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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (March 2, 2015)
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, MARCH 2, 2015 NORTH COAST 3A Cannon Beach housing too costly for many of its workers Housing Task Force examines reasons why employees must commute By ERICK BENGEL EO Media Group CANNON BEACH — The second meeting of the city’s Affordable Housing Adviso- ry Task Force, held Thursday at City Hall, underlined many of the well-established rea- sons that low-income fam- ilies cannot both work and live in Cannon Beach. A lack of available units and the prohibitively expen- sive cost of the units that are available hover near the top of the list, according to task force member Todd John- ston, executive director of Northwest Oregon Housing Authority. Many of the city’s low- wage employees must re- side in Seaside, Astoria and surrounding areas, where living costs are cheaper, and then commute to Cannon Beach. In addition, many proper- ty owners actually have little incentive to create more af- fordable housing: They can make as much money in a month, or even in a couple of weeks, renting out their units to deep-pocketed short-term visitors as they can renting to a low-income family for a year, Johnston said. The Northwest Oregon Housing Authority, which administers federal Hous- ing and Urban Development funds, runs several programs that provide access to decent affordable housing in Clat- sop, Columbia and Tillamook Counties. One is a voucher program that will cover up to 70 percent of a tenant’s rent if the ¿gure is within 110 per- cent of what HUD considers “fair market rent.” Though this voucher pro- gram “could have a big im- pact” on Cannon Beach’s affordable housing problem, the people who currently manage to use the vouchers in Cannon Beach seem to be exceptions. Oftentimes, “the landlord is a friend of a friend of a friend who agreed to lower their rent” so that a family or elderly person could live in the unit, John- ston said. During the next year, the six-member task force hopes to prepare a set of recommen- dations for the City Council to address Cannon Beach’s dearth of affordable housing options. Russ Thompson has been navigating the Astoria Riverfront Trolley up and down the rails through town for 12-plus years. Volunteer to drive, conduct the trolley The upcoming Asto- ria Riverfront Trolley schedule is as follows: • Noon to 6 p.m. daily March 20 through April 12 • Noon to 6 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday only, April 17 through May 24 • Noon to 6 p.m. daily, May 25 through Sept. 7 • Noon to 6 p.m. Fri- day, Saturday, Sunday only, Sept. 11 through winter closure Training for new vol- unteers starts in March. Volunteers can be As- toria Riverfront Trolley conductors and/or mo- torman, but all volun- teers learn the conduc- tor’s duties. Those who wish to operate the trol- ley undergo additional training and certifica- tion. Volunteers work one or more three-hour shifts per month. Conductors get a chance to tell visitors Astoria’s history, what places to visit, where to eat and what things to do, and have an oppor- tunity to talk to people about what makes Asto- ria a great place to vis- it and live. Those who wish to be a motorman, and only want to operate Old 300 and never use the microphone, are en- couraged to find a full- time conductor to team up with. Anyone interested in volunteering can call 503-325-6311 for infor- mation about the March training. Learn more at www. old300.org. CCC term begins soon Submitted Sarahjoy Marsh teaches a class at the 2013 Cannon Beach Yoga Festival in the Cannon Beach Chamber Hall. Marsh will be one of several instructors at this year’s festival. Cannon Beach hosts ¿IWKDQQXDO\RJDIHVWLYDO Three-day event offers instruction for all skill levels CANNON BEACH — Yoga practitioners of all ages and skill levels will converge on the coast for the fifth annual Cannon Beach Yoga Festival Friday through Sunday. Over three days, par- ticipants can choose from 10 hours of yoga, medita- tion workshops and oth- er programs presented by world-renowned instructors at different spots through- out town. “With its inspiring nat- ural surroundings, Cannon Beach is the perfect location for a wellness weekend get- away, and I’m very excited about this year’s program,” said Christen Allsop, the festival director and owner of Cannon Beach Yoga Arts. For the fifth consecu- tive year, the yoga festival received funding from the city’s Tourism and Arts Commission as seed mon- ey to organize the event. This year, the grant was for $36,000. Organizations receiving tourism and arts grants must show that their events bring visitors to Can- non Beach from more than 50 miles away and that the event involves the arts. Allsop estimated that the festival will draw 150 to 175 participants, including teachers and assistants. The number is about the same as last year. Instructors will include: • Simon Chokoisky, a teacher at Ayurvedic Insti- tute in New Mexico and author of “The 5 Dharma Types: Vedic Wisdom for Discovering Your Purpose & Destiny;” • Julie Gudmestad, a cer- tified Iyengar yoga teacher and physical therapist, di- rector of Gudmestad Yoga Studio in Portland and col- umnist for Yoga Journal; • Sarahjoy Marsh, a yoga teacher, therapist and founder of DAYA Founda- tion, a nonprofit yoga center in Portland; • Brad Waites, one of a few to be certified at the 2,000-hour level by the College of Purna Yoga, and who is a member of the col- lege faculty. The lineup also includes Dave Stringer, a practitioner of the new Kirtan (call and response chant) movement. Stringer has recorded six CDs and lent his voice to the soundtracks of the film, “The Matrix Revolutions” and the video game, Myst. Flexible festival Full festival passes are $375 and include the choice of 10 hours of main track workshops, morning medi- tation on Saturday and Sun- day, Saturday night Kirtan and opening and closing ceremonies. Additional optional workshops and lectures also are available throughout the weekend. Partial festival passes are priced between $20 and $125. Saturday-on- ly passes are $210, and Sun- day-only passes are $190. “There’s a ton of flexibil- ity built into (the festival),” Allsop said. “It’s depends on how involved they want to be.” A portion of the festival proceeds supports the pres- ervation efforts of Cannon Beach’s nonprofit environ- mental education organiza- tion, Friends of Haystack Rock. Several Cannon Beach hotels and resorts are offer- ing lodging specials and spa packages for the festival, including Cannon Beach Vacation Rentals, Hallmark Resort & Spa, Inn at Can- non Beach, Land’s End at Cannon Beach, Sea Ranch Resort, Sea Sprite Guest Lodgings, Surfsand Resort, The Ocean Lodge, Tolovana Inn and Vacasa Rentals of Cannon Beach. Local shops, restaurants and wellness business- es will also offer specials during the weekend. For a full schedule of events, instructors, lodging packages or to purchase tickets, visit www.Cannon- BeachYogaFestival.com, or call Allsop at 503-440- 1649. Read Across Astor to be held Thursday John Jacob Astor Elementary School is sponsoring the third-annual Read Across Astor, an event for local business ones to connect with Astoria School District students in order to create excitement about reading. The event will take place between 10:30 to 11:15 a.m. Thursday, in con- junction with Dr. Seuss’ birthday. Lo- cal business owners are invited to join a small group of first-graders and read them a book specifically selected for Dr. Seuss’ birthday. At the end of the read-aloud, which should take about 20 minutes, each student will get a copy of the book to keep and share with their families. Enclosed with each book that is given to first-graders is a list of local businesses that have participated in Read Across Astor Day. Businesses interested in participat- ing in this even can call 503-325-6672 or email Principal Kate Gohr at kg- ohr@astoria.or.us US Rep. Bonamici schools amendment gains traction Washington, D.C. — U.S. Rep Suzanne Bonami- ci, D-Ore., highlighted the bipartisan support for an amendment, co-spon- sored by her and Rep. Ryan Costello, R-Pa., that was in- cluded in the House’s bill to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The amendment, a ver- sion of Bonamici’s SMART (Support Making Assess- ments Reliable and Timely) Act, was adopted in House Resolution 5, the Student Success Act. It allows states and school districts to use federal resources to elimi- nate low-quality and redun- dant tests. “The inclusion of this amendment in H.R. 5 il- lustrates the reasonable approach the amendment takes to improve assess- ments and reduce unnec- essary testing, which takes valuable instruction time from students and teach- ers,” Bonamici said. “Al- though I am pleased to have the amendment includ- ed, HR 5 still has serious flaws. It includes several troubling provisions, in- cluding one that would di- vert money from our needi- est schools by making Title I funds ‘portable.’ It also removes the ‘maintenance of effort’ provision that currently requires states to maintain levels of school funding. “The Senate is working on its own bill, and I am optimistic they can take a more bipartisan approach and produce an improved bill. I will continue to ad- vocate for including the full SMART Act in legislation that ultimately replaces No Child Left Behind.” Registration for spring term classes at Clatsop Com- munity College opens to all admitted students Wednesday. Classes begin March 30. Registering as early as possible provides the best op- portunity to secure your most desirable classes. Prior to reg- istering, degree-seeking stu- dents need to meet with their adviser. Students who need advising or other registration assistance should contact Stu- dent Services at 503-338-2411. 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