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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?”