DailyAstorian.com // WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 16, 2017
145TH YEAR, NO. 33
ONE DOLLAR
Oregon
reduces
penalty for
hard drugs
Marquis blasts new law
as soft on heroin, meth
By ANDREW SELSKY
Associated Press
FROM
FAITH
TO FOOD
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
South Clatsop County Food Bank Regional Manager Karla Gann stands next to stacks of donations recently made by
a local church. Gann said the amount of donated goods has increased dramatically since the beginning of the year.
Seaside church makes signifi cant impact
through South Clatsop County Food Bank
By BRENNA VISSER
The Daily Astorian
S
EASIDE — For the past four years,
the South Clatsop County Food Bank
had always counted on the North
Coast Family Fellowship as a steady
source for donations.
But at the beginning of this year,
regional manager Karla Gann started
to see more and more blue bags fi lled to
the brim with food donations. Instead of
receiving 500 to 800 pounds of food from
the church like she expected, she started
getting monthly donations of 800 to 1,400
pounds.
It’s called blue bag Sunday. The fi rst
Sunday of the month, the congregation of
the North Coast Family Fellowship piles
fruits, vegetables , canned goods and more
into blue bags that read “With Love” on
the side, and leave them in the church for
the food bank to pick up Monday. This
church alone makes up one-tenth of all
donations to the food bank.
It’s a type of donation Gann rarely
sees from a private entity, and she said the
impacts are huge.
“We can go from distributing 65
pounds of food to a family at one time to
125 pounds. Before we were able to give
out about on average three days worth of
food to a recipient,” Gann said. “Because
of this increase, now I can give out closer
to fi ve days worth of food at a time. This
helps get people through.”
SALEM — A bill signed by Gov. Kate
Brown on Tuesday makes personal-use pos-
session of cocaine, heroin, methamphet-
amine and other drugs a misdemeanor, not
a felony.
Oregon joined just a handful of other
states in defelonizing drugs under the
new law, which was supported by some
law enforcement groups and takes effect
immediately.
Clatsop County Dis-
trict Attorney Josh Marquis,
who spoke out against the
idea at the state Legislature,
said possession of the dan-
gerous drugs is now as seri-
ous as shoplifting or minor
vandalism.
Josh
“The message it sends
Marquis
is this is just not that big a
deal,” Marquis said.
The district attorney called heroin and
meth “scourges” in Clatsop County and
communities across the nation. “They’re not
just a minor problem. They’re a huge prob-
lem,” he said.
Marquis said felony drug possession
charges often acted as leverage to steer
drug abusers into treatment and drug court.
“We know that people don’t seek treat-
ment until they either bottom out or they
have no choice,” he said. “By making it a
felony, it does threaten people with some
consequences.”
See DRUG LAW, Page 7A
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
D onations from the North Coast Family Fellowship to the South Clatsop Coun-
ty Food Bank have increased from an average of 500 to 800 pounds a month to
800 to 1,400 pounds since the beginning of the year.
In Clatsop County, that means help-
ing the 390 to 470 families who come in
each month needing food to get by before
payday.
“It keeps the money fl owing. We are
saving $700 to $1,000 a month to keep
the lights and to build a reserve instead of
spending it on building up our food sup-
ply,” she said. “Everyone here is a volun-
teer. So it’s signifi cant.”
‘With Love’
When John Neagle joined the North
Coast Family Fellowship last October,
the pastor liked how the ministry had con-
nected with the community through dona-
tions to the food bank. So starting in Jan-
uary, he challenged his congregation to do
more.
See FOOD BANK, Page 4A
‘WE’RE NOT JUST TRYING TO GIVE YOU A
CAN OF FOOD; WE’RE TRYING TO SHARE
GOD’S LOVE THROUGH THAT CAN OF FOOD.’
John Neagle | pastor at the North Coast Family Fellowship
Cannon Beach Academy is a go
Volunteer efforts
help charter school
meet deadline
By BRENNA VISSER
The Daily Astorian
CANNON BEACH — Can-
non Beach will have an elementary
school again.
It’s a project that supporters of
the charter school have been work-
ing toward for almost four years
after the old elementary school
was closed for tsunami safety
reasons and a budget shortfall.
But as of Tuesday , the a cademy, a
tuition-free, public charter school
offering kindergarten to second
grade, has secured a temporary
occupancy permit that will allow
the school to open for classes on
Sept. 5.
“I’m over-the-moon excited,”
Amy Moore, the school’s execu-
tive director, said. “We are blessed
to have all of the support from the
community.”
The road here
Because the location for the
school was secured only two months
ago, volunteers, academy board
members and Coaster Construction
worked down to the wire to meet
the Tuesday deadline set by Sea-
side School District. The last-min-
ute need to fi nd a new location came
when the board received an esti-
mate of $150,000 over the $90,000
they budgeted for construction costs
at the original location on Sunset
Boulevard. Costs were driven up
because the space would need to be
renovated extensively to meet state
school fi re codes.
The academy was able to fi nd an
alternative in the former Preschool
and Children’s Center at 3781 S.
Hemlock St. But by the time lease
negotiations with the city fi nished
and the proper permits were in hand,
the academy was left with about a
month to renovate the building up
to code. Installing fi re safety equip-
ment, addressing Americans with
Disabilities Act access concerns and
other general maintenance projects
were needed.
See ACADEMY, Page 4A
Warming
center talks
focus on
neighbors
Good-neighbor
agreement sought
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
Downtown merchants and neighbors of
the Astoria Warming Center will meet with
the center’s board this month on a potential
good-neighbor agreement.
The Astoria Planning Commission has
delayed voting on a one-year conditional
use permit for the w arming c enter at First
United Methodist Church until the organiza-
tion’s board has met with stakeholders . The
discussion could produce an agreement that
would outline how the warming center plans
to address concerns raised by the Astoria
Downtown Historic District Association and
neighbors who live near the Franklin Avenue
church.
Anne Odom, a mediator who works for
the Astoria Library, will guide the Aug. 30
meeting. The meeting is open to the pub-
lic, but Community Development Director
Kevin Cronin said it is intended as a time
for the stakeholders to have a discussion,
voice their views and come up with an agree-
ment they can “not only live with, but abide
with.”
See WARMING CENTER, Page 4A
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
The Astoria Warming Center at First
United Methodist Church is working on
a good-neighbor agreement with resi-
dents and downtown merchants.