‘BLITHE SPIRIT’ HAUNTS THE COASTER THEATRE COAST WEEKEND • INSIDE
DailyAstorian.com // THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2017
145TH YEAR, NO. 59
ONE DOLLAR
A window
into an
emergency
Emergency manager
helped with response
to Eagle Creek Fire
By JACK HEFFERNAN
The Daily Astorian
Clatsop County was spared from the rush
of wildfi res that spread throughout the state
the past few weeks. But the county has still
been playing a part in evacuation and recov-
ery efforts.
County Emergency Services Manager
Tiffany Brown has traveled to Hood River
twice to help with emergency services at
the Eagle Creek Fire. As fi refi ghters from
around the state work to contain the blaze,
Brown has helped offi cials in Hood River
make arrangements.
Hood River Emergency Program Man-
ager Barbara Ayers called Brown two weeks
ago to ask if she could work out of the coun-
ty’s emergency operations center, located in
the sheriff’s offi ce. An intergovernmental
agreement allows employees from through-
out Oregon to work for other counties , while
still being paid by his or her home county,
for a limited number of days during an
emergency.
Photos Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Cannon Beach will soon offer beach accessible wheelchairs to the public.
Public, but not
always accessible
See MANAGER, Page 7A
BEACH WHEELCHAIR PROGRAM MOVES ALONG IN CANNON BEACH
By BRENNA VISSER
The Daily Astorian
C
annon Beach will soon join
the small but growing number
of communities on the Oregon
Coast that offer beach accessible
wheelchairs .
It’s an idea that has been in the works
for several years. T he Cannon Beach
Chamber of Commerce and the Haystack
Rock Awareness Program joined forces to
purchase the fi rst beach accessible wheel-
chair, which are chairs with 4- to 5-inch-
wide tires that ride on top of sand.
The goal is to eventually have two
wheelchairs at Tolovana State Park and
two at the Gower Street beach entrances
available to the public to check out for
free . The city will follow Manzanita and
Seaside as the third on the c oast to pro-
vide any type of beach wheelchair, and
the second to provide them for free as a
public service.
Pooka Rice, the outreach coordinator
for the Haystack Rock Awareness Pro-
gram, said the group got involved earlier
this year to help write grants and facili-
tate a program. The group is at the center
of many school fi eld trips and educational
programs, and Rice said that she wanted
to make sure anyone who wanted to par-
ticipate in these activities could have
access.
Submitted Photo
Base camp at the Hood River County
Fairgrounds for emergency responders.
Cannon Beach will soon join Manzanita and Seaside as the only coastal com-
munities to offer beach accessible wheelchairs . Manzanita has had three of
the specially designed wheelchairs available to the public for over 10 years.
“There is a hugely underserved pop-
ulation,” Rice said. “I am a caregiver for
disabled people myself. It is so important
this program exists so kids (with disabili-
ties) can be included.”
Travel Oregon Chairman Ryan Sny-
der, who was part of the initial push two
years ago, said after developing Cannon
Beach’s program that he hopes to work
with Travel Oregon to make beach wheel-
chair access a coastwide reality.
“Today is Cannon Beach. But this is a
topic I plan to bring up at the Travel Ore-
gon level. Regardless of mobility, you
should be able to experience the Oregon
Coast line.”
See ACCESS, Page 7A
‘THIS IS A TOPIC I PLAN TO BRING UP AT THE TRAVEL
OREGON LEVEL. REGARDLESS OF MOBILITY, YOU SHOULD
BE ABLE TO EXPERIENCE THE OREGON COAST LINE.’
Cannon Beach
chamber leader
to step down
Carrier resigns due
to medical issues
By BRENNA VISSER
The Daily Astorian
CANNON BEACH –
Court Carrier, the e xecu-
tive d irector of the Cannon
Beach Chamber of Com-
merce, will leave his posi-
tion in November due to
medical issues.
Court
Jim Paino, the cham-
Carrier
ber’s e xecutive a ssistant
and m embership c oordina-
tor , will serve as the interim director as the
chamber’s board searches for a replacement.
Ryan Snyder | Travel Oregon chairman, who was part of the initial push two years ago
See CARRIER, Page 7A
Treatment center a path to sobriety
Outpatient
option for
drug abusers
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
When she opened the North
Coast Medical Clinic last year,
Wendy Hemsley said she had
found a dearth of primary care
providers in the region.
Noticing a similar lack
of outpatient drug treatment
options , Hemsley opened
North Coast Recovery this
spring in the same building
as her clinic on 30th Street in
Astoria’s Mill Pond neigh-
borhood. She gathered health
care and government partners
Wednesday to offi cially cut the
ribbon on the recovery center,
but also to talk about the need
for more services for those
struggling with substance
abuse.
North Coast Recovery is
one of several outpatient treat-
ment centers in the region.
“We’re basically the transi-
tory step between a controlled
inpatient environment and
functioning in a world with
drugs and alcohol,” Hemsley
said.
The recovery center is
staffed with substance abuse
counselors and two medical
addiction specialists Hems-
ley recruited from the Portland
area.
When patients come in,
counselors sit down with them
to assess what level of treat-
ment they need, said Sandy
Ferguson, a chemical depen-
dency counselor.
The recovery center offers
varying levels of intensity to
help patients transition from
withdrawal to daily life, from
20 or more hours of structured
programs a week and daily
monitoring to one or two hours
a week in meetings about how
to maintain a sober lifestyle.
Outpatient services can last up
to a year, Hemsley said.
See CENTER, Page 7A
Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian
Astoria Mayor Arline LaMear, left, cut the ribbon Wednes-
day at North Coast Recovery, a drug and alcohol treat-
ment center opened this spring by Wendy Hemsley on
30th Street in the same building as the North Coast Medi-
cal Clinic she opened last year.