6A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MAY 5, 2017
WORLD IN BRIEF
vice had issued severe thunderstorm warnings for parts of the
state and Oregon throughout the day.
The majority of outages were in and around Olympia where
The Olympian reported authorities had to extricate a motorist
whose vehicle was struck by a power pole and live wires.
Straight-line winds blew the roof off a shop in East Olympia.
Other power outages were scattered around Western Washing-
ton as far north as Ferndale.
The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm
watch for parts of Oregon and Washington until 11 p.m. Thursday.
Associated Press
House repeal of ‘Obamacare’
hands hot potato to wary Senate
WASHINGTON — Republicans are claiming a triumph by
pushing their legislative centerpiece scuttling much of President
Barack Obama’s health care law through the House. It was a per-
ilous journey, and its Senate pathway will be at least as bumpy
with little doubt the measure will change, assuming it survives.
Thursday’s 217-213 House passage — with 20 GOP defec-
tions — was preceded by several near-death experiences for the
legislation, even though repealing Obama’s statute helped guide
Donald Trump’s presidential run and multitudes of GOP congres-
sional campaigns.
And that was in a chamber Republicans control 238-193. Had
just two additional Republicans voted “no,” the measure would
have lost because bills need majorities to pass. Now, Republicans
must try maneuvering the measure through a Senate terrain that is
different politically and procedurally from the House.
“We must manage expectations and remain focused on the art
of the doable as we move forward,” said Senate Finance Com-
mittee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, among several cautionary
statements issued by Senate Republicans after the House vote.
The House bill would end the Obama law’s fines on people
who don’t purchase policies and erase its taxes on health industry
businesses and higher-earning people. It would dilute Obama’s
consumer-friendly insurance coverage requirements, like letting
states permit insurers to charge higher premiums for customers
with pre-existing medical conditions.
Anxiety over GOP health plan
for those with severe illnesses
As Republicans move closer to dismantling Democrat Barack
Obama’s health care law, Americans with serious illnesses are
feeling uneasy.
The GOP health care bill pushed through the House on Thurs-
day leaves those with pre-existing conditions fearful of higher
premiums and losing coverage altogether if the Affordable Care
Act is replaced.
The bill sets aside billions of dollars more to help people
afford coverage, but experts say that money is unlikely to guar-
antee an affordable alternative for people now covered under a
popular provision of the existing law that prevents insurers from
rejecting them or charging higher rates based on their health.
What happens to those with pre-existing conditions under the
Republican plan remains unknown.
Several people unsettled by the prospects expressed these
concerns.
Mudslides halt rail traffic
between Seattle and Portland
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
President Donald Trump talks with House Speaker Paul
Ryan of Wis. in the Rose Garden of the White House in
Washington on Thursday after the House pushed through
a health care bill. Bill now heads to the U.S. Senate.
Oregon House Democrats
propose new business tax
SALEM — Democratic leaders of the state House have pro-
posed a new tax on business sales, but less than what voters
defeated last fall, with $2.1 billion in net proceeds targeted to
education and social spending in the next two years.
State House Speaker Tina Kotek of Portland and leaders of
the budget and tax committees say their plan — coupled with
cost-saving measures and other spending cuts — would balance
the next state budget and boost education spending as advocated
by business groups.
“I doubt we can grow this economy, continue to maintain
growth and grow our workforce without these types of invest-
ments,” Kotek said Thursday to a joint committee considering
new taxes.
“Does another generation of students have to wait while the
grownups figure it out?”
— Capital Bureau
Thousands without power in
Pacific Northwest thunderstorms
SEATTLE — A series of thunderstorms rolling through West-
ern Washington downed trees and power lines, but no serious
injuries were reported.
About 40,000 Puget Sound Energy customers remained with-
out power after 9 p.m. Thursday after the National Weather Ser-
TACOMA, Wash. — Officials with BNSF Railway say mud-
slides have forced the suspension of train traffic on a heavily trav-
eled section of rails between Seattle, Washington, and Portland,
Oregon.
Gus Melonas, spokesman for the Burlington Northern and
Santa Fe Railway, says early today that 10 slides just north of
the Tacoma Narrows Bridge have halted rail traffic. The multiple
slides came hours after a series of thunderstorms rolled through
western Washington.
He says a 48-hour hold has been put on Amtrak trains between
Seattle and Portland, and that hold is scheduled to last until 11:30
p.m. Saturday. On its website, Amtrak says it is seeking alternate
transportation.
Melonas says the slides consisting of mud, rock, trees and
debris coming from a 100-foot cliff started at about 9 p.m. Thurs-
day. He says crews are using excavators and cranes to remove
debris and that a ditch has been constructed to allow water to
flow. He says it has been an extremely wet seven months in the
area.
Melonas says about 60 trains per day from Amtrak, BNSF and
Union Pacific use the tracks.
More invasive green
crabs found near Sequim
SEQUIM, Wash. — A team with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service has captured seven more invasive green crabs on the
Dungeness Spit on the northern edge of the Olympic Peninsula.
The Peninsula Daily News reported Thursday the team found
13 of the invasive European green crabs there last week.
Washington Sea Grant Crab Team Program coordinator Emily
Grason says traps have been pulled from the water in the area
until next steps are discussed.
Grason says the number of green crabs is concerning
because a small number of them can quickly become a large
population.
Center: ‘The respite center is only for people that agree to be there’
Items must have the 5 cent, OR redemption label
in order to benefit the band programs
The Band Boosters are the primary source of
funds to keep Astoria’s school band programs
functioning. Please help by dropping off your
empties or making a donation.
The county, cities and law
enforcement now appear will-
ing to give the crisis respite cen-
ter time to financially stabilize
and build staff expertise.
“I think everybody still
believes that it’s a need. But,
it’s like anything else that you
do, it has to sort of fit the busi-
ness environment that you’re
in,” County Manager Cameron
Moore said.
Warrenton Acting Mayor
Henry Balensifer had warned
last year that he would with-
draw his support for the respite
center without secure beds. But
he recognizes progress after
conferring with Baker, Warren-
ton Police Chief Mathew Work-
man and the National Alliance
on Mental Illness. “I still firmly
believe we need to ensure that
the secure beds are put in, and
our police chief feels the same
way,” he said. “However, it has
provided quite a few success
stories.”
Police have praised the man-
agement changes at Clatsop
Behavioral Healthcare and have
described a better working rela-
tionship with local hospitals.
But the conditions, like in many
rural counties across Oregon,
still exist for tragedy.
Astoria Police Chief Brad
Johnston said the county does
not have a good answer for peo-
ple who are in mental health cri-
sis and are uncooperative.
“The reality is that the
respite center is only for people
that agree to be there,” he said.
W A NTED
Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber
N orth w es t H a rdw oods • Lon gview , W A
Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500
Nick Vasilieff • Presidential Bear
!
1 P.M.- 3 P.M. • SUNDAY, MAY 7 TH
AT ASTORIA HIGH SCHOOL
k th e L a b e
Ch ec
l
P LEASE , NO EARLY DROP - OFFS
Deb Vanasse • Wealth Woman
CAN & BOTTLE DRIVE
Expectations
Planning for the crisis respite
center was interrupted early last
year when law enforcement and
city leaders learned the facility
was being designed with a ther-
apeutic model of care and that
patients would be free to leave.
Astoria and Warrenton
demanded secure beds, so Rich
Mays, the interim county man-
ager, brokered an agreement for
four.
Jim Stewart • Ochoco Reach
Astoria Band Boosters
has recently learned that it can
provide longer-term residential
services funded by Medicaid,
the federal health insurance pro-
gram for the poor and disabled.
She is optimistic the facility can
survive financially.
Even when the respite cen-
ter is licensed for secure beds,
there will be no seclusion or
restraint. Patients would be held
in a secure area, but they would
not be locked away alone.
“It’s just a way to separate
somebody off if they’re strug-
gling,” Baker said.
Brain Ratty • Atonement
and Greater Oregon Behav-
ioral Health Inc. led to the cri-
sis respite center’s opening on
Marlin Avenue last July. The
facility has 16 beds — four that
could be converted to secure.
The average length of stay
is 22 days, a safe, short-term
haven that can help determine
whether patients can live inde-
pendently or need adult foster
home or inpatient care.
“I think folks who come
here get the sense of being
cared for,” said Baker, who
was brought in to lead Clatsop
Behavioral Healthcare last June
after a management and staff
shakeup.
Administrators had hoped
to offer residential treatment,
paid for with federal and state
money, to help underwrite the
short-term crisis care. But Baker
said the state shifted tracks, and
after the patient count dropped
during the winter, the respite
center was in financial danger
and had to reduce staff.
Baker said the respite center
Melissa Ousley • Pitcher Plant
Mental health holds
District Attorney Josh Mar-
quis and Sheriff Tom Ber-
gin, who have drawn attention
to the county’s lack of treat-
ment options for the mentally
ill, believe secure beds are nec-
essary for the respite center to
have an impact. Patients who
are placed on mental health
holds pending a civil commit-
ment ruling cannot go to the
respite center until there are
secure beds.
Asked whether the respite
center has eased the burden on
law enforcement, Marquis, in
an email, said: “Bluntly … no,
because the secure beds are not
online yet.”
Marquis described a costly,
time-consuming and inefficient
process where sheriff’s deputies
have to drive people in crisis
to secure facilities, often hun-
dreds of miles away, and then
bring them back for court hear-
ings. Local mental health and
hospital administrators deter-
mine whether someone in cri-
sis should be placed on a hold,
but judges ultimately decide if
people alleged to be mentally
ill should be forced to get treat-
ment under civil commitment.
“Josh is correct and we look
forward to a fix to this problem,
which I believe we are headed in
the right direction,” Bergin said
in an email. “To do this right it
takes time and patience and a
solid leader at CBH, which I
trust we have now with Amy.
“The difficult part is finding
the correct path to get this place
licensed correctly so liabili-
ties are covered and the health
and welfare of the patients is
foremost.”
Partnership
Over the past several years,
the county’s failure to ade-
quately treat people in men-
tal health crisis has surfaced
in troubling ways. Columbia
Memorial Hospital and Prov-
idence Seaside Hospital are
not certified to provide acute
psychiatric care and are not
equipped for temporary crisis
response, so psychotic breaks
and other traumas often play
out in emergency rooms, jail
cells or the streets.
The crisis respite center was
in the works when Carrie Barn-
hart, who had a history of men-
tal illness and suicide threats
and several interactions with
Clatsop Behavioral Healthcare,
jumped from the Astoria Bridge
in April 2015. Barnhart’s sui-
cide led to a closer examina-
tion of the mental health safety
net and the management dys-
function at the county’s mental
health contractor.
A partnership between the
county, the two local hospitals
Diane Kirk • Licking Flames
Continued from Page 1A
Write on Seaside!
Thursday, May 11th, 2017 Seaside Convention Center
6:30pm Author Meet & Greet
7:00pm to 9:00pm Author Writing Extravaganza
Master of Ceremonies
David Frei, Author of Angel on a Leash
1st Annual Fundraiser Seaside Public Library Foundation
Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the Seaside Library, Beach
Books and Moberg and Rust Attorney. light refreshments included
Call (503) 791-8134
or email i_want_to_help@astoriabands.org
to arrange pickup of large amounts.
SAVIN G MO N E Y IS A LWAY S I N S T Y L E
EARN UP TO A
$500
REBATE
On Signature Series window
coverings and motorization.*
*Some exclusions apply.
17-4816
S P R I N G R E B AT E E V E N T — A P R I L 3 – M AY 3 1 , 2 0 1 7
The Best in Custom Blinds and Window Coverings
Oregon Coast 503-738-5242 SW Washington 503-738-5242
Lincoln City 541-994-9954
www.budgetblinds.com
Dedicated
to Rules and
Sound Finance
Paid for by Fulton for Port Commissioner #1