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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (July 14, 2020)
A2 THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2020 IN BRIEF Pacific County prosecutor resigns SOUTH BEND, Wash. — Pacific County Prosecu tor Mark McClain resigned Thursday with an effective date of Aug. 3, citing unspecified “personal and profes sional reasons.” He said the prosecutor’s office “is well positioned to continue to serve our community.” He expressed thanks for the opportunity to serve in elected office. McClain has two years remaining in his second, four-year term. He was first elected in November 2014, defeating his former boss, then-Prosecutor David Burke, by a 59% to 41% margin. McClain was reelected in 2018 by a similar margin versus challenger Pam Nogueira Maneman. — Chinook Observer Oregon putting names of ousted police online SALEM — In the aftermath of the death of George Floyd in police custody, Oregon has released the names of over 1,700 officers whose transgressions over the past 50 years were so serious that they were banned from working in law enforcement in the state. The online posting last week came after the state Leg islature created a law requiring the Department of Pub lic Safety Standards and Training to establish a statewide public database of officers whose certification has been revoked or suspended. “Those who are revoked have tarnished the badge and no longer have the trust of their community, their agency, or our agency as the certifying body,” depart ment director Eriks Gabliks said. The website includes a spreadsheet with the names of decertified officers going back to 1971. In at least one instance, a police officer who was decertified in Oregon obtained employment in law enforcement in another state, a situation that some say points to the need for a comprehensive, nationwide database. — Associated Press Forest threats include climate change, insects, disease and wildfire Pacific Northwest forests face increased threats from severe wildfires, insects, disease and climate change, according to a new assessment released last week by the U.S. Forest Service. The Bioregional Assessment evaluated 19 national forests and grasslands across the Pacific Northwest. It found that the Northwest Forest Plan and other direc tives were not fully achieving desired outcomes when it comes to the forests’ potential social, economic and eco logical benefits. Under the 1994 Northwest Forest Plan, management plans changed dramatically for federal forests from the Canadian border into Northern California. The plan, adopted by the Clinton administration, curtailed logging and aimed to protect imperiled northern spotted owls and other species that depend on old growth forests. The assessment came up with a list of recommenda tions from five different categories for the Forest Service and other federal land management agencies. They are required by law to develop plans that guide long-term management of public lands. — Oregon Public Broadcasting DEATHS July 10, 2020 CARROLL, Rosalie, 85, of Warrenton, died in Warrenton. Ocean View Funeral & Cremation Service of Astoria is in charge of thè arrangements. ON THE RECORD Criminal mischief • Lori Suzanne Smith, 58, of Warrenton, was arrested Thursday on Sunset Beach Lane for criminal mischief in the second degree and disor derly conduct. Criminal trespass • Dorothy Virginia Olsen, 35, of Astoria, was arrested Saturday on Fifth Street and the Asto ria Riverwalk for crimi nal trespass in the second degree. PUBLIC MEETINGS TUESDAY Seaside Community and Senior Commission, 10 a.m., Bob Chisholm Community Center, 1225 Avenue A. Clatsop County Planning Commission, 10 a.m., (elec tronic meeting). Warrenton City Commission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 225 S. Main Ave. Lewis & Clark Fire Department Board, 6 p.m., main fire station, 34571 U.S. Highway 101 Business. WEDNESDAY Seaside Tourism Advisory Committee, 3 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broadway. Seaside Tree Board, 4 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broadway. THURSDAY Astoria City Council, 1 p.m., work session, City Hall, 1095 Duane St. Seaside Transportation Advisory Commission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broadway. the Astorian I Circulation phone number: Established July 1,1873 (USPS 035-000) 503-325-3211 . 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I Printed on \h(Y recycled paper Subscription rates Effective 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 Professor preps students for climate change impacts Rising sea levels main area of study By MICHAEL KOHN The Bulletin BEND — Climate change models forecast plenty of doomsday scenarios that could play out over the rest of the century and into the 2100s. Elizabeth Marino wants to make sure young Oregonians are prepared for anything M o t h e r Nature can throw at them. Marino — sor of anthro pology at Oregon State Uni- versity-Cascades — teaches environmental justice and social sustainability to stu dents who aspire to become decision-makers at the local, national or even global levels. Her goal is to prepare them to manage disaster, without get ting in nature’s path. Instead of focusing on the construction of more infra structure that was historically used to hold back nature, such as dams and levees, Marino teaches students how to ana lyze the social conditions of communities. A better understanding of how communities func tion when faced with peril allows a society to be ready to respond to the specific needs of that area when disas ter strikes. “You can have a big hur ricane with small impacts or a small hurricane with big impacts depending on what the social conditions are before the hurricane hits,” said Marino. “My students are trained to think about all the stakeholders that are going to be impacted by this (event).” Variables can include housing density, wealth gaps, home construction standards and ease of access to evacua tion sites, among others. Marino’s main area of study has been rising sea lev els, loss of sea ice and the impacts that these can have on communities from across the country. Last year, she Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin Elizabeth Marino, a professor of anthropology at Oregon State University-Cascades, teaches a profes environmental justice and social sustainability to students who aspire to become decision makers at the local, national or even global levels. was awarded a $750,000 grant from the National Sci ence Foundation to study the effects of flooding on coastal communities. Marino’s work includes “Fierce Climate, Silent Ground” — a book that describes climate change impacts in Shishmaref, an Alaskan village that is slowly being consumed by the sea. While the threat of rising seas and disappearing beach front property seems a long way from central Oregon, Marino said such a catastro phe can still impact the high desert. Perhaps not this decade, or the next, but sometime later this century Marino believes coastal flooding could impact states beyond Florida and Louisiana — possibly rip pling all the way to central Oregon — due to migrations and economic shocks. “Between four and 21 mil lion people are going to be migrating by the year 2100, linked to sea level rise, flood ing and inundation and other events,” said Marino. “Big migration shifts will have an impact on the entire nation. Oregon receives migration from other states, and climate change may exacerbate that migration.” Marino said future gener ations will need to find ways to keep migrants safe, and ensure that their movement is done in a planned way, rather than a hurried, mass migra tion. Human rights and dig nities need to be assured, she said. Marino’s classes take a deep dive into such migration scenarios, and students learn how to deal with them from the ground up. She explains the tools needed to protect people suffering a slow-mov- ing tragedy, as well as ways that the community receiving the migrants can help where needed. “The next generation of thinkers — whether they be in Bend, Salem, Portland or Washington, D.C. — need to understand best practices in managing environmental risk and disasters when they arrive,” said Marino. “Espe cially since Oregon may itself be affected.” Preparing for challenges that could occur decades from now doesn’t mean that students can’t also apply what they’ve learned from Marino when facing today’s chal lenges. Many of the disaster readiness programs she advo cates can be applied to other crises, such as a coronavirus pandemic. “Training my students to solve these very complex problems at both the national, state and local levels is good for our community,” said Marino. While central Oregon doesn’t have a coast to be flooded, it does face climate change challenges, including warmer winters and extended drought conditions that are already impacting the area’s farming communities. Weak snowpack and early melt-offs leave farmers short on water, resulting in fewer crops planted. While farmers are already feeling the impacts of water shortages, further dwindling of central Oregon’s snow- pack due to climate change could also impact municipal water supplies and fish hab itats, said Scott Oviatt, snow survey supervisory hydrol- ogist for the U.S. Depart ment of Agriculture’s Natu ral Resources Conservation Service. “Each facet of historic water use could be impacted,” said Oviatt. “While some uses might be able to adapt to modified consumption, others could not absorb shortages.” In case such unfortu nate circumstances come to fruition in central Oregon, Marino wants to make sure the next generation is able to step up and make the deci sions based on what is best for the future residents of this area. “For central Oregonians, questions revolve around water availability: who is affected how are we affected, what are we going to do about water,” said Marino. “I think my students will be able to help answer that question.” Gospel tent gathering opens with a small footprint City clarifies allowed attendance By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Astorian An old-fashioned gospel tent meeting opened on Sun day in Astoria, drawing an estimated 30 people to each of the two services held on a vacant lot near Dairy Queen. The weeklong gathering, organized by Anchor Bap tist Church, is one of the first larger events planned in Clat sop County since fears about the spread of the coronavirus led organizations to cancel or postpone most events begin ning in March. Mayor Bruce Jones stopped in for part of the afternoon service Sunday and drove by again during the evening service. Every one he saw at the afternoon service wore face masks and followed public health guide lines, he said. Family groups kept 6 feet of distance between each other. Attendees were asked to sign in before entering the tent in case contact tracing was needed later. The tent was fully open on three sides and partially open on a fourth. Some residents voiced concerns to city and county officials last week about the timing of the tent meeting. They feared it could draw a large crowd and result in new cases of the virus. “On the way home I drove through downtown and saw many more places where I would be more worried about the risk of transmission, if I were worried about the risk of transmission outdoors,” Hailey Hoffman/The Astorian Bella Byers plays the piano at the start of the service on Sunday afternoon. Jones wrote in a Facebook post, “which, based on the evidence, I am not.” He told The Astorian he saw a much larger crowd at the Astoria Sunday Market. Crowd concerns, however, are greater when it comes to indoor gatherings and if peo ple are not wearing masks, he noted. Kevin Byers, the pastor of Anchor Baptist Church, is pleased with how the event has gone so far. Services are scheduled through this Sunday. “You hope for the best and it’s really kind of in line with what I assumed we would have at the very beginning of all of this,” he said. “Capac ity hasn’t been a problem and that’s good.” The people who have come “understand we’re being scrutinized and that it’s important we follow instruc tion,” he said, adding, “We don’t want trouble. We want to tell people about Jesus, and we have.” Jones had said previously he wished the church had delayed the event. He said he understood why people were worried. But, he wrote on Sun day, “Bottom line: all the right people and agencies have been contacted and spo ken to about this event. Let’s stop assuming the worst, but rather hope (and verily) all public health guidelines are followed, and attendance is moderate.” Under Gov. Kate Brown’s phase two reopening guide lines, indoor gatherings are restricted to 50 people and outdoor gatherings are lim ited to 100 people. However, churches, cultural groups and others have more fluid guide lines, with the ability to go up to 250 people if phys ical distancing of 6 feet is maintained. Ahead of the weekend, state health officials asked people to voluntarily limit indoor gatherings to fewer than 10 people for the next three weeks and to not host or attend larger gatherings. The tent meeting in Asto ria was considered an indoor gathering, but city officials believe organizers have lee way with capacity because it is a church-related event. The city issued two stan dard noise amplification and building permits for the gath ering, but county and city officials say there is no other local oversight. Any violation of state safety guidelines will be handled by the state, they said. Jones said he has spoken with the state Occupational Safety and Health Adminis tration, which has the author ity to enforce phase two guidelines for events. The city will notify the state if officials witness any violations or non- compliance issues, he said.
