A2
THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, JULY 20, 2019
IN BRIEF
Recreational use advisory
issued for Cullaby Lake
The Oregon Health Authority has issued a recre-
ational use health advisory for Cullaby Lake due to the
presence of a cyanobacterial (harmful algae) bloom
and cyanotoxins (harmful algae toxins).
People are advised not to swim or engage in other
recreational activities in the lake where blooms are
identifi ed. However, people are still encouraged to
visit Cullaby Lake and enjoy activities out of the water.
Boating is safe as long as speeds do not create
excessive water spray, which could lead to inhalation
risk.
People are advised not to drink water from the lake.
The authority says toxins cannot be removed by boil-
ing, fi ltering or treating water with camping-style
fi lters.
People who are not on a well or a public water sys-
tem and draw in-home water directly from an affected
area are advised to use an alternative water source
because not all private treatment systems are proven
effective in removing cyanotoxins.
Fish caught from areas where cyanobacterial
blooms are present should have the fat, skin and
organs removed before cooking or freezing, as toxins
are more likely to collect in these tissues, the authority
said. The fi llets should also be rinsed with clean water.
Exposure to cyanotoxins can be serious and result
in a range of symptoms which may require medical
attention. Children and pets are at increased risk of
exposure.
For health information or to report an illness, con-
tact the Oregon Health Authority at 971-673-0482.
Grand opening today
for Klootchy Creek trails
The North Coast Trail Alliance invites the public to
a grand opening from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. today to cel-
ebrate new off-road cycling trails at Klootchy Creek
Park on U.S. Highway 26, about 2 1/2 miles east of
Seaside.
A ribbon-cutting by Mark Morgans of Green-
Wood Resources and announcements are scheduled
for 11:30 a.m. There will be shuttles to Twin Peaks for
riders and nonriders to see the expanse or the property
and the view down into Seaside.
Lunch and refreshments will be served from 1 to
3 p.m.
— The Astorian
Plan to slow Western wildfi res
would clear strips of land
SALT LAKE CITY — The Trump administration is
proposing an ambitious plan to slow Western wildfi res
by bulldozing, mowing or revegetating large swaths of
land along 11,000 miles of terrain in the West.
The plan would create strips of land known as “fuel
breaks” on about 1,000 square miles managed by the
U.S. Bureau of Land Management in an area known
as the Great Basin in parts of Idaho, Oregon, Washing-
ton, California, Nevada and Utah.
The estimated cost would be about $55 million
to $192 million. It would cost another $18 million
to $107 million each year to maintain the strips and
ensure vegetation doesn’t regrow on the strips of land.
Wildfi re experts say the program could help slow
fi res, but it won’t help in the most extreme fi res that
can jump these strips of land. The breaks could also
fragment wildlife habitat.
An environmental group calls it an ill-conceived
and expensive plan that has no scientifi c backing to
show it will work.
— Associated Press
CORRECTION
Date incorrect — The Titanic sank in April 1912.
An item on B1 in In One Ear on Thursday incorrectly
said the ship sank in 2012.
ON THE RECORD
DUII
• Travis James Gris-
more, 37, of Ocean Park,
Washington, was arrested
in Warrenton on Wednes-
day for driving under the
infl uence of intoxicants.
The Clatsop County
Sheriff’s Department said
he was trying to reverse
his car but instead rolled
forward, hitting two cars.
• Brittany Ann Bock,
29, of Astoria, was
arrested Wednesday on
29th Street and Marine
Drive for DUII and reck-
less driving. Her blood
alcohol content was
0.23%.
• Claressa Durfee,
27, of Hammond, was
arrested Thursday in
Hammond for driving
under the infl uence of
intoxicants. Her blood
alcohol content was
0.17%.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
MONDAY
Seaside City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broadway.
Luke Whittaker/Chinook Observer
The site of the living history exhibition at Knappton Cove Heritage Center.
‘Living History’ provides look into
the experiences of Lewis and Clark
By LUKE WHITTAKER
Chinook Observer
KNAPPTON, Wash. —
The beaver tail was good,
but the whale blubber was
savored, especially com-
pared to their daily ration of
dog meat.
A look into the daily life,
experiences — and diet —
of the Lewis and Clark expe-
dition was detailed in an
interactive “Living History”
program at the Knappton
Cove Heritage Center last
weekend.
Costumed members of
the Pacifi c Northwest Liv-
ing Historians demonstrated
tools and skills used during
the Lewis and Clark expe-
(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.
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2019 by The Astorian.
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Union says late pay has been an issue for
decades, and state has been slow to respond.
By AUBREY WIEBER
Oregon Capital Bureau
Workers hired by the
state to give in-home care
for some of Oregon’s most
vulnerable say the Oregon
Department of Human Ser-
vices is repeatedly not pay-
ing them on time.
It’s caused by a software
error and has been happen-
ing since the 1990s, said
Rebecca Sandoval, a Ser-
vice Employees Interna-
tional Union Local 503
board member and home-
care worker.
“People are getting
evicted from their homes,
their credit is getting
ruined,” Sandoval said to
about 50 other SEIU mem-
bers protesting Thursday
outside DHS headquarters
in Salem.
SEIU 503 has about
18,000 dues-paying home-
care members and bargains
contracts for about 30,000
homecare workers. Sando-
val said the union does have
data showing how many
workers have been paid late
and how frequently it hap-
pens, but it wasn’t available
Thursday.
A survey sent out by the
union to homecare workers
in December asked a vari-
ety of questions to see what
the union should focus on
in bargaining. Of the 1,950
respondents, 42 percent said
they’ve been paid late.
Sandoval receives about
three calls per month from
members who are late to be
paid, she said.
The issue is the software
system sometimes deletes
timecards the workers sub-
mit, several protesters
explained. Then when work-
ers complain because they
aren’t paid, DHS employ-
ees ask for proof of work,
meaning the system erased
the timecards. It can take
months to resolve, mean-
while workers are late on
their bills and have to bor-
row money or take out loans.
One woman, who asked
to only be identifi ed by
her fi rst name, Esperanza,
takes care of several little
kids. Recently she fi led for
renewal of her license, and
the paperwork was erased
by the system, she said.
When she went into the DHS
offi ce, a caseworker became
angry and began yelling at
her. She was offended and
left, and it made her reluc-
tant to go back. It took three
months to resolve the issue,
during which time she was
out of work and the children
didn’t have a caretaker. She
had to borrow money from
family to pay her bills.
Esperanza’s experience
was similar to several pro-
testers rallying outside
DHS. They shared stories,
made signs and signed peti-
tions while Neil Young’s
“Union Man” played in the
background.
At 12:45 p.m., the group
marched into the build-
ing and circled the lobby,
chanting things like “Gov-
ernment, pay your bills on
time!”
They occupied the build-
ing lobby for about 15 min-
utes while DHS employ-
ees on the second and
third fl oors peered down
at the demonstration. They
requested Aging and People
with Disabilities Director
Ashley Carson Cottingham
and Developmental Disabil-
ities Services Director Lilia
Teninty come down and per-
sonally take the stacks of
1,000 written accounts and
petitions from members
detailing the impacts of not
being paid on time.
The women never came
down. DHS’s communica-
tions staff declined to talk
with reporters directly, but
EMERALD HEIGHTS
APARTMENTS
Aubrey Wieber/Salem Reporter
Homecare workers represented by SEIU 503 march into the
Department of Human Services building to protest late pay.
issued a statement.
“Our data shows that the
vast majority of payments
are on time,” spokeswoman
Sherryll Johnson Hoar said.
“The instances in which a
payment is later than the
scheduled payroll date can
be the result of a number
of issues, from incomplete
information submitted to an
error on the state’s part.”
Hoar provided data stat-
ing that of the two sys-
tems that processed home-
care workers’ pay, one paid
employees late 2.2 percent
of the time, and the other
.0007 percent of the time.
The statement also said they
are unable to say with cer-
tainty how accurate those
numbers are.
Hoar added that state will
pay bank fees related to the
late payments — something
Sandoval said SEIU got in a
previous bargaining session.
“If we can prove we
incurred them, they will pay
those,” Sandoval said. “And
that’s wonderful and that’s
something we’ve fought
hard for… That doesn’t fi x
the problem and what we
need is to stop the late pay
from happening.
“Even if they get a fi x a
month or six weeks down
the road, that doesn’t help
when they got evicted here,
or when their car was repos-
sessed here, or couldn’t pay
for their kid’s school pic-
ture’s here. The problem
has got to be fi xed before it
happens.”
The union is now in the
middle of a new bargain-
ing session, where they are
working to address the late
payment issue. The two
sides are actively negotiat-
ing, which Sandoval said
will go on for a couple more
weeks. She declined to detail
those talks, but said they’re
still far apart.
“We
have
gotten
responses from them about
improvements on the end
after it’s happened, but noth-
ing about stopping it from
happening,” Sandoval said.
Olga, another woman
who declined to give her
full name out of fear of los-
ing her job, said she’s spo-
radically been paid late for
years. Last year it became
a monthly occurrence, she
said. As a Spanish speaker
who doesn’t speak English
well, she said it’s hard to
advocate for herself. One
time, she brought her son in
to help her. A DHS employee
told them a check was in the
mail, but it never came. She
was able to feed her fam-
ily through the federal food
assistance program, but had
to borrow money for other
expenses.
Working and then not
getting paid is extremely
frustrating, she said.
“It’s an injustice,” she
said through a translator.
The Oregon Capital
Bureau is a collaboration
between EO Media Group,
Pamplin Media Group and
Salem Reporter.
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from Sacagawea and a U.S.
Army unit of 31 men in the
early 1800s.
Knappton Cove, which
served as a U.S. quarantine
station during an intense
period of immigration from
1899 to 1939, is on the route
Lewis and Clark traveled
to the Pacifi c Ocean in late
1805.
Homecare workers protest over late pay
Astoria, OR
Established July 1, 1873
dition, including handling
fl intlock fi rearms, camp
cooking, starting fi res with
fl int and steel, making cloth-
ing and canoe paddles.
The presentation focused
on the Corps of Northwest-
ern Discovery, which Lewis
and Clark led from St. Louis
to the mouth of the Colum-
bia River and back with help
EQUAL HOUSING
OPPORTUNITY
Email: emeraldheights@charter.net
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Animal Hospital
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