KNAPPA SETS SIGHTS ON ANOTHER STATE BASEBALL TITLE SPORTS • 10A
DailyAstorian.com // WEDNESDAY, MAY 30, 2018
145TH YEAR, NO. 237
Vaccination
exemptions
reach a
record high
ONE DOLLAR
Port mulls wetlands bank
on the Skipanon Peninsula
Some parents see risks
for their children
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
PORTLAND — Despite a 2013 law aimed
at boosting immunization, the statewide rate
for nonmedical exemptions to mandatory kin-
dergarten vaccinations hit a record high this
school year, according to the Oregon Health
Authority.
The nonmedical exemption rate rose to 7.5
percent this year, higher than the 7 percent
rate during the 2013-2014 school year when
the law was passed to address declining vacci-
nation rates among the state’s nearly 700,000
schoolchildren.
‘MOST PARENTS
AND GUARDIANS
KNOW THAT
IMMUNIZATION IS
STILL THE BEST
WAY TO PROTECT
CHILDREN
AGAINST VACCINE-
PREVENTABLE
DISEASES.’
Stacy de Assis Matthews | immunization law
coordinator for the health authority’s Oregon
Immunization Program
Health care providers play a crucial role in
educating parents about the need for vaccina-
tions, said Stacy de Assis Matthews, immuni-
zation law coordinator for the health authori-
ty’s Oregon Immunization Program.
Yet education efforts face a daunting popu-
lar culture belief that immunizations can cause
autism and other problems.
The 2013 law — which required parents
to jump through more hoops to obtain a non-
medical exemption — initially decreased the
nonmedical exemption rate from 7 percent to
5.8 percent in 2015. But the following year,
the rate began to climb again, first to 6.2 per-
cent in 2016, then to 6.5 percent in 2017 and,
finally, to 7.5 percent this year.
Nonmedical exemption rates for students
in grades K-12 this year ranged from a low of
1 percent in Morrow County to a high of 10
percent in Josephine County.
“While more nonmedical exemptions
mean fewer children are being immunized, the
vast majority of Oregon parents and guard-
ians still choose to fully immunize their chil-
dren,” de Assis Matthews said. “Most parents
and guardians know that immunization is still
the best way to protect children against vac-
cine-preventable diseases such as whooping
cough and measles.”
But the decline in vaccinations has coin-
cided with outbreaks of vaccine-preventable
Photos by Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian
Tessa Scheller, a member of the Skipanon River Watershed Council, envisions a 75-acre rehabilitated wetland
throughout unused Port of Astoria property at the base of the Skipanon Peninsula.
Potential development would be a challenge
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
I
n 2016, the Port of Astoria gave up
its lease with the state of more than
90 acres at the eastern tip of the Ski-
panon Peninsula, the site of a proposed
liquefied natural gas terminal that was
never built.
Now the Port is contemplating
whether to flood more than 70 acres of
dunes and shrublands it owns at the base
of the peninsula for use as a wetland mit-
igation bank.
Many projects affecting water-
sheds require the creation of new wet-
lands or the purchase of credits to off-
set the adverse impacts of development.
Banks are large wetland restoration proj-
ects approved by the state to sell credits
within a certain area.
Jim Knight, the Port’s executive
director, said the project makes sense
People have used the Port of As-
toria’s property on the Skipanon
Peninsula for hunting, shooting,
off-roading and dumping trash.
given the development challenges of the
Skipanon Peninsula and its location in
an earthquake-prone flood plain inside a
tsunami inundation zone.
“The infrastructure development
would be in the millions,” Knight said.
“We’re not in a very strong financial
position to invest in potential projects
without an understanding we’ll have
customers.”
The Port owns much of the south-
ern base of the peninsula, built largely
from historic dredge spoils. Small por-
tions are owned by Warrenton and Clat-
sop County. Warrenton also controls the
dikes separating the property from the
Columbia and Skipanon rivers. The state
owns the eastern tip of the peninsula.
The base of the peninsula has been
platted for streets and was once pro-
posed as a golf course and, later, part of
See PORT, Page 7A
The remains of cars
and other garbage
litter the Skipanon
Peninsula, the site of
a proposed wetland
restoration.
See VACCINATIONS, Page 7A
‘Deadliest Catch’ fisherman
found dead in Astoria home
Painter was a skipper
during the show
By JACK HEFFERNAN
The Daily Astorian
Discovery Channel
Blake Painter, a crab fisherman once featured on the television show
‘Deadliest Catch’ has died.
An Astoria crab fisherman featured on
the “Deadliest Catch” was found dead in
his home last week.
Blake Painter, 38, was found Friday on
the 90530 block of Rip Christensen Road.
The cause of death is still being investi-
gated, but foul play was not a factor, Clat-
sop County Sheriff Tom Bergin said.
Authorities are awaiting the results
of a toxicology report, which likely will
take weeks, before confirming the cause
of death.
“He had some issues and hopefully
we’ll be able to find out more in the
weeks to come,” Bergin said.
A friend became concerned last week
after Painter did not respond to phone
calls, Bergin said. After trying to find him
at his home and looking through the win-
dow, the friend saw what he believed to
be a body.
The friend then called authorities, who
discovered his body Friday afternoon.
Painter likely had died within 48 hours of
his body being discovered, Bergin said.
Painter had cases pending in Circuit
Court involving drug-related charges.
See PAINTER, Page 7A