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THE ASTORIAN • THuRSdAy, ApRIl 1, 2021
Oregon native, longtime ‘Tonight Show’
bandleader is profiled in PBS special
By KRISTI TURNQUIST
The Oregonian
Doc Severinsen may be
best known for the 30 years
he spent as the trumpet-play-
ing, outlandishly dressed
bandleader and joking side-
kick to host Johnny Carson
on “The Tonight Show.” But
Severinsen is still with us,
living in Nashville, and still
devoted to music, as a new
“American Masters” docu-
mentary explains.
“Never Too Late: The
Doc Severinsen Story” pro-
files the now 93-year-old
musician, who was born in
Arlington in 1927. Though
his first name is Carl, Sever-
insen acquired his enduring
“Doc” nickname because his
father was a dentist.
From an early age, Sev-
erinsen loved playing the
trumpet. His musical ability
and passion eventually led
to work as a studio musician
for NBC, a job playing trum-
pet in the early 1960s under
Skitch Henderson, who was
Just Bright Productions
Doc Severinsen, best-known as the bandleader for ‘The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,’ has continued to perform into his 90s.
then the “Tonight Show”
bandleader, and finally the
job as bandleader for “The
RELIGION BRIEFS
Astoria
Christian Church
For service informa-
tion and updates, go to asto-
riachristian.org or bit.ly/
AstoriaChristian, call 503-
325-2591 or email Astoria-
Christian@gmail.com
Astoria First
Baptist Church
First Baptist Church,
349 Seventh St., holds an
in-person worship ser-
vice at 10:45 a.m. Sunday.
Social distancing is prac-
ticed, face coverings are
required and hand sanitizers
are available. The service
is also broadcast at fb.me/
astoriafirstbaptist
Sunday school starts
at 9:30 a.m. There is no
child care, but children
are encouraged to join the
service. For information,
call the church office at
503-325-1761.
Astoria First United
Methodist Church
For livestream service
information and updates,
email the church office
at
office@unitedmeth-
odistastoria.org or call
503-325-5454.
Grace
Episcopal Church
On Friday, Grace Epis-
copal Church, 1545 Frank-
lin Ave., offers a Good Fri-
day Liturgy at noon both
in person and broadcast via
Facebook and YouTube.
The Holy Saturday Lit-
urgy of the Day, at 9 a.m.,
is only being broadcast via
Facebook.
There is a single 10 a.m.
service Easter Sunday. Res-
ervations are required to
attend, and it is being broad-
cast via Facebook and You-
Tube. All are invited to
bring flowers from their gar-
dens to “Flower the Cross”
outside the church.
Strict COVID-19 restric-
tions are followed for in-per-
son services; all attending
must wear a mask.
For information, call the
church at 503-325-4691 or
go to graceastoria.org; for
livestreaming, go to fb.me/
Grace Astoria or bit.ly/
YTGraceAstoria
Pacific Unitarian
Universalist
A Pacific Unitarian Uni-
versalist Fellowship ser-
vice is being held via Zoom
at 11 a.m. Sunday. Speaker
Rev. Kit Ketcham’s topic
is “Rise Again, Rise Again:
Transformation and Trag-
edy.” For Zoom informa-
tion, go to pacuuf.org
Peace First Lutheran
For service information,
go to astoriafirstlutheran.
com under “Worship &
Music/Videos & Resources”
or bit.ly/FLCAstoria. To
receive a DVD of the ser-
vices and bulletin, call the
office and leave a message.
Pioneer
Presbyterian Church
WARRENTON — For
service information, call the
church at 503-861-2421 or
go to pioneerchurchpcusa.
org
St. Mary,
Star of the Sea Parish
For information about
the St. Vincent de Paul Food
Pantry hours, and service
and livestreaming infor-
mation at both the Astoria
church and Hammond mis-
sion, call 503-325-3671,
email office@stmaryastoria.
com or go to stmaryastoria.
com or bit.ly/stmaryastoria
SELF-HELP GROUPS
Al-Anon
(Astoria)
— For information, call
503-325-1087.
Al-Anon
(Clatskanie)
— For information, call
503-728-3351.
Al-Anon
(Nehalem)
— For information, call
503-368-8255.
Al-Anon (Seaside) — For
information, call 503-810-
5196 for information.
Al-Anon (Tillamook) —
For information, call 503-842-
5094 or 503-730-5863.
Al-Anon Family Groups
information — Oregon Area
Al-Anon website, orego-
nal-anon.org
Alateen
(Tillamook)
— For information, call
503-730-5863.
Alcoholics Anonymous
— To find a meeting in Clat-
sop County, call 971-601-
9220, in Tillamook County,
call 503-739-4856, or go to
aa-oregon.org
Celebrate Recovery —
Faith-based 12-step recovery
from hurts, habits and hang
ups. For information, call
503-738-7453.
Sexual Purity Recovery
Group — Part of the Pure
Life Alliance (purelifealliance.
org) in Portland. For infor-
mation, call the confidential
voicemail at 503-750-0817
and leave a message.
Narcotics Anonymous
— For full schedule details,
as well as upcoming spe-
cial events, call the helpline
at 503-717-3702, or go to
na.org
Overeaters Anonymous
(Astoria) — For information,
call 425-287-0806.
Overeaters Anonymous
(Seaside) — For information,
call 503-738-0307.
TOPS (Take Off Pounds
Sensibly) (Astoria) — For
information, call Trisha Hay-
rynen at 503-298-9058.
TOPS
(Seaside)
—
For
information,
call
509-910-0354.
TOPS (Warrenton) — For
information, call Cheryl Nitz
at 503-338-2132.
Tonight Show Starring
Johnny Carson.”
During his 30 years on
“The Tonight Show,” Sev-
erinsen became a staple of
late-night TV. In addition
to his musicianship, Sever-
insen was known for sport-
ing garish outfits, joined in
comedy bits with Carson and
announcer Ed McMahon,
belted out made-up tunes
during recurring “Stump the
Band” segments and filled in
when McMahon was off.
When Carson retired from
hosting in 1992, Severinsen
left “The Tonight Show.” But
he continued to play music
and tour. In a recent inter-
view with The New York
Times’ Dave Itzkoff, which
coincides with the “Ameri-
can Masters” documentary,
Severinsen talks about his
obsession with the trumpet,
past issues with alcoholism,
his friendship with Carson
(”an extremely bright man”)
and more.
The documentary includes
interviews with Severinsen,
and others, including Quest-
love, the “Tonight Show”
bandleader, and trumpet star
— and fellow Oregon native
— Chris Botti.
The documentary will be
broadcast locally on Oregon
Public Broadcasting from
noon to 1:30 p.m on Sunday.
Federal judge blocks The Harbor offers
Nevada grazing as
survey for sexual
sage grouse dwindle violence survivors
By SCOTT SONNER
Associated press
RENO, Nev. — A federal
judge has blocked a Nevada
project that would expand
livestock grazing across
400 squares miles of some
of the highest priority sage-
grouse habitat in the West
and accused the government
of deliberately misleading
the public by underestimat-
ing damage the cattle could
do to the land.
The ruling comes as sci-
entists continue to document
dramatic declines in greater
sage-grouse
populations
across 11 western states —
down 65% since 1986 and
37% since 2002, according
to a new report by the U.S.
Geological Survey.
Its numbers have shrunk
to less than a quarter of what
they were a half century ago,
the Geological Survey said
Tuesday. If trends continue,
there’s only a 50% chance
most of their remaining
breeding grounds known as
“leks” will still be produc-
tive in 60 years, it said.
Citing concerns about
grouse, U.S. administra-
tive judge Harvey Sweitzer
sided with conservationists
in Nevada and suspended
approval of new graz-
ing permits for a swath of
rangeland larger than Rhode
Island. It stretches to Utah
and includes a ranch once
owned by Bing Crosby.
The senior judge at the
Interior Department’s Office
of Hearings and Appeals in
Salt Lake City ruled March
19 the Bureau of Land Man-
agement failed to adequately
examine potential harm to
the grouse as required by
the National Environmental
Policy Act.
An administrative judge
since 1970, when Presi-
dent Nixon signed the act
into law, Sweitzer’s deci-
sion could have ramifica-
tions for several permits
approved across the West
in the final months of the
Trump administration under
a 2017 initiative dubbed
“Outcome-Based Grazing.”
Then-Interior Secretary
Ryan Zinke said it loosened
restrictions on ranchers to
provide more flexibility to
meet long-term rangeland
health goals. Critics called it
a “public land grab.”
“Instead of living up
to its promise to con-
serve, enhance and restore
sage-grouse habitat, BLM
embraced habitat-destroy-
ing livestock grazing actions
guaranteed to drive down
bird numbers,” said Katie
Fite, public lands direc-
tor for WildLands Defense,
which won the stay of the
permits pending administra-
tive appeal.
She said Sweitzer’s deci-
sion is a “well-justified
rebuke to BLM’s indus-
try-biased grazing program
that goes to great lengths
to circle the wagons around
livestock interests at the
expense of wildlife, biodi-
versity, watersheds and myr-
iad public uses.”
The Interior Department
said Tuesday the decline of
sage grouse documented
by the Geological Sur-
vey reflects the overall loss
of sagebrush habitat over
decades from a variety of
forces ranging from wild-
fires to energy development.
“The Interior Depart-
ment is reviewing actions
the Trump administration
took to undermine carefully
constructed land manage-
ment plans to help conserve
sagebrush habitat,” spokes-
woman Melissa Schwartz
said in a statement.
Nevada’s Winecup-Gam-
ble ranch was among 11
designated as demonstration
projects in 2018 under the
“Outcome-Based” initiative
along with ranches in Ore-
gon, Colorado, Idaho, Mon-
tana and Wyoming.
SENIOR NOTES
Alzheimer’s Association
Oregon Chapter — Informa-
tion, referral and counseling ser-
vices for families and caregivers
of people with Alzheimer’s,
dementia and other related dis-
orders. For information, call 800-
272-3900 (24 hours a day).
Clatsop Behavioral Health
After Hours Crisis Line
— 503-325-5724.
Clatsop
Community
Action —
503-325-1400.
Respite care services, low-in-
come energy assistance, emer-
gency food assistance, housing
information, emergency per-
sonal care items.
Exploring New Concepts
of Retirement Education
(ENCORE) — 503-338-2408.
Provides a wide assortment of
educational experiences for
individuals older than 50.
Elder Friendship Line —
800-971-0016. Available from
8 a.m. to 11 p.m.; crisis calls
taken 24/7.
Food Pantries — 503-325-
1400. Clatsop Community
Action serves six food pantries
in Clatsop County through the
Oregon Food Bank Network.
Call for area locations and hours.
Grief Support Group, Sea-
side — For information, call
Lower Columbia Hospice at
503-338-6230.
The Astorian
The Harbor has been
awarded two competi-
tive grants to improve its
sexual violence preven-
tion and response services,
which will primarily focus
on youth, LGBTQ and Lat-
inx survivors.
As a result, Clatsop
County survivors of sexual
violence are being asked to
take a survey about their
experiences following an
assault. The anonymous
online survey can be found
at bit.ly/39cOGLi
At the end of the sur-
vey, there is an opportu-
nity to be entered in a raf-
fle for one of six $50 Visa
gift cards; the entry is not
tied to survey answers and
is optional.
Those needing support
can call the National Sex-
ual Assault Hotline at 800-
656-4673 or The Harbor at
503-325-5735 at any time.
Parks are free
on Saturday in
Washington state
The Astorian
ILWACO, Wash. — The
Washington State Parks and
Recreation
Commission
invites the public to celebrate
the spring season and Earth
Day with two free days at
state parks on Saturday and
April 22. On free days, vis-
itors do not need a Discover
Pass for day-use parking.
The Discover Pass is
required to access lands
managed by the Washing-
ton Department of Fish and
Wildlife and the Depart-
ment of Natural Resources.
For information, go to parks.
state.wa.us
AARP offers drivers
virtual workshops
The Astorian
AARP Driver Safety is
offering five free live virtual
workshops.
“Smart Driver TEK”
covers new safety technol-
ogy and “Using App-based
Ridesharing
Services”
explores popular rideshar-
ing apps like Uber and Lyft.
“CarFit,” a 90-min-
ute session, provides an
in-depth look at key aspects
involved in getting a proper
vehicle fit. Participating in
this workshop is requested
before registering for a
CarFit Focus session.
The “CarFit Focus Ses-
sion” is a 30-minute small
group discussion with
CarFit volunteers designed
to explore common chal-
lenges to making adjust-
ments and finding a safe and
comfortable fit in a car.
“We Need to Talk” is a
seminar that helps assess
an older loved one’s driving
skills and provides tools to
help navigate the conversa-
tion about limiting or stop-
ping their driving.
For information, and to
register, go to bit.ly/3lZo59K
Heart Month contest
winners announced
The Astorian
Columbia
Memorial
Hospital is presenting a
check for $1,300 each to
two Clatsop County orga-
nizations, Bergerson Con-
struction and the Cannon
Beach Conference Center,
which both won the Heart
Month AED contest held
in February by describing
how having an automated
external defibrillator would
help their organizations.
This is the second year
the hospital has held the
contest. More than 10
entries were received. The
two winners were cho-
sen by the leadership of
the WomenHeart group,
which meets every month
to support women who
have or are at-risk for heart
disease.