heym went on to attend graduate school at Willamette University. There he earned a law degree and a Masters in Business Administration in 2002. Like many lawyers, Heym hung out a shingle and opened his own law practice. He says he ran his solo practice before joining the firm of Zimmer and Bunch and in 2005, he joined Goldberg and Jones as a non-equity partner, where he remains today. He believes this combined experience makes him a great choice for the circuit court seat. “Given the way the court system is leaning toward a more cooperative approach, I can use my skills as a negotiator to help people resolve their cases, short of hearings,” Heym said. “But if I need to make a decision I can. I think almost always for people to feel like they have some control over the outcome. I think then they get more buy in and the less likely they will have to come back to court again.” Heym was among a handful of candidates considered to fill the circuit court position on an interim basis last fall after longtime judge Steven Reed retired. The nomination ultimately went to Jean Marie Martwick. “I just think I can do a better job. I think that while I’m sure she’s a fine criminal See BENCH, Page A4

INSIDE Classified Ads . . . . A9-10 Legal Notices . . . . . . . A10 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . . . A6 Opinions . . . . . . . . . . . . A5 Out & About . . . . . . . . A7 Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . A2 Sports . . . . . . . . . . A11-12 TV Guide . . . . . . . . . . . A8 Weather . . . . . . . . . . . A12

SHARI PHIEL / The Chronicle Light rain hangs over the Columbia Pacific Bio-Refinery in Clatskanie. The company is looking to expand its operations, which will be the subject of an April 3 Oregon Department of Environmental Quality public hearing at Clatskanie High School. Inset: Now with 45 full-time employees on staff, the refinery was previously owned by J H Kelly and Cascade Kelly Holdings. File photo

Global Partners looks to the future

BY SHARI PHIEL news@thechronicleonline.com

CLATSKANIE — Since purchasing the Columbia Pacific Bio-Refinery in February 2013, Global Partners has come under quite of bit of scrutiny. Perhaps no more so than the past two weeks when the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality said the refinery was exceeding the production limits set under the company’s current permit. Company officials believe otherwise. According to Global, the company’s cur-

rent operations are within the scope of the previous permit, which was granted to Cascade Kelly Holdings. For those who think crude oil shipments didn’t begin moving through Columbia County until Global purchased the site, they might be surprised to learn crude oil has been shipped to Port Westward since November of 2012. “The prior owner was engaged in the oil business,” said CPBR General Manager Dan Luckett. “The original business plans always involved an oil terminal. Under its agreement

with the Port of St. Helens, Global Partners is allowed a maximum of 24 unit trains per month to its Clatskanie facility. Currently though, the number of trains coming in averages from 12 to 14 trains per month. Ed Faneuil, executive vice president and general counsel for Global Partners, said the company made it clear when it purchase the facility that its plans included both oil transport and operating the ethanol refinery. In fact, Global Partner’s plans include getting the ethanol refinery back into

production in the near future. Although previous attempts under different ownership to make the ethanol refinery profitable have had limited success (ethanol was produced at the facility from June 2008 to February 2009), Global clearly believes there is a way to do so. “It has always been our plan to bring the ethanol refinery back online. We believe there’s a market,” said Faneuil. CPBR’s future On April 3, Oregon DEQ will hold a public hearing in regards to an air quality

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permit – called a Standard Air Contaminant Discharge Permit – Global Partners has applied for. Global says its request is related to the company’s future expansion plans for the refinery. The hearing will be held on April 3 at Clatskanie High School beginning at 6 p.m. Those plans include investing $50–$70 million to get the ethanol refinery back in operation. “Part of our plan is to maximize efficiency… we want our operations to be able See GLOBAL, Page A6

Turning green

Buying club stretches the organic shopping dollar vegetables every week and drive to Scappoose to pick them up. But she moved to Beaverton and those of us here were wondering what we were going to do. So I said ‘I’ll take it over,’” Baker said. Each week members of the group log into the Columbia County Natural website and place their orders. There are dozens of items from across the region to choose from, especially when there’s inseason produce. Other selections include organic flours, cereals, oats and grains from Bob’s Red Mill natural products; Dave’s Killer Bread out of Milwaukie, Frontier Natural Products and many, many more. “Each week we do a fruit and vegetable order. We started out at every other week. Once a month we order organic butter and Dave’s Killer Bread, and then once a month we do meat orders, so it’s grass-fed beef, true free-range chicken, and SHARI PHIEL / The Chronicle free-range eggs,” said Baker. Along with fresh food items, Columbia County Natural also keeps a small stock of

BY SHARI PHIEL news@thechronicleonline.com

ST. HELENS — Finding all natural or organic foods in Columbia County often means a limited selection and higher prices. But one local group is working to change that. Columbia County Natural is a buying club with a focus on buying a variety of organic, all natural and sustainably grown fruits, vegetables, eggs, butter, meat, poultry, flour, and dozens of other products in enough quantity to make it more affordable. One of the group’s original founding members, St. Helens resident Susan Baker does all of the ordering and distribution for Columbia County Natural. The buying group is now getting ready to celebrate its fifth anniversary next month. “There was a woman running a buying group out of Scappoose. I joined it and would order my ­­­­

natural herbs and spices, lotions and soaps, condiments such as ketchup and mustard, and other non-perishable items. Buying in bulk helps members save money on See GREEN, Page A3 their weekly shopping bill.


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