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THURSDAY
JAN. 21
2021
FOCUSED O
N
FISHING
LOCAL
AUTHOR
RECALLS
LIFE ON
THE
WATER
IN POETRY
BOOK
GEARHART
PHOTOGRA
SHARES HIS PHER
TIPS
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148TH YEAR, NO. 88
DailyAstorian.com // THURSDAY, JANUARY 21, 2021
REGIONAL
ARTIST DELV
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PROJECTS ICATE
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222041-1; 01.21
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CORONAVIRUS
SIGN OF CHANGE
Gearhart police
scale back on
crisis response
Reaction to a death in Texas
ject running around the Gro-
cery Outlet parking lot with
a machete, or is he sitting
GEARHART — Draw- there talking to himself?” he
ing a line between law asked.
Bowman issued the
enforcement and crisis
response, Police Chief Jeff directive in response to a
Bowman announced that January incident in Killeen,
his offi cers will no longer Texas, when a police offi cer,
be the fi rst responders to dispatched to a family home
during a mental
mental health calls
health crisis, ended
unless there is an
up fatally shooting
imminent threat of
a man in his front
physical harm to
yard . The family
others.
has complained that
In a letter to
the offi cer was not
Mayor
Paulina
equipped to handle
Cockrum and the
City Council on Jeff Bowman the situation and has
called for the offi cer
Monday , the police
chief said the social services to be fi red and arrested.
“Why was this offi cer
community should step
up and take an active role dispatched at all, and why
when people report a mental did the command staff allow
health crisis or reach out to a this offi cer to respond?”
Bowman asked.
suicide hotline.
Bowman emailed the
“The fi rst call should be
to social services, not the directive “as a head’s up
police,” Bowman said in an why we may or may not
respond” to Seaside police
interview.
Bowman said only and Clatsop Behavioral
when a subject in a men- Healthcare, Clatsop Coun-
tal health crisis is immi- ty’s mental health contractor.
nently in harm’s way will
See Gearhart, Page A3
police respond. “Is the sub-
By R.J. MARX
The Astorian
Kevin Riddle fi nishes his 31-day countdown to the
inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President
Kamala Harris at his Astoria home on Wednesday morning.
Photos by Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
Life Flight Network
Life Flight Network is stationing a new Bell 429
helicopter at the Astoria Regional Airport in Warrenton.
Life Flight upgrades
helicopter at airport
By EDWARD
STRATTON
The Astorian
Life Flight Network
will station a new heli-
copter at the Astoria
Regional Airport as part
of a regional upgrade
in speed and medical
capabilities.
The new Bell 429
helicopter, among four
the nonprofi t medevac
service bought for $34
million, is expected to
arrive in spring. Ben
Clayton, the chief oper-
ating offi cer for Life
Flight, said they provide
better patient access and
ability to navigate using
fl ight instruments when
visibility is low.
Life Flight’s heli-
copters are equipped
to operate like mobile
intensive care units with
a nurse, a paramedic,
ventilators,
laryngo-
scopes and the ability
to transfuse red blood
cells. The new upgrades
include the ability to do
onboard plasma transfu-
sions to help slow and
replace blood loss in
trauma patients.
See Helicopter, Page A3
Task force in position for vaccine rollout
New panel led by
hospital director
MORE INSIDE
County reports new virus cases • A3
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
The slow rollout of coronavi-
rus vaccines has left health care
leaders in the uncomfortable posi-
tion of telling people at risk from
the virus they will have to wait.
Chris Laman, the director of
pharmacy and cancer center ser-
vices at Columbia Memorial
Hospital in Astoria, who is lead-
ing Clatsop County’s vaccine
task force, said the most com-
mon questions come from seniors
with underlying health conditions
who want to know if they can get
vaccinated.
“Unfortunately, the answer is
just ‘no,’” he said. “As vaccines
become more available, we’ll be
able to move down the list and get
to you.
“It’s not the task force’s job to
identify who the next group is,”
he said. “We’re going to use the
(Oregon Health Authority) guide-
lines to guide how those deci-
sions are made. It’s not the task
force arbitrarily making decisions
about who the next person is to
get the shot.”
Nearly all of the vaccines in
the c ounty have been adminis-
tered — 1,847 as of Friday — and
the county Public Health Depart-
ment, hospitals and other organi-
zations charged with distribution
are anxiously waiting for more
doses.
See Vaccines, Page A3
Edward Stratton/The Astorian
Chris Laman, the director of pharmacy and cancer center services at
Columbia Memorial Hospital, is leading a county vaccine task force during
the coronavirus pandemic.