THE DIY HOME
PROPERTY LINES • INSIDE
WEEKEND EDITION // FRIDAY, JANUARY 25, 2019
146TH YEAR, NO. 149
ONE DOLLAR
Transit district might seek loan to avoid cuts
A scramble for cash during government shutdown
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
The Sunset Empire Trans-
portation District is exploring a
$500,000 line of credit to avoid
cuts to bus routes and employee
hours during the government
shutdown.
Agencies large and small
across the U.S. depend on reim-
bursements from the Federal
Transit Administration to help
cover operations. With no reim-
bursements being processed
because of the partial shutdown,
many have been cutting service,
with some looking at closing
entirely.
Sunset Empire receives about
56 percent of operational fund-
ing from federal grants. The tran-
sit district is so far missing about
$143,000 in federal reimburse-
The Sunset
Empire
Transportation
District is looking
at a line of
credit to avoid
cuts to service
and employees
during the
federal
government
shutdown.
ments and will continue to lose
that amount every three months
as long as the government shut-
down continues, said Jeff Hazen,
the agency’s executive director.
The transit district has cash
on hand meant for its ending
fund balance and is barred from
using the money to cover oper-
ations except in the case of a
Colin Murphey
The Daily Astorian
See Transit, Page A7
URBAN TRAILS
‘I just
want him
home’
Vigil planned for
Astoria man in
ICE detention
By BRENNA VISSER
The Daily Astorian
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
People walk their dog along the Pipeline Road Trail off James Street in Astoria.
Offi cial — and unoffi cial — paths cut through the city
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
E
arlier this month, a small, brown trail marker
popped up near the Columbia River Mari-
time Museum in Astoria directing people to
what some have jokingly nicknamed the “Thigh
Master 500.”
This steep, twisting trail starts on the uphill side-
walks of 17th Street, kicks east at Clatsop Commu-
nity College on Jerome Avenue and takes hikers
through the woods up to a meadow below the Asto-
ria Column.
It is one of the city’s offi cial urban trails, but
other, unoffi cial trails — often maintained by
neighborhood groups, regular foot traffi c and the
ever-present deer — also fl ourish .
The North Coast Trails Coalition, a group that
started out in Warrenton , provided some of the
funding for the 17th Street Trail. The money helped
with the maintenance and construction of a connec-
tor trail around the college parking lot. The coali-
tion is thrilled to have signs directing visitors and
locals to the hike .
Maria Perez wants people to
bring teddy bears to her husband’s
vigil today .
In mid-December, Ruben Perez-
was detained by immigration agents
in Astoria after a court appearance.
In the month he has been held in a
federal detention center in Tacoma,
Washington, the two have missed
Christmas together and their 21st
wedding anniversary.
So she is resolved not to miss
another holiday with him, and
hopes through bringing attention
to his situation that she’ll be able to
get him back in time to receive the
teddy bears as gifts for Valentine’s
Day.
“I just want him home,” she said.
L ocal activists are helping Maria
Perez host the vigil, scheduled for
5 p.m. on the Astoria Riverwalk
near the Columbia River Maritime
Museum.
N on profi ts and churches have
started raising money to help the
family pay the bond so her hus-
band can leave the detention center .
A GoFundMe page has been set up
and circulated by Indivisible North
Coast Oregon to help the family ,
who relied on Ruben Perez as the
breadwinner, pay bills while he’s
away.
“We want to get him out on bond
so he can come back and work,”
said Kit Ketcham, a pastor at Pacifi c
Unitarian Universalist in Astoria,
who is helping to organize the vigil .
Vigils have increasingly become
a popular way to bring light to
immigration issues across the coun-
try since President Donald Trump
made immigration enforcement a
national priority. But the goal for
today’s event is to also call attention
to how Ruben Perez was detained.
‘They had him in the car’
Katie Frankowicz/The Daily Astorian
See Trails, Page A7 A sign identifi es the location of an urban trail near Clatsop Community College.
On Dec. 14, Ruben Perez
appeared in Circuit Court down-
town to handle a probation matter .
Last year, Perez had been arrested
and charged with drunken driving .
See Vigil, Page A7
Education at core of governor’s agenda
Brown stops
in Seaside
By R.J. MARX
The Daily Astorian
SEASIDE — Gov. Kate
Brown, visiting Seaside
on Thursday, stressed Ore-
gon’s booming economy, low
unemployment and some of
the fastest job-growth rates in
the country.
The problem is, she said,
that growth “hasn’t been
inclusive.”
“There are a lot of commu-
nities and families that have
been left behind,” Brown told
the Seaside Rotary Club at
Angelina’s Pizza . “A lot of
families are struggling to pay
for housing, struggling to pay
for health care, struggling to
pay for the cost of higher edu-
cation and child care.”
Brown sees the role of state
government as tackling the
affordability issues for Oregon
families. “That’s what I see
fi rst up on the agenda for the
legislative session, ” she said.
About 20,000 Oregon
children are without housing
or “housing insecure,” living
in cars or doubling up with
families, she said.
The
government
has
invested $300 million in her
fi rst three years in offi ce in
meeting housing needs, and
during the new legislative ses-
sion , she will propose a $400
million package to double the
number of affordable units.
“Our children can’t learn to
read, do well in school, if they
don’t have a warm place to go
to bed at night,” Brown said.
Addressing needs of the
chronically homeless and
homeless veterans are also
among her priorities, with a
goal of housing every home-
less veteran within the next
18 months.
Pension costs
Pension reform and the
unfunded liability in the
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
See Visit, Page A7
Gov. Kate Brown, far right, meets with Seaside High School
students during her visit Thursday.