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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (April 25, 2016)
DailyAstorian.com // MONDAY, APRIL 25, 2016 143RD YEAR, NO. 208 ONE DOLLAR Clatsop Care cuts long-term beds in half 6WDI¿QJLVVXHVIRUFHUHGXFWLRQLQSRSXODWLRQ the next two months. By July, the center in Astoria plans to help relocate a dozen res- $ VKRUWDJH RI FHUWL¿HG QXUVLQJ idents to other care providers — assistants is forcing Clatsop Care adult foster homes, assisted-living Center, the only nursing home in facilities or, if the residents prefer, a Clatsop County, to downsize its nursing home outside the county — long-term resident population over decreasing the number of long-term By ERICK BENGEL The Daily Astorian care residents from 24 to 12. When the reduction occurs, the remaining residents will occupy only WKHFHQWHU¶VIRXUWKÀRRU “We really don’t have a choice at this point,” Nicole Williams, the CEO of Clatsop Care Health Dis- trict, said. “Our primary focus is to keep people safe and take good care of them, and that’s not possible with RXUVWDI¿QJVLWXDWLRQ´ This week, the center will meet with long-term care residents and their families to determine who among the residents can receive care elsewhere and who should remain at the nursing home. Northwest Senior and Disability Services will partici- pate in these discussions. “There are people in the nursing home facility that do not, we don’t believe, require that high-level care, DQGWKRVHZLOOEHWKH¿UVWSHRSOHWKDW we try to relocate to a more proper level of care,” Williams said. “But it will be a group decision.” The cutback in residents will go hand-in-hand with cutbacks in See CARE CENTER, Page 10A Crowds, crab and Cabernet Dire risk prompts Wyden stopover Senator to seek federal funds for tsunami safety By R.J. MARX The Daily Astorian Photos by Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian Andres Wetzel, a winemaker at Chateau Bianca Winery, chats with festivalgoers and pours wine at the Crab, Seafood and Wine Festival at the Clatsop County Fair and Expo Center on Saturday. Crab, Seafood and Wine Fest draws many to the North Coast LEFT: Carrie Cunningham of the Carried Away Trio performs in the exhibit hall during the Crab, Seafood and Wine Festival. By JOSHUA BESSEX The Daily Astorian T housands of fun- and food-seekers packed the Clat- sop County Fair and Expo Center for the 34th annual Astoria Warrenton Crab, Seafood and Wine Festival over the weekend. Festivalgoers, many arriving by yellow school bus, walked among hun- dreds of vendors enjoy- ing wine, wares and lots of seafood. Some locals remarked that Saturday seemed bus- ier than ever, but reports from the Astoria Warrenton Chamber of Commerce, which hosted the event, were not available at press time. See more photos from the festivities online at www.dailyastorian.com BELOW LEFT: Byran Fitzger- ald, left, and Jessy Fer- guson, right, pose for pho- tos with a giant inflatable crab at the Crab, Seafood and Wine Festival. SEASIDE — “Help!” is the message from Seaside School Superintendent Doug Dougherty, and U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden responded to the SOS Sunday. Dougherty and Sea- side Mayor Don Lar- son served as guides on a tour of the city’s tsunami zone, from Seaside High School to Broadway Middle School before going east to Seaside Heights U.S. Sen. Elementary School. Ron Wyden “My view is when you talk about disas- ters, this has historically been considered a place there is a federal role,” Wyden said. “It’s not about somebody’s political philos- ophy when coming together to ensure when our communities are facing life-and-death situations we are there for them.” Dougherty told Wyden that Seaside is the most vulnerable to tsunamis of any city in Oregon. “Seaside, then Gearhart, then Can- non Beach,” Dougherty said. See WYDEN, Page 10A Brew pub appeal on tap in Gearhart City Council considers grocery conversion A crab melt is shown on the table at the Astoria Clowns booth at the Crab, Seafood and Wine Festival at the Clatsop County Fair and Expo Center on Saturday. School is ‘in’ for Gearhart’s Bisping After Cannon Beach closing, a fresh start for a new preschool Y es, she was blindsided. Who wouldn’t be? Christy Bisping was the executive director of the Cannon Beach Preschool and Children’s Center since June. Last month, she got word the center was suddenly closing. She and board members had EHHQXQDZDUHWKDWWKH¿QDQFLDO situation was so dire, Bisping said. Competition from neighbor- ing centers in Seaside, declin- ing enrollment, long commutes and barriers for Hispanic stu- dents were among the causes. “We did know enrollment was dropping fairly quickly,” Bisp- ing said. “There were no plans to put it back together until it was WRRODWHWR¿[´ By R.J. MARX The Daily Astorian GEARHART — Merits of a proposed brew pub in Gearhart will be considered by the City Council at a public hearing at the Gearhart Fire Station in early May. An appeal to a Planning Commission decision to grant a conditional use permit to WKHEUHZSXEZDV¿OHGHDUO\WKLVPRQWKE\ ¿YHUHVLGHQWV The owners of Gearhart Grocery want to covert the business to a cafe and brew pub, but have faced some community opposition. “The overriding thing is there is not a need for another cafe location, and not just what they are calling a cafe, but a brew pub,” said Jeanne Mark, one of those who signed the appeal. “We have a brew pub less than a mile away. They’re pushing ‘there is a need.’ There is no need.” Mark and opponents of the plan say the brew pub is contrary to Gearhart’s compre- hensive plan. They say septic facilities are inadequate and the city needs to retain its only grocery store. “The Planning Commission, as a vote of the majority, believes the cafe that’s R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian See BISPING, Page 10A Christy Bisping See GEARHART, Page 10A