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Wednesday, May 28, 2014

A consortium of Oregon business, legislative and education leaders are pushing to develop a regional training and sewing facility in Columbia County. Proponents say it would provide much needed solid employment for county residents and help revive the “made in U.S.A.” label. Oregon State Sen. Betsy Johnson (D-Scappoose) is one of the advocates. She says after years of outsourcing textile work to other countries, there is now a demand for industrial sewers in the United States. “Thirty years ago, a lot of work went overseas. The quality has gone down, costs have gone up and there are companies looking to locate in this country,” she said. Johnson envisions a regional training center located in Columbia County and operated by Portland Community College in conjunction with local businesses. PCC would help train students in the art of industrial sewing while local design and manufacturing companies could provide work. Columbia County does have several small businesses that manufacture high quality sewn products that are sold worldwide. West Coast Shoe Company manufactures custom boots, Oregon Areo produces high tech sewn seats for aircraft and other vehicles and Michael Curry Design produces custom sewn costumes and puppets for shows like the “Lion King”. USIA, located in St. Helens, manufactures high tech, high quality sewn products for the United States military and other governmental organizations. “The absence of qualified employees who are capable of working with a variety of high tech materials, understanding the technical requirements of industry ­­­­ See SEWING, Page A2

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3:24 PM

TODAY’S WEATHER Chance of Rain Highs to 65 Page A15 Lows to 47

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The Chronicle

Johnson hopes to sew up deal for training center

INSIDE

2/21/12

ELECTION: Wrap up of the Primary Vote in Columbia County, page 2.

$1.00 Vol. 132, No. 22 16 Pages

www.thechronicleonline.com

Amani Two move forward in race for judge Center Commissioner race too close to call names new executive director tested primaries where one candidate did not receive at least 50 percent of the vote plus one, the top two candidates advance to the November ballot. This was the case in a three-way race for circuit court judge position 1 — and perhaps also in the race for county commissioner position 2. In the circuit court judge race, incumbent Jean Martwick and challengers Cathleen Callahan and Jason Heym vied for circuit court judge position 1 in the pri­­­­ See ELECTION, Page A2

COLUMBIA COUNTY — The ballots were collected and election day for the primaries has come and gone, but the election is not over for two local races in which the results were just too close to call. Columbia County’s unofficial final results were posted at 3:39 a.m. on May 21. Results are expected to be finalized and certified by June 9. In non-partisan con-

KYLE BOGGS / The Chronicle

Scappoose senior Justice Oman takes the baton from senior Nick Rust during the 4x400 relay at the 2014 OSAA Track & Field State Championships. Scappoose won the event in 3:23 and finished third in the team standings. Find more coverage of the state championships on Page A13.

BY AMANDA FRINK news@thechronicleonline.com

ST. HELENS — After a decade of advocating for abused children, Amani Center Executive Director Lisa Galovich is departing the agency on June 10 and handing the reins over to longtime employee Cassy Miller. Miller, who has been with Amani Center since 2008, will take over as executive director June 11. For the past six years, Miller has been the family support services specialist and intake coordinator. Before coming to the Amani Center, she worked for the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office for six years as a victim specialist for the Domestic Violence Response Unit. After that, she was employed as a corrections deputy for a year and worked as a case manager for the Women’s Resource Center for a few months. As the executive director, Miller says she would like to increase the agency’s capacity and services incrementally as funding and staffing allows. Currently, the Amani Center sees children one to two days a week. Miller says it’s been a goal of hers, as well as of Galovich, to see children five days a week. “I’m really, really excited, and of course I’m a little nervous, but I think that’s to be expected,” Miller says of her promotion. “But I’ve got Lisa, who’s provided a really solid foundation, from how it was to where she’s brought this agency, to where it is today. If I follow that plan, I think everything will run really smooth and we’ll be successful.” Clarissa Williams has been hired to fill Miller’s ­­­­ See AMANI, Page A3

Port seeks regionally significant industrial area designation BY AMANDA FRINK news@thechronicleonline.com

ST. HELENS — Job creation and the preservation of local industrial areas is the goal in a request that is being spearheaded by the Port of St. Helens.

Pat Trapp, the port’s executive director, said the port is moving forward with an application for a regionally significant industrial area designation, which was created by Senate Bill 766 to offer a streamlined site permitting process for industrial lands and foster job creation. According to the Econom-

ic Recovery Review Council (ERRC), a regionally significant industrial area is an area planned and zoned for industrial use that: contains vacant sites suitable for new industrial uses or the expansion of existing industrial uses that provides significant additional employment in the region; has characteristics

providing competitive advantages that are difficult or impossible to replicate in the region; has direct access to rail, port, airport, multimodal freight or transshipment facilities; and is located close to major labor markets. Potential sites are nominated by local and state governments and the designation ­­­­

is made by the ERRC. Implementation is a cooperative effort by Department of Land Conservation and Development and local government. Some of the benefits of being designated a regionally significant industrial area are: See PORT, Page A3

Courtesy photo

The annual Memorial Day Service and free lunch honoring our veterans and their families was held over the weekend. The celebrant was Chaplin Fr. Rory Pitstick of the Oregon Air National Guard. A 4th Degree Honor Guard with all our Armed Forces Flags was present. The service, which was held at St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church in Scappoose, raised $378 for the Oregon Veterans Home.


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