A6
THE ASTORIAN • THuRSdAy, MAy 20, 2021
Knappa school staffer reports virus case
The Astorian
Two staff members with Knappa’s
Hilda Lahti Elementary School were
in quarantine after one person tested
positive for the coronavirus, accord-
ing to a letter sent to the community
this week.
Both people had contact with another
person outside of school who ended up
testing positive for the virus. Both staff
members are back at work now, accord-
ing to Superintendent Bill Fritz.
In a letter to the community, Fritz
wrote that “to date, we have not seen
any evidence of COVID transmission
at the school site at any time during
the school year.”
The school district has been able
to operate with all students in class-
rooms for multiple hours a day.
College board:
‘It’s been a learning
experience and it’s
been positive’
Continued from Page A1
Katie Frankowicz/The Astorian
Oregon has eased mask requirements outdoors.
Masks: ‘Businesses have choices
and individuals have choices’
Continued from Page A1
The health authority still
urges unvaccinated people
and those most at risk for
the virus to continue wear-
ing masks in crowded areas
and large gatherings and
maintain physical distance
as much as possible.
Everyone is required to
continue wearing masks
and physically distancing
on public transportation and
in schools, hospitals, clin-
ics, homeless shelters, cor-
rectional facilities and long-
term care facilities.
Businesses and other
places that choose to lift
mask and physical dis-
tancing requirements must
seek proof of vaccination,
whether it be the original
paper cards received after
vaccination, a photocopy or
photo.
Dr. Dean Sidelinger, the
state’s top epidemiologist,
said businesses can continue
requiring employees and
customers to wear masks or
adopt the new guidance.
“For businesses that
think this is too much of
an administrative burden
or they don’t want to be
responsible for checking
vaccination records, they
don’t have to review those
records,” Sidelinger said
during a press conference
Tuesday afternoon. “They
can continue to serve their
customers and have their
employees wear masks in
these settings.
“For a business that wants
to choose to serve their cus-
tomers in a different way by
allowing them to remove
their mask if they’re fully
vaccinated or have their staff
be able to remove their mask
if they’re fully vaccinated,
they need to institute a sys-
tem where individuals can
share their vaccination sta-
tus, share their card, which
can be reviewed, so that
they can be served without a
mask or physical distancing.
“Again, businesses have
choices and individuals
have choices on how to pro-
tect themselves and those
around them.”
David Reid, the exec-
utive director of the Asto-
ria-Warrenton Area Cham-
ber of Commerce, said most
public-facing businesses the
chamber has talked with
plan to continue requiring
customers to wear masks for
the time being.
“No one has expressed
a desire to request proof
of vaccination, especially
those who are working with
short staffs,” Reid said in an
email. “Although this devel-
opment is good news and a
step in the right direction,
it’s still confusing for busi-
nesses and the public.
“We highly encourage
consumers to continue to
watch for and comply with
whatever precautions a
business feels they need to
employ regardless of their
vaccination status. Kind-
ness and patience are still in
order.”
The state plans to lift
most virus restrictions once
70% of Oregonians 16 and
older receive their first vac-
cine doses. Counties where
65% of people 16 and older
have received at least one
dose will have the option of
moving to lower risk begin-
ning Friday.
Margo Lalich, Clat-
sop County’s interim pub-
lic health director, said she
anticipates the county will
reach the threshold by the
end of the month.
As of Monday, 56.8% of
people 16 and older in the
county had received at least
one dose, according to the
health authority.
Bubble tea: ‘Just one of the many things I can do’
Continued from Page A1
ubiquitous shops she used
to visit with friends in Port-
land. She wondered why her
parents hadn’t started one in
Astoria.
“I told them, ‘Hey, you
guys should open one,’” she
said. “And my mom said,
‘Why not you?’”
Chang recently opened
Milky-Cha, a bubble tea
shop in a former mort-
gage office on Commer-
cial Street. The shop, open
every day, offers several fla-
vors of teas — green, black,
jasmine and others — milks
and other drinks topped with
fresh fruit and other condi-
ments. The drinks are often
filled with dark, chewy tap-
ioca pearls made in Taiwan
and known as boba. The
shop also specializes in bub-
ble waffles, a dessert from
Hong Kong.
It takes Chang about an
hour to make more pearls
for her teas. But only days
after opening, she said she’s
already running short.
Oliver Yoon, the vice
president of sales and
global marketing for the
supplier Boba Direct, told
National Public Radio last
month that there have been
too many shipments from
Asia to the U.S. and not
enough production capac-
ity for the pearls. The short-
ages are compounded by a
lack of dockworkers and
truck drivers in the U.S. to
get products from port to
retailers.
Running a bubble tea
shop isn’t necessarily the
end game for Chang, who
said she wants to go back
to school and get a master’s
degree in business. Her par-
ents have assured her the
shop will continue regard-
less of her next move in life.
“I don’t know if any-
body’s really sure what
they’re doing,” Chang said.
“I never knew what I wanted
to be growing up. This is just
one of the many things I can
do.”
Bond: Would improve safety and security
Continued from Page A1
The school district also
plans to use bond money
to construct a gym at Hilda
Lahti, as well as improve
safety and security for stu-
dents and staff and address
repair and maintenance
issues with the district’s
roofs, heating, ventilation
and air conditioning systems,
electrical systems, plumbing
and weather sealing.
Improved access to men-
tal health services is also
listed.
The school board had
considered several options
for the bond, including a
$12 million version. Sur-
veys showed community
support for the lower option
Hailey Hoffman/The Astorian
The Knappa School District is looking at a bond for school
improvements.
over the $14 million bond
proposal, according to infor-
mation presented at a board
meeting in April.
But the committee tasked
with developing the bond
proposal later recommended
the school district pursue
the $14 million bond with a
25-year term.
The committee felt the
community would support
the bond and it would give
the school district “the best
options for students’ health
and safety,” Superintendent
Bill Fritz told the board at a
work session in May.
The
school
board
approved the bond resolu-
tion at a meeting Monday
night.
Over the past few years,
voters have approved bond
financing for improvements
at schools in Astoria, War-
renton and Seaside.
Meyer said she is looking
ahead to the college’s gradu-
ation ceremony, as well as a
board retreat, where the new
board will hold a planning
session and set its goals and
vision for the coming year.
“I don’t have any spe-
cific arrows to shoot,” she
said. “That’s not the way I
think a policy board should
work.”Trudy Van Dusen
Citovic, the co-owner of Van
Dusen Beverages and the
daughter of former Astoria
Mayor Willis Van Dusen, led
Robert Duehmig, the col-
lege board chairman and the
interim director for the Ore-
gon Office of Rural Health,
55% to 32% for Zone 2,
Position 3.
“During the campaign, I
learned a lot from conversa-
tions with students, faculty,
administrators and commu-
nity members,” Van Dusen
Citovic said. “My intention
now is to improve account-
ability and transparency at
the board level so all con-
stituents can work together
to ensure a bright future
for Clatsop Community
College.”
Van Dusen Citovic
thanked voters for elect-
ing her. She also thanked
her opponent, who was
appointed in 2014 and first
elected in 2015.
“I did not have the oppor-
tunity to meet him in person
due to the pandemic, but I
hope to do so one day soon,”
she said.
Suzanne Iverson, a retired
former college employee,
held a slim, 50% to 49%
lead over David Zunkel, a
retired physician appointed
to the board in 2019, in Zone
3, Position 6.
Iverson was not ready
to declare victory. “I’m just
going to sit and wait,” she
said.
It is her first experience
running for elected office.
“It’s been a learning
experience and it’s been pos-
itive,” Iverson said. “My
hope is that if I’m elected, I
can get in there and roll up
my sleeves and go to work.
Hopefully, the college will
prosper. That’s my goal.
“That’s the only reason I
ran — because I really care
about the place and feel it’s
vital to the community.”
Tim Lyman, a college
board member, had orga-
nized a slate of candidates
that included Iverson and
Preston. Van Dusen Citovic
said she was asked to run
by others in the community.
They rallied around shared
concerns over a drop in
enrollment during the pan-
demic and ongoing frustra-
tions with the college’s man-
agement software that they
believe contributed to the
enrollment decline.
They claimed the college
board has not done enough
to address these issues or
community concerns.
The incumbents, how-
ever, argued that after the
uncertainty caused by the
pandemic, the college needs
experienced board mem-
bers to help chart a path for-
ward. While the enrollment
dip is worrying, they do not
see it as an emergency. They
believe college leadership
is taking the right steps to
encourage students to return.
Chris Breitmeyer, the
college president, called the
37% dip in enrollment “sig-
nificant,” but he and other
college leaders are confi-
dent a number of students
involved with college pro-
grams through organizations
like Tongue Point Job Corps
Center and the U.S. Coast
Guard will begin to return
as pandemic-related restric-
tions lift.
The college is upping its
outreach efforts as well, he
has told board members.
The park district’s purchase of the former Broadway Middle
School was a campaign issue.
Park district: Board has to help
manage through the pandemic
Continued from Page A1
Hinton, a contractor
first elected to the board
in 2001, led Duhachek, a
former U.S. Navy aircraft
maintenance officer and
private sector project man-
ager and logistics engineer
who owns Wheel Fun Rent-
als, 53% to 47% for Posi-
tion 3.
“I’m grateful for appar-
ent victory!” Hinton said
in an email. “Our board
hitched their wagon to a
star! The opposition didn’t
see it coming!”
Marshall Hamer, the
director of global human
resources for Mercy Corps,
led Evans, who retired after
management roles at Fred
Meyer Jewelers, 60% to
40% for Position 4.
“Having grown up in
Seaside, and experiencing
Sunset parks and recreation
for the last 40 years, I feel
so privileged to have been
on the Board of Directors
at this critical juncture in
our community’s history,”
Marshall Hamer said in an
email. “No matter the out-
come of the election, I feel
good within myself that I
stayed positive, that I had
a bold vision for Seaside
and the district, and that I
stayed true to myself and
those residents who I rep-
resent. There is nothing
more important at this point
in our community’s his-
tory than to be positive and
uplifting, and to find a way
to increase programming
and options at the district
for all of our residents.”
Parker, the head secre-
tary at Seaside High School,
led Morrison, who retired
after management roles at
trucking companies, 55%
to 44% for Position 5.
Looking ahead, the
board has to help manage
through the coronavirus
pandemic, new programs, a
$3 million budget to adopt
by the end of June and a
Sunset Recreation Center
strategic plan. The park dis-
trict anticipates an opportu-
nity to expand services and
revenue by 27% in the next
fiscal year.
Potential partners going
forward include the city and
the school district. The park
district is in lease negoti-
ations with the Northwest
Regional Education Ser-
vice District for a portion of
the building.
“I’m excited to continue
working with our board
and helping our commu-
nity grow,” Archibald said
in a statement. “All five of
these board members have
a heart for service and gen-
uinely care about improv-
ing the quality of life for
patrons in our district. We
also encourage community
engagement as we develop
our plan for the Sunset Rec-
reation Center.”