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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 6, 2017)
7A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2017 Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian In January 2016, Kerry Strickland, right, spoke about her son, Jordan, who battled drug addiction for years before overdosing on heroin. With Strickland is her daughter, Natasha Thompson. Jordan’s Hope: Stigma can be factor in preventable deaths the individual through tech- niques like throwing water or Throughout a seven-year placing ice on their heads. If battle that included five stays they do call 911, users often in treatment centers, Jordan first clean the body or remove struggled with the shame that paraphernalia, wasting time often comes with the disease, that could reduce the chance Kerry Strickland said. of survival. Jordan’s addiction and In 2015, the state Legisla- eventual death are part of a ture passed a law that grants nagging problem with pre- legal immunity to those who scription painkillers and her- report a drug overdose. Under oin in Clatsop County. Since the statute, those who either 2014, 12 people have died overdose or call to report from prescription drugs and them will not be charged with heroin, county medical exam- most lower-level drug-related iner JoAnn Giuliani said, the crimes. most visible local sign of an The law took effect in opioid abuse trend that has 2016, but many in the public reached epidemic proportions are unaware of the protection. nationally. Ron Brown, the county’s The faces of addiction chief deputy district attorney, are not necessarily the ones sent a notice to law enforce- many people might picture. ment agencies in late Janu- “The kids that you know are ary reminding them of the the ones using these drugs,” law. “Note — please take a Kerry Strickland said. look at this statute as it goes totally against the grain we ‘Complete, are used to in arresting any- incomprehensible one who possesses drugs or demoralization’ frequents places whose con- The stigma that often trolled substances are kept, complicates addiction can be sold or used,” the notice says. factors in preventable deaths. “We’re much more want- For Jordan, living in a ing to save lives than go small, rural town like Knappa out and prosecute people,” only added to Brown said. the shame he W h i l e ‘I just felt. He was Giuliani is e x p e r i e n c - wanted to unsure whether ing “complete, the law will continue have much incomprehen- sible demor- she is Jordan’s effect, alization,” his hopeful it may mother said. least save battle and at one life. “Being that jock guy and “I kind of honor his then being the have to look at memory the world that town junkie, that’s what way, that even people call it. by helping one is success- That’s a demor- those who ful,” she said. alizing blow,” Since sea- Kerry Strick- soned drug are still land said. “He users often kept going struggling.’ have more into relapse experience in because of the Kerry Strickland avoiding over- mother of Jordan shame. Other- doses, the law Strickland, who died from a wise, maybe may have the heroin overdose in he would have highest effect Los Angeles in 2015 gone to the on younger, doctor and said, ‘Hey, I need less-experienced users like help.’” Jordan Strickland. On Christmas Day in “Those are the ones you 2014, Jordan checked into hate to lose because it can be his fifth treatment center, this prevented,” Giuliani said. time in Los Angeles. Mov- ing to a new city, especially Jordan’s Hope a large one, was helpful for In February 2016, Kerry him, Kerry Strickland said. Strickland — along with “The anonymity is amaz- friends and family — created ing here,” Kerry recalled her a nonprofit outreach organi- son saying. zation called Jordan’s Hope After months of sobri- for Recovery. The motto: ety, Jordan seemed to be “Addiction is a disease, not a on the right path in his new moral failing. No one has to home. He was working in suffer alone. No one has to construction and had begun die from this disease.” dating. But during a trip to An affiliate of the National Las Vegas, Jordan and some Council on Alcoholism and friends decided to drink, his Drug Dependence, the orga- mother said, which eventu- nization hopes to act as a ref- ally led to a heroin relapse. erence point and connect peo- By early July, he was ple with resources throughout found dead in his apartment northwest Oregon, southwest of an overdose, just a cou- Washington and other regions ple of weeks shy of his 25th of the Pacific Northwest. birthday. A launch party will take place today at 6 p.m. in room 219 of Columbia Hall Fear of arrest While Jordan was found at Clatsop Community Col- alone in his apartment, many lege in Astoria. The party heroin users consume the will include the debut of a drug in groups, Giuliani said. website — jordanshope.org As the county medical — that will provide infor- examiner, Giuliani remains mation about recovery and on call 24 hours a day, seven accept donations. Speak- days a week to investigate ers at the event will be par- deaths. ents — like Kerry Strickland In drug cases, Giuliani — who have lost children to said that when someone over- addiction. doses, others are often hes- “I just wanted to continue itant to call 911 for fear of Jordan’s battle and honor his being arrested. memory by helping those As a result, other drug who are still struggling,” she users may attempt to revive said. Continued from Page 1A Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian A woman walks past 14th Street and Exchange Street as snow blankets the ground on Sunday in Astoria. Snow: Astoria received about 4 inches Continued from Page 1A as not to miss the snow. “I didn’t like driving in it earlier,” she said. “I did notice a lot of people were driving very politely, which I thought was really amazing.” Bateman, of Astoria, said he witnessed a driver who tried to avoid someone slid- ing into a parked car. But the trio said that, for the most part, they saw vehicles proceeding slowly and keeping their dis- tance on the road. Astoria received about 4 inches of snow; 5 inches piled up two miles east of town, according to the Port- land branch of the National Weather Service. The Astoria Regional Airport’s snowfall was measured at 2 inches. Numerous accidents, stalled vehicles and downed trees and power lines created treacherous driving conditions in parts of Clatsop County since Sunday morning. U.S. Highways 26 and 30 saw about a dozen accidents alone. One accident involv- ing several vehicles near Bradley State Scenic View- point Sunday morning closed U.S. Highway 30 for about an hour until the Oregon Department of Transporta- tion could clear it and plow the roads. While Oregon State Police responded to fatal crashes in Forest Grove and Coos County, none have been reported in Clatsop County. Coxcomb Drive and Eighth Street between Franklin Ave- nue and Grand Avenue in Astoria were both closed as vehicles had trouble navigat- ing steep hills. Closures The Knappa and Jew- ell school districts announced that classes will be canceled on Monday. Astoria, Knappa, Warrenton-Hammond schools and Clatsop Community Col- lege started two hours late. As the white blanket down- town gradually thawed into a gray slush, a group of men parading down Marine Drive made snowballs and slung them at each other on the sidewalk. Jim DeFeo, owner of Asto- ria Coffee House & Bistro, said snowfall normally helps his business, as people move indoors to escape the inclem- ent weather. But the Super Bowl, he said, cut down on the day’s patrons. Across the street, Dan Ken- nedy, a young man who said he is temporarily homeless, kept warm inside Godfather’s Books and Espresso. A former student at Clat- sop Community College and University of Oregon, Ken- nedy was already inside, writ- ing in a notebook and research- ing the cosmos, when the first flakes fell. “Now that I see the snow, I’m really glad I’m in here,” said Kennedy, who planned to stay overnight in the Astoria Warming Center. Buddy Kropp, a Godfa- ther’s bookseller, said the store had experienced the usual amount of foot traffic. “We like it better than the rain at the moment … We wouldn’t like it all the time, but it’s a nice change,” Kropp said. He added: “Because it’s rare, it’s wonderful.” — Jack Heffernan and Der- rick DePledge contributed to this report Hunters: Team will study Emily Reed wreck Continued from Page 1A He does not salvage or excavate the wrecks he finds, explaining, “I am not a treasure hunter, I’m not out there look- ing for ships full of gold dou- bloons. I am an archaeologist.” A garbage collector Dewey jokingly says that he is oftentimes referred to as a garbage collector because he finds other peoples garbage and lost things throughout the world. According to Dewey, underwater archeology looks at shipwrecks and submerged land sites both historically and prehistorically, meaning Native American and the like. “Nauti- cal archeology,” he said, is not only about the ships, “it’s about the information that connects us to our past and it’s about maritime cultures.” Over the years, Hollywood has glamorized shipwrecks and treasure hunting in such mov- ies as “The Deep,” “Fool’s Gold” and “The Goonies.” But who really owns abandoned shipwrecks? Up until 1988, divers could sneak around and salvage a few trinkets they found on aban- doned shipwrecks. But due to the damage many historical wrecks received from salvag- ing, the Abandoned Shipwreck Act was signed into law. Shipwrecks embedded in lands in which they lie belong Submitted Photo Wreck of the Peter Iredale at Fort Stevens. to the state including riv- ers, lakes and up to 3 miles offshore. Paperwork An archaeological site, Dewey explains must be 50 years or older in Washing- ton and 75 years in Oregon. He discourages treasure seek- ers from making a site claim for excavation due to the mass amounts of paperwork and the amount of money needed for an excavation. “It’s expensive to claim an excavation site and by doing so many historical objects have been lost to pri- vate collections.” Sites around shipwrecks are as important as the artifacts. “If they had been lost into a private library, there would have been nothing left to see because the ship is gone,” Dewey said, referring back to the wreck with the containers. “So there is a good reason to leave arti- facts where they lie.” The shipwreck of the Peter Iredale is the most visible and well-known wreck on the Ore- gon Coast. Located on Clatsop Spit, its skeletal structure tow- ers above the wet sands during low tide. Even though larger and more famous shipwrecks such as the Titanic and Peter Iredale are intriguing, Dewey said lesser-known ships that have wrecked in the region equally capture his attention. One such wreck was found on the Seaside beach in November 2014. Three men were metal detecting in the dunes and uncovered a large piece of wood. Dewey inves- tigated and sent his data and a drawing of a boat keel to the state’s archaeologist. After much research, the state con- cluded it was a 1950s trawler. It didn’t take long for the Colewort Creek boat to be identified. The abandoned boat was located in the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park and through word of mouth, a relative and a photo, the boat was determined to be a 1920s square-stern gillnetter owned by a local man who transported milk from a dairy farm to the Astoria market. Future projects for the team include the Coastal Survey Project to examine the T.J. Pot- ter, a side-wheel steamer built in 1888 in Portland. It trav- eled from Portland to Astoria and Portland to Ilwaco, Wash- ington. In 1920, its license was revoked and it was abandoned on Youngs Bay where it was burned and salvaged for metal. The Potter remains on Clatsop County property. The Silvia de Grasse, a lumber schooner that sank in Astoria in 1849 is located on the rocks off Pier 39. And, the C-Trader, another lumber freighter sank in 1963 and is located in the Columbia River near Buoy 20. This summer, the team will study the Emily Reed wreck that ran aground in 1908 and is known to be located in Nehalem Bay. A 1700s wreck is rumored to be located in the southern harbor of Nehalem Bay and Dewey would like to take a look at it at a later date. — Rebecca Herren Lawsuit: ‘It’s a matter of cost-sharing’ Continued from Page 1A The county will still poten- tially be a big recipient of any settlement from the law- suit. Of the 30 taxing districts in the county receiving tim- ber tax revenues, 25 remained involved. The board of Jewell School District, a timber tax-funded K-12 school in the middle of the Clatsop State Forest, took no action. The Port of Asto- ria Commission was the only major taxing district to vote publicly to stay in. Clatsop Community Col- lege’s board voted 4-3 the day before the deadline to opt out. But board member Esther Moberg’s vote to opt out, sub- mitted via email after she declined to attend the meeting and vote via teleconference, was rescinded as a violation of voting rules. The vote was ruled a tie, and the college was left in the lawsuit. No sense in opt-out John DiLorenzo, the lead lawyer for Linn County in the case, said all Clatsop County did was give up money and any influence over the outcome of the $1.4 billion lawsuit. “It just makes no logical sense to me,” he said. “But hey; you know what? It’s their right to do it.” DiLorenzo said there’s a misconception that the case is about changing timber poli- cies, which he said would ulti- mately involve an extensive rule-making process or legis- lative action requiring public input. “I know that passions are … very much present as part of this debate,” DiLorenzo said. “But believe me; this case is all about money.” DiLorenzo said environ- mental and timber policies are created by and seen as beneficial to the entire state. But the costs of such policies not maximizing timber rev- enues, he said, fall more on rural counties that can least afford it. “It’s a matter of cost-shar- ing,” he said. “Should rural Oregonians be the only ones who pay for the cost of a pol- icy that benefits all?”
