A2
THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JANUARY 5, 2021
IN BRIEF
Woman dies in New Year’s Day fi re
CREATIVE KAYAKING
SEASIDE — Police are working to establish a
detailed timeline of a New Year’s Day fi re that took the
life of a Seaside woman.
Bonnie Bentley Dasse, 69, was the sole occupant of
the two-story, single-family home at 741 Seventh Ave.
Police arrived at the scene moments after a 911 call
at 4:57 p.m. and assisted fi refi ghters with the investiga-
tion. Detectives are looking for anyone who witnessed
the fi re or has been given information from someone
who did.
People with information can contact Detective
William Barnes or Detective Sgt. Josh Gregory at
503-738-6311.
— The Astorian
Willapa River hits fl ood stage
LONG BEACH, Wash. — Heavy rains pushed the
Willapa River over its minor fl ood stage of 21 feet on
Sunday, cresting at 21.06 feet around 7:45 a.m.
The hardest-hit area has been the area of Old Willapa
and Heckard Road outside Raymond, which has been
covered with fl oodwater.
A potent winter storm barraged the region with
strong winds and heavy rainfall. Between 9:15 a.m. on
Saturday and 9:15 a.m. on Sunday, approximately 3.75
inches of rain fell over the Willapa Hills.
— Chinook Observer
Merkley, Bonamici sworn in
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley and U.S. Rep. Suzanne
Bonamici were sworn in on Sunday for new terms in
Congress.
Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, was sworn into his
third six-year term. Bonamici, an Oregon Democrat,
was sworn into her fi fth two-year term.
“This is a challenging time for our country,” said
Bonamici, whose district includes the North Coast.
“The coronavirus pandemic has brought stress and grief
to NW Oregon and throughout our country. Too many
have lost loved ones, and we’ve experienced devastat-
ing economic hardship. But Oregonians are resilient,
and there is hope on the horizon.”
— The Astorian
DEATHS
Jan. 3, 2021
In NICHOLS,
Brief
Jerry Dan-
iel, 80, of Svensen, died
Deaths
in Svensen. Ocean View
Funeral & Cremation Ser-
vice of Astoria is in charge
of the arrangements.
Jan. 2, 2021
GILL, Daniel James,
61, of Deep River, Wash-
ington, died in Deep River.
Ocean View Funeral &
Cremation Service of
Astoria is in charge of the
arrangements.
Jan. 1, 2021
ARNOLD,
David
E., 69, of Seaside, died
in Seaside. Ocean View
Funeral & Cremation Ser-
vice of Astoria is in charge
of the arrangements.
FERGUSON, Carol
E., 76, of Hammond, died
in Seaside. Ocean View
Funeral & Cremation Ser-
vice of Astoria is in charge
of the arrangements.
ON THE RECORD
Assault
use
On
the Blackwell,
Record Unlawful
• Spencer
of weapon
33, of Astoria, was arrested
Friday on Glasgow Avenue
in Astoria for assault in the
fourth degree.
• Kegan Michael
French, 35, of Warren-
ton, was arrested Wednes-
day on U.S. Highway 101
in Warrenton for assault in
the fourth degree, criminal
trespass and harassment.
Burglary
• Joel Seda, 38, was
arrested Friday on S.E.
Second Street in Warrenton
for burglary in the second
degree, criminal mischief
in the second degree, crim-
inal trespass in the second
degree and theft of services
in the third degree.
• Dale Allen Black-
burn, 38, of Warrenton,
was arrested Sunday on
S.E. Howard Street in
Astoria for unlawful use
of a weapon and disor-
derly conduct in the second
degree.
DUII
• Kayla Short, 26, of
Portland, was arrested Sat-
urday near the Hammond
Marina for driving under
the infl uence of intoxi-
cants after driving into the
Columbia River.
• Joe Doran, 56, was
arrested Wednesday on S.
Main Avenue and N. Main
Avenue in Warrenton for
DUII.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
TUESDAY
Clatsop County Board of Commissioners, noon, work
session, (electronic meeting).
Clatsop Care Health District Board, 5 p.m., (electronic
meeting).
Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District Board of
Directors, 5:15 p.m., workshop, (electronic meeting).
Cannon Beach City Council, 7 p.m., (electronic meeting).
WEDNESDAY
Gearhart City Council, 6 p.m., 670 Pacifi c Way.
THURSDAY
Astoria Design Review Commission, 5:30 p.m., City Hall,
1095 Duane St.
Cannon Beach City Council, 5:30 p.m., work session, (elec-
tronic meeting).
PUBLIC MEETINGS
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Mike Shields
Kayakers fl oat on a fl ooded fi eld near Tucker Creek Lane after heavy rains.
Oregon to phase out most uses
of chlorpyrifos by end of 2023
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
SALEM — Oregon is
moving forward with a fi nal
rule to phase out most uses
of the pesticide chlorpyrifos
by the end of 2023.
Chlorpyrifos
was
approved for use on more
than 50 crops statewide —
including Christmas trees,
hazelnuts, grass seed, alfalfa,
sugar beets and cranber-
ries — but garnered contro-
versy after studies showed
it may have harmful neuro-
logical effects, especially in
children.
The Oregon Department
of Agriculture convened a
13-member workgroup in
December 2019 to evaluate
potential health and safety
restrictions for chlorpyri-
fos. Members represented
industry and environmen-
tal groups, farmworker
advocates and public health
experts.
Legislation
to
ban
chlorpyrifos also passed
the Oregon House last year,
before stalling in the Sen-
ate amid the Republican
walkout.
Ultimately, the Depart-
ment of Agriculture crafted
a three-year phaseout that
immediately
classifi es
chlorpyrifos as a restrict-
ed-use pesticide. The rule,
formally adopted Dec. 15,
stops short of a complete ban
and will continue to allow
certain uses, such as cattle
ear tags, pre plant seed treat-
ments and granular formu-
lations aimed at controlling
soil-borne pests.
“We feel like we came up
with a rule that gives some
fl exibility to the agricultural
community, and is protec-
tive of workers, bystand-
ers and water quality,” said
Rose Kachadoorian, the
Department of Agriculture’s
pesticides program man-
ager. “We will work with the
industries as best we can to
help fi nd alternatives.”
As of Jan. 1, chlorpyri-
Associated Press
Oregon researchers are exploring alternatives to chlorpyrifos, but they say they do not have
suffi cient funding to do the work.
fos may no longer be used
to spray for mosquitoes,
on golf courses or inside
greenhouses unless they
meet minimum ventilation
standards.
Aerial
spraying
of
chlorpyrifos is prohibited on
all crops, except for Christ-
mas trees within a short win-
dow from April 1 through
June 15. Farmworkers can-
not re enter fi elds for at
least four days after the last
application.
Also beginning this year,
only licensed applicators
may use and handle chlorpy-
rifos. In the past, unlicensed
employees could spray if
they were supervised by
someone who is licensed.
Buffer zones have been
increased around sensitive
sites and bodies of water.
For aerial applications or
non targeted air-blast spray-
ers, the buffer is 300 feet.
For targeted air-blast spray-
ers, the buffer is 150 feet,
and for other ground-based
equipment, it is 60 feet.
Sensitive sites include
farmworker housing units,
though not farm residences
or non residential agricul-
tural buildings such as barns
and livestock facilities. That
is based on feedback from
farm groups, Kachadoorian
said.
“There was some concern
that they have control over
their own properties, and
that to actually put a buffer
there would take away a lot
of land when they could just
basically leave,” she said.
“So we allowed that partic-
ular option.”
Farm residences are
already covered by protec-
tions in the federal Applica-
tion Exclusion Zone, part of
the U.S. Agricultural Worker
Protection Standard.
Mixing and loading
chlorpyrifos can only be
done by licensed applicators
or by those who successfully
complete a Department of
Agriculture -approved train-
ing course after March 1 .
Farms will be required to
keep and maintain records
for three years after each
application.
Finally, after Dec. 31,
2023, it will become illegal
to use or sell chlorpyrifos
in the state except for cattle
ear tags, seed treatment and
granular formulations.
“We believe that with our
(protective) measures, the
phaseout of December 2023
is appropriate,” Kachadoo-
rian said.
Jenny Dresler, a lobbyist
for the Oregon Farm Bureau
and Oregonians for Food
and Shelter, said the groups
are still reviewing the fi nal
rule, though it does not
appear to identify proposed
alternatives or provide pub-
lic funding for research.
“These are very signif-
icant restrictions,” Dresler
said. “We are going to be
looking for an investment so
growers aren’t left without
any tools down the road.”
Kachadoorian said it is
unlikely the state will ded-
icate any assistance from
the general fund, especially
when the L egislature is
dealing with the coronavi-
rus pandemic and 2020 fi re
season.
However, Oregon State
University did receive a
$162,794 specialty crop
block grant from the Depart-
ment of Agriculture earlier
this year to study alterna-
tives to chlorpyrifos.
“We really intend to be
meeting with other indus-
tries and fi nd out what we
can do to help them be able
to grow their crops effec-
tively,” Kachadoorian said.
‘Panic’ in Depoe Bay after
tsunami sirens activated to
warn of high winds
By ROB DAVIS
The Oregonian
Let us start with the lesson,
perhaps: Don’t use a tsunami
siren to warn about gusty
winds.
Fire offi cials in Depoe Bay
said Saturday that they had
been fl ooded with calls “of
concern and panic” after the
city activated its emergency
tsunami sirens to alert resi-
dents to a forthcoming high
wind watch.
“This was apparently
an alert for the anticipated
weather system approaching
us,” Depoe Bay Fire Chief
Bryan Daniels wrote on Face-
book. “There is no tsunami
threat to Depoe Bay or prop-
erties within the district.”
Wind gusts hit 84 mph
at Cape Perpetua and Cape
Foulweather, 75 mph at the
Yaquina Bay Bridge and 55
mph at the Newport Airport.
City offi cials didn’t imme-
diately respond to requests for
comment.
Residents and visitors
described a state of discom-
bobulated alarm after the
sirens began howling.
A visitor, Leah Godfrey,
said she sprinted to her car
after hearing the sirens sound.
“Please reserve the doomsday
siren for actual doomsday,”
she wrote on Facebook.
One Depoe Bay resident,
Jamie Hale/The Oregonian
A visitor watches waves crash into the rocks during a winter
storm at Boiler Bay, a state park site in Depoe Bay.
DeAnne Haubner Norton,
wrote: “Are we going to have
an alert every time the wind
gets a bit blustery? If we do
that every time, a real threat
will come along and every
one will ignore it.”
“We look forward to part-
nering with the City of Depoe
Bay to avoid hysteria in the
future,” Daniels wrote on
Facebook.
Depoe Bay installed its
tsunami sirens in 2013. Exten-
sive parts of the city sit in the
tsunami inundation zone in
the case of a major Cascadia
S ubduction Z one earthquake.