A2
THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, APRIL 18, 2020
South County gets emergency radio boost
IN BRIEF
Seaside approves
$135,000 purchase
Beach access on the North Coast
remains closed this weekend.
Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
By R.J. MARX
The Astorian
Beach access closed to vehicles
on weekends over virus
Clatsop County will close vehicle access to North
County beaches for the remaining weekends in April.
Gates at the entrances of Sunset Beach and Del Rey
Beach will be closed beginning Friday evening and will
reopen Monday morning.
The beach at Seaside is closed to all and the beach
access road in Gearhart is closed. State parks are also
closed.
Cities in the county encourage people to recreate in
their own communities. Offi cials say large numbers of
visitors crowding beaches will result in more restrictions.
Cannon Beach extends
protective measures over virus
The Cannon Beach City Council has extended its
protective measures in response to the coronavirus until
at least May 5.
On March 22, the city closed to visitors and restricted
hotels from operating with the exception of people on
long-term stays and essential workers.
The City Council plans to keep the protective mea-
sures in effect as long as the city’s state of emergency
is in effect, but will continue to reevaluate every two
weeks.
Seaside made a big
advance to improving radio
communications for fi rst
responders. The City Coun-
cil approved $135,000 for
the purchase and implemen-
tation of a new simulcast
radio system on Monday.
A double layer of cover-
age in a number of places
should “greatly increase
our reception and transmis-
sion,” the city’s police com-
munications manager, Mitch
Brown, said during the lives-
tream meeting.
Funds will be used to
replace the current radio sys-
tem and upgrade to the new
system in about three to four
months.
Additional
repeat-
ers, related equipment and
installation are priced above
$123,000. The additional
$12,000 requested will go to
a new pole at an emergency
operations center above the
site of the new middle and
high school campus in the
Southeast Hills.
Current
communica-
tions consist of a single site
on Tillamook Head, Brown
said. That site will remain
‘THIS IS REALLY A SAFETY ISSUE.
WE DON’T WANT OUR POLICE,
FIRE, EMTs OUT OF CONTACT IN
AN EMERGENCY SITUATION.’
Seaside Mayor Jay Barber
operational with additional
facilities at the new school
near the water tower and at
Humbug Creek along U.S.
Highway 26. This would
help Hamlet, Cannon Beach,
Gearhart and Seaside radio
communications for both
police and fi re.
Funding for the new tech-
nology will come from the
public safety budget, City
Manager Mark Winstanley
said.
Current portable recep-
tion for Cannon Beach is
“pretty poor,” Brown said.
At Humbug Creek, the
city will pay a rental fee to
the Oregon Department of
Transportation, similar to
the agreement at Tillamook
Head, Seaside Fire Chief
Joey Daniels said. “County
sheriff’s offi ce and others
are out there. We’ll go on the
same pole they are. We have
pretty weak to no reception,
especially at Milepost 3 all
the way to the (Highway) 53
junction or farther.”
The Cannon Beach Rural
Fire Protection District,
which serves Cannon Beach
to Falcon Cove, has histori-
cally struggled with recep-
tion because of the moun-
tainous terrain between radio
repeaters. Certain areas are
known to be dead zones.
At least six pagers for
Cannon Beach fi refi ghters,
including the fi re chief’s
pager, did not activate for a
three-alarm fi re in Seaside
in February because of poor
reception.
The Seaside dispatch
center, which handles emer-
gency calls for agencies in
Seaside, Cannon Beach,
Gearhart and Hamlet, texts
emergency responders as a
backup when pagers don’t
activate.
Marc Reckmann, Cannon
Beach Fire Chief, has called
for improvements, including
consolidating services and
technology.
Reckmann
watched
the City Council meet-
ing remotely and said the
upgrades will make a sub-
stantial impact on communi-
cations in South County.
But Reckmann continues
to press for a consolidated
response center to address
staffi ng shortages and delays
between north and South
County dispatchers. “The
county has done the sep-
arate studies since 1997,
all saying the same thing:
Consolidate.”
The city may ask other
jurisdictions for funding,
through conversations with
Cannon Beach Fire and
other agencies, Winstanley
said.
“In the future, yes, we
may see that those agencies
fi nancially help, but right
now we’re prepared to move
forward with it with the bud-
gets we have so that we can
get this done,” Winstanley
said. “This has been a prob-
lem for quite a while down
in the South County. Radio
traffi c in some of those loca-
tions has been very spotty,
and we do a lot of mutual aid
down in those areas. From
a safety standpoint making
this improvement is very
important and we’re ready
to go.”
“This is really a safety
issue,” Mayor Jay Bar-
ber said. “We don’t want
our police, fi re, EMTs out
of contact in an emergency
situation.”
Free breakfast for
emergency responders
The Seaside Civic and Convention Center and Ore-
gon Fine Foods have partnered to provide compli-
mentary breakfast for people in need and emergency
responders in Clatsop County.
People can drive-thru at the northeast loading zone of
the convention center from 6:30 to 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday
for pancakes and sausages while supplies last.
“Due to the overwhelming success of our fi rst pan-
cake feed, we decided to provide a second round to any-
one in Clatsop County who is a fi rst responder or has
felt the pinch of this pandemic from an economic stand-
point,” said Russ Vandenberg, general manager of the
convention center.
— The Astorian
DEATHS
Feb. 21, 2020
In GRAYUM,
Brief
Harley W. Jr., 74, of Salem, formerly
of Astoria, died in Salem. Crown Memorial Center of
Salem was in charge of the arrangements.
Death
BIRTH
March 28, 2020
Birth
RICHMOND, Christina and Ryan, of Warrenton, a
boy, Mark Robert Richmond, born at Columbia Memo-
rial Hospital in Astoria. Grandparents are Roxann
Pearson and Robert and Debra Richmond, of Ocean
Park, Washington, and Diane and Ben Nofsinger, of
Longview, Washington.
ON THE RECORD
Theft
Vehicle charge
On
the
Record
• Hannah
Havranek,
• Lonie Charles Davis
29, was arrested Thurs-
day on Marlin Avenue in
Warrenton for theft in the
second degree and crim-
inal trespass in the fi rst
degree.
Jr., 41, was arrested
Wednesday on W. Marine
Drive near Astoria High
School for unauthorized use
of a motor vehicle, posses-
sion of heroin and posses-
sion of methamphetamine.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
MONDAY
Knappa School District Board, 5:30 p.m., (video meeting).
Astoria City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 1095 Duane St.
TUESDAY
Port of Astoria Commission, 4 p.m., workshop, 10 Pier 1,
Suite 209, (teleconference).
Astoria Historic Landmarks Commission, 5:15 p.m., City
Hall, 1095 Duane St.
Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District Board
of Directors, 5:15 p.m., regular meeting, 6 p.m., budget
meeting, Bob Chisholm Community Center, 1225 Avenue
A, Seaside.
Seaside School District Board of Directors, 6 p.m., bud-
get committee meeting immediately followed by regular
meeting, 1801 S. Franklin.
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.
Coast Community Radio awarded major grant
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
Coast
Community
Radio, a nonprofi t based
in Astoria, has received a
$120,000 grant to upgrade
broadcast equipment.
The nonprofi t oper-
ates three local stations,
KMUN, KTCB and KCPB,
which broadcast throughout
the North Coast and s outh-
west Washington state.
The grant, awarded by
the M.J. Murdock Chari-
table Trust, matches funds
raised by individuals and
other charitable foundations
since 2018.
Coast Community Radio
said the grant is the corner-
stone for a major equip-
its newsrooms in the last
month.
In the face of those hard
choices, Wright told Ore-
During the coronavi- gon Public Broadcasting’s
rus outbreak, the hunger “Morning Edition” that
for news and up-to-date she’s confi dent more job
information has never been cuts aren’t on the horizon for
stronger.
her organization.
But in the midst of
“I don’t see more
a once-in-a-lifetime
layoffs coming. I
event, local newspa-
think we took action
pers are struggling
fairly quickly, and
in an already fragile
we anticipate that
industry.
we’ll be able to keep
On
Wednes-
our current staff-
day, the owners of
ing level through
The Oregonian — Heidi Wright this crisis,” she said.
the largest paper
“And we’ll come
in the state — announced out the other end hope-
they were cutting employee fully a stronger, sustainable
pay by as much as 20% company.”
from May through Decem-
Despite mass layoffs, EO
ber. They’re also requiring Media newsrooms such as
employees to take additional the East Oregonian and the
unpaid furloughs of one or Hermiston Herald are striv-
two weeks, depending on ing to still meet the demand
department.
for accurate and timely
Heidi Wright is the pub- information.
lisher of the Bend Bulletin
“We’ve never been bus-
and the chief operating offi - ier. Our newsrooms might
cer with EO Media Group, be ghost towns, but we’ve
which publishes newspa- got a lot of reporters out,
pers in Oregon and Wash- and we’re producing a lot of
ington state, including The content, which I think is get-
Astorian. The company laid ting consumed voraciously
off 47 employees across in our communities,” Wright
By GEOFF NORCROSS
and DONALD ORR
Oregon Public Broadcasting
VOLUNTEER
PICK OF THE WEEK
Lola
5 year, 8 month
old American
Staffordshire Blend
MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Printed on
recycled paper
Subscription rates
Eff ective May 1, 2019
A classy lady.
Easy to teach,
Eager to please
And adore just you.
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
said in a statement. “He
owned a radio and appli-
ance sales and service shop
out of high school and went
on to start Tektronix, a com-
pany that manufactures test
equipment used widely in
audio and broadcast fi elds,
as well as many others.
“Lorin Dunlop, our p ro-
gram d irector at the t rust,
assured me that Jack and
the t rust have always
funded radio, and that if
he were around today, he
would love our station. I
offer my deepest gratitude
to Jack Murdock, the t rust,
our community and the
other foundations who have
helped us raise the funds
for our much needed ‘radio
re do’.”
Newspapers struggle fi nancially during pandemic
COPYRIGHT ©
Entire contents © Copyright,
2020 by The Astorian.
MEMBER CERTIFIED AUDIT OF
CIRCULATIONS, INC.
ment and facilities overhaul
dubbed “Radio For Good.”
The biggest upgrades
were made last year when
the station purchased and
installed a new transmit-
ter on Megler Mountain in
Washington.
Susan Peterson, Coast
Community Radio’s devel-
opment director, said the
fi nancial support “helps
us fulfi ll our mission. It
makes the whole commu-
nity better.”
Peterson said the grant
from M.J. Murdock is the
largest grant the nonprofi t
has received since she
began seven years ago.
“Money like that infused
into a community like ours
— small, rural, a little apart
from the the big city for sure
— it’s just so important,”
she said. “It breathes so
much vitality and persever-
ance into our community.”
Graham Nystrom, the
station manager, said pro-
fessional broadcast equip-
ment is not cheap and that
the grant was much needed.
“Melvin “Jack” Murdock
was a radio guy,” Nystrom
Sponsored by
Bayshore
Animal Hospital
CLATSOP COUNTY ANIMAL SHELTER
1315 SE 19th St., Warrenton • 861- PETS
www.dogsncats.org
Noon to 4pm, Tues-Sat
‘WE’VE NEVER BEEN BUSIER.
OUR NEWSROOMS MIGHT BE
GHOST TOWNS, BUT WE’VE GOT
A LOT OF REPORTERS OUT, AND
WE’RE PRODUCING A LOT OF
CONTENT, WHICH I THINK IS
GETTING CONSUMED VORACIOUSLY
IN OUR COMMUNITIES.’
Heidi Wright | chief operating offi cer with EO Media Group
said.
“As of last night, (we
had) 930 bylined corona-
virus stories. That’s just on
this topic, let alone the other
news we need to continue to
report on.”
EO Media Group is get-
ting help from the fed-
eral government through
a payroll protection loan,
which covers payroll for
its remaining employees .
That includes everyone who
works for the company, not
just reporters.
However, local jour-
nalism was struggling to
stay afl oat even before the
coronavirus hit, as overall
advertising and subscrip-
tion revenues have been
on the decline. Wright said
the business model needs
to adapt when hard times
come.
“Google and Facebook
have done a really good job
of monetizing the content
that all of us produce … so
we’ve got to fi gure out how
to fi nd new revenue streams,
and we’re doing that,”
Wright said.
In the meantime, Wright
said Gov. Kate Brown and
the state government could
potentially step up to save
local newspapers in a time
of crisis.
“It would be very help-
ful if the governor’s offi ce
would utilize the newspa-
pers around the state and the
other media organizations
around the state that produce
journalism — if they could
utilize us with their ‘Stay
Home, Save Lives’ cam-
paign,” Wright said.
“It’d be nice to see some
of that money stay in Ore-
gon and save some journal-
ism lives.”
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