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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (April 9, 2020)
A6 THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2020 Stay away: ‘We literally had thousands of people that showed up’ Continued from Page A1 March 21, when daytrip- pers and others hoping for a spring break getaway came to the coast amid appeals to stay home. “Community leaders in Clatsop County and the cities of Astoria, Cannon Beach, Gearhart, Seaside and Warrenton are remind- ing residents of the Pacifi c Northwest to continue to ‘Stay Home, Save Lives,’” stated a message sent from local governments Tuesday afternoon. Gov. Kate Brown issued a stay-at-home order in March after people disregarded the state’s recommendations to limit unnecessary travel. While North Coast gov- ernments have issued a patchwork of emergency declarations and restric- tions and the state has closed parks, trails and recreation areas, beaches are still open. The one exception is a portion of beach that Seaside shares jurisdiction of with the state. The city has closed that beach to locals and visi- ‘IF WE GET MORE CASES (OF THE VIRUS) AND WE CAN’T CONTROL THE VISITORS, WE’RE GOING TO HAVE TO TAKE MATTERS INTO OUR OWN HANDS AND PASS MORE RESOLUTIONS TO CLOSE THE CITY DOWN EVEN FURTHER.’ Rick Hudson | Cannon Beach’s emergency manager tors alike, authorizing police offi cers to issue citations if people do not comply with requests to leave . The county and the state have discouraged people from driving to the beach by restricting beach access and parking lots. The county is installing gates at two pri- mary beach access roads, Sunset Beach Road and Del Rey Beach Road. County leaders are still determining when the gates will be closed and how limited access will be enforced. Cannon Beach has asked the state to go a step fur- ther and consider closing beaches entirely, according to Rick Hudson, the city’s emergency manager. “The ocean shore remains open, but may be closed if people don’t maintain social distance,” the state warned on the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department’s website. Unlike Seaside, Cannon Beach has not completely shut down access to the beach, but it has attempted to discourage access. The city declared itself closed to visitors and has barricaded some parking lots. Offi - cers may issue a $500 mis- demeanor citation to people who do not respect social distancing guidelines, Hud- son said. Neither Seaside nor Can- non Beach have issued any citations yet, however. Most people respond well when offi cers inform them of local rules and concerns, police say. In Cannon Beach, most shops and restaurants are closed and the streets are empty, but Hudson knows warm weather and sunny days may prove to be an irre- sistible temptation. There is a chance Cannon Beach may try to follow Seaside in shutting down beaches to everyone. “If we get more cases (of the virus) and we can’t con- trol the visitors, we’re going to have to take matters into our own hands and pass more resolutions to close the city down even further,” Hudson said. People need to know they can’t simply blow off the governor’s order because the weather is nice and they want to go to the beach, he said. Clatsop County had fi ve reported cases of the coro- navirus as of Wednesday . Small coastal hospitals are not equipped to deal with a major outbreak, Hudson said. “We’re going to feel it and not recover and we’re afraid of that,” he added. The beach is the main attraction in places like Sea- side, said Seaside City Man- ager Mark Winstanley. City leaders hoped to bypass any confusion — or an uptick in visitors as weather improved — by closing the beach. “We really did not expect what we saw a couple week- ends ago,” Winstanley said. “We literally had thousands of people that showed up on our doorstep.” North Coast communities responded with emergency declarations and restrictions on campgrounds, hotels and other lodging following the surge of visitors . The state later closed parks and rec- reation sites like Fort Ste- vens State Park and Arca- dia Beach. Lewis and Clark National Historical Park also closed. “We don’t get to pick and choose who we allow on the beach, so we just simply came back and said, ‘No, we’re telling people at this point the beach is closed,’” Winstanley said, adding, “We don’t want people com- ing to this area any more than we think it’s appropri- ate to go to their backyard.” Surfers are still allowed to come and go from the Cove north of Seaside and a parking lot above the beach remains open for people to park and enjoy the view. “Are they technically on the beach, yeah, prob- ably,” said Seaside Police Chief Dave Ham about the surfers. B ut, he added, “By the nature of surfi ng, they are pretty much practicing social distancing.” Consult a PROFESSIONAL that I am pregnant, Q: Now my gums are more sensitive and bleed more easily. Why? A: JEFFREY M. 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Lektro JBT Corp., which acquired electric airplane tug manufacturer Lektro last year, recently cut around 20 people from the Warrenton staff . is providing therapy A: Teletherapy through a live video connection Lektro: ‘Our decision also included reduced work hours’ Continued from Page A1 “I would say if we return to full production, we would be hopeful there would be the ability to rehire,” she said. “They were consid- ered layoffs, and our deci- sion also included reduced work hours” throughout the company. Lektro, one of Clat- sop C ounty’s few high- tech manufacturers, was acquired last year by JBT Corp., a Chicago-based food-processing and airport equipment company, for $48 million. Former employees, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the lay- offs started after a fare- well speech last week by Eric Paulson, the former owner who became general manager after selling the company. “It’s something that we shouldn’t be super-sur- prised about with this new company that owns it now. B ut still it was just kind of in poor taste to be right after the farewell speech, which was uplifting, emo- tional, inspiring,” a former assembly mechanic said. “And then all of a sudden, we’re dropping like fl ies.”- F ormer employees believe they would have to reap- ply for their jobs at rene- gotiated wages if the jobs become available again. “They said we would have to apply like every- one else, and that we would have to negotiate on wages,” a former electri- cal pre assembly technician said. The Port of Astoria and JBT Lektro recently fi nished negotiating an amended lease that incen- tivizes the company through capped rent and credits to stay at the airport through at least August 2030. Rory Gerard-Govea LPC,LMHC,CADC Therapist North Coast Counseling 818 Commercial St., Ste. 303 Astoria, OR • (503)515-2545 northcoastcounseling@outlook.com and provide a pathway to graduation for seniors, the governor said. All high school seniors on track to graduate prior to the closure will receive passing grades for their courses. “I refuse to punish stu- dents … because they could not attend classes for a little over two months,” Brown said. For students who did not have a passing grade in mid-March and need time to improve grades in order to graduate, Brown is ask- ing school districts to fi nd creative ways to get these seniors “the extra attention they need to get across the fi nish line.” Brown also extended an existing executive order for postsecondary educational institutions, instructing them to follow social distancing measures through the end of the term. In Clatsop County, school districts have been preparing for remote learning in recent weeks. The Astoria School Dis- ALL HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS ON TRACK TO GRADUATE PRIOR TO THE CLOSURE WILL RECEIVE PASSING GRADES FOR THEIR COURSES. trict distributed more than 750 learning packets to stu- dents on Monday and estab- lished a distance learning website earlier this month for students across its four schools. It is not clear yet if grad- uation ceremonies and other offi cial milestone events students may participate in during their senior year will be able to continue as scheduled. “This is a real challenge and frankly we don’t know if those will be able to be held this year,” Colt Gill, the director of the Oregon Department of Education, said. The state’s guidance to school districts is to con- sider rescheduling these events or look at other alter- natives to celebrate seniors’ achievements. Teachers will continue to reach out to families on a weekly basis through the end of the school year, Astoria School District Superinten- dent Craig Hoppes wrote in a letter to parents Wednesday. District staff are “acutely aware of what this decision means to our students and, in particular, our graduating seniors,” he wrote. “This is a challenging time for our district families, students, teachers and staff, as well as our nation and the world,” he added. “Over the last month, I have personally witnessed the heart, promise and resilience of our people and I am confi dent that we will come out of this stron- ger than before. We are all in this together.” North Coast school dis- tricts anticipated Brown’s announcement. Still, said Seaside Super- intendent Sheila Roley, “It was hard news to hear when we got it.” Most school districts are not sure yet what they will do for graduation ceremo- nies. Astoria hopes to have a plan in place by May 1. In Seaside, Roley said she knows celebrations will not be the same. “We’re not quite sure what they will look like, but we will absolutely be doing something for seniors,” she said. Of the Astoria School Dis- trict’s 1,915 students, Hop- pes says teachers and staff have contacted all but 40 and are working to connect with these last few. They are also working to connect fami- lies to basic services beyond academics. Hoppes has seen the need for food and other day-to-day supplies continue to grow. “We have the capacity to help them but it’s just a chal- lenge because people have needs that they didn’t have three weeks ago,” he said. IS it effective? YES. Research shows it as effective as face-to-face therapy. IS it safe? YES. It meets all state, federal and professional guidelines for secure communication and is HIPPA compliant. Will my insurance cover it? YES, in most cases. can I use my Q: How computer to video conference/call my friends etc.? Schools: Need for food, other supplies continues to grow Continued from Page A1 over the internet. You receive the same treatment as in person, it’s just done on your streaming device! 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