DailyAstorian.com // MONDAY, MAY 9, 2016
143RD YEAR, NO. 218
ONE DOLLAR
An invitation
to dance
‘Giselle’ gives kids
a glimpse into
the fi ne arts
Paige Wilkey and Alexander
Negron, starring as Giselle
and Duke Albrecht of Silesia,
kindle their romance with a
dance during a Friday
performance of “Giselle” by
the Astoria School of Ballet
at the Liberty Theater.
More photos online at
DailyAstorian.com
Edward Stratton
The Daily Astorian
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
C
assie Wilson sat in the front row of the
Liberty Theater Friday, her twin 6-year-
old daughters, Lexey and Evie, clutch-
ing her arms and enthralled in the scene
unfolding on stage .
Before a packed house of elementary school-
ers, the peasant girl Giselle falls in love with
Duke Albrecht of Silesia, disguised as the peas-
ant Loys, before falling on stage to a mysterious
heart ailment.
Friday was the fi rst trip to the ballet for Wil-
son’s children, dredging up memories of her
fi rst experience at the theater.
“‘ The Nutcracker’ at age 6, then we went
every year” she said. “My grandma would come
and pick me and my sister up. We did that until
I was 12. “Probably without knowing it, she
started a girls family tradition.”
First curtain call
Every year since 2008, the Astoria School of
Ballet presents shows to local schools at the Lib-
erty Theater to introduce kids to the performing
arts and provide young dancers a chance to per-
form in front of large audiences.
Margaret Wall, who moved to the North
Coast in 2004 and founded the school , sees the
performances as an investment in arts education.
“Schools are struggling to keep arts educa-
tion,” she said. “And I think that the more you can
expose children at a young age to something like
ballet, a highbrow art, the more likely they are to
become patrons later on in life, and art lovers.”
Carol Shepherd, the interim director of
the Liberty Theater, said the three showings
of “Giselle” Thursday and Friday brought in
nearly 1,000 students on 20 buses from local
preschools and elementary schools .
Traditional b allet
Since 2008, Wall has directed such classics
as “Hansel and Gretel,” “Snow White,” “Cin-
derella,” “A Little Princess” and the original
“The Enchanted Aunts,” at the Liberty Theater
as an outreach. She said “Giselle,” the globally
popular ballet fi rst performed in France in 1841,
was the school’s fi rst traditional ballet.
See FINE ARTS, Page 10A
Cancer services expand on coast Oregon
sets toilet
policies for
schools
CMH and OHSU
team up for a fi rst
By ERICK BENGEL
The Daily Astorian
Cancer patients from the North
Coast and southwest Washington will
soon be able to get radiation therapy
locally.
Columbia Memorial Hospital aims
to break ground in August on a state-
of-the-art cancer treatment center that
will include a linear particle accelera-
tor, a device that irradiates tumors.
On Thursday, the Astoria D esign
R eview C ommittee approved design
plans for the proposed center — a two-
story, 19,000-square-foot building,
reminiscent of the hospital’s Health &
Wellness Pavilion, that will house the
hospital’s entire suite of cancer-treat-
ment services.
The facility will be located near
Exchange Street, on the west end of
the former John Warren Field. Though
it will lie within the tsunami inunda-
tion zone for a 90-foot wave, the struc-
ture would be clear of a 60-foot wave.
In any case, the design includes emer-
gency exits.
The Portland-based contractor,
P&C Construction, said the center
will likely be fi nished in fall 2017. A
groundbreaking ceremony is planned
for Aug. 4.
Closer to home
The hospital already has a medi-
State lays out
guidelines for
transgender
students
The Associated Press
PKA Architects
The planned state-of-the-art cancer treatment center.
cal oncology department and chemo-
therapy infusion program for cancer
patients in the Park Medical Building.
But patients who need radia-
tion therapy — which is most cancer
patients — currently have to travel to
Portland or Longview, Washington.
“The day we open, our patients
would be able to stop going to
Longview or (Oregon Health & Sci-
ence University) and start coming
here,” said Chris Laman, director of
the pharmacy and cancer care services
at Columbia Memorial Hospital.
The radiation procedure, though
often crucial to a patient’s recovery, is
pretty short — sometimes 5 minutes
per session. But the treatment plan
can last anywhere from two to eight
weeks.
When the nearest radiation option
is more than an hour away by car —
several hours by bus — the process
can be so grueling that some patients
will simply refuse radiation altogether,
Laman said.
“You feel terrible, you’re sick, and
you’re going every single day, some-
times by yourself, driving — maybe
you have a companion, maybe you
have no one,” Erik Thorsen, the hos-
pital’s president and CEO, said, “and
to have the convenience of this service
here is just a huge, in my mind, step up
for our community.”
The hospital estimates that within
the fi rst year the center will treat
between 450 and 500 cancer patients
with chemotherapy and radiation,
totaling about 6,700 patient visits.
“Unfortunately, it’s needed quite a
bit,” Paul Mitchell, a hospital spokes-
man, said.
See HOSPITAL, Page 4A
Soldier comes home to help police Cannon Beach
Astoria native
brings military
and academic
experience
C
ANNON BEACH —
Matthew
Nunnally
recently returned to the
Oregon Coast after a decade
serving in the U.S. Marine
Corps and attending college in
California.
He is now four weeks into
his job as Cannon Beach’s
newest police offi cer.
“I’m very grateful for this
opportunity and humbled to
be here,” he said. “I love this
community, always have. I’m
just excited to make my career
here and my family’s really
excited.”
Nunnally, 27, served in the
Marine Corps for four active
years and eight years total,
conducting military opera-
tions in eight countries, includ-
ing Afghanistan. During his
time as a Marine, he also went
to countries like Singapore,
Germany, Ireland, Bahrain,
Kuwait and Djibouti.
Growing up, the Astoria
High School graduate had the
goal of joining the military and
then becoming a police offi cer.
He has also worked with the
Astoria Fire Department.
“I’ve always stood for jus-
tice and standing up for oth-
ers,” he said. “I grew up want-
ing to serve the country and
then the community.”
Learning the ropes
At his new job, he is learn-
ing “a whole new set of skills,”
including various legal aspects,
violations and policies, and
a different radio alphabet,
since the codes used on the
police department’s radio dif-
fers from those he used in the
military.
See NUNNALLY, Page 2A
R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian
Police Officer Matthew Nun-
nally is sworn in as Cannon
Beach’s newest police offi-
cer beside his wife, Lisa.
PORTLAND — The Ore-
gon Department of Education
has suggested that all transgen-
der students in the state should
be able to use whatever names,
bathrooms and pronouns they
want.
The department released 15
pages of guidelines on issues
that are likely to be controver-
sial, including allowing trans-
gender females to play girls
sports and transgender men to
wear tuxedos to prom .
“A student who says she is a
girl and wishes to be regarded
that way throughout the school
day should be respected and
treated like any other girl,”
the document reads. “So too
with a student who says he is
a boy.”
The decision comes after
Dallas School District Super-
intendent Michelle Johnstone
asked Gov. Kate Brown for
help in February. The district,
located west of Salem, has
been embroiled in controversy
since last fall when Dallas
High School’s principal agreed
to let a transgender male use
the boys’ locker room.
Parents and students in Dal-
las protested, but the district’s
lawyer said they would likely
lose the lawsuit that would
come if they caved to commu-
nity pressure.
“There appears to be con-
fl ict regarding the intent of the
Oregon Equality Act,” John-
stone wrote to Brown, refer-
ring to a state law that bars dis-
crimination on the basis of sex.
See POLICIES, Page 3A