ELECTRIC TRUCKS COULD
POWER RURAL OREGON
»PAGE A2
WEEKEND EDITION // SATURDAY, MAY 23, 2020
147TH YEAR, NO. 140
$1.50
CORONAVIRUS
Regatta
canceled
over virus
A city tradition in August
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
Photos by Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
Clatsop County could soon lift restrictions on lodging over the coronavirus.
County, cities move to lift
lodging restrictions over virus
Astoria, Warrenton,
Gearhart in sync
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Astorian
The Astoria Regatta, the city’s oldest
annual celebration , is cancel ed over the
coronavirus.
The Astoria Regatta Association
decided to cancel the festival, sched-
uled to begin on Aug. 5, following Gov.
Kate Brown’s announcement earlier this
month calling for all large events in Ore-
gon to be canceled or signifi cantly modi-
fi ed through September.
The governor said festivals, live sport-
ing events with audiences, concerts and
conventions cannot take place until there
is a reliable treatment for the virus or pre-
vention like a vaccine.
“We are incredibly disappointed that
we will not be celebrating Regatta this
year,” Erik Thorsen, the CEO of Colum-
bia Memorial Hospital and the president
of the Astoria Regatta Association, said in
a statement.
“Our newly selected Regatta Court,
Regatta d ignitaries and all our volunteers
were looking forward to creating a fan-
tastic 2020 Regatta celebration.”
The festival honors the region’s mar-
itime culture and history and dates back
to 1894.
This is not the fi rst time the event has
been cancel ed. Regatta was suspended
during World War I, after the Astoria fi re
of 1922 and again during World War II.
See Regatta, Page A6
S
hort-term lodging will resume at
partial capacity across the North
Coast starting June 5 under a
plan released Friday by local leaders .
Clatsop C ounty, Astoria and War-
renton have restricted lodging since
March to discourage an infl ux of vis-
itors from potentially spreading the
coronavirus and overwhelming local
hospitals. Gearhart, which never
declared an emergency over the pan-
demic, falls under the county’s orders.
See Lodging, Page A6
Astoria and other cities restricted visitors to hotels because of the coronavirus.
Seaside lifts lodging restrictions
Guests welcome after Memorial Day
By R.J. MARX
The Astorian
SEASIDE — Following the lead of Cannon Beach,
Seaside will rescind restrictions on hotels and short-
term rentals after Memorial Day.
“I feel that our hoteliers and vacation rental groups
have really worked hard to self-regulate and prepare
themselves for opening,” Mayor Jay Barber said. “This
is a diffi cult decision to balance community health and
economic health. My concern is for both. But ultimately
I’m concerned if we don’t time the opening of the eco-
nomic engines in our community, we’re not going to
have much left as a tourist community.”
See Seaside, Page A6
R.J. Marx/The Astorian
County
reports
three new
virus cases
The Astorian
Clatsop County reported Friday that
two women and a man living in the north-
ern part of the county tested positive for
the coronavirus.
The man is in his 40s, one of the
women is in her 50s and the other woman
is between 10 and 19 — the youngest per-
son reported to test positive in the county
so far.
The new cases bring the total in the
county to 45.
Twenty-fi ve of those people have
recovered, according to the county, while
all of the others are convalescing at home.
The Oregon Health Authority reported
3,864 cases and 147 deaths statewide
from the virus as of Friday morning.
The health authority tracked 1,329 test
results in Clatsop County, including 44 of
the positive cases.
The county announced Friday that the
Public Health Department lowered the
age minimum for drive-thru community
testing to 15 years old from 18.
Airbnb to fi x error in Seaside virus relief
Money was going
to go to guests
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
SEASIDE — When the City
Council voted in April to return
fi rst quarter lodging taxes to hotels
and vacation rentals to help during
the coronavirus pandemic , the city
notifi ed Airbnb and other brokers to
refund property owners.
But Airbnb said they were going
to give the tax money back to guests
instead.
The tax break was part of an
economic relief package meant to
help businesses and residents, not
visitors .
Josh Money and Andrew Hura,
who own vacation rentals in Sea-
side, began asking questions when
they did not see a refund from
Airbnb after a couple of weeks.
In a message to Money in late
April , Airbnb said the city requested
that the tax money be refunded to
guests and that is what the company
was planning to do.
Jon Rahl, the assistant city man-
ager, said the city encouraged
Airbnb and other brokers to return
the tax money to property owners.
“Ultimately, the city does not
facilitate the contract between (an
owner) and a third-party interme-
diary like Airbnb — that’s between
them,” he said.
Rahl also said the city receives
the tax money in one lump sum from
Airbnb and has no way of knowing
how much came from each host.
Danny Miller/The Astorian
See Airbnb, Page A6
Seaside provided lodging tax relief in response to the coronavirus.