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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 17, 2017)
144TH YEAR, NO. 166 ONE DOLLAR WEEKEND EDITION // FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2017 Rohne Bringing Clatsop Care Center files for BACK FROM THE BRINK Port seat Former county commissioner may challenge Fulton By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian Former county commissioner Dirk Rohne will run for the Port of Astoria Com- mission position held by Stephen Fulton in the May special dis- trict election. Fulton’s post is one of three positions on the five-member Dirk Port Commission on Rohne the ballot in an elec- tion that could determine the direction of the Port. Fulton has been critical of the Port’s management and leadership, creating ten- sion among divided commissioners. See ROHNE, Page 7A Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian Clatsop Care Center in Astoria has long operated with a deficit. Efforts to sell the aging building have been unsuccessful, so far. Health district may hire outside company to run day-to-day ops By ERICK BENGEL The Daily Astorian T he Clatsop Care Health District may hire a management company to replace its departing CEO, a move the district hopes will improve the bottom line of the oldest care facility in Astoria. Though the district itself is financially secure, Clatsop Care Health and Rehabili- tation Center on 16th Street — also known as Clatsop Care Center — has long operated with a deficit. The center is expected to end this fiscal year with an operational deficit of $606,000. Property taxes and timber revenues will make up the difference. The district is looking to bring in outside management, in part, to prevent the center from closing, District Chairwoman Karen Burke said. “As a public health care district, we need to stay in the black,” she said. While the center is onerous to manage and staff, the chronic budget shortfall is due to a decline in census, as well as cuts to Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements. The center is licensed to serve more than 70 residents, both long-term residents and short-term care rehabilitation patients, including people recovering from surgery. But, in recent years, the number of resi- dents has gradually dropped. Then, last year, the district relocated about a dozen long- term residents because of a shortage of cer- tified nursing assistants. All residents now occupy the fourth floor. The center currently keeps 24 beds. Although the care center is still not making money, the downsizing stabilized losses: It shrank the deficit but didn’t fix the problem. “We’re still a bit in the red as far as the care center goes,” Burke said, adding, “We’re not losing more money than we were, whereas before we were kind of hav- ing increasing losses on a regular basis, and that is not happening.” Meanwhile, the district is no closer to selling the aging building — a maintenance headache driving up operational costs — than it was last year. Though brokers have shown the building to interested developers, no offers have been made. If the building is sold, the new owner would continue to lease it to the district while residents transfer to other locations. See CENTER, Page 7A Oregon judges ask for more pay, bigger pensions Want to attract young attorneys to the bench By SAUL HUBBARD The Register-Guard SALEM — A contingent of Oregon’s roughly 200 state judges visited the state Capitol this week on what has become a familiar quest: more pay and, indirectly, bigger pensions. Since 2014, lawmakers have given elected state judges raises of ‘We’re not doing this for the money. But (Oregon) needs to pay (judges) appropriately for the kind of work that they do.’ Today, a Supreme Court judge makes $147,560 a year, an appeals court judge $144,536, and a circuit court judge $135,776. They want more. Thomas Balmer This year, judges want lawmak- ers to pass a bill that would lock in another three years of raises between 2018 and 2020, increas- ing their pay by a further 12.7 per- cent to 14.2 percent. Those raises would cost the state around $11.2 million during the next four years. Oregon Supreme Court chief justice between 17.4 percent and 18.6 per- cent, depending on the court they work in. The Legislature has given judges three separate raises of $5,000 a year. And, in 2015, law- makers also agreed to automat- ically give all judges the same annual cost-of-living raises that non-union state managers get into the future, usually 2 to 3 percent a year. After fire, city rallies to rescue Charitable efforts aid those displaced by blaze By R.J. MARX The Daily Astorian CANNON BEACH — Cannon Beach hearts and pocketbooks are turning outward as residents seek to assist those displaced from the North Larch Street apartment build- ing destroyed by fire Sunday. A GoFundMe account and fundrais- ing efforts by the Cannon Beach Commu- nity Church are each gathering donations for those who lost their homes and belongings. “We’re trying to raise as much as we can to help them out,” Emmas Lindsay, owner of Dogs Allowed, said Thursday, after cre- ating an online fundraising appeal. “It’s a very small town, especially in the winter months. We are one big family. Everybody’s got everybody’s back. The three people that were displaced, everybody knows them, they know everybody. They just make what the town’s about.” See BLAZE, Page 7A Lock in raises See JUDGES, Page 7A Cannon Beach Fire and Rescue Fire consumed 124 N. Larch St. in Can- non Beach on Sunday, leaving three residents displaced. Businesses go dark for #adaywithoutimmigrants Area eateries, Astoria students joined the strike Associated Press and The Daily Astorian AP Photo/Eric Gay A young girl helps hold a U.S. flag as a group marches through downtown heading to the Texas Capitol during an immigration protest Thursday in Austin, Texas. PHILADELPHIA — The heart of Philadelphia’s Ital- ian Market was uncommonly quiet. Fine restaurants in New York, San Francisco and the nation’s capital closed for the day. Grocery stores, food trucks, coffee shops, diners and taco joints in places like Chicago, Los Angeles and Boston shut down. Immigrants around the U.S. stayed home from work and school Thursday to demon- strate how important they are to America’s economy, and many businesses closed in sol- idarity, in a nationwide pro- test called A Day Without Immigrants. The boycott was aimed squarely at President Don- ald Trump’s efforts to step up deportations, build a wall at the Mexican border and close the nation’s doors to many travelers. Organizers said they expected thousands to par- ticipate or otherwise show support. It was unclear how many people participated, but in many cities, the actions were disruptive, if not halting. More actions are being planned for May 1 — known as May Day, the internation- ally recognized holiday honor- ing workers. “I fear every day whether I am going to make it back home. I don’t know if my mom will make it home,” said Hessel Duarte, a 17-year-old native of Honduras who lives in Austin, Texas, with his fam- ily and skipped class at his high school to take part in one of several rallies held around the country. Duarte said he arrived in the U.S. at age 5 to escape gang violence. See PROTEST, Page 6A
