COAST RIVER BUSINESS JOURNAL INSIDE
DailyAstorian.com // WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2019
146TH YEAR, NO. 182
ONE DOLLAR
College
hikes
tuition
another $3
Increase will take effect
for the summer term
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
The Clatsop Community College
Board voted Tuesday to hike tuition
another $3 per credit to $105, effective
summer term.
The increase will translate to another
$75,000 in revenue and help the college
put forth a budget that maintains all ser-
vice levels while accounting for increased
operational costs, said Christopher Breit-
meyer, the college president.
The college board last hiked tuition $3
per credit at the beginning of this school
year.
Board members Esther Moberg,
Andrea Mazzarella, Karen Burke and
Anne Teaford-Cantor reluctantly signed
on to the increase as a necessity. Tessa
Scheller and Rosemary Baker-Monaghan
voted against the increase in protest of
how they said the state has abandoned
its role in funding community colleges.
Robert Duehmig was unavailable for the
vote.
“It’s my little protest for when the
state cut the support for community col-
leges,” Baker-Monaghan said of her vow
to oppose all tuition increases. “We used
to be a state-supported institution, and we
are not anymore.”
See Tuition, Page A7
Local fl u-related
death fi rst of
season in Oregon
Warrenton teen died Sunday
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Tux, the latest member of the Clatsop County Sheriff ’s Offi ce K-9 unit, sits at attention at the feet of Senior Deputy Thomas
Phillips, his handler.
VERY
GOOD
DOGS
A Belgian Malinois is the
sheriff’s newest recruit
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
Timothy Pior, the Warrenton teen who
died of fl u-related illness Sunday, is likely
the fi rst pediatric fl u-related death of the
season in Oregon.
The state has reported more than 7,100
positive tests this season for Infl uenza A,
an avian-carried strain of the illness com-
monly responsible for epidemics, but
no deaths. The federal Centers for Dis-
ease Control and Prevention has reported
64 fl u-related deaths so far this season
nationally.
“We’re aware of reports of a pediatric
death, and we are still collecting informa-
tion,” said Dr. Richard Leman, a physi-
cian with the Oregon Health Authority.
Pior’s family posted on social media
Sunday that he died of complications
related to Infl uenza A, the dominant strain
so far this season. The family and state
health offi cials have declined to elabo-
rate on the complications or other details
about his death.
By BRENNA VISSER
The Daily Astorian
he Clatsop County Sheriff’s Offi ce
welcomed its newest recruit over
the weekend.
Tux, a 5-year-old Belgian Malinois,
met his new handler, Senior Deputy
Thomas Phillips, just a few days ago.
In the next few weeks, Tux will go to
patrol school to train up on how to sniff
out drugs and fi nd suspects .
But until then, Tux’s fi rst order of
business will be to play around and eat.
Food, unsurprisingly, is a crucial tool
to build trust between a canine and his
handler.
“I’m the guy who brings him food,”
Phillips said. “I’ll do little things, like
having him eat the food out of my hand
versus just giving him the bowl of
food, so he knows, ‘Well, food is com-
ing from this guy, so I should be nice to
him and maybe listen.’”
Tux replaces Pax, a fellow Belgian
Malinois, who served as the sheriff’s
T
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Thomas Phillips, senior deputy with the Clatsop County Sheriff ’s Offi ce, talks about
his new canine partner, Tux.
“THEY WANTED TUX TO BE ABLE TO COME
TO A GOOD HOME. HE HAS A LOT OF YEARS
OF WORKING LIFE IN HIM, AND I THINK HE’LL
BE ABLE TO SERVE THE SHERIFF’S OFFICE
AND CITIZENS REALLY WELL HERE.”
Thomas Phillips | senior deputy and Tux’s handler
dog for 6½ years and conducted more
than 70 captures. The 8-year-old Pax
suffered an injury after chasing a ball
down an embankment and was off the
streets for about six months.
He eventually trained up and got
recertifi ed. Pax had the ability to work a
little longer, Phillips said, but doing so
would probably take years off his life.
Around the same time the sheriff’s
offi ce was considering a new dog , the
Washington County Sheriff’s Offi ce
was looking for a new home for Tux.
After fi ve years on the job, his former
handler had moved into the agency’s
p ublic a ffairs u nit.
The timing couldn’t have been
better.
Phillips was excited at the pros-
pect, as he had met Tux multiple times
at canine training exercises around the
state.
“They wanted Tux to be able to
come to a good home,” Phillips said.
“He has a lot of years of working life
in him, and I think he’ll be able to serve
the sheriff’s offi ce and citizens really
well here.”
See Recruit, Page A7
See Flu, Page A5
Food innovator fi nds fl avor in her work
Masoni appeared at Tuesday
night’s Columbia Forum
By BRENNA VISSER
The Daily Astorian
Brenna Visser/The Daily Astorian
Sarah Masoni speaks about food innovation at the Columbia
Forum on Tuesday.
Whether it’s ice cream or veggie
burgers, there’s a good chance Sarah Masoni
has had something to do with the way it
tastes.
For 18 years, Masoni has worked in p rod-
uct and p rocess d evelopment at Oregon
State University’s Food Innovation Center,
specializing in helping local entrepreneurs
produce and sell the visions they have for
their food.
Masoni, who is now the center’s director,
discussed what it takes to develop a snack
for supermarket shelves, and what those
snacks could taste like in the future, as part
of the Columbia Forum speaker series Tues-
day night at Baked Alaska .
Masoni got much of her inspiration from
her father, who was a professor of food sci-
ence at the University of Minnesota. One
year, while on sabbatical, he took the family
around on a European tour of dairies, where
Masoni learned to make cheese.
“I like to say I got my Ph. D at the dinner
table,” Masoni said.
She moved to Oregon to study food
science at Oregon State like her father in
1982, but eventually switched her major to
art.
“I have found my creative side has been
pretty useful,” she said. “Our industry has
always been very interested in the science of
food. I always felt like the development of
food is diminished.”
See Forum, Page A7