A2
THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, APRIL 7, 2020
IN BRIEF
Seaside fi re division chief
to receive medal of honor
Seaside Fire Division Chief David Rankin has been
selected to receive a medal of honor from the Oregon
Fire Chiefs Association at a special ceremony later this
year.
Rankin has been a full-time fi refi ghter and the divi-
sion chief of operations for Seaside Fire & Rescue
since 2012. He will be honored for an ocean rescue in
December.
The heavy surf made it diffi cult to locate the vic-
tim, but Rankin was able to spot the individual near a
sandbar. Instead of waiting for the U.S. Coast Guard
to arrive, Rankin swam about 300 yards to the victim.
Since the victim was already showing signs of
hypothermia, Rankin swam the victim back to shore.
— The Astorian
Portland terminal operator rejects
smaller reward in lawsuit
PORTLAND — The former operator of the Port
of Portland’s container terminal has rejected a judge’s
reduced $19 million award of damages against the long-
shore workers’ union after a federal jury in November
found the union sabotaged shipping traffi c and caused
productivity to plummet.
ICTSI Oregon has decided instead to go back to
trial solely to determine an appropriate amount, The
Oregonian reported.
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union
has asked U.S. District Judge Michael H. Simon to put
the matter on hold, as it challenges the jury fi nding that
it was liable for damages and should pay any damage
amount to the former terminal operator.
The Philippine-owned ICTSI Oregon, which signed
a 25-year lease in 2010 to operate Terminal 6, left the
port in March 2017, idled by the labor strife it says
the national longshore union and the local chapter
encouraged. The company argued at trial that the union
engaged in unlawful labor practices over nearly fi ve
years and caused tens of millions of dollars in losses
to its business.
The jury awarded $93.6 million in damages to
ICTSI Oregon. Last month, however, Simon reduced
the jury award to $19 million, fi nding the evidence at
trial didn’t support the jury’s larger award that the union
argued was excessive and would lead to its bankruptcy.
The judge then gave ICTSI Oregon two weeks to
either accept the lower amount or he said a new trial
would be held solely on the damages amount.
— Associated Press
DEATHS
April 3, 2020
In BAMBERT,
Brief Shir-
ley Wells, 107, of War-
renton, died in Warren-
Deaths
ton. Ocean View Funeral
& Cremation Service of
Astoria is in charge of the
arrangements.
CROTHAMEL, Fred-
erick, 84, of Seaside, died
in Seaside. Hughes-Ran-
som Mortuary and Cre-
matorium is in charge of
the arrangements.
April 3, 2020
SCHROEDER,
Audrey, 84, of Sea-
side, died in Seaside.
Hughes-Ransom Mor-
tuary and Cremato-
rium is in charge of the
arrangements.
ON THE RECORD
Fleeing
conduct
On
the Clifford
Record
• Christopher
degree.
Dahl, 61, of Milwaukie,
was indicted Friday for
fl eeing or attempting
to elude a police offi -
cer, attempting to com-
mit a felony, two counts
of recklessly endanger-
ing another person, reck-
less driving and criminal
driving while suspended
or revoked.
Menacing
• Joshua Kenneth
Marion, 41, was arrested
Sunday on 27th Street
and Marine Drive in
Astoria for resisting
arrest, interfering with a
police offi cer, two counts
of menacing, crimi-
nal mischief in the third
degree and disorderly
in the second
DUII
• Todd Shaw, 55, of
Vader, Washington, was
arrested Monday on
Marlin Avenue and U.S.
Highway 101 in Warren-
ton for driving under the
infl uence of intoxicants.
His blood alcohol con-
tent was 0.12%.
• Drayko Valentino
Garcia, 20, of Salem, was
arrested Sunday on U.S.
Highway 101 and Rippet
Lane in Seaside for reck-
less driving, DUII and
driving while suspended.
• Olivia Taylor Went-
worth, 21, of Salem, was
arrested Sunday at the
Clatsop County Jail for
DUII.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
TUESDAY
Port of Astoria Commission, 4 p.m., (teleconference).
Clatsop Care Health District Board, 5 p.m., (via Zoom).
Seaside Planning Commission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 989
Broadway.
WEDNESDAY
Clatsop County Board of Commissioners, 5 p.m., work
session on coronavirus, 6 p.m., regular meeting, (telecon-
ference).
PUBLIC MEETINGS
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
Circulation phone number:
503-325-3211
Periodicals postage paid at Astoria, OR
ADVERTISING OWNERSHIP
All advertising copy and illustrations
prepared by The Astorian become the
property of The Astorian and may not
be reproduced for any use without
explicit prior approval.
COPYRIGHT ©
Entire contents © Copyright,
2020 by The Astorian.
MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MEMBER CERTIFIED AUDIT OF
CIRCULATIONS, INC.
Printed on
recycled paper
Subscription rates
Eff ective May 1, 2019
MAIL (IN COUNTY)
EZpay (per month) ...............................................................................................................$11.25
13 weeks in advance ...........................................................................................................$37.00
26 weeks in advance ...........................................................................................................$71.00
52 weeks in advance ........................................................................................................ $135.00
Out of County Rates available at 800-781-3214
DIGITAL
EZpay (per month) .................................................................................................................$8.00
Video Horizons struggles in
to-go world of coronavirus
Rentals slow at
Astor Street store
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Astorian
Despite seeing sales evap-
orate, Neal Cummings felt
it was the right decision to
close Video Horizons except
by appointment during the
coronavirus pandemic .
He set up a curbside
to-go service outside his
Astor Street store that he
felt would better protect his
employees and the public
while still offering video and
game rentals.
But after seeing sales dis-
appear with people unable to
browse, Cummings is call-
ing out for support to help
one of the North Coast’s last
remaining video stores sur-
vive the coronavirus . He
started a GoFundMe page
that has so far raised more
than $2,700 out of a $5,000
goal.
Government restrictions
to curb the spread of the
virus allowed video rental
shop’s like Cummings’ to
keep operating, provided
they designate an employee
to promote social distancing.
“Most of our customers
are browsers,” Cummings
said. “I think a lot of them
prefer coming in and taking
a look at the fi lms. And I just
haven’t felt comfortable let-
ting people in because of the
governor’s lockdown.”
Cummings said he has
avoided laying people off,
instead cutting hours as he
Coast River Business Journal
Neal Cummings, owner of Video Horizons, said he needs more support to stay open.
switches to curbside service.
But Video Horizons lacks
the technology to list avail-
able titles online, and sales
have gone down exponen-
tially with the doors closed.
His landlord has asked
him to apply for the federal
Paycheck Protection Pro-
gram covering payroll costs,
Cummings said. The pro-
gram launched Friday but
has been beset by technical
glitches that have kept many
of the nation’s top lenders
from being able to process
applications.
“He has allowed me to be
late on my rent, but he hasn’t
offered a reduction,” Cum-
mings said .
Around 86% of the 15,300
video rental stores open in
2007 had closed by 2017,
according to USA Today, as
movie-watching and buy-
ing have mostly gone online.
Video Horizons, founded in
1984, is one of only two in
Clatsop County. Universal
Video in Seaside, co-owned
by Steve and Jim Haugen, is
the other store.
Business has been down
maybe 20% during the coro-
navirus outbreak, Steve
Haugen said, but he blames
street construction for keep-
ing potential customers
away more than the virus.
“People have been pretty
careful, anyway,” he said.
“A lot of people coming in
are wearing masks. We’re
happy to be able to serve our
regular customers. And they
do really seem to appreci-
ate the fact that we’ve stayed
open.”
Universal Video could
endure a slowdown of sev-
eral months, since his fam-
ily owns the building, Steve
Haugen said. For Video
Horizons to survive, Cum-
mings said, he needs the
virus to subside, more dona-
tions toward his GoFundMe
fundraiser or for locals to
call in and reserve more
movies and games.
“We do that from 1 to 6
(p.m.) every day,” he said.
“We have people here who
collect the movies and get
them safe, sanitize them and
have them ready for them at
the counter and take them
out to your car.”
Astoria Downtown Market to close
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Astorian
The Astoria Downtown
Market will close in the
coming weeks because of
fi nancial issues related to
owner Samuel McDaniel’s
legal battle with the federal
government to accept food
stamps.
“It’s disappointing that
people won’t have the ser-
vices, and we won’t have
the local camaraderie that
we’ve all had,” he said.
McDaniel took over the
Commercial Street market
in July 2017, a decade after
he was convicted in Lane
County of felony delivery of
marijuana and psychedelic
mushrooms.
The U.S. Department of
Agriculture denied McDan-
iel’s application to accept
Supplemental
Nutrition
Assistance Program bene-
fi ts, known as food stamps,
arguing his conviction
refl ected a lack of busi-
ness integrity, a criteria for
denial.
The denial severely lim-
ited McDaniel’s ability to
serve the low-income com-
munity. He sued the federal
agency, arguing the drug
conviction happened long
before he took over the mar-
ket and related to no crime
of dishonesty.
U.S. District Court Judge
John Acosta sided with
McDaniel’s argument and
ordered the federal gov-
ernment to review McDan-
iel’s application again. But
McDaniel, who is wait-
ing on a settlement with the
USDA to recover his legal
costs, said he needs to close
down and focus on rebuild-
ing his credit.
The closure of his market
will limit grocery options
downtown .
The Asto-
ria Co+op, formerly in the
Shark Rock Building on
Duane Street, relocated to
a larger store at 23rd Street
and Marine Drive. McDan-
iel had hoped to fi ll the void
downtown and expand his
grocery operations. Instead,
he is selling everything at
a discount as he liquidates
before closure.
West Coast sends ventilators to New York
Oregon, California
receive damaged
equipment
By KATHLEEN
RONAYNE
Associated Press
SACRAMENTO, Calif.
— California Gov. Gavin
Newsom announced Mon-
day the state would loan 500
ventilators to the national
stockpile for use by New
York and other states experi-
encing a crush of coronavi-
rus-related hospitalizations.
Newsom’s decision fol-
lows Oregon and Wash-
ington state committing to
transfer ventilators to New
York.
California chose to
loan some of its equip-
ment because it is not yet
in as dire a situation as New
York, now the nation’s epi-
center for the crisis, said
Jesse Melgar, a spokesman
for the governor. Newsom
said state modeling shows
California will hit its peak
of cases sometime in May.
Washington state Gov.
Jay Inslee said Sunday
the state will return more
than 400 ventilators of the
Beth LaBerge/KQED
Staff work in a ventilator refurbishing assembly line at Bloom
Energy in California.
500 it got from the federal
government so they can
go to New York and other
states. Inslee, a Democrat,
said his statewide stay-
at-home order and weeks
of social distancing led to
slower rates of infections
and deaths in Washington,
which saw the fi rst serious
coronavirus outbreak in the
country.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown
on Saturday said 140 venti-
lators would be sent from
her state to New York, say-
ing at this point Oregon
doesn’t need them.
New York has more than
100,000 confi rmed cases
of COVID-19, the respira-
tory illness caused by the
Fre
e
Est Fast
ima
tes
Call me
ti
Any
Jeff Hale Painting
•
•
•
•
Residential
Commercial
Cedar Roof Treatments
Exterior Repaint Specialist
Over 25 years local experience
503-440-2169
Jeff Hale,
Contractor
LICENSED
BONDED
INSURED
CCB#179131
coronavirus.
New York also received
1,100 ventilators from
China as a gift.
“It’s going to make a sig-
nifi cant difference for us,”
New York Gov. Andrew
Cuomo said Saturday of the
incoming equipment.
“I know that if the tables
were turned and we were
experiencing a hospital
surge, other states would
come to our aid and pro-
vide ventilators just as we
are today,” Newsom said in
a statement.
California has been hunt-
ing for ventilators to boost
its own supply for weeks.
Offi cials requested 10,000
ventilators from the national
stockpile, though it has
received none. Los Ange-
les got 170 ventilators from
the stockpile, though many
were broken.
On Friday, Oregon
received masks with faulty
elastic that could cause
the straps to snap, expos-
ing medical workers to the
disease.
“Several of the ship-
ments we have received
from the strategic national
stockpile contained (per-
sonal protective equipment)
well past expiration dates
and, while we are being
told much of the expired
equipment is capable of
being used for COVID-19
response, they would not be
suitable for use in surgical
settings,” Charles Boyle, a
spokesman for Brown, said
in an email.
As of Friday, California
had access to 4,252 venti-
lators, Newsom said. Mel-
gar said Monday the state
is boosting that number by
rehabilitating thousands of
broken ventilators and pro-
curing thousands more from
other places. But he declined
to provide a rough estimate
of how many ventilators the
state now possesses.
Hydrogen fuel cell man-
ufacturer Bloom Energy has
dedicated a portion of its
production plants in Cal-
ifornia and Delaware to
repairing old ventilators. As
of last week, the San Jose-
based company had repaired
515 ventilators, with more
on the way. The company
says it has the capacity to
repair up to 1,000 per week.
WANTED
Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber
Northwest Hardwoods • Longview, WA
Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500