Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 21, 2021)
A3 THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, JANUARY 21, 2021 Gearhart: Lack of funding, resources has kept outreach from being more effective Continued from Page A1 Police and sheriff’s dep- uties can ask mental health experts for guidance when responding to calls involv- ing people in crisis, but, in practice, a lack of funding and resources has kept the outreach from being a more effective tool. Funding a challenge Helicopter: Life Flight has moved 800 patients with virus Life Flight’s recent investment also includes a fl ight simulator based in Aurora. Clayton said the simulator will save crews from traveling to Dallas, Texas, and Denver for sim- ilar training. Life Flight established a base at the Astoria Regional Airport in 2015, adding the ability to transport patients from the coast to Portland in less than 30 minutes in its The Astorian Clatsop County reported 41 new coronavirus cases over the past few days. On Wednesday, the county reported 18 virus cases. All 18 were recovering at home. On Tuesday, the county reported 23 virus cases. Two were hospitalized and the others were recovering at home. The county has recorded 713 cases since March. According to the county, 16 were hospitalized and fi ve have died. not become a reality in our county without the funding to go with it,” she said. Seaside Police Chief Dave Ham said police will not fol- low Gearhart and change responses to similar calls for service in Seaside. Seaside police are not expected to respond to calls Fatal encounters in Gearhart, and Bowman’s The county has struggled directive will not change Sea- for decades to provide ade- side’s response coverage to quate services for people in assist them when needed. crisis, a challenge often com- Seaside’s dispatch center will pounded by alcohol and drug continue to advise Gearhart abuse. Over the past year, two police of calls for service in people believed to be suffer- their jurisdiction. ing from mental health diffi - Cockrum said she and culties have been killed after Bowman have had discus- interactions with police. sions about police reform Last April, Alexan- over the past year. der Jimenez, “I have a 34-year- reviewed and ‘THE old Warren- he has revised ton man, died the Gearhart POLITICAL after police Police Depart- used a Taser ment proce- BODIES OF to subdue dures on use of CITIES AND him during an force, but not arrest and he specifically COUNTIES wrestled with through the ARE NOT sheriff’s depu- lens of men- ties and police health,” the ADDRESSING tal at the county mayor said. jail. The state “I have asked THESE medical exam- him to add MENTAL iner ruled that a procedure Jimenez, who with contact HEALTH reportedly had information schizophrenia, for the pub- NEEDS.’ died from the lic on what to Gearhart Police Chief toxic effects of do if they are Jeff Bowman methamphet- faced with a amine. mental health In December, Alaina crisis.” Burns, a 31-year-old Astoria Cockrum proposed con- woman, was shot and killed sideration of city funding by an Oregon State Police in the next budget cycle for trooper after reportedly bran- social service providers to dishing a gun after break- assist in responding to people ing into a home near Sun- experiencing a mental health set Beach. Friends of Burns’ crisis. family said she struggled Regardless of the response with drug addiction and men- from other agencies, Bow- tal illness. man said he recognizes he Amy Baker, the executive is “just one person taking on director of Clatsop Behav- bureaucracy.” ioral Healthcare, said she He said he’s willing to wanted to meet with Bowman shoulder that responsibility. to discuss the issue further. “I’m not going to end my “Our current model relies career with one of my offi cers on a co-response with law or myself in a case like this enforcement,” Baker said. Texas case,” he said. “We typically go to situa- Bowman said he hopes his tions with law enforcement. letter will inspire other juris- If the situation is safe, we will dictions to address police take the lead in working with response to mental health someone who is experiencing care, ultimately leading to a psychological distress. change in law enforcement “We agree that it is ideal procedures in the state. to have behavioral health pro- “Having a mental health fessionals respond to behav- condition is not a crime,” ioral health crisis. However, Bowman said. “And these we are not equipped to be subjects should not be treated the sole responder in situa- as such. We have a duty to tions such as when weapons protect all lives and some- might be involved; if the per- times that task is best done by son is agitated or threatening not doing. We’re not psychol- harm to self or others and the ogists. Let the professionally person is unable to engage in trained individuals handle conversation. these noncriminal calls. “Additionally, we are not “It is time for the social equipped to transport people services community to step safely if they require assis- up and start taking an active tance at an emergency depart- role,” Bowman wrote in his ment, and with law enforce- letter . “There has been leg- ment on scene, they are able islation calling for change, to summon that assistance in court rulings calling for an expedited manner.” change and society calling Baker cited Lane Coun- for change. Why isn’t there ty’s CAHOOTS program as a a sweeping reform across the potential model. Teams with U.S. within law enforcement a medic and crisis worker agencies to end the practice often respond to calls involv- of law enforcement offi cers ing mental health, addiction being the fi rst response to and homelessness. these types of calls? “While we are excited by “My guess, the political this model and can see the bodies of cities and counties benefi ts of its application in are not addressing these men- our area, this simply can- tal health needs.” Continued from Page A1 County reports 41 new virus cases blue Augusta 109 helicopter. Last year, Life Flight com- pleted a new hangar next to JBT Lektro, an electric air- plane tug manufacturer. During the coronavirus pandemic, Life Flight has transported 800 patients with coronavirus, Haley Dowell, a spokeswoman for the non- profi t, said in an email. “Of note, we trans- ported 21 suspected COVID patients from Clatsop County, of which two ended up being positive,” she said. LNG Continued from Page A2 The company has asked the U.S. c ommerce s ecre- tary to overturn that deci- sion, but no decision has been forthcoming. Likewise, the company withdrew its application for a dredging permit from the Department of State Lands in January 2020 after regu- lators refused to extend their decision deadline and said the application was missing critical information. Again, the company could reapply, but that would trigger an entirely new pro- cess, with a suffi ciency review and a new public comment period. Last time around, the agency held fi ve public meetings across the state attended by more than 2,000 people. It received some 49,000 comments on the application. Meanwhile, Oregon’s Land Use Board of Appeals delivered another blow to the project’s prospects in December when it over- turned Coos County’s per- mits for the project, saying it had made errors in grant- ing a dredging permit for the pipeline. Debate over the con- troversial project has been intense in Oregon since it was fi rst proposed as a gas import facility in 2005. Backers eventually shifted their rationale for the facil- ity, proposing it as an export facility after the industry’s fracking revolution shifted the outlook for U.S. natural gas supplies from shortage to surplus. Either way, boost- ers have touted the proj- ect’s potential employment and property tax impacts in an area of the state that has lagged economically since the early 1980s. Opponents have consistently called it a potential environmental, public safety and property rights disaster. A competing $6 billion LNG export terminal and pipeline project on the Ski- panon Peninsula in Warren- ton collapsed in 2016. Permitting setbacks The state permitting set- backs for the Jordan Cove project effectively bring it back to square one. The Federal Energy Regula- tory Commission denied the project’s federal license application in 2016, say- ing the project backers had not demonstrated suffi cient commercial demand for the gas it would process to demonstrate a public need for the facility and over- come the impacts to land- owners along the pipeline route. The company resubmit- ted the application once the Trump a dministration took Vaccines: ‘We have a task force’ Continued from Page A1 Mixed messages from the federal and state gov- ernments on when new shipments will arrive — and who will be next in the priority line — have caused confusion and some resentment. Mark Kujala, the chair- man of the county Board of Commissioners, who works for the Columbia Memorial Hospital Foundation, said he is frustrated by the lack of communication . He said the most important thing for peo- ple to know is that “once we receive vaccines we’ve got a framework in place to distribute them effi ciently.” The county, in partner- ship with Columbia Memo- rial and Providence Seaside Hospital, created the vac- cine task force to manage the rollout locally. The task force was for- malized in January, with Laman in the lead role. He said more organiza- tions have started to get involved, including Coastal Family Health Center, local pharmacies and the Colum- bia Pacifi c Coordinated Care Organization, which oversees the Oregon Health Plan in Clatsop, Columbia and Tillamook counties. Laman said the hospi- tals and Coastal Family Health Center have given their doses to the P ub- lic H ealth D epartment “so that the task force can be in complete control of who’s getting vaccinated, where the events are happen- ing and making sure that everything is coordinated and rolled out in a good manner. “Our county is ahead of many counties in terms of the fact that we have a task force,” he said. “We have a way to register. W e’ve got a way to follow up with peo- ple. W e have the plans in place to be able to roll this out as soon as we get the vaccine.” Vaccinations started with health care, emer- gency response, long-term care and other care home staff. The task force will use the remaining vaccines for the more than 400 peo- ple left on the priority list in the fi rst phase , which includes in-home care ser- vices, dentist offi ces and group foster homes. Some essential county staff, elected offi cials and social service agency staffers have also been vaccinated. A county spokesman said some county c ommis- sioners were vaccinated because they make up the county’s governing body — an integral part of keep- ing the county functioning and directing services and programs. The spokesman said it was also a way to reassure the public that the vaccine is safe. Columbia Memorial and Providence Seaside will receive some second doses this week for hospital staff . As vaccines become available, the task force will notify the public on Wednesdays, with informa- tion about when and where the next vaccination event will take place, who is eli- gible and how to register. The process will look the same when second doses become available. The next phase includes about 1,200 teachers and other educators . After a delay Gov. Kate Brown blamed on the Trump administration, seniors are expected to be placed into four tiers for vaccination: those over 80, those over 75, those over 70 and those over 65. offi ce, hoping to get a more favorable decision once the president appointed new Republican members to the commission. The commission did grant the company a condi- tional license last year, agree- ing with a staff recommenda- tion that most of the project’s impacts could be reduced to less than signifi cant levels, and the public need for the facility outweighed any of those impacts. Yet Tuesday’s decision cast doubt on whether Pem- bina has a viable path forward. It may not get a favorable reception under the incoming Biden administration, which has already vowed to kill the controversial Keystone XL p ipeline project in its fi rst Consult a PROFESSIONAL Talk about hard drives designs. LEO FINZI Astoria’s Best Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber Northwest Hardwoods • Longview, WA Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500 1. Basic design has a spinning disk with an arm that moves over the disk reading & writing to it. Picture a high speed (5000 RPM) record player. 2. Sata SSD has no moving parts and is considerably quicker and more reliable. 3. The latest and greatest design is M.2. It functions more like a memory chip that maintains its data, similar to a Mon-Fri 10-6, Sat/Sun Closed thumb drive. It connects directly to the 77 11th Street, Suite H motherboard, with no wires and offers Astoria, OR • 503-325-2300 AstoriasBest.com the best performance. HP Laptop 10th Gen Intel i5, 12 GB memory, 256GB M2 HDD $649.99 Q: Does the Oregon ASTORIA Health Plan (OHP) cover chiropractic care? CHIROPRACTIC Alicia M. Smith, DC Owner A: Yes! OHP does cover chiropractic and 503-325-3311 massage in our office. Just 1490 Marine Dr., call us with your info and Suite 202 Astoria, Oregon we will get you scheduled. Q: What are dental sealants, who should get them and how long do they last? A: JEFFREY M. LEINASSAR DMD, FAGD L E I NA S S A R DENTAL EXCELLENCE 503/325-0310 1414 MARINE DRIVE, ASTORIA www.smileastoria.com Dental sealants are a clear coat- ing placed in the deep grooves of teeth, protecting them from food and bacteria that can be hard to remove with brushing. We recommend having your child’s permanent molars sealed as soon as they are fully erupted. You can expect sealants to last upwards of 10-15 years and are a safe, inexpensive way to help ensure your child’s oral health. Call us today to make your appointment. is the Consult Q: What a Professional section and how can it help my business? Consult a Professional A: The section in The Astorian is a great Heather Jenson and affordable way to advertise your Advertising Representative 971-704-1716 WANTED days and rejoin the Paris c li- mate a ccord . “Today marks a big win for protecting the South Coast because it reinforces our state’s environmental laws and refl ects local community input,” Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, said in an emailed statement on Tuesday. “From Day One with this project, I have insisted that Orego- nians receive a fair, open, fact-based and non-political process while FERC deter- mines whether LNG projects are necessary and in the pub- lic’s best interest — including strict adherence to the Clean Water Act. “Today’s unanimous deci- sion by FERC is good news and the logical conclusion of that process.” www.dailyastorian.com 949 Exchange St. Astoria, OR 503-325-3211 business and inform readers about the types of services you provide. All you need to do is come up with a question that a customer might ask about your line of expertise and then give a detailed answer to help educate them before they even walk through your door. We are offering great rates and package deals that help save you money!
