DailyAstorian.com // Tuesday, april 20, 2021
148TH year, NO. 126
$1.50
CORONAVIRUS
Job
corps
center
faces cuts
New contract at Tongue Point
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Astorian
Supporters of Tongue Point Job Corps
Center in Astoria are scrambling to undo
the proposed elimination of several pro-
grams in a contract to operate the work-
force training campus.
The U.S. Department of Labor con-
tracts with private companies to oper-
ate around 130 job corps centers provid-
ing workforce training for low-income
students between the ages of 16 and 24.
Management and Training Corp. has
operated Tongue Point since 1989.
Most contracts last three to five years.
The Department of Labor recently opened
the contract for operation of Tongue Point
up to proposals.
The new contract would begin in
October and keep the center at 473 stu-
dents. But the initial contract would have
stopped the use of 15 World War II-era
houses on Tongue Point by staff and their
families. It would also eliminate culinary
and two different office administration
programs, while cutting enrollment in
the medical assisting program in half and
reducing the geographic area from which
the center can draw students.
See Job Corps, Page A6
A passion
for tea in
Seaside
Couple aims to open
Tea Artist in May
By R.J. MARX
The Astorian
SEASIDE — Chinese tea culture rose
in the Tang dynasty in the seventh century
and spread to Japan, Korea and through-
out Asia.
For Yin Na and Mark Celletti, tea is
their passion. The couple are opening Tea
Artist in the city’s historic Gilbert Dis-
trict, serving teas, baked items, puddings,
fruit drinks and ice cream.
Na, a certified tea art specialist and
university professor from Chongqing,
China, calls the venture “a dream come
true.”
“She’s been an art and calligraphy
student, and she has a master’s and
now a doctorate in Chinese art history,”
Celletti said. “And tea studies are a part
of that.”
photos by Hailey Hoffman/The astorian
Signs alert drivers to a crosswalk near Warrenton Grade School. The city plans to improve pedestrian walkways along Main
Avenue to provide safer routes for students and other residents.
Warrenton projects
focus on livability
Corridors would make
it safer for pedestrians
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
W
ARRENTON — A pedes-
trian walkway connect-
ing downtown to the high
school has been a goal of the city for
decades. Now, a state grant will help
get the project off the ground.
The city hired OTAK Inc. in Feb-
ruary 2020 to create a conceptual
plan for two pedestrian routes — a
Main Avenue corridor connecting
downtown to Warrenton High School
and an E. Harbor Drive corridor from
downtown to Fred Meyer. The esti-
mated cost for both walkways is $3.4
million.
The City Commission last week
accepted $500,000 in grant money
from the state Department of Trans-
portation’s Safe Routes to School
program to construct a portion of the
Main Avenue corridor from Ninth
Street by Warrenton Grade School to
11th Street. The target date for com-
pletion is September 2022.
Collin Stelzig, the city’s public
works director, said the city is plan-
ning on constructing the walkways
one segment at a time as funding
becomes available. He said the city is
hopeful U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici
will designate the project for funding
in the upcoming surface transporta-
tion reauthorization bill.
Warrenton is requesting more than
$1.3 million to continue the walk-
way from N.W. 11th Street to the
high school, along with bus stop and
Parts of Main Avenue in Warrenton lack a safe route for pedestrians.
crosswalk improvements.
“It’s been a want of the city for just
forever, but they’ve just never really
been able to afford it,” Stelzig said.
“We feel pretty good about maybe
getting this money to complete it.
“I guess time will tell.”
A safer walk
Mayor Henry Balensifer said the
pathway will make it safer for stu-
dents to walk to and from school. The
mayor said it is one of many projects
coming down the pipeline that will
improve the city’s livability.
“Main Street is the primary corri-
dor for the majority of our residents
to connect them to services like Main
Street Market, to the post office, to
our parks,” Balensifer said. “And
having safe routes for kids to get to
our parks is pretty important, and
to traverse basically the downtown
corridor.
“I think the commission has really
prioritized livability,” he said. “And
the commission has really made
a concerted effort to ask the ques-
tion, ‘What’s it like to live in War-
renton?‘ Not just to build or do busi-
ness. Those things we’ve answered
pretty well already. But as we’ve
grown, there — except for in like the
last three years — there hasn’t been a
really tough asking of, what’s it like
to live in Warrenton and how do we
want to live in our town?”
Warrenton is the fastest grow-
ing city in Clatsop County. In recent
years, the City Commission has
placed increased emphasis on livabil-
ity and development paying for itself.
See Warrenton, Page A6
See Tea Artist, Page A6
Teacher brings a love of sports to Jewell
Brown will lead
physical education
By GARY HENLEY
The Astorian
EWELL — Fans of Seaside
youth sports remember Kai
Davidson as the all-league soccer
player and state-qualifying track
athlete who went on to compete in
J
both sports at the college level.
Students of Clatsop County —
specifically Jewell — know her as
Mrs. Brown, a teacher who also
loves soccer and coaches track.
It’s been a long journey in a short
period of time for 28-year-old Kai
Brown (formerly Davidson), who
overcame personal losses at a young
age, then overcame a serious knee
injury to play the game she loves.
She is in her fourth year of teach-
ing first and second graders at Jew-
ell School, where she also coaches
middle school basketball and track.
She still lives in Seaside, which
makes for some very long days of
commuting, teaching and coaching.
“It’s about a 45-minute drive, but
it’s worth it,” Brown said. “I like
teaching. Right now, at that age,
they’re all like sponges, and learn-
ing fast. This age group is just learn-
ing how to read, and then compre-
hending what they’re reading.”
Gary Henley/The astorian
See Brown, Page A3
Kai Davidson starred with the Seaside Gulls.