148TH YEAR, NO. 132
DailyAstorian.com // TUESDAY, MAY 4, 2021
$1.50
CORONAVIRUS
Clinic
provides
vaccines to
homeless
One-dose vaccines
were available
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Astorian
Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
Sean Acuna and Luke Crews work behind the counter at Pizza a’fetta in Seaside. The restaurant wants to hire more staff in
preparation for summer.
As the economy recovers from the
pandemic, a labor shortage emerges
Unemployment benefi ts,
child care among factors
Oregon’s seasonally adjusted
unemployment rate in March was
7.1%, down 1% from February but
still more than twice the rate for the
same month last year , just before
unemployment jumped to more than
23% after virus shutdowns.
State unemployment paid $370 a
week on average the fi rst quarter of
the year, in addition to $300 a week
from the federal government. The ben-
efi ts total $16.75 an hour for someone
working full time, or $34,840 a year .
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Astorian
sign outside McDonald’s in
Astoria advertises jobs start-
ing at $15 an hour — $3 above
the $12 minimum wage on the North
Coast and the rallying cry of labor
activists across the nation who want to
more than double the federal standard .
After a year of business closures,
layoff s and other disruptions to the
economy from the coronavirus pan-
demic, many businesses are eager to
hire, but are fi nding that some peo-
ple are reluctant to return to the
workforce.
Unemployment benefi ts, child
care, family obligations and health
concerns are among the factors, along
with a weariness over the unpredict-
ability of virus restrictions. Clatsop
County moved back into the state’s
high-risk level in late April after a
surge of new virus cases this spring.
While businesses have always
competed for skilled workers, the
pandemic-related labor shortage has
created competition for traditionally
A
‘It’s economics’
Edward Stratton/The Astorian
The McDonald’s restaurant in Astoria
upped its starting wage to $15 amid a
coronavirus pandemic that has led to a
labor shortage.
lower-wage, entry-level and seasonal
workers, leading some to off er higher
pay and other incentives to attract a
deeper pool of job candidates.
Downtown association
seeks new director
Heath led group
since 2016
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Astorian
The Astoria Downtown His-
toric District Association is look-
ing for a new executive director
after Sarah Lu Hea th took a job
with the Columbia-Pacifi c Eco-
nomic Development District.
Heath joined the downtown
association 4 1/2 years ago, com-
ing from a position with Restore
Oregon, a statewide preservation
nonprofi t. Oregon Main Street, an
agency helping with downtown
revitalization programs, named
her the Main Street Manager of
the Year in 2019.
“It was really rewarding to
take some of the vision of the
organization and have it come to
fruition,” she said.
During her tenure, Heath has
gained a reputation for helping
to shepherd historic preservation
and housing projects. She secured
facade improvement grants for
the Riviera Building housing The
Columbian Theater and the Odd
Fellows Building that hosts Asto-
ria Arts and Movement Center and
several businesses. She helped
attract Portland nonprofi t Innova-
tive Housing to restore the former
Waldorf Hotel, also known as the
Merwyn , into 40 new apartments
for workforce housing.
Heath said she also took enjoy-
ment from beautifi cation projects
long on the downtown associa-
tion’s docket, such as securing
a grant to paint the 13th Street
Alley.
“It amazes me that it does still
bring a smile to my face every
time I walk through there,” she
said.
Seaside hotelier Masudur Khan
prides himself on keeping a staff of
around 100 year-round , while adding
about 10% to 15% during the summer
tourism rush. This year, amid high
demand for housekeepers, that means
paying his employees at least $16 an
hour through Labor Day, when the
more generous unemployment bene-
fi ts are scheduled to end .
“There’s no option, because there’s
demand and less supply,” he said. “It’s
economics, and they have the power.
If you hire them for $14 or $15 (an
hour), after one week of training, they
say, ‘I’m going to go to the other hotel,
See Labor, Page A2
Twenty homeless people received
the Johnson & Johnson vaccine against
the coronavirus at a health and well-
ness clinic on Thursday at the Astoria
Armory.
People who are homeless have been
hit particularly hard by the pandemic,
but are also among the more diffi cult
groups to reach with resources and
information.
Clatsop Commu-
nity Action, which
MORE
organized the event,
INSIDE
did not set any con-
County
crete
vaccination
reports
goals ahead of the
new virus
clinic. They planned
cases • A6
to off er the vaccine to
anyone who wanted it
and to answer ques-
tions about the vaccine, as well as pro-
vide other wellness services .
Susan Prettyman, the agency’s social
services program manager, said that
even being able to give one person the
shot was better than nothing.
The event saw 60 people , who took
advantage of other services off ered at
the clinic, including showers. Clat-
sop Community Action also distributed
sleeping bags, clothes, backpacks and
other items.
The Clatsop County Public Health
Department provided vaccines for the
event.
There had been some concern about
whether the Johnson & Johnson vaccine
would be available after federal health
agencies called for a temporary pause in
the vaccine’s use earlier in April because
of a rare blood-clotting disorder. That
pause lifted ahead of the clinic.
The single-shot vaccine is ideal for
use in the homeless population since
it doesn’t require people to schedule a
second appointment and return in sev-
eral weeks for another shot, representa-
tives with Clatsop Community Action
said.
The county has begun to allow walk-
ins at vaccination events involving the
Moderna vaccine, but still urges peo-
ple to sign up on the county’s website
to help ensure doses are available. As
of Friday, 12,513 people — or 31.8%
of the county’s population — had been
fully vaccinated.
After eight years in
custody, Wirkkala
adjusts to freedom
Released from
prison after
murder retrial
By GARRETT
ANDREWS
The Bulletin
Luke Wirkkala was in
only one fi ght in prison,
sometime in early 2016,
when he was two years
into a life sentence for
killing a man in Bend. He
was attacked by his cell-
mate, a violent and unsta-
ble man who would sit
on his bunk and laugh at
nothing for hours.
One day, Wirkkala lost
Luke Wirrkala stands on
the bank of the Columbia
River in Astoria.
Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
See Director, Page A6
his patience and told the
cellmate to keep quiet.
They fought viciously,
exchanging wild swings
and headbutts, crashing
into the cell’s metal fi x-
tures, until guards cracked
open the door and sprayed
both men with mace.
A coughing, blinded
Wirkkala was marched to
Snake River Correctional
Institution’s bleak behav-
ioral unit, where he would
stay for 30 days.
After four days in iso-
lation, he was given a
shower. But the cold water
reactivated the mace that
had dried on his skin, sear-
ing his face, groin and
other sensitive areas. It was
some of the worst pain he
had ever felt.
See Wirkkala, Page A6