A2
THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2019
IN BRIEF
Seaside man sentenced for robbery
A Seaside man pleaded no con-
test Wednesday to robbery in the
fi rst degree, driving under the
infl uence of intoxicants and unau-
thorized use of a vehicle.
Cody Charles Ford, 37, was
sentenced to more than three
years in prison.
In May, Ford broke into a Sea-
side home and stole a vehicle from
a man who had recently died. The Cody Charles Ford
next morning, while under the
infl uence of intoxicants, he drove the vehicle into a
rock near the Tides Motel in Seaside.
Astoria City Councilor Brownson
to hold meet and greet Saturday
Astoria City Councilor Tom Brownson is holding a
“Meet Your Councilor” event at 9 a.m. on Saturday at
3 Cups Coffee, 279 W. Marine Drive.
Residents are invited to discuss city issues.
— The Astorian
Grants help people
in Pacifi c County Jail
LONG BEACH, Wash. — Pacifi c County plans to
hire three new employees to support people with men-
tal illness and addiction while they are in the county
jail and after they’re released.
The new positions include a full-time mental health
and substance use therapist in Pacifi c County Jail and
two community reentry liaisons, one based in North
County and one in South County.
The positions are funded by two federal grants
worth $1.7 million.
— Chinook Observer
DEATHS
Oct. 23, 2019
TODD, Mary Bridget
Haunani, 59, of Astoria,
died in Astoria. Caldwell’s
Luce-Layton Mortuary of
Astoria is in charge of the
arrangements.
Oct. 21, 2019
McAVOY,
Patricia
Mary, 85, of Astoria died
in Astoria. Caldwell’s
Luce-Layton Mortuary of
Astoria is in charge of the
arrangements.
MOWREY,
Sylvia
H., 105, of Astoria, died
in Astoria. Caldwell’s
Luce-Layton Mortuary of
Astoria is in charge of the
arrangements.
Buyers need to take a hard look
at Gearhart Elementary School
Some suggest
a fi re station
By R.J. MARX
The Astorian
GEARHART — Buy-
ers are taking a hard look at
the Seaside School District’s
three properties — Gearhart
Elementary School, Broad-
way Middle School and Sea-
side High School — each
built with an expected lifes-
pan of 45 to 50 years.
In a tour of Gearhart Ele-
mentary before the bond vote
in 2016, Doug Dougherty, an
advocate of a new campus
and Seaside school superin-
tendent at the time, pointed
out water pipes in narrow,
unlit tunnels. Maintenance
workers holding fl ashlights
needed to shimmy or crawl as
far as 250 feet to locate leaks
and then hammer through
concrete to reach encased
pipes.
Sections have not been
replaced since the elementary
school was built in 1949.
The three schools are
each about equal in disrepair,
Dougherty said, but Gearhart
students have no way to evac-
uate to high ground.
Since that time, crews
have done routine mainte-
nance — polishing fl oors,
painting and doing exterior
work to keep pests at bay
— but have not focused any
major repairs .
Doug Dougherty, of the Seaside School District, shows the
conditions at Gearhart Elementary School in 2016.
There has also been ongo-
ing maintenance on building
systems — boiler and water
heater work are the most
recent, Jim Henry, the build-
ing project manager for the
school district, said .
“Admittedly I’m not that
familiar with Gearhart Ele-
mentary School, but the
‘crumbling schools’ titles
have my attention,” Henry
said in reference to 2016
news stories. “Given the age
of the schools and coastal
location it’s not surprising.
It’s not unusual for pre bond
articles — these are Sep-
tember and October 2016 —
to highlight the worst-case
scenarios to bolster voter
support.”
The Gearhart campus sits
on 8.4 acres one block west of
the intersection of U.S. High-
way 101 and Pacifi c Way .
Boys and Girls Club abruptly closes in Long Beach
Parents are left
scrambling
By ALYSSA EVANS
Chinook Observer
BIRTHS
Oct. 7, 2019
CHRISTENSEN, Bri-
anna and Ryan, of Astoria,
a boy, Cole Ripath Chris-
tensen, born at Colum-
bia Memorial Hospital
in Astoria. Older sister is
Rhiannon
Christensen.
Grandparents are Dawn
and Troy Malcolm, Clan-
cie Adams and Terry
Christensen, all of Astoria.
Sept. 16, 2019
GAUTHIER, Tanya,
and KOONS, Rocky, of
Astoria, a boy, Byrson R.
Koons, born at Colum-
bia Memorial Hospital.
Grandparents are Phil and
Kari Gauthier, of Astoria,
Julie Smith-Koons and
Russ Koons.
MEMORIALS
Friday Oct. 25
LENDE,
Russell
“Russ” Sr. — Graveside
service at 1 p.m., Ever-
green Cemetery, 33540
Beerman Creek Road in
Seaside. Lende, 81, of
Seaside, died Sunday,
Oct. 20, 2019, in Seaside.
Hughes-Ransom Mor-
tuary is in charge of the
arrangements.
Sunday, Oct. 27
MATHRE,
Steven
Ray “Mathe” — Cel-
ebration of life from 1
to 4 p.m., Big Valley
Woods Community Cen-
ter, 32700 S.E. Leewood
Lane in Boring.
CORRECTION
Position incorrect — Steve Fick was not on
the Astoria Planning Commission a decade ago as
stated in an A1 story Saturday. He was on a committee
working on the Riverfront Vision Plan a decade ago,
but served on the Planning Commission prior to that.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
THURSDAY
Sunset Empire Trans-
portation District Board,
9 a.m., Astoria Transit
Center Conference Room,
900 Marine Drive.
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“The main building has
classic large classrooms
with a large central hallway
featuring natural sunlight
through countertop-to-ceil-
ing glass windows,” Norris
& Stevens, co-representing
the school district with Pop-
kin Real Estate, wrote in a
description of the property .
“The four outer buildings are
staged around the main build-
ing for specialty classrooms.”
Listed at $1.9 million,
the campus offers workout
facilities with a full gymna-
sium, plus covered basket-
ball courts outside. Baseball,
soccer and softball fi elds and
two bark-chipped outdoor
play areas offer recreational
opportunities.
Since the early 2000s,
Gearhart fi refi ghters have
asked the city to replace the
fi re station , a building con-
structed in 1958 considered
unsafe in an earthquake or
tsunami. A 2006 bond mea-
sure for a new public safety
building failed at the polls.
Gearhart’s Jack Zimmer-
man would like to see the
city reconsider the school as
a possibility for the proposed
Gearhart Fire Station, now
targeted at what is known as
the High Point site on North
Marion.
“At this point in time the
Gearhart school has become,
in my opinion, an increasing
catalyst dividing the commu-
nity between the proposed
fi re station and the school’s
future,” Zimmerman wrote
in a guest column for the Sea-
side Signal .
City Administrator Chad
Sweet said the city’s fi re-
house committee looked at
the school as a potential site
and knocked it off the table as
an option. “It was not consid-
ered because its elevation is
17 feet — our current station
is at 27 feet.”
The land is close to the
aquifer, making the location
susceptible to subsidence,
Sweet said.
“During winter storms the
area fl oods in part because of
the small creek to the east of
the property,” he said. “These
are many of the same reasons
the school district is mov-
ing the school out. The pub-
lic would lose trust in its city
offi cials if they put a fi re sta-
tion in such a location.”
LONG BEACH, Wash.
— Starting Friday, Jen
Downing, a mother of four,
will be left to fi gure out Plan
B for child care.
Downing and several
other parents are directly
impacted by a last-minute
closure of the Long Beach
Peninsula Boys and Girls
Club.
Last week , the club
announced on its Facebook
page that it would perma-
nently close on Thursday.
The decision has left parents
scrambling.
“This is a big hit. How
am I supposed to work if I
need to pick up my kids at
2:45 p.m.?” Downing said.
“I don’t know what to do.”
A second child care
option isn’t all parents are
looking for after the club’s
announcement.
Parents
want answers.
“If you didn’t have social
media or word of mouth,
you’d have no idea this is
happening,” said Michelle
Binion, a mother of two and
Ocean Beach School Dis-
trict b oard d irector.
“When was the meet-
ing? Where are the minutes?
As a school board member,
I know everything should
be transparent and docu-
mented,” she said.
When contacted about
the upcoming closure, Boys
and Girls Club Executive
Director Jennifer Magneson
was only willing to answer
questions via email. Mag-
NOW
TAKING
!
ORDERS
Mya Cunningham, 12, poses
with money she is donating
to create an after-school
program for students.
neson didn’t specify when
the club’s board made the
decision.
“The b oard decided
to close the club after all
known options to secure the
necessary funds to continue
safely running the programs
were exhausted,” she said.
The club’s annual bud-
get is $191,000, Magneson
said. She was unable to pro-
vide any estimate on how
much money the club needs
to operate.
“Our goal is to secure
funds to sustain ongoing
club operations,” Magneson
said.
Magneson and others on
the club’s board asked for
community donations in the
Oct. 9 edition of the Chi-
nook Observer. Donations
received by the club, as well
as membership fees paid by
parents, won’t be refunded,
Magneson said.
Club employees also
won’t receive severance
pay.
“Did you let us pay
your last payroll knowing
this would happen?” Bin-
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ion questioned. “Where are
the kids going to go? The
community deserves an
explanation.”
“We are doing every-
thing possible to fi nd the
resources needed to con-
tinue to provide our mem-
bers with a positive and sus-
tainable place for them to go
after school each day,” Mag-
neson said.
Yet many parents offered
differing thoughts.
Jennifer Burr, a single
mom, uses the club. She said
club staff aren’t answering
any questions.
“The one-week notice
seems so rash,” she said.
“It’s disturbing they’re giv-
ing no answers.”
Burr was able to get a
spot at Peninsula Church
Center for her child.
“I got a slot but can that
day care take on 70 kids?
Probably not,” she said. “I
don’t know what else to do.
I wouldn’t be able to work
without child care.”
The
church
center
has room for about three
more children, said Lor-
raine Brown, the child care
director.
Kelly Frech, owner of
Blue Crab Graphics, made
T-shirts for the club until
former club director Allie
Bair left the organization in
March. Since Bair’s depar-
ture, Frech hasn’t heard any-
thing from the club.
“It doesn’t seem like
there was any effort to fund-
raise,” Frech said. “This
doesn’t happen overnight.
They’re one of the most
supported groups on the
peninsula. How did this slip
through without any effort
to stop it?”
Frech, and many oth-
ers, said they’d be willing to
donate to keep the program
running. Many parents also
said they’d be willing to pay
higher fees if it would help
the club. P arents pay $50
per child, per year. The price
is twice as high as previous
years. Low-income families
aren’t required to pay the
annual fee.
When Mya Cunning-
ham, 12, learned about the
club’s upcoming closure,
she wanted to help save the
club. Cunningham gathered
her summer clam-raking
earnings and a rose she’d
received on her 11th birth-
day. After attaching a note
stating “I love BGC,” Cun-
ningham gave the money
and rose to her mom, Katie,
for the club. Mya’s generos-
ity may be part of an effort
that leads to a replacement
for the Boys and Girls Club.
Since Mya’s efforts, res-
idents gathered to start a
fund for another after-school
program.
The fund is named “The
Martha and Mya After-
school Fund.” The name
honors both Mya and Mar-
tha Murfi n, who founded the
Coastal Alliance for Youth,
which later became the
Boys and Girls Club.
Since the fund went pub-
lic on Monday, over $6,000
has been raised. The fund,
which is managed by the
South Pacifi c County Com-
munity Foundation, needs to
reach $100,000 before being
operable.
“Last Friday, we had a
genesis of people getting
together, asking what do we
do and how do we do this,”
said Tiffany Turner, who
brought the group together.
“We got together to make
sure people’s money is
safeguarded.”
Turner and her husband,
Brady, are co-owners of
Adrift Hospitality. She also
serves on the Ocean Beach
s chool b oard .
If the fund doesn’t reach
$100,000, money will be
reimbursed to donors.
CHEERS
TO
50 years
50th Wedding Anniversary Celebration
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DAVE / NELSON
COLUMBIA RIVER MARINE CONSTRUCTION
15yrs Experience • 360-642-4564
and NELSON’S MARINE SERVICE
40yrs Experience • 360-642-4672
e-mail: mlat@willapabay.org • fax: 360-642-0210
Edwin & Judy
Fisher
Sunday • October 27, 2019
1 to 4 p.m.
Olney Grange Hall • Highway 202
Luncheon served • No gifts please
For questions call:
503-325-1288