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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 23, 2017)
COAST WEEKEND: FISHERPOETS GATHERING STARTS FRIDAY INSIDE DailyAstorian.com // THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2017 144TH YEAR, NO. 170 ONE DOLLAR More than 800 job seekers attend career fair By LUKE WHITTAKER EO Media Group Students play a game at one of the booths at the Clatsop County Career and Job Fair Wednesday at the Clatsop County Fair- grounds. One came with plans to be a police offi cer, but fi rst needed a pinch of advice. Another wore a suit and a bow tie, looking for an opportunity to shadow a doctor. Most were simply seeking summer jobs. In all, more than 800 job seekers from nine area schools and the com- munity attended the third annual Clat- sop County Career and Job Fair on Luke Whittaker EO Media Group Spence runs for Port seat Wednesday , where they met with more than 70 local employers at the Clatsop County Fairgrounds. The fair was open to area schools fi rst, adults in the afternoon. Looking for work Some students were ambivalent about future plans, others wanted summer work and a few were keen on a career. The Warrenton junior in the suit and black bow tie wasn’t hesitant when asked his ambitions. “I would like to become an ER doctor,” Robert Barber said. “I’ve been looking for a job shadow with one of the hospitals. I spoke to both Columbia Memorial Hospital and Providence Seaside.” Barber wasn’t the only one con- sidering a career in health care . Sergei Davis, a senior at Astoria High School, met with Lektro air- craft tug company and Hampton See FAIR, Page 4A TEEN PREGNANCY An urban-rural divide Retired administrator sees newness as plus By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian Frank Spence Frank Spence, a former city and county administrator, has fi led to replace John Raichl on the Port of Asto- ria Commission in the May special districts election. Raichl, a former sheriff and county commissioner who was appointed in 2014, is not running for election. Spence, 81, who has served on the Port’s budget committee, spent most of his career working for city and county governments in Florida. He relocated to Astoria in 2013 to be near his son and family in Long Beach, Washington. “I’m a relative newcomer, and I see that some of the members have … a his- tory, and maybe some of that friction comes from previous history and having been living in this area for a long time,” Spence said. Six different cities Spence was a city manager for about 45 years at six different cities in Florida, includ- ing Miami Beach, Miami Springs, Biscayne Park, Loxahatchee Groves, Mangonia Park and North Palm Beach. He was also a county administrator for Florida’s Alachua and Put- nam c ounties. Since moving to Astoria, he has served almost three years on the Port’s budget com- mittee, and more than two on the Astoria Planning Commission. “After serving on the Port’s budget com- mittee for the past few years, I have seen the administration fi nally get their fi nan- cial house in order with the help of consult- ing fi nancial professionals working closely with their auditor,” Spence said in a state- ment about his candidacy. “As a former city manager and county administrator, responsi- ble for multimillion-dollar budgets, I know the importance of having a clear, fi rm control and understanding of your fi nances. I now want to continue that fi nancial oversight as a Port commissioner.” Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian Jesse and Sarah Bubar and their children Ema, left, Isabel, center, and Clara at their home in Warrenton. Teen birth rate is signifi cantly higher in Oregon’s rural counties Teen pregnancy The teen birth rate is at a record low in the U.S., but there is a persistent urban and rural divide. Births* Urban counties 2015 2007 Area Percent change Rural counties 2015 2007 Percent change U.S. 18.9 38.1 -50% 30.9 49.1 -37% Oregon 17.2 32.2 -46.6% 29.3 42.8 -31.5% Area teen birth rates by county, 2015 County Births* 31.6 Tillamook 31 Columbia 30 Clatsop 27.7 Multnomah Washington Clackamas 19.5 15.6 *Birth rate per 1,000 females aged 15 to 19 Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Oregon Health Authority See SPENCE, Page 11A Alan Kenaga/EO Media Group By DERRICK DePLEDGE The Daily Astorian S arah Bubar and her boyfriend, Jesse, had talked about having a baby. She was a Warrenton High School sophomore who got “baby fever” after helping to care for her sister’s newborn. By her junior year, though, she changed her mind. “I decided I didn’t want to have a baby,” Bubar remembers. “I just wanted to graduate high school, get to college, get through college, and be fi nancially stable. “And that day I found out I was pregnant.” The teen birth rate in the United States is at a record low, a public health success story. Teen pregnan- cies have fallen in urban and rural areas across the country, but the decline has been narrower in rural pockets like Clatsop County, leav- ing a persistent divide. Teenagers who live in rural counties are signifi cantly more likely to give birth than in urban counties, a geographic disparity that can infl uence social mobility. Young women who choose to become parents can build healthy, responsible relationships into adulthood. Unintended pregnan- cies, however, can interrupt edu- cation, cause emotional rifts within families, and alter career paths, challenges that are often more pronounced in rural communities where options are limited. See DIVIDE, Page 5A Clatsop County looks to identify mass shelters Contract to assess options By JACK HEFFERNAN The Daily Astorian An assessor will evaluate open areas in Clatsop County over the next few months for possible mass shelters in the event of an earthquake, tsunami or other major emergency. The Clatsop County Board of Commissioners voted Wednesday night to approve a $30,000 contract to Stacy Burr to provide the countywide assessment. The county received a $30,000 grant for the assess- ment last year tion during a tsu- from the state Mil- nami rather than a itary Department’s suitable location for h omeland s ecurity a mass gathering of g rant p rogram. Clat- displaced residents. sop County Emer- Once the assess- gency Management ment is fi nished, reached out to four Burr will provide an emergency planning in-depth improve- consultants in Jan- ment plan for all Stacy Burr uary, and Burr was fi ve cities and unin- the sole respondent. corporated areas of the c ounty. While the county has She will meet with representa- already identifi ed snapshots of tives of each of these districts possible assembly areas, many through planning meetings and of them do not have necessary coordinate with non govern- equipment and resources for ment organizations such as the mass care, Emergency Man- American Red Cross. ager Tiffany Brown said. Many In other business Wednes- of these areas, for instance, day, commissioners: simply represent a safe eleva- • E xpressed support for a t ransportation f unding p ackage at the state Legislature . Clatsop County anticipates a $5 million annual shortfall in funding for county roads, bridges, culverts and its transportation system. The package would pro- vide an estimated $9.2 million in revenue for Clatsop County over the next fi ve years, accord- ing to the Association of Ore- gon Counties. While 98 percent of the county’s paved roads are in good condition, three out of 69 bridges are structurally defi - cient, according to the Oregon Association of County Engi- neers and Surveyors. • Agreed to send a letter to the Oregon Youth Author- ity expressing opposition to the closure of the North Coast Youth Correctional Facility in Warrenton. The letter cites $6 million in possible lost payroll and local purchasing revenue as well as a loss of jobs. “Clatsop County has a small population which makes the economic impact of the NCYCF very signifi cant for our county,” the letter says. Kathi Merritt, a library media specialist at the youth facility’s South Jetty High School, and Amanda Rob- inson, an executive special- ist, spoke in favor of the let- ter during the meeting’s public comment section. Gov. Kate Brown has pro- posed closing the youth facility.
