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THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, MAY 21, 2019
Coast Guard rescues stranded couple
IN BRIEF
Sen. Merkley to hold town hall
meeting in Astoria on Saturday
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley will hold a town hall meet-
ing at 10 a.m. Saturday at Clatsop Community Col-
lege’s Patriot Hall gym, 1651 Lexington Avenue,
Astoria.
People who attend will hear an update on the Dem-
ocratic senator’s work in Washington, D.C., and be
able to ask questions and offer suggestions.
The meeting is one of three he plans in Clatsop,
Tillamook and Polk counties throughout the
day.
The Tillamook town hall is scheduled for 2 p.m. in
the Offi cers’ Mess Hall at the Port of Tillamook Bay,
6825 Offi cer Row Road.
The Polk County town hall is scheduled for 6 p.m.
at the Central High School cafeteria, 1530 Monmouth
Street, Independence.
— The Astorian
Small earthquake hits Oregon coast
ROSE LODGE — The U.S. Geological Survey
says a magnitude 3.7 earthquake hit along Oregon’s
Pacifi c coast.
The earthquake struck a spot 1.3 miles southwest of
Rose Lodge, a town of about 1,900 people, at 9:23 a.m.
Sunday. It had a depth of 29 miles.
Minor shaking was reported along the coast from
Waldport to Cloverdale, with scattered reports farther
inland. No damage was reported.
— Associated Press
The Astorian
CANNON BEACH —
The Coast Guard rescued
two tourists stranded Sunday
by a high tide on the south
side of Indian Beach in Ecola
State Park.
Seaside dispatchers called
the Coast Guard, which
launched an MH-60 Jayhawk
helicopter from Air Station
Astoria. The crew hoisted a
woman being hit by waves,
and later her boyfriend, who
had climbed up some rocks to
attempt a rescue but became
stranded himself.
The helicopter carried
the couple to a parking lot.
Emergency medical services
reported no injuries.
MORE ONLINE
See a video of the
rescue online at
DailyAstorian.com
Coast Guard
A Coast Guard helicopter crew hoists a tourist from the rocks.
Activists celebrate death of vaccine bill
Part of a deal on
tax measure
MEMORIAL
Thursday, May 23
CHESSER, Clark Delose — Memorial at 1 p.m.,
Clatsop Post 12 American Legion, 1132 Exchange St.
Ocean View Funeral & Cremation Service of Astoria
is in charge of the arrangements.
ON THE RECORD
Road rage
• Camren Hudson, 25,
of Astoria, was charged
by Astoria police Thurs-
day for reckless driving.
He and another driver
became embroiled in a
road rage incident while
merging eastbound on
Marine Drive coming
out of downtown Asto-
ria. Hudson was observed
driving on the sidewalk to
pass the other driver and
later blocking their vehicle
near Columbia Memorial
Hospital. Hudson could
face more charges, said
Deputy Police Chief Eric
Halverson.
Burkleo recorded a blood
alcohol content of .10%.
Police added the reck-
less endangerment charge
because of a 3-year-old in
the back seat.
• Ruben Vera-Pe-
rez, 48, of Astoria, was
arrested by Warrenton
police Friday on charges
of driving while under the
infl uence of intoxicants
and hit and run. Vera-Pe-
rez struck another parked
vehicle while backing out
of a spot in the Warren-
ton Mini-Mart. He fl ed the
scene before police caught
him while parked at Fred
Meyer’s.
DUII
• Albert Burkleo, 38, of
Hammond, was arrested
by Warrenton police Fri-
day on charges of driving
while under the infl uence
of intoxicants and reck-
less endangerment. Police
caught Burkleo at the
intersection of Lake and
Pacifi c drives near Fort
Stevens State Park, his
vehicle angling off toward
the side of the road.
Assault
•
Astoria
police
arrested Karla Stark, 34,
of Eugene, Sunday on one
charge each of fourth-de-
gree assault and harass-
ment. Police received a
call about a disturbance
in a room at the Astoria
Riverwalk Inn. During an
argument, Stark allegedly
dug her nails into the
face of her boyfriend and
kicked him in the face.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
TUESDAY
Cannon Beach Public
Works Committee, 9 a.m.,
City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Clatsop County Recreation-
al Lands Planning Advisory
Committee, 1 p.m., 800
Exchange, 4th Floor, Astoria.
Astoria Historic Landmarks
Commission, 5:15 p.m., City
Hall, 1095 Duane St.
Sunset Empire Park
and Recreation District,
5:15 p.m., Bob Chisholm
Community Center, 1225
Avenue A, Seaside.
Seaside School District
Board of Directors, 6 p.m.,
1801 S. Franklin.
Shoreline Sanitary District
Board, 7 p.m., Gearhart
Hertig Station, 33496 West
Lake Lane, Warrenton.
Established July 1, 1873
(USPS 035-000)
Published Tuesday, Thursday
and Saturday by EO Media Group,
949 Exchange St., PO Box 210, Astoria, OR
97103 Telephone 503-325-3211,
800-781-3211 or Fax 503-325-6573.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to
The Astorian, PO Box 210, Astoria, OR
97103-0210
DailyAstorian.com
Seaside Planning Commis-
sion, 7 p.m., City Hall, 989
Broadway.
WEDNESDAY
Astoria Parks Advisory
Board, 6:45 a.m., City Hall,
1095 Duane St.
Clatsop County Board of
Commissioners, 6 p.m.,
Judge Guy Boyington
Building, 857 Commercial St.,
Astoria.
THURSDAY
Sunset Empire Transporta-
tion District Board, 9 a.m.,
Astoria Transit Center, 900
Marine Drive.
Miles Crossing Sanitary
Sewer District, 3 p.m., 34583
U.S. Highway 101 Business.
Cannon Beach Planning
Commission, 6 p.m., City
Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
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503-325-3211
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By AUBREY WIEBER
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — Last week ,
about 100 people stood
in front of the Capitol in
the rain for a rally about
vaccines.
They likely had all been
there before, probably sev-
eral times, for the same issue.
But this time they weren’t
protesting the legislation that
would have ended non med-
ical vaccine exemptions for
schoolchildren.
Rather, they were cele-
brating victory achieved at
the cost of a deep political
divide in the building.
House Bill 3063 was con-
troversial from the start and
became one of the most con-
sequential bills of the year
without even passing.
The vaccine bill had
passed the state House and
appeared to have the votes
to pass the Senate. Gov. Kate
Brown supported it.
Then, it became a casu-
alty of Capitol politics.
Last week , state Sen-
ate President Peter Court-
ney, D-Salem, announced he
would kill the vaccine bill as
part of a deal to get Senate
Republicans to allow Demo-
crats to pass a billion-dollar
business tax package to fund
education.
That the vaccine bill was
one of the sacrifi cial lambs
happened because pow-
erfully motivated citizens
didn’t give up and cagey
legislators channeled their
intensity for their purposes.
“All of the sudden, that
became very important,”
Senate Republican Leader
Herman
Baertschiger,
R-Grants Pass, said of kill-
ing the bill.
Awkward spot
The deal put Sen. Chuck
Thomsen, R-Hood River, in
an awkward spot. He was a
chief sponsor of the vaccine
bill and had spoken in sup-
port of it several times on the
Senate fl oor. The political
deal that cost him his bill put
him at odds with his fellow
Republican senators, but he
declined to comment about
what happened.
Three months ago, the
idea seemed unfathomable
that getting more schoolchil-
dren vaccinated would get
tangled up with the passage
of Democrats’ top objective
for the 2019 session.
Aubrey Wieber/Oregon Capital Bureau
Raisa Piatkoff , of the Russian Old Believer community, stands at a rally Wednesday in front of
the Capitol to support the death of a mandatory vaccine bill.
Republicans were split
over the bill and so were
Democrats. Their caucuses
avoided taking a position.
But a persistent, if not
deft, campaign was inces-
sant on social media as well
as in the Capitol. People sub-
mitted nearly 3,000 letters
and emails on the legislation.
Opponents and lawmak-
ers supporting them said that
effort was as grassroots as it
gets.
Others have said it
smelled more like “Astro-
turfi ng” — an insider term
for propping up a move-
ment to appear as though it’s
grassroots.
Several
seasoned
lawmakers said it was
unprecedented.
“As a legislator, I get
contacted about everything,
a lot,” Rep. Denyc Boles,
R-Salem, said. “I don’t know
if I’ve ever seen a group of
people … mount the kind
of numbers, touches as far
as emails and Facebook and
social media, every day,
week after week after week.”
Opponents stood along
the hallways with their
mouths taped to symbolize
being silenced. They stood
out front with signs. They
roamed the halls seeking
interactions with lawmakers,
and they stood in front of
the Capitol parking garage
mornings and evenings to
remind lawmakers of their
presence.
“These people have been
here since February, and
been here, and been here,
and been here,” said Rep.
Cedric Hayden, R-Roseburg.
“No one is paying them to
do that. It really feels to me
as pure of grassroots as I’ve
ever seen here.”
Others are skeptical.
“It smells too well-or-
M emorial Day
IN HONOR OF
OUR OFFICES WILL BE
CLOSED MONDAY,
MAY 27, 2019
ganized to not have money
behind it,” said Rep. Marty
Wilde, D-Eugene, who sup-
ported tightening the vacci-
nation requirements. Wilde
acknowledged he had no
evidence the opponents were
funded.
But political spending
reports fi led with the state
show that the political action
committee of one of the
groups most active against
HB 3063, Oregonians for
Medical Freedom, has
received nearly $160,000 in
political donations .
A good chunk of that
money — $87,443 — came
from Portland venture capi-
talist Jonathan Handley and
his wife, Lisa. They haven’t
contributed since 2017.
The Handleys’ son was
diagnosed with autism and
Jonathan Handley wrote a
book about a connection
between autism and vac-
cines. Over the years, there
have been many reports
and theories on a connec-
tion between vaccines and
autism, but the scientifi c
community has repeatedly
debunked them.
Handley declined to com-
ment for this story.
Oregonians for Medical
Freedom is based in Hills-
boro and was registered as
a nonprofi t last February
by the law fi rm of Andrew
Downs, who also serves as
legal counsel for the Senate
Republican offi ce.
Downs
declined
to
comment.
Sarah Bacon, the group’s
executive director, is active
in the Capitol and has repeat-
edly testifi ed against the bill.
She declined comment as
well.
‘Medical freedom’
The term “medical free-
dom” is inherently political.
It originated in libertarian
circles and is a term used by
famed libertarian Ron Paul.
Similarly minded groups in
several states use the term
“medical freedom” or some-
thing similar.
Amber Sims, a member
of Oregonians for Medical
Freedom, said the group is
entirely volunteer. Its web-
site doesn’t list staff, but
she said leadership consists
of around 12 people. The
group formed to oppose a
2015 bill by Sen. Elizabeth
Steiner Hayward, the Bea-
verton Democrat, that would
have strengthened vaccina-
tion requirements.
Sims said volunteers
work long hours to provide
information to parents.
“We are not trying to
argue effi cacy. We are try-
ing to look at the bigger pic-
ture and say this is a consti-
tutional violation,” she said
of mandating vaccines.
Sims said Oregonians for
Medical Freedom uses email
and social media to reach
the public, but its members
also make their case in per-
son, visiting with lawmakers
and testifying at legislative
hearings.
A lot of opponents got
involved after hearing about
the bill by word of mouth,
she said.
“This issue awoke the
mama bear and awoke fam-
ilies and awoke people that
have strong convictions and
do not believe the govern-
ment has a right to coerce
people like this,” Sims said.
“This was a new line drawn
in the sand.”
Sen. Sara Gelser, D-Cor-
vallis, said she is worried
the success of the opponents
could become a playbook for
other issues.
The opposition pulled
people from all walks of
life. Some, Gelser said, were
pleasant and respectful. She
referenced a card and fl ow-
ers given by an opponent
to the bill, thanking her for
reading emails and talking to
them in her offi ce.
Others, she said, made
physically and sexually vio-
lent threats, wearing the
yellow S tar of David and
making analogies to gas
chambers, communism and
Jim Crow laws.
“I got this heinous email
about being raped and being
raped harder,” Gelser said.
“In the past 24 hours, I have
been called a turd sandwich,
a whore, the C-word, I have
been invited to lick, suck
and bite various body parts,
some of which I’ve never
heard of.”
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