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THE ASTORIAN • SATuRdAy, JuNE 26, 2021
Restrictions: Vaccines are still available
at local hospitals, clinics and pharmacies
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“We must also recognize
that it has been exception-
ally difficult for our Black,
Indigenous, Latinx, Asian and
Pacific Islanders and tribal
communities. Disparities that
existed before are even wider
now.
“I am incredibly grateful of
the work that our local health
partners and community based
organizations have done to
reach Oregonians from com-
munities of color to make
progress closing the equity
gaps and vaccination efforts.
Unfortunately, COVID-19
is likely to be present in our
lives for months and possi-
bly years to come. The lasting
impacts of the hardships Ore-
gonians have worn during the
pandemic will be with us even
for longer.
“But we certainly see
encouraging signs. Commu-
nities and economies do not
recover overnight. As we tran-
sition to recovery, we must do
everything we can to ensure
we are equipped with the abil-
ity to remain nimble and resil-
ient. We must be prepared to
respond to the emerging needs
of our workers, our businesses
and our economy.”
Mark Kujala, the chairman
of the Clatsop County Board
of Commissioners, called
the announcement welcome
news.
“The work will continue as
we focus our efforts on recov-
ery,” Kujala said. “Thanks to
our entire community for the
sacrifice and dedication over
the last year and a half.”
While Oregon is close to
reaching its vaccination tar-
get, some counties, includ-
ing Clatsop County, are still
working to achieve vaccina-
tion goals.
Nearly 63% of people 16
and older in Clatsop County
have received at least one
dose of vaccine, according to
the Oregon Health Authority.
The county has set a broader
target of vaccinating 70%
percent of the population to
try to achieve herd immu-
nity against the virus. As of
Friday, the county reported
that 53.7% had been fully
vaccinated.
The county recorded
1,063 virus cases as of Fri-
day. According to the county,
Hailey Hoffman/The Astorian
“Frankly, I don’t care
what a persons sexual pro-
clivities are, whether they’re
gay, bi, or whatever. But I
don’t like being forced to
read such pronoun drivel.
And I’m sure this liberal
wokeness is most likely per-
meating our little library,”
Brandon wrote in the email,
which was obtained by The
Astorian through the state’s
public records law.
“Now, I’m in a quandary.
I’d normally write a letter
to the editor of The Colum-
bia Press complaining about
the weird grammar style and
how ‘wokeness’ should not
supersede proper grammar.
I know it’s the ‘cool’ liberal
style to write like that. But it
has no place in a community
paper.
“Yet I’m on the library
board and barely got seated
due to my out-of-city sta-
tus. And one of the reasons
I wanted to be on the board
was to keep drag queen
story hours from entering
our library and infecting our
youth.”
A small group of con-
servatives protested a Drag
Queen Story Hour at the
Astoria Library in 2019,
alleging the event was harm-
ful to children. Brandon was
appointed to the Warrenton
Community Library Board
by the City Commission in
2020.
“Not only is it grammat-
ically incorrect to refer to a
person as they, it is also sci-
entifically incorrect. I do
not believe that any person
with an important position
as is the case with a youth
coordinator for the library,
should be allowed to operate
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This method cuts down
on the cost of the project
because they don’t need to
remove the old material.
“Because of all the
money we’re going to be
able to save, we were able
to widen the scope of the
project,” McGrath said.
Martinez praised the col-
laboration with McGrath
and Gary Kobes, the airport
manager, on the project. He
said he was glad to be able
to accomplish more within
the budget.
Trails End Recovery,
of Warrenton, is a subcon-
tractor working to crush
the removed concrete and
store it for hauling back to
the site. Custom Excavat-
ing, another subcontractor,
is transporting the removed
concrete slabs and returning
the crushed concrete to the
side for filling and grading.
The Federal Aviation
Administration is fully
funding the $2 million proj-
ect, which started in May
and is expected to wrap up
by the fall.
Separately, the Port is
hoping to go forward with
the development of a new
Scoular fishmeal processing
plant at the Airport Indus-
trial Park in Warrenton.
Local seafood processors
would be able to take their
scraps to Scoular, where
they would be used for pet
food and aquaculture.
But before that can hap-
pen, Warrenton is requir-
ing the airport to fix a water
infiltration issue. During
heavy rains, wastewa-
ter from the airport would
overwhelm the city’s water
system. The Port hired Big
River Excavating, which is
replacing the old abandoned
wastewater lines, some of
which were wooden, with
a new pressurized sewer
system.
Most state restrictions tied to the coronavirus will soon end.
BEGINNING JULY 12, THE COUNTY’S
PUBLIC HEALTH DEPARTMENT WILL
OFFER VACCINATIONS AND TESTING
MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY
AT ITS OFFICE IN ASTORIA.
25 were hospitalized and nine
have died.
“It’s no secret that vaccine
demand has tapered in recent
weeks,” Patrick Allen, the
director of the heath author-
ity, said. “But we continue to
reach Oregonians every day
with a vaccine.”
Moving forward, Allen
said the responsibility for
managing the virus will shift
to counties.
“Going forward, it will be
up to county commission-
ers who act as local health
boards and local public health
officials to intervene to slow
the spread of COVID-19 in
their communities,” he said.
“They’ll be responsible for
conducting case investiga-
tions and contact tracing,
ongoing vaccination efforts at
the local level and implement-
ing other needed interven-
tions, such as social distancing
protections or any additional
mask requirements.”
Margo Lalich, Clat-
sop County’s interim pub-
lic health director, said the
vast majority of people test-
ing positive for the virus are
unvaccinated. She said many
of the cases are tied to house-
holds and workplaces.
“So the next step in our
targeted outreach is with
employers, meeting them
where they are, going to them,
making vaccines available at
a time and a place that’s con-
venient for them,” Lalich said
during a county Board of
Commissioners work session
on Wednesday.
The county’s vaccine task
force will wind down mass
vaccination events by July,
moving to targeted pop-up
clinics.
The last two mass vac-
cination events at the Clat-
sop County Fairgrounds and
old Seaside High School
are scheduled for Tuesday
and Thursday. Walk-ins are
welcome.
Beginning July 12, the
Pronouns: ‘I resign. You know why’
Continued from Page A1
Airport: Project expected
to wrap up by the fall
‘FRANKLy, I dON’T CARE WHAT A
PERSONS SEXuAL PROCLIVITIES
ARE, WHETHER THEy’RE GAy,
BI, OR WHATEVER. BuT I dON’T
LIKE BEING FORCEd TO REAd
SuCH PRONOuN dRIVEL. ANd I’M
SuRE THIS LIBERAL WOKENESS IS
MOST LIKELy PERMEATING OuR
LITTLE LIBRARy.’
Mary Ann Brandon | a former Warrenton Community
Library board member who recently resigned
according to a lie,” Bridgens
wrote in response to Bran-
don. “This kind of precedent
would surely be followed
with the drag queen story
hour, or even worse.
“Shouldn’t TRUTH be
the umbrella under which a
library — or any business —
operates? Especially when it
comes to indoctrinating chil-
dren! I surely hope our little
library does not fall victim to
perversion indoctrination.”
After learning about
the email exchange, City
Manager Linda Engbret-
son informed Bridgens
that all city boards would
be required to take anti-ha-
rassment and discrimination
training to better protect the
city and individuals against
liability.
“Regardless of employ-
ees’ politics or ideology, the
City of Warrenton is not in
the business of discrimina-
tion nor will it tolerate any
harassment or discrimina-
tion against our employees,”
Engbretson wrote. “The city
can be put at great liability
for any such actions.”
Later that day, Brid-
gens sent an email to Eng-
bretson and other city offi-
cials regarding the library
employee. She shared a link
to a Huffington Post arti-
cle about Queer Rock Camp
in 2015 that featured the
employee.
“Is this in the best interest
of our Warrenton children?”
she asked.
Brandon has resigned
from the library board.
She could not be reached
for comment, but told the
library board chairwoman
in her notice: ”I resign. You
know why. Sorry I wasted
your time ...”
In an email to The Asto-
rian, Bridgens said, “I
believe it’s appropriate for
city
employees/appoin-
tees to be reminded of the
importance of being respect-
ful to all other employees/
volunteers.
“An anti-harassment/dis-
crimination seminar would
be worthwhile,” she said.
“City
employees/appoin-
tees should also be mindful
of the importance and influ-
ence their role may have on
our Warrenton community.”
county’s
Public
Health
Department will offer vacci-
nations and testing Monday
through Thursday at its office
in Astoria.
Clatsop
Community
Action is hosting a pop-up
vaccination event at the Sea-
side Civic and Convention
Center on Wednesday and
will administer the Johnson
& Johnson vaccine. Con-
sejo Hispano and the Oregon
Health Authority will admin-
ister the Pfizer vaccine at the
Cannon Beach Chamber of
Commerce on the same day.
The Pfizer vaccine will also
be given to people between 12
to 17 years old and their fam-
ilies on July 6 at the old Sea-
side High School.
Employers interested in
hosting a clinic for employ-
ees are encouraged to contact
the county’s Public Health
Department.
Vaccines are still being
offered by local hospitals,
clinics and pharmacies.
Liberty Theatre: ‘There’s a sense
of refreshment and excitement’
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Crockett returns as the
permanent director at a time
when the Liberty is prepar-
ing to reopen to the public
and gearing up to launch the
second phase of a multimil-
lion dollar capital campaign.
The theater officially
reopens at a block party in
August. Performances will
happen outside, but the theater
itself will be open for tours
again. A multiday minifestival
featuring the Hermitage Piano
Trio and other classical per-
formances will follow.
“Then we’re off to the
races,” Crockett said.
Throughout the summer,
the Liberty will host various
summer school camps for the
Astoria School District, as
well as the touring Missoula
Children’s Theatre in July.
The coronavirus pan-
demic remains a challenge.
With Oregon’s slow and
shifting approach to reopen-
ing, booking shows has
proven difficult and expen-
sive for venues across the
state.
But
Crockett
and
Stellmon feel the Liberty
is emerging from the pan-
demic stronger.
As difficult and frighten-
ing as the pandemic was —
Crockett found herself at the
beginning of a major season,
canceling shows while all
staff were later furloughed
for a time — it provided
time to reconsider what the
organization was doing and
why, Crockett said. A pause.
Now, said Stellmon,
“I think there’s a sense of
refreshment and excitement
and ‘let’s get going.’”