Saturday, January 29, 2011

Clatsop County District Attorney, Josh Marquis Named By Daily Journal Of Commerce-Oregon As One Of 15 "Leadership In Law Honorees"


POSTED: Tuesday, January 18, 2011 at 05:33 PM PT



Fifteen Oregon attorneys have been singled out as honorees in the Daily Journal of Commerce’s first Leadership in Law awards program.....Read Full DJC Release

Friday, January 28, 2011

The Daily Astorian: Josh Marquis Guest Column: The Rule Of Law In Astoria



And Now The Letter, Hand Deliverd Last Night To A Local Radio Personality and The District Attorney Himself. Is That Correct? Signed By All Members Of The City Council?








Posted: Thursday, January 20, 2011 12:16 pm




By JOSH MARQUIS For The Daily Astorian

Over the past few years I have become increasingly concerned that drunk driving cases are not being handled fairly and consistently by Astoria's Municipal Court.
Officers from Astoria Police Department have frequently complained that the tickets they write never come to court. The Daily Astorian has documented several cases in which DUIIs have been dismissed for no apparent reason and/or offenders have been offered extraordinarily generous plea bargains that would never be made by the District Attorney’s office.....Read Full Guest Column

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Naselle-Grays River School Board OK's Partnership For Home School Students

Published on Thu, Jan 27, 2011

Wahkiakum County Eagle - Betsy Nelson and Cody Cooley

Naselle-Grays River School Board members met January 18 to decide whether to pursue a partnership that would set up a school-within-a-school to focus on coursework for home schooled students.....Read "The Eagle's" Full Report

Clatsop County Commission: "The Oath" - Why Re-do It?


Like me, I am certain there are many out there puzzled by the "Re-Swearing-In" of the new Clatsop County Commissioners and already a few local blogs are trying to "Knee Jerk" it into something it really isn't, in my view.

In an effort to make sure the information is presented accurately, this is the explanation from County Manager Duane Cole: "The county staff provided the 'oath' that had the word 'appointed' instead of the word 'elected'. The last few times we used the oath, we were swearing in appointed commissioners and not elected commissioners. In discussions with Judge Nelson, he preferred to redo the oaths of office to make sure he was signing what was actually said, however, we have checked with County Counsel and the important part of the oath is the first part about upholding the laws of the State and County. All decisions made by the Board apply and they were duly sworn prior to taking any actions prior to the last meeting."

Big Story? I don't think so.

I credit this new leadership, administered by Mr. Cole, for making sure it was done right

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

CCC Historic Preservation Students To Replace Porch At Knappton Cove U.S. Quarantine Center

Clatsop Community C ollege Students Participate In Porch Building Workshop

Clatsop Community College Historic Preservation students, under the supervision of their instructor Lucien Swerdloff and contractor Tim Kennedy, have scheduled a porch building workshop February 5 & 6 to replace the rotted porches on the historic U.S. Columbia River Quarantine Hospital (aka the Pesthouse).....Read Full CCC Press Release

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

The Coincidence Theory: Ted Thomas On the Astoria Fires


Coincidence Theory - Ted Thomas - January, 2011

Let us not forget that there were two fires on the night of the 16th in the same structure. For those of you unfamiliar with the Astoria water front; the Cannery Cafe, located on Sixth Street, is connected to No 10 Sixth Street by a very wide and undamaged pier.

According to the U.S. Fire Administration there were an estimated 505,500 structure fires reported in the USA, in 2000, of which 5.5% were stores and offices like the pier. That works out to 27802.5 fires in about 4.7 million commercial buildings during that year.

Over a period of one year one fire occurred in every one hundred and sixty three commercial structures. The chance of a randomly ignited fire occurring on each particular day is 1:(365.25x169.05 ) or 61745.51 to 1.

The chance that a randomly ignited fire will coincide with another randomly ignited fire on the same day in the same structure is the product of the independent probability of a fire occurring on any specific day. In other words the probability that two fires could randomly ignite in different locations of the same structure on the same day is 3,812,508,314 to 1.

I am absolutely certain over time this event can occur somewhere in the US once every 756.92 years (if the average number of commercial structures was/will be 4.7 million).


So let me be the first to say that there is no proof that the fires at the foot of sixth street were anything other than a coincidence. Yes, that's right folks, it is entirely possible that it was just a coincidence independent of the owner's financial or personal incentives.

Having overheard speculation that the double conflagration was other than coincidental I would like to say; Shame! Shame on those that would accuse anyone of setting those dual infernos let alone the bereaved victim of a double misfortune who might be the beneficiary of an insurance policy.

What are you all going to think of yourselves when no one is accused of Arson? Boy there will sure be egg on your faces then!


There's not been any revelation that those twins of pyrolytic devastation had human agency kindling their combustion. That bilaterallity of bedtime blazes, that late night duet of phlogistic pyres, that scintillating, binary, nocturnal, scorching, sea of fire on sixth street has an undeniable measurable likelihood of being coincidence.

The fact that Police and Fire Officials have not produced proof to the contrary or made any arrests is an unmistakable demonstration of just how good they are!


Ray Bradbury would be appalled! God help us all!!

Monday, January 24, 2011

Oregon Attorney General, John Kroger's Argument To The U.S. Supreme Court On Confessed Murderer Randy Moore's Conviction Sticks


Last October, Oregon Attorney General John Kroger argued a major national case, Premo v. Moore, before the United States Supreme Court. In a USSC decision dated January 19, 2011, the Court ruled in favor of The State of Oregon and Kroger's argument, overturning an earlier intermediate court's decision that ruled to throw out murderer, Randy Moore's conviction.

In 1996, Randy Moore pled no contest to felony murder after abducting, torturing and executing an acquaintance in Josephine County. Under his plea agreement he was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Later, he attempted to get his conviction reversed, claiming that he received inadequate legal assistance because his attorney did not move to suppress one of his confessions at the time of his plea. After an intermediate court threw out Moore's conviction, DOJ appealed.

Read USSC's decision on the case here