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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (July 28, 2020)
A2 THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JULY28, 2020 IN BRIEF Astoria Bridge closed on Saturday after man climbed to top The Astoria Bridge was closed to traffic for several hours on Saturday as police investigated a man who climbed to the top of the span that connects Oregon and Washington state. Police were called to the bridge at about 4:15 p.m. and closed the bridge soon after. Traffic backed up near the bridge in Astoria and on the Washington side of the C olumbia River. The bridge reopened at about 9:30 p.m. Astoria Police Chief Geoff Spalding said a man climbed stairs to the bridge’s top observation deck. He said Astoria police officers and a staffer for Clatsop Behavioral Healthcare spoke with the man. Spalding also said police worked with a relative of the man to help bring the man down. The police chief said the man could face a charge of criminal trespass in the second degree. Mayor Bruce Jones thanked Sgt. Chris McNeary and Officer Thomas Litwin for helping to get the man off the bridge safely. “With the calm professionalism of a seasoned offi cer who previously worked a suicide hotline, Sgt. McNeary patiently listened to and spoke with the man for over four hours until he was ready to come peace fully down,” Jones said in a Facebook post. “Climbing the stairs to the top of the bridge is challenge enough, without the added stress of an uncertain situation in a very dangerous position.” Rainier juvenile faces murder charge after allegedly driving into crowd near Nicolai Mountain Ajuvenile from Rainier is facing murder in the sec ond degree and other charges after allegedly driving through a crowd of people early Saturday at a gather ing near Nicolai Mountain, killing one. Authorities were called to the Hunt Creek rock pit, east of Nicolai Mountain offU.S. Highway 30, at about 4 a.m. on Saturday after a report of a hit-and-run. Kyle Snook left the area after allegedly driving his vehicle through a crowd at a large gathering, authori ties said. Three people were seriously injured and Rob ert Betschart, of Rainier, died, according to the Clatsop County Sheriff’s Office. Snook was arrested on charges of murder in the second degree, manslaughter in the first degree, five counts of felony vehicular assault and driving under the influence of intoxicants. Snook is being held at the Cowlitz County Jail. Investigators believe the gathering started Friday evening. Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Justin Dersham at 503-325-8635. — The Astorian DEATH July 27, 2020 VLEK, Maxine Marie, 91, of Astoria, died in War- renton. Ocean View Funeral & Cremation Service of Astoria is in charge of the arrangements. MEMORIAL Aug. 3, 2020 HORTON-RISLOW, Lynn Alice — Inurnment cer emony for columbarium placement at 2 p.m., Willa mette National Cemetery, 11800 S.E. Mount Scott Blvd., Portland. All are welcome to attend. ON THE RECORD Assault • Christina Poole, 33, was arrested Sunday at the foot of Sixth Street in Astoria for assault in the fourth degree and strangulation. Theft • Casandra McCalip, 38, was arrested Sunday at Walmart in Warrenton for theft in the second degree. • Calvin Proctor, 28, of Astoria, was arrested Friday at Home Depot in Warrenton for theft in the second degree. • Christopher White, 32, of Lincoln City, was arrested on July 20 at Walmart in Warrenton for theft in the second degree. Disorderly conduct • Robert David Hilbert, 49, was arrested Sunday at Safeway in Astoria for dis orderly conduct in the sec ond degree. Dun • Edwin Francis Thatcher, 63, of Astoria, was arrested Sunday on Com mercial Street in Astoria for driving under the influ ence of intoxicants, reckless driving, hit-and-run, driving with a suspended or revoked license and criminal mis chief in the second degree. • Joe Michael Doran, 55, of Astoria, was arrested Sunday at Safe way in Astoria for DUII and reckless driving. PUBLIC MEETINGS TUESDAY Seaside Airport Advisory Committee, 6 p.m, City Hall, 989 Broadway. Warrenton City Commission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 225 S. Main Ave. Astoria Planning Commission, 6:30 p.m., City Hall, 1095 Duane St. the Astorian I Circulation phone number: Established July 1,1873 (USPS 035-000) 503-325-3211 . Periodicals postage paid at Astoria, OR ADVERT,S.NG OWNERSHIP 949 Exchange St., PO Box 210, Astoria, OR A " advertising copy and lustrations 97103 Telephone 503-325-3211, prepared by The Astorian become the 800-781-3211 or Fax 503-325-6573. property of The Astorian and may not POSTMASTER: Send address changes to be reproduced for any use without The Astorian, PO Box 210, Astoria, OR explicit prior approval. COPYRIGHT© 97103-0210 Ent ¡re contents © Copyright, 2020 by The Astorian. DailyAstorian.com MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MEMBER CERTIFIED AUDIT OF CIRCULATIONS, INC. I Printed on 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 EtWESIM ,™nm >oUc.E BUU-Vv,. .1 MMTtV Nicole Bales/The Astorian Demonstrators lined Marine Drive in Astoria on Saturday afternoon for a Black Lives Matter protest in solidarity with protesters in Portland. Coast Guard cutter Steadfast gets new commanding officer By NICOLE BALES The Astorian The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Steadfast has a new commanding officer. Cmdr. Craig Allen Jr. replaced Capt. Dan Ursino during a change of command ceremony Friday aboard the Astoria-based cutter. Ursino led the Steadfast crew for more than a year. He was promoted to cap tain and will take command of the Coast Guard’s Civil Engineering Unit in Oak land, California, in August. Allen reported to the Steadfast from the Coast Guard cutter Waesche in Alameda, California, where he served as the cutter’s executive officer for two years. “To the crew of Stead fast, my time with you has gone by far too quickly, but the experience has been rich and fulfilling,” Ursino said during the ceremony. “Time and again, I’ve been inspired and humbled by your abil ity to overcome adversity and find strength together to prove that the name painted on the stem is more than just a word.” The Steadfast is a 210- foot Reliance-class cut ter commissioned in 1968. The cutter was homeported in Astoria in 1994. The crew’s assigned missions include homeland secu rity, search and rescue, law enforcement, marine sanc tuary protection and military Brandon Brooks/U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Dan Ursino, left, and Cmdr. Craig Allen Jr. salute each other during a modified change-of- command ceremony aboard the cutter Steadfast. Rear Adm. Peter Gautier, Coast Guard Pacific Area deputy commander, presided over the ceremony. readiness. Under Ursino’s lead ership, the Steadfast crew intercepted seven drug-smuggling boats off the southern coasts of Mex ico and Central America, intercepting 24,514 pounds of illegal narcotics. The crew set a record in July for the most cocaine seized by a Reliance-class medium-endurance cutter during a single deployment, intercepting over 23,000 pounds within 30 days. The cutter also repre sented the Coast Guard during the Portland Rose Festival and San Francisco’s Fleet Week. Helping Hands: Homelessness expected to increase Continued from PageAl to run an obstacle course. Under the best of circum stances, it’s difficult. When you’re homeless it exacer bates everything, of course.” With the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, he added, homelessness is expected to increase 45% to 65% in the next six months. Built in 2003 as a mini mum security correctional facility and costing $58 mil lion, the jail never opened, Woodward said. Advocates like Wood ward and others worked with philanthropist Jordan Schnitzer, who had pur chased the property. Schnitzer met Evans at a United Way of Clatsop County fundraiser in Sea side. Together, they joined to save the building to pro vide transitional housing and trauma-informed ser vices in one location. Schnitzer leased the property to Helping Hands for $ 1 per year. Additional money has come from fundraisers and private donors, Rus- Helping Hands plans to open a homeless center in Portland. sell said. So far, the project has raised about $4 million, with a goal of $7.2 million by January. Shelter will be provided by referral only. All res idents must be clean and sober and cannot be regis tered as sex offenders. About 10% of the popu lation is expected to be chil dren, Russell said. The center will have business and service oper ations like job-hunting and counseling. The center is working with Oregon Health & Sci ence University, the Univer sity of Portland and nurs ing schools to offer medical services on-site. “We don’t have a model like this in the Portland area. We have an opportunity to make a really big difference here, but that’s only possible because we’ve proved the concept on the coast,” Russell said. Russell is based in Port land, while Evans works in Seaside. “We’re really grateful for the Seaside, Clatsop County community,” Rus sell told the Seaside Cham ber of Commerce. “You’re our home. This is where we started, and this is where we proved that this collabora tive model really works.” Evans attributed a data- driven approach to the suc cess of Helping Hands. “Every decision in our orga nization is made by data given to us,” he said. The Helping Hands homeless reentry model could work in any commu nity on a scalable level, he said. “We have a history of what works,” Evans said. “Every decision is based on the information of the people who get sent to us. We’re talking to other cit ies now about bringing this model to other places. It gives us the opportu nity to build a platform and a mapping opportunity to bring resources to peo ple. That’s what’s made us successful.”
