CLIMATE CHANGE HEATS UP FIRE RISK IN FORESTS
»PAGE A2
148TH year, NO. 66
DailyAstorian.com // Tuesday, december 1, 2020
$1.50
CORONAVIRUS
Ross
eviction
case set
for trial
Dispute with landlord
over back-due rent
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Astorian
WARRENTON — The eviction fight
between Ross Stores and Atlas Youngs
Bay, the owner of the Youngs Bay Plaza,
will go to trial in December.
Atlas tried to evict Ross in November
for allegedly not paying more than $14,000
in rent in October. The eviction process
started after the state Legislature lifted a
moratorium on commercial lease defaults
and evictions in place since April because
of the coronavirus pandemic, allowing
Atlas to resume collecting rent.
Ross has been a tenant of the plaza since
2003.
Atlas terminated Ross’s lease and
ordered the retailer out by Nov. 9, but
claims the company has refused to give the
space up, the landlord’s attorneys argued in
court filings.
Ross’s lawyers argued the retailer is
entitled to a normal civil court case, rather
than the expedited eviction process its
See Ross, Page A6
Minks and
farmer test
positive for
coronavirus
State declines to idenify farm
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
An Oregon mink farm is under quaran-
tine after officials confirmed an outbreak of
COVID-19 on Friday.
The farmer and at least 10 animals have
tested positive for the virus, according to
the Oregon Department of Agriculture. The
department did not publicly identify the
farm or disclose its location.
State Veterinarian Ryan Scholz visited
the farm last week and collected 10 samples
that were sent to Oregon State University
and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
for testing. All samples came back positive.
Photos by Hailey Hoffman/The astorian
Wastewater treatment operator Steve Meadows takes a sample of wastewater to filter through a quarter-sized paper filter to
check for traces of COVID-19 in Astoria’s waste.
Sewer sampling reveals
virus presence in Astoria
County reports
21 new virus cases
The Astorian
Clatsop County on
Monday reported 21 new
coronavirus cases.
The cases include two
women and a man in their
20s, two women in their
40s and three men in their
50s living in the northern
part of the county. The
others live in the south-
ern part of the county
and include a male and a
female between 10 and
19, four women in their
20s, two women in their
30s, four women in their
50s and one man in his
60s.
All 21 were reportedly
recovering at home.
The
county
has
recorded 383 cases since
March. According to the
county, 302 have recov-
ered, five have been hos-
pitalized and one has
died. The rest were recov-
ering at home.
The Oregon Health
Authority reported 75,431
cases and 912 deaths from
the virus statewide as of
Monday morning.
“COVID-19 is spread-
ing faster in all parts
of Oregon. It took six
months before 25,000
Oregonians became sick
with COVID-19 and
two months more until
we reached 50,000 total
COVID-19 infections in
Oregon,” Patrick Allen,
the health authority’s
director, said in a state-
ment. “Most recently, it
took three weeks to go
from 50,000 cases to
75,000 and this week-
end we crossed 900 total
deaths.
“We can keep more
people from getting sick
and dying if we stay
true to science-based
mask-wearing and social
distancing. With the
bright promise of vac-
cines coming on the hori-
zon, we can’t give up.”
By KATIE
FRANKOWICZ
The Astorian
E
very Thursday, a pub-
lic works employee in
Astoria takes a special
test kit and collects a sewer
sample.
And nearly every week
since sampling began in
mid-September, the result
comes back: “SARS-CoV-2
was detected in the Astoria
wastewater monitoring site
…”
There are a few excep-
tions — two instances
where samples were not
able to be processed in
October and once at the
beginning of November
when no trace of the virus
was noted — but the pres-
ence of the coronavirus in
the city’s wastewater is not
a surprise to anyone.
Cases in Clatsop County
have been on the rise this
fall, mirroring an increase
across Oregon and the
United States as 2020 spi-
rals to a close.
The sampling in Astoria
is part of a statewide effort
coordinated by the Ore-
gon Health Authority and
Oregon State University.
As data accumulates from
small- to medium-sized
communities across Oregon
over the coming months,
researchers hope it helps
deepen their understanding
See Sewer, Page A7
A sample of wastewater whirls around a beaker before
testing for COVID-19.
See Minks, Page A7
Student serves as bridge for school board
Roe shares updates
on student life
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Astorian
mma Roe’s report to the Asto-
ria School District board at a
November meet-
ing was a succinct
and — in a way
— unremarkable
retelling of student
activities, which is
exactly what made
it stand out in a
Emma Roe
school year com-
pletely altered by
the coronavirus pandemic.
“It was a nice little piece of nor-
malcy,” one board member com-
mented, her voice slightly muf-
E
andrew Fick
Emma Roe, third from left in the purple sweatshirt, poses with others on
the Astoria girls cross-country team after a meet in 2019. During a more
unusual school year this year, Roe volunteered to become the student
body president to the Astoria School District board.
fled as school administrators, board
members and Roe herself con-
nected remotely through a confer-
ence call.
Roe, a senior at Astoria High
School, volunteered to take over
as the student body representative
to the board. It is a role that has
existed in some form or another
for decades, said Lynn Jackson, the
school principal.
Roe, like the students before
her, is tasked with providing brief
updates. Jackson believes the repre-
sentative often accomplishes much
more and may be even more signif-
icant this year when there are fewer
ways for board members to interact
directly with students.
Jackson has watched students
grow in confidence as communica-
tors and advocates for themselves
and others. Though most will only
fill the student representative role
for a year, some have done it for
two years. They improve on the
skills they built in the first year and
deepen mentor-type relationships
with people — board members and
administrators — who may have
otherwise felt almost inaccessible.
See Roe, Page A7