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CORONAVIRUS
County to
remain at
lower risk
for virus
Leaders encouraged
by case counts
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
Clatsop County will remain at lower
risk for the coronavirus as case counts stay
steady.
Over the past few months, most Oregon
counties have seen risk levels decline.
“ This should serve
as a reminder that when
we follow the health
MORE
and safety measures we
INSIDE
know work against this
County
virus, we can truly make
reports
a difference in infec-
new virus
tion spread,” Gov. Kate
cases • A2
Brown said in a state-
ment Tuesday. “But, we
still have more work to
do before we reach the level of commu-
nity wide protection we need in order to
See Risk, Page A3
Toxin
levels put
clam digs
on hold
A winter spike
found at beaches
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Astorian
Domoic acid levels in razor clams on
Clatsop County beaches spiked this win-
ter, throwing the possibility of popular
recreational digs into question.
The elevated levels are tied for the
fourth-highest ever observed on the North
Coast since the toxin was discovered in
the area in 1991. They are also the highest
levels ever observed during the months of
December and January, according to state
fi shery managers.
See Clam digs, Page A6
Senators
advocate for
exporters
Hampton Lumber and others
want access to ocean carriers
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Astorian
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden and several col-
leagues are pushing the Federal Mari-
time Commission to protect the access of
exporters to ocean carriers amid surging
demand during the coronavirus pandemic.
Ocean carriers bring in highly valu-
able consumer electronics, apparel, build-
ing equipment and other fi nished prod-
ucts from Asia to the U.S.
Dancing
through the pandemic
After a year of restrictions, there is something like hope in the air
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Astorian
F
or a dancer, two weeks
without regular practice
can be an eternity.
If you’re not working every
day on strength and fl exibility,
muscles begin to weaken. Your
jumps aren’t as strong. Your leg
can’t kick up as high. You feel
shaky. What Maggie Wall, the
director of the Astoria School
of Ballet, calls “Elvis leg”
might make an appearance —
an unintentional wobbling boo-
gie in the hips and knees.
But for much of last year,
amid ever-shifting coronavi-
rus-related restrictions and con-
cerns, Wall’s students and other
young dancers on the North
Coast were constantly starting
then stopping. Some attempted
to keep up through virtual les-
sons, following along to videos
in carpeted living rooms or on
kitchen linoleum — not ideal.
A year after virus restric-
tions fi rst went into place, some
in-person classes have since
resumed and dance studios and
schools that serve school-age
children have started to plan
performances again — many of
them virtual and nothing like the
productions they used to put on.
The studios have made
numerous changes to stay
afl oat. For all, simply closing
down was not an option. While
there are enduring fears as they
struggle to make ends meet with
fewer students, fewer classes
and less fl exibility about what
Photos by Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
TOP: Dancers do barre warmups at the start of rehearsal at the Astoria
School of Ballet. ABOVE: A ballet dancer stretches inside a taped
square at Maddox Dance Studio. The fl oors are covered with tape and
stickers reminding dancers to ‘mind their spacing’ to encourage social
distancing while in the studio.
they can offer, there is some-
thing like hope in the air.
“We’re still here,” Wall said,
“and kids are still pursuing
this.”
A shift toward child care
When Gov. Kate Brown
announced the fi rst round of
restrictions last March, the stu-
dents and teachers at Encore
Dance Studio in Warrenton
were in the middle of getting
ready for a spring recital. They
had costumes ready to go.
“We’re going to have a recital.
I don’t care what it looks like,”
Denele Sweet, Encore’s owner,
decided when she realized their
original plans wouldn’t work
under the new constraints.
So the recital, like many
events since last spring, was
virtual. At the time, some still
thought — or simply hoped —
the pandemic would be over
soon. Wall and others remem-
ber thinking, “We’ll be shut
down for a couple weeks then
we’ll be back.”
But Sweet felt differently.
“My gut feeling was this was
going to last for a good year, if
not two,” she said.
She didn’t know when it
would be legal to open the
dance studio fully again, but
she did know two things for
certain: “Fitness was a no-no,
but child care was a yes-yes.”
i
‘As dancers we’re trained to pivot and turn and leap: Go
to the fl oor, get up, turn, go the other way, change lanes.
It’s constant changing and you have to be prepared. You
can’t get fl ustered when the gear changes. You have to
adapt and you have to adapt with grace and style.’
Denele Sweet | Encore Dance Studio in Warrenton
See Exporters, Page A6
See Dancing, Page A6