Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 5, 2016)
3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2016 Extreme poverty persists in Oregon despite broader recovery Some areas have been left behind in revival By NATASHA RAUSCH The Oregonian KLAMATH FALLS — Misti Scott and a dozen others show up each Wednesday for a two-hour parenting class at the Faith Tabernacle church. Scott can’t stay long after class to chat. As a 38-year-old single mother, she has three teenage boys to tend to. “Do you want one?” she asks jokingly. The class is required if she wants to continue to receive two years of help with rent payments. Her two years is up in March, though. That scares her. Her rental home is in the Mills Addition neighborhood of Klamath Falls. The south- ern Oregon county that once boasted dozens of lumber and paper mills now has three. In addition to the decline of its largest industry, the county suffers from a lack of hous- ing availability, an aging pop- ulation, an inlux of alcohol- ism and drugs and a shortage of jobs. Compounding the problems, the county lost two grocery stores and a major employer last year. Scott’s neighborhood, where 35 percent of residents live below the poverty line, relects the repeated blows. Mills Addition is one of the poorest neighborhoods in Oregon. Its houses have been scooped up on the cheap by landlords who rent to low- wage workers. The homes are unkempt, grass overgrown, and for every few occupied houses, one is abandoned. The community is a stark reminder that even as the state enjoys historic job growth and low unemployment, pockets of deep poverty are untouched by the economic recovery. Communities like Mills Addition are the lipside of gentriied neighborhoods. Instead of a relatively rapid transformation to development and afluence, these areas tend to slide into abject poverty over decades. Because it’s a slow change, people often overlook the changes. In Oregon, the state has designated 112 “high poverty hotspots,” where 20 percent or more of the residents are at or below the poverty line. Nearly half are located in rural counties. In Klamath County, there are four. The community is a stark reminder that even as the state enjoys historic job growth and low unemployment, pockets of deep poverty are untouched by the economic recovery. One man asks another, “Do you know what time it is?” The man shakes his head. Others in the room look around for a clock; no one has a watch or a smartphone with the time. “12:51,” a reporter tells him. He runs out without being helped. Another woman walks in and takes a number. “Ninety-eight.” Fifth-worst poverty spot in Oregon No degree, no job Each hotspot has a ranking, and Mills Addition is ifth- worst of Oregon’s 112. This particular hotspot has the sec- ond-highest per capita partic- ipation in the state’s low-in- come food program and nearly one-third of households are run by a single parent, according to a May 2015 state report. Mills Addition also has the sev- enth-highest rate of involve- ment by state child welfare case workers, relected by the lines at the local Department of Human Services ofice just a mile away. “Ninety-six,” a clerk calls on a summer afternoon, and the next client makes her way to the counter. District manager Jeremy Player said no one wants to be here, to need the services the agency can help provide. “It’s a last resort,” he said. “I see a lot of pain and suffer- ing walk through that door.” A man with curly blond hair walks in and back out of the lobby door several times, hesitating. The fourth time, he lingers. “I can’t do this,” he inally shouts. “It’s too much for my anxiety.” He exits and doesn’t come back. “Ninety-seven.” Player said when the tim- ber industry was the largest employer it was easy to drop out of school, work for a lum- ber mill and still provide for a family. But that’s not the case any- more — and he’s trying to change that mentality. Still, last year only 72 percent of Klam- ath County students graduated high school in four years. Player and his coworkers knock on the doors of chron- ically absent kids and see how they can help get them to school. They have passed out diplomas and even shaken the hands of middle-aged people who went back to get a degree. Just a month ago, Klamath even held a irst-ever gradua- tion parade for graduates of all levels of school, even kinder- gartners. The hope is for it to become an annual event. Scott said she never got her college degree. Right now, she doesn’t have a job because it’s too hard to ind one with three boys at home. Before moving to the Mills a year ago, she was homeless for a little over a year, couch suring or staying in hotels most nights. She sent her boys to live with her brother in Medford. She stayed behind, with nothing but a car that had no license or registration. And she had a lot on her mind after escaping a bad relationship. “It was emotionally drain- ing,” she said. Housing is tough to ind in a county where there’s only 2 percent vacancy, and some vacant homes aren’t it for living. But the local Klamath and Lake County Action Services action services helped ind her a spot to rent. The only down- side was the location, in Mills Addition. Scott calls it the ghetto. “But I’m ghetto fabulous,” she said. Paul Stewart, chief exec- utive of Sky Lakes Medical Center, said the answer to pov- erty is to create living-wage jobs. There aren’t nearly enough of them in Klamath County right now, he says. “Work is not just a source of income; it’s a source of self- value and self-esteem,” he said. “It makes you more func- tional and more healthy.” Stewart came to Klamath Falls 30 years ago and planned on staying a few years before moving to a bigger market. But he and his family fell in love with the town. These days, he even has six grandkids in the area. “Now I’m personally invested in this community thriving,” he said. No full recovery until 2024 Klamath, like most other rural Oregon counties, still hasn’t recovered from the Great Recession. In fact, it’s still 8.8 percent below its peak pre-recession employment levels. The Ore- gon Employment Department Astoria woman sentenced ive years for theft, forgery By KYLE SPURR The Daily Astorian An Astoria woman who counterfeited money and com- mitted theft and attempted robbery with her boyfriend was sentenced to ive years in prison. Robyn Joyce Spear, 28, pleaded no contest Friday in Clatsop County Circuit Court to charges of irst-de- gree theft, irst-degree forgery and attempted second-degree robbery. The crime spree mal traps, camp- occurred between ing gear, parts of an October 2015 and antique grandfather January. clock, dishes and In October, other items from Spear and her boy- two storage units in friend, Cameron Warrenton. James McKey, 25, Later that month, of Astoria, each they stole more than attempted to pass a $1,000 worth of counterfeit $20 bill tools from Englund Robyn Joyce at the Astoria Mini Marine & Industrial Spear Mart on two sepa- Supply. In January, rate occasions. they attempted to rob a woman In December, Spear and in Astoria. McKey stole crab pots, ani- During the four-month time frame, Spear also forged a check at Columbia Bank, and stole jewelry and other per- sonal items from another local woman. Overall, Spear is ordered to pay more than $13,500 in res- titution to the victims. She is also ordered to have no contact with the victims, and not asso- ciate with McKey. McKey received a ive-year prison sentence in June after pleading guilty to the similar charges. Ailing Korean shipper Hanjin moves to resolve cargo chaos By YOUKYUNG LEE Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea — Moving to unsnarl the chaos in its container cargo after it iled for bankruptcy protection, Hanjin Shipping Co. will seek stay orders in dozens of countries, the Financial Ser- vices Commission said Monday. Hanjin, South Korea’s largest ocean con- tainer shipper, will seek bankruptcy protection in 43 countries, including Canada, Germany and Britain, and the government said it would urge those countries to expedite the process. Hanjin filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. and South Korea last week. A company spokeswoman, Park Eun- hye, conirmed Hanjin was moving to protect its assets but refused to specify in how many countries, beyond the U.S. and South Korea. Notiications sent following ishing license data breach By KEITH RIDLER Associated Press BOISE, Idaho — Notices that personal information might have been compro- mised will be sent to hunting and ishing license holders in Idaho and Oregon following the breach of a vendor’s com- puter system. They likely will be sent in Washington state, too. Oficials in Idaho and Ore- gon said Dallas-based Active Network will mail the notices to people in their states fol- lowing the computer hack last week that shut down online license sales. Washington oficials said they’re in contact with the ll Ca ime yt n A company and expect similar letters to be sent in their state, but that hadn’t been inalized Friday. Oficials say the num- ber of records exposed could be in the millions. Online license sales have been halted in all three states until the extent of the hack is fully understood. “They’ve only been able to conirm that it was possible that personal information was accessed,” Idaho Department of Fish and Game spokesman Mike Keckler said. “We do not know yet whether or not that actually occurred, and we may not ever know.” Hunting and ishing licenses can still be purchased at the states’ wildlife ofices or at businesses that sell the licenses. It’s unclear when online sales might resume. “I don’t have an esti- mate,” Bruce Botka of Wash- ington’s wildlife agency said. “Our most important concern is ensuring the security of that particular channel.” Oficials in the three states said only about 20 percent of license sales occur online, with about 80 percent in person at state wildlife ofices or busi- nesses that sell the licenses. But that can be a prob- lem for out-of-state hunters or anglers planning trips to the Northwest. Oregon oficials have had to resort to process- ing license applications over the phone, said Rick Hargrave of Oregon’s Department of Fish and Wildlife. “Kind of the old-school way,” he said. An Active Network spokes- man didn’t return a call from The Associated Press seeking comment Friday. 503-440-2169 Jeff Hale, Contractor wood shavings and other items to try to start the ire. Kris Kaino, Engelson’s A former part-time defense lawyer, said in employee at Clatsop Com- court Friday that she never munity College, who was intended to burn the build- arrested twice for arson at ings down. She wanted the college last winter, was to start the ires for per- sentenced to 18 months sonal reasons, as a ritual probation. to cleanse her soul, Kaino Erin Jaynel said. Engelson, 38, of “She was Naselle, Wash- not trying to ington, entered burn something Alford guilty down,” Kaino pleas to two said. counts of reckless In January, burning, a Class Judge Cindee A misdemeanor, Matyas found Friday in Clatsop Engelson unable County Circuit to aid and assist Court. in her criminal Erin Jaynel She was orig- case. The judge Engelson inally charged ordered Engel- with arson, burglary and son to be sent to the Oregon criminal trespass. The State Hospital, where she charges were dropped was treated for about two through the plea agreement. months. Astoria Police origi- Engelson suffers from nally arrested Engelson in mental health issues, but is December after ire dam- receiving proper medica- age, estimated at $250, was tion. She was able to plead found on the loor of the to her crimes in court Friday. college’s science lab. As part of her proba- While out of jail on a tion, she is ordered to take release agreement, Engel- all prescribed medications son was arrested in Janu- as directed by her physician ary for attempting to start and comply with her mental another bonire outside the health counseling program. art building on the college In addition, she is to campus. She reportedly have no contact with the used pieces of wood pallets, college. By KYLE SPURR The Daily Astorian conceal carry permit classes Multi-State - valid in WA $80 or Oregon-only $45 Oregon included no-fee. NEWS TALK FOR THE COAST Pro viding live a nd lo ca l new s co vera ge every da y LICENSED BONDED INSURED CCB#179131 Woman sentenced for setting ires at college BEST WESTERN 555 Hamburg Ave, Astoria, OR Jeff Hale P ainting Over 20 years local experience Kelley Minty Morris, chair of the Klamath County Board of Commissioners, is also try- ing to turn the tide. Morris, also a trustee at the Oregon Institute of Tech- nology, believes having the college in town is a potential game-changer for the area. But only if some of the gradu- ates stick around when they’re done with school. The problem, though, is that educated young people tend to leave. “We all sit around tables all the time asking, ‘How do we get our grads to stay here?’” she said. Klamath County’s pop- ulation is aging. Residents 65 and over increased 12.1 percent from 2012 to 2015, while all other age groups declined, according to Port- land State University Popula- tion Research Center. Two Oregon Tech gradu- ates did a study for their inal project to determine how many college graduates are leaving and why. Of the 634 students sur- veyed, the study found 82 percent of graduates are not likely to stay in Klam- ath County after graduation. The study showed the stu- dents don’t feel connected to the community and don’t see a lot of local opportunity, so they leave. Morris said the commu- nity as a whole needs to make an effort to connect graduates with the area, so they want to stay after graduation. That way their business ideas and their education and training stay in the county, too. “If we could leverage Ore- gon Tech,” she said, “then that’s our biggest opportunity to improve our economy. The community is a stark reminder that even as the state enjoys historic job growth and low unemployment, pockets of deep poverty are untouched by the economic recovery. Monday, Sept. 12 th 1pm and 6pm Fre e as Est F ima t t es • Residential • Commercial •Cedar Roof Treatments • Interior & Exterior predicts it won’t be out of the hole until 2024. The fastest growing indus- try in the county, however, is health care, and that’s some- thing Stewart knows well. His latest endeavor is Klamath Works, designed as a place where a community of services for those in pov- erty will come together on a single campus. The campus is scheduled to be inished in ive years, and once that happens, it will offer a one-stop shop for access to housing, jobs, mental and physical health, food and government services. Kent Berry, executive director of the Gospel Mission in Klamath Falls, is another one of the masterminds behind the plan. He’s already raised nearly $1 million to fund three new buildings on the campus. One will be housing for men, another one will be housing for women and the third will be for serving meals. Berry was a pastor in Texas for 30 years before coming to the current Gospel Mission location in downtown Klamath Falls. He kept his southern drawl. Berry said he’s giving hope to once hopeless people. Among them is 38-year-old Marshall Johnson, who was staying at the mission until he can get back on his feet. He grew up in Los Angeles, but 11 years ago his dad gave him money to move to Klamath Falls to start a new life after getting caught up in alcohol and methamphetamines. He said his biggest regret is doing that irst line of meth as an 18-year-old. He lived at the Rivers Inn hotel until his money ran out. Then he came to the mission. Young people leave Y ou could see it ton igh t, rea d a bout it tom orrow or h ea r it live N O W ! Required class to get an Oregon or multi-State permit. Class includes: • Fingerprinting & photo • Oregon gun laws • Washington gun laws • Interstate travel laws • Interaction with law enforcement • Use of deadly force • Firearm / ammunition / holster selection 360.921.2071 FirearmTrainingNW.com : FirearmrainingNW@gmail.com
