144TH YEAR, NO. 196
ONE DOLLAR
WEEKEND EDITION // FRIDAY, MARCH 31, 2017
‘We’re just trying to
help people to survive’
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Crews from Big River Construction Inc. continue storm
damage repairs along the Astoria Riverwalk near the
Columbia River Maritime Museum Thursday.
Riverwalk
recovers from
storm s, at last
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Astoria Warming Center Board President Allison Coffinbarger, left, and Shelter Coordinator Cheryl Paul reflect
on another season of the warming center on Thursday at First United Methodist Church in Astoria.
Astoria Warming Center
closes for the season
By ERICK BENGEL
The Daily Astorian
T
he Astoria Warming Center,
an overnight shelter for the
homeless , served more than
200 people during the recent cold
months, according to the nonprof-
it’s operational report.
Between Nov. 15 and Feb. 28,
the center — run in the First United
Methodist Church basement on
Franklin Avenue — took in 148
men and 64 women. These fi gures
include six people under 18, a dozen
between 18 and 24, 43 senior citi-
zens 55 and older, and 23 veterans.
On average, 30 people slept at
the warming center per night; the
maximum allowed was 35. All told,
the shelter had 3,126 overnight
stays.
When the center was founded
in 2014, it opened only during
foul-weather nights or when
temperatures were expected to
dip below 40 degrees. But a grant
from the Meyer Memorial Trust
enabled the organization to open
every night during that 3 1/2-month
stretch.
“It would be best if we didn’t
have to be here, but it’s life and
death for a lot of people,” Alison
Coffi nbarger, the board president,
said.
Without the daily chore of fi nd-
ing a place to sleep, people could
spend their days improving their
situation.
“We had a number of people
fi nd work in the time they were
there. We had some senior citizens
who had Social Security who were
able to save up enough, rather than
blowing their money on a hotel
room, and move into housing,”
Coffi nbarger said. “So we had some
success stories.”
According to center stats, 23
people reported moving into a more
stable housing situation; 11 reported
fi nding employment while staying
at the center; three reported return-
ing to school; and three said they
began participating in drug-and-al-
cohol treatment (not counting Alco-
holics Anonymous and Narcotics
Anonymous).
“We’re just trying to help people
to survive. That’s why we’re here,”
Coffi nbarger said.
See CENTER, Page 7A
• Operated Nov. 15 through Feb. 28
• Total number of volunteer hours: 2,620
(This number represents volunteer hours to
staff basic shelter coverage, including two
weeks of all-volunteer staffing, and does not
include volunteer hours related to organi-
zational work or work outside of operating
hours.)
• Men: 2,282
• Women: 844
• Average number served per night: 30
Men: 22
Fifteen months after
strong winter storms pum-
meled the Astoria water-
front, repairs along the
eroded banks of the Colum-
bia River are essentially
complete .
Big River Construc-
tion Inc. fi nished armoring
deteriorated areas along the
Astoria Riverwalk with new
rock .
The contractor also
removed trees and is stabi-
lizing a portion of waterfront
owned by the Columbia
River Maritime Museum.
City Engineer Jeff Har-
rington said the city had
about 20 small spots along
the Riverwalk that needed
to be rearmed with large
rocks to protect against
coastal erosion. The city
estimated $82,000 to com-
plete the repairs, he said, but
Big River, based in Asto-
ria, came in with a bid of
$44,400.
Harrington said 75 per-
cent of the project will be
reimbursed by the Federal
Emergency
Management
Agency , with a 25 percent
See RIVERWALK, Page 6A
Women: 8
• Total number of people served
(unduplicated count): 212
• Men: 148 (70 percent)
• Women: 64 (30 percent)
• Veterans: 23
• Age distribution of guests:
Children (under 18): 6 (3 percent)
Transition age youth (18-24): 12 (6 percent)
Adults age 25 to 54: 143 (67 percent)
Senior citizens (55 and over):
43 (20 percent)
Unknown: 8 (4 percent)
• Length of stay:
Average: 15 days
One week or less: 135 (64 percent)
One month (31 days) or less: 44 (21
percent)
Over one month (32 to 105 days): 33 (15
percent)
• Previous sleeping arrangement:
13 guests (6 percent) declined to divulge
where they slept prior to the warming center.
102 guests (48 percent) reported sleeping in
places intended for habitation, including other
shelters, friends’ houses, motels and jail.
• Positive outcomes:
Housing: 23 guests reported moving into a
more stable housing situation.
Employment: 11 reported finding employ-
ment while staying at the center.
School: 3 reported returning to school while
staying at the center.
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
By EDWARD
STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
WARMING CENTER
97 guests (46 percent) reported sleeping
in places not meant for habitation prior to
checking in at the warming center. Such
places included vehicles, dugouts, tents and
beneath bridges.
People eat while belongings sit next to their beds at the warming
center at First United Methodist Church in 2015 .
Cleanup from
2015 damage
was delayed
Drug/alcohol treatment: 3 reported they
began participating in drug-and-alcohol
treatment (not counting Alcoholics Anon-
ymous and Narcotics Anonymous) while
staying at the center.
Tenant protection
bill heads to House
No-cause
evictions, rent
control at stake
An
amendment
by
Rep. Mark Meek, D-
Clackamas
County,
a
landlord and real estate inves-
tor, reduced the amount of
relocation assistance land-
By PARIS ACHEN
lords are required to pay when
Capital Bureau
asking a tenant to leave to sell
the property, remodel or for
SALEM — A tenant pro- other allowable reasons. The
tection bill that lifts the state- amount is now one month rent
wide ban on rent
instead of three
months.
control and out-
The
change
laws
no-cause
also exempts units
evictions is headed
less than fi ve years
to the House fl oor
old from any rent
after the Human
control measures
Services
and
approved by local
Housing
Com-
governments and
mittee made sev-
exempts landlords
eral
revisions
with fewer than
Thursday.
fi ve units from
“Some people
Rep.
having to pay relo-
think a good pol-
Chris Gorsek,
cation fees if an
icy is one where
D-Troutdale
eviction is for cer-
no one is happy,
which makes this a great pol- tain no-fault reasons such as
icy,” said state Rep. Chris moving into the property or
Gorsek, D-Troutdale, a com- selling it.
The committee voted
mittee member.
The committee heard 5-to-4 to approve the revised
hours of impassioned testi- bill, with all Republicans on
mony from landlords and ten- the committee against the
ants affected by the state’s measure.
The legislation now goes
housing shortage before com-
to the House fl oor for a vote.
ing to the compromise.
Oregon’s storied ‘Tall Firs’
were planted in Astoria
Five on the
inaugural 1939
champion team
were from here
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
T he Oregon Ducks will be
playing in their fi rst Final Four
in 78 years.
The Ducks will take on
North Carolina in one semifi -
nal Saturday, while Gonzaga
and South Carolina square off
in the other half of the bracket .
And no doubt we will hear —
more than once — this week-
end about the “Tall Firs,” Ore-
gon’s n ational c hampionship
team of 1939 .
What you likely won’t hear,
though, is that fi ve of the Web-
foots were from Astoria.
So — for us locals, any-
way — when announcers start
talking about the Tall Firs,
Astorians can go ahead and
claim a little credit for the fi rst
n ational c hampionship ever
won.
Changes over time
Basketball has certainly
changed over the past 78 years,
and so, too , has recruiting.
The roster for the 1938-39
Oregon men’s basketball team
included players from towns in
Oregon and Washington state,
and one reserve from Vancou-
ver, British Columbia. And
that was it.
No Californians, no Tex-
ans, no Floridians … no one
from outside the upper corner
of the Pacifi c Northwest.
See ‘TALL FIRS’, Page 7A
University of Oregon
Astoria’s Wally Johansen, left, and Bobby Anet were fea-
tured in the 1939 edition of ‘Oregana,’ the yearbook for the
University of Oregon.