WEEKEND EDITION // Saturday, april 24, 2021
148tH yEar, NO. 128
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CORONAVIRUS
County
hopes to
vaccinate
more teens
Pfizer doses expected soon
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
Hailey Hoffman/the astorian
River cruise ships docked at North Tongue Point over the winter.
Clatsop County teenagers under 18
will soon be eligible for vaccination
against the coronavirus at county clinics.
All Oregonians 16 and older became
eligible for vaccination on Monday.
However, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine
is the only vaccine approved for 16-
and 17-year-olds. The only place in the
county that administers the vaccine is the
Fred Meyer pharmacy in Warrenton.
The county’s vaccine task force antic-
ipates Pfizer doses will be available
through the county the week of May 10.
The task force is developing a plan for
vaccination events. Parents can call the
county’s public information call center
beginning Monday to register their 16-
and 17-year-olds.
See Vaccine, Page A6
River cruises to return
First stop in Astoria
likely in early May
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Astorian
A
merican Queen Steamboat Co.
and American Cruise Lines
have been sailing the South-
eastern U.S. for the past month under
guidelines approved by the fed-
eral Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention during the coronavirus
pandemic.
While oceangoing cruises are
on hold until at least fall, trips on
the Columbia and Snake rivers will
likely restart in early May after coor-
dination with state officials and ports
between Astoria and Lewiston, Idaho.
Clatsop County Manager Don
Bohn described the situation as fluid
but said local officials have been
told the American Song, one of four
regional American Cruise Lines
ships, will stop at the 17th Street
Dock in Astoria the first week of May
with fewer than 40 passengers.
“I’ve heard that the first ships will
be at about 50% capacity,” Bohn
said. “But I also know that if things
go well, they might notch that up.
Jewell moves
to distance
learning after
virus cases
Four cases were reported
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
american Cruise lines
American Cruise Lines’ ship American Song is scheduled to sail to Astoria in early
May before heading to the Columbia River Gorge.
But even at the maximum, they were
going to be running with about 25%
vacancy.”
A spokesperson for American
Queen Steamboat said the company
hopes to begin cruises on its stern-
wheeler, the American Empress, later
in the spring. A reservation special-
ist with the company said cruises on
the Columbia won’t begin until June
and are already fully booked into
November.
Overnight river cruises were shut
down more than a year ago because of
the pandemic. But a conditional sail-
ing order from the CDC has allowed
ships to carry up to 250 combined
passengers and crew.
Jewell School closed Thursday after
four coronavirus cases were reported.
Superintendent
Steve
Phillips
described the cases as
three staffers and one
student. He said the
MORE
school will conduct
INSIDE
distance learning in the
County
coming week.
reports
The school plans
new virus
to reopen to in-person
cases • a5
instruction on May 3.
In a letter to the
Jewell
community
posted Sunday, Phillips announced that
the school’s preschool cohort would tem-
porarily close after a virus case.
See River cruises, Page A6
See Jewell, Page A2
Merkley hopeful Astoria gets boost from federal stimulus
City set to receive
of progress
more than $2 million
rebuilds the economy from
the ground up, instead of
Wall Street down.
Merkley detailed his
efforts to improve elections
By EDWARD
through the For the Peo-
STRATTON
ple Act, which he intro-
The Astorian
duced with U.S. Sen. Amy
Klobuchar, a Min-
U.S. Sen. Jeff
nesota Democrat,
Merkley said he is
and Senate Major-
ity Leader Chuck
hopeful about the
Schumer, a New
future under the
York Democrat.
Biden administra-
tion but warned that
The bill, a com-
panion to legislation
many good ideas
still face Republican Jeff Merkley passed by the U.S.
House, is a response
obstruction.
The Oregon Democrat, to state-level attempts to
meeting virtually with Clat- crack down on alleged voter
sop County constituents fraud. It would address
Wednesday in his 443rd voter suppression, so-called
town hall since joining the “dark money” behind cam-
U.S. Senate, celebrated the paigns and gerrymander-
$1.9 trillion American Res- ing — or drawing electoral
cue Plan recently passed
See Merkley, Page A6
by Congress, which he said
Democrat warns
of Republican
obstruction
By EDWARD
STRATTON
The Astorian
Astoria will get more than
$2 million from the Amer-
ican Rescue Plan recently
passed by Congress for use
on infrastructure.
The amount is part of a
projected $5.3 million being
received from the stimulus
package by Astoria, War-
renton, Gearhart, Seaside
and Cannon Beach, based
on 2019 census data. Clat-
sop County will receive $7.8
million.
The Astoria City Council
on Monday created a fund to
track the money. City Man-
ager Brett Estes said the
first half would go out in the
coming months, while the
remainder is anticipated by
June 2022. The funds can be
used through 2024, but were
the astorian
Astoria will use stimulus money from the American Rescue
Plan to help address infrastructure needs, particularly in
water and sewer.
primarily reserved for infra-
structure needs.
Estes said the funds
could help offset loans for
improvements to sewer and
water systems that are other-
wise paid for by ratepayers.
“We’re looking at infra-
structure needs, to address
our needs in the water master
plan that’s coming for adop-
tion, looking at sewer infra-
structure improvements, the
library, also looking at any
pre-disaster mitigation proj-
ects,” he said.
The city faces numerous
large projects, from install-
ing a new headworks at the
sewage lagoons and com-
pleting a separation of sewer
and stormwater drainage to
replacing an aging mainline
for water coming from the
Bear Creek Reservoir. The
city has also been trying to
renovate the 1960s-era Asto-
ria Library.
“There is not a spe-
cific plan or project identi-
fied at this time,” Estes said.
“We’re needing to get more
specific information, and
also be able to look at how
we can best use those over
the next few years. Addi-
tionally, we’re looking for
any other possible stimulus
funds that could come our
way.”