A6
THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2021
Hurd: ‘I think I fi nd most
of my inspiration from
people and humanity’
Continued from Page A1
Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
From left, Trudy, Alina and Djordje Citovic have lobbied for legislation to screen for spinal muscular atrophy. Alina, 8, was
diagnosed with the medical condition several years ago.
Bill: About 1 in 40 people carry the
gene for spinal muscular atrophy
Continued from Page A1
didn’t already include the
screening . “It could just be
a weird COVID thing where
a bunch of stuff kind of got
lost in the shuffl e,” the Port-
land Democrat said. “Or it
could be that, frankly, they
thought, ‘Well, we just can’t
afford this.’”
Over the past several
years, several treatments
have become available for
the condition. The Food
and Drug Administration in
2019 approved Zolgensma,
a one-time intravenous
gene therapy targeting the
root of the disease. But
the medication needs to be
administered before chil-
dren turn 2 years old.
“Like any disease, it’s
pretty crappy to get,” Nosse
said. “But if you can test
for it soon, you can miti-
gate it and prolong the per-
son’s life, and not have that
child’s life be as diffi cult as
it might otherwise be.”
Alina Citovic, an 8-year-
old from Astoria, was diag-
nosed with a milder form of
the condition allowing her
to still walk. She became
the fi rst patient at Doernbe-
cher Children’s Hospital at
Oregon Health & Science
University to take a new
at-home oral treatment for
the condition.
Citovic
and
Wren
Grabham, a 15-year-old
Portland girl who lost the
ability to walk from the
condition and uses a wheel-
chair, thanked Nosse in a
YouTube video for intro-
ducing the bill.
“It’s very good to have
SMA on the newborn
screening,” Citovic said.
“It saves lives, and it’s
very, very important to do
it within two years.”
About 1 in 40 people
carry the gene for spinal
muscular atrophy.
“There are over 80,000
Oregon residents who don’t
know that they’re carriers
of this genetic disease,”
said Cheryl Grabham,
Wren’s mother.
“They don’t know that
they’re carriers,” she said.
“And for the fi rst time,
there’s something we can
really do about it, but it
relies on early testing.”
Alina’s parents, Trudy
and Djordje Citovic, have
reached out to state Sen.
Betsy Johnson, who has
supported the effort and
plans to sign on to the bill
when it reaches the Senate.
Along with saving the
lives of children affl icted
with the condition, Johnson
and Nosse have pointed to
the long-term savings that
would come from early
diagnoses and treatment.
“There are signifi cant
costs associated with car-
ing for people who have
persistent
diagnoses,”
Johnson,
D-Scappoose,
said. “It isn’t going to get
better.”
US tops 500,000 coronavirus deaths
By HEATHER
HOLLINGSWORTH and
TAMMY WEBBER
Associated Press
The COVID-19 death toll
in the U.S. topped 500,000
Monday, a staggering num-
ber that all but matches the
number of Americans killed
in World War II, Korea and
Vietnam combined.
The lives lost, as
recorded by Johns Hop-
kins University, are about
equal to the population of
Kansas City, Missouri, and
greater than that of Miami;
Raleigh, North Carolina;
or Omaha, Nebraska. The
U.S. recorded an estimated
405,000 deaths in World
War II, 58,000 in the Viet-
nam War and 36,000 in the
Korean War.
President Joe Biden will
hold a moment of silence
and a candle-lighting cere-
mony at the White House,
and will order U.S. fl ags
lowered at federal buildings
for the next fi ve days.
Monday’s grim mile-
stone comes as states redou-
ble efforts to get the corona-
virus vaccine into arms after
last week’s winter weather
closed clinics, slowed vac-
cine deliveries and forced
tens of thousands of people
to miss their shots.
Despite the rollout of
vaccines since mid-De-
cember, a closely watched
model from the Univer-
sity of Washington projects
more than 589,000 dead by
June 1.
The U.S. toll is by far
the highest reported in the
world, accounting for 20%
of the nearly 2.5 million
coronavirus deaths glob-
ally, though the true num-
bers are thought to be sig-
David Goldman/AP Photo
Gravediggers lower the casket of someone who died of
coronavirus at the Hebrew Free Burial Association’s cemetery
in the Staten Island borough of New York in April.
nifi cantly greater, in part
because many cases were
overlooked, especially early
in the outbreak.
The fi rst known deaths
from the virus in the U.S.
were in early February 2020.
It took four months to reach
the fi rst 100,000 deaths. The
toll hit 200,000 in Septem-
ber and 300,000 in Decem-
ber, then took just over a
month to go from 300,000 to
400,000 and another month
to climb from 400,000 to
500,000.
Average daily deaths and
cases have plummeted in
the past few weeks. Virus
deaths have fallen from
more than 4,000 reported on
some days in January to an
average of fewer than 1,900
per day.
But experts warn that
dangerous variants could
cause the trend to reverse
itself. And some experts say
not enough Americans have
been inoculated yet for the
vaccine to be making much
of a difference.
Instead, the drop-off in
deaths and cases has been
attributed to the passing
of the holidays; the cold
and bleak days of midwin-
ter, when many people stay
home; and better adherence
to mask rules and social
distancing.
Dr. Ryan Stanton, an
emergency room physician
in Lexington, Kentucky,
who has treated scores of
COVID-19 patients, said
he never thought the U.S.
deaths would be so high.
“I was one of those early
ones that thought this may
be something that may hit
us for a couple months ... I
defi nitely thought we would
be done with it before we
got into the fall. And I defi -
nitely didn’t see it heading
off into 2021,” Stanton said.
Kristy Sourk, an inten-
sive-care nurse at Hutchin-
son Regional Medical Cen-
ter in Hutchinson, Kansas,
said she is encouraged by
the declining caseload and
progress in vaccinating peo-
ple, but “I know we are so
far from over.”
People “are still dying,
and families are still iso-
lated from their loved ones
who are unable to be with
them so that is still pretty
heart-wrenching,” she said.
Snow, ice and weath-
er-related power outages
closed some vaccination
sites and held up shipments
across a large swath of the
nation, including in the
Deep South.
As a result, the seven-day
rolling average of adminis-
tered fi rst doses fell by 20%
between Feb. 14 and Feb.
21, according to data from
the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.
The White House said
that about a third of the
roughly 6 million vac-
cine doses delayed by bad
weather were delivered over
the weekend, with the rest
expected to be delivered by
mid-week, several days ear-
lier than originally expected.
White House coronavirus
response coordinator Andy
Slavitt on Monday attributed
the improved timeline to an
“all-out, round-the-clock”
effort over the weekend that
included employees at one
vaccine distributor working
night shifts to pack vaccines.
and that’s what Foragers will
kind of give me is a studio
Hurd’s day job is deliv- space to be able to do that
ering coffee for Columbia and have that available. So, I
River Coffee Roaster , but can have my canvases set up
she devotes the rest of her and my easel just waiting for
free time to making and sell- whenever I have that instinct
to paint.”
ing her art.
A lot of
“I had tried
her work fea-
so many dif-
‘I’M NOT
tures portraits
ferent ave-
of
people,
nues
and
TRYING
female fi g-
nothing ever
ures and mes-
spoke to me
TO BE A
sages around
the way that
VOICE FOR
inclusivity.
creating art
One of her
did,” she said.
EVERYONE, favorite
draw-
“And
it’s
ings this year
never been
BUT JUST
is of the Asto-
about money
TO HAVE
ria
Bridge
for me. It’s
and a rain-
always been
THAT
bow-colored
about hav-
LITTLE
Columbia
ing an outlet
River.
for myself,
SOMETHING
“I think
and then also
I
fi
nd most
just creating
FOR THE
of my inspi-
something
PEOPLE
ration from
that
other
and
people also
HERE THAT people
humanity,”
relate to and
Hurd
said.
can see and
AREN’T
“And
the
take inspira-
LIKE THE
way that peo-
tion from.”
come
H u r d
MAJORITY.’ ple
together, and
started with
Autumn Hurd | artist
just the rep-
drawing
resentation of
graphite por-
all different
traits at Asto-
ria High School and then kinds of people in all forms,
moved to painting with and the beauty that everyone
acrylics. Last year, she has in their own ways.
“And I think my main
started using Procreate, a
goal is to kind of have a sup-
digital illustration app.
“It’s just a lot more con- port system for people that
venient, and it’s kind of the may not fi nd that in a small
way the art world is going,” town,” she said. “To have
she said. “I feel like the hori- something that people will
zon has broadened so much see and be like, ‘Yeah, that’s
just from turning to digi- me. Finally.’
“I’m not trying to be a
tal art because I can go any-
where with it. There’s so voice for everyone, but just
to have that little something
many more options.
“I do want to get back for the people here that
into acrylic paints this year aren’t like the majority.”
Fish deaths: Homeowners
association plans to build
a new spillway, fi sh ladder
Continued from Page A1
In addition to the penalty,
the state directed the home-
owners association to create
a water quality management
plan and a 10-year sched-
ule for becoming compliant
with standards for tempera-
ture and dissolved oxygen
within the lake and creek.
The state Department of
Fish and Wildlife is seeking
a separate claim against the
homeowners association for
the fi sh kill, but did not dis-
close the amount.
The homeowners asso-
ciation has argued that
the state mandated the
drain repair and was kept
informed through the pro-
cess. It also denied being
responsible for a fi sh kill.
“DEQ has not substan-
tiated their allegations that
the mandated repair work
resulted in the death of
salmon and trout,” the asso-
ciation said in a statement.
Fishhawk Lake “commu-
nity members observed the
lake draining and did not
observe dead fi sh or scaven-
gers that would substantiate
the fi sh kill DEQ asserts.”
Fishhawk Lake “imple-
mented specifi c measures
to prevent fi sh mortality,
including following the
direction of Oregon Depart-
ment of Fish and Wildlife to
conduct the work during the
in-water work window.”
After fl oodwaters nearly
topped the dam in 2007,
the homeowners associa-
tion was tasked by the state
with building a new emer-
gency spillway, along with
improving fi sh passage.
The association is plan-
ning a $3.5 million project
to build a new spillway over
one side of the dam and tun-
nel a fi sh ladder through the
other. It contends the proj-
ect will prevent failure of
the dam in a major fl ood and
open 13 miles of salmon
habitat upstream of the lake.
County and state lead-
ers and agencies, includ-
ing the Department of Fish
and Wildlife, have backed
the project. The homeown-
ers association is applying
for state and federal grants
based on safety and the proj-
ect’s benefi ts to fi sh passage.
“DEQ’s
enforcement
action puts that project at
risk by seeking to divert
community funding that
could be used to continue
efforts to implement this
environmental project,” the
association said.
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