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.”
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Q: What is
video/teletherapy?
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.
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Will my insurance cover it? YES, in most
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can I use my
Q: How
computer to video
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friends etc.?
Schools: Need for food, other supplies continues to grow
Continued from Page A1
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