»INSIDE
THURSDAY
JULY 1
2021
TIME TO
FIND NEW ART
THIS WEEKEND
PAGES 4-6
TALK
ASTORIA
MUSICIAN
LAUNCHES
PROJECT
PAGE 7
ENJOY
AN EASY
STIR FRY
AT HOME
ENT’S
LOCAL RESID URES
PODCAST FEAT
VERSATIONS
UNIQUE CON
PAGE 8
PAGE 10
BAY CASINO; Col-
SHOALWATER x 108
Front Cover- ;
756
249480-1; 07.01 x 1.5; XPos: 0 YPos: 0, Width:
or; 4
DailyAstorian.com // THURSDAY, JULY 1, 2021
149TH YEAR, NO. 1
$1.50
Lawmakers
approve
money for
local projects
By EMILY LINDBLOM
The Astorian
State lawmakers wrapped up the leg-
islative session in Salem over the week-
end, approving money for projects on
the North Coast that will help with water
upgrades, library renovation, disaster pre-
paredness and more.
Astoria will receive infrastructure
grants from federal pandemic relief
money to make several water improve-
ments. The city will get $4.8 million for
the wastewater treatment plant head-
works, $2.9 million for Pipeline Road
water line resilience and $2.7 million
for the 16th Street distribution water line
replacement.
Astoria will receive $420,000 from
another pot of federal virus relief money
for the Astoria Library renovation.
City Manager Brett Estes said the proj-
ects will improve the city’s aging infra-
structure and make it more resilient. He
said getting the money will help save res-
idents and businesses from rate increases
for sewer and water.
“These funds coming from the state
are going to allow us to move forward on
these projects without having to go and
look at securing other funds that would
need to be paid back by our water and
sewer customers,” he said.
See Projects, Page A6
Column
reopens from
restrictions
Visitors can climb
the spiral staircase
By ETHAN MYERS
The Astorian
Visitors can once again climb the nar-
row, 164-step spiral staircase to see the
views atop the Astoria Column .
The Column closed during the
coronavirus pandemic due to the
diffi culty of regulating social distanc-
ing and sanitizing surfaces inside the
monument .
The Friends of the Astoria Column, a
nonprofi t that oversees the park on Cox-
comb Hill for the city, worked closely
with the Clatsop County Public Health
Department to determine when it was
safe to fully open, according to Willis Van
Dusen, a former Astoria mayor and trea-
surer for the Friends group.
The Column reopened on Saturday.
“We were excessively careful,” Van
Dusen said. “It just made sense ( to open
up ).”
Fred Pynes, the park host, said they
were ready to reopen for some time and
spent much of the closure cleaning the
stairs and railings inside the Column in
anticipation for the return of visitors.
“People can regulate themselves and
wear a mask if they’d like,” he said.
Photos by Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
County commissioners have limited the Planning Commission and advisory committees.
Tension emerges over
county land use planning
Commissioners
assert greater control
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
C
latsop County c ommissioners
have taken steps over the past
several months to tighten the
reins over the P lanning C ommission
and advisory committees, creating
tension over the direction of land use
planning.
In April, commissioners unan-
imously agreed to pause commu-
nity involvement in the comprehen-
sive plan update. The update for the
document, which sets planning poli-
cies that guide land use, recreation,
transportation, natural resources and
housing, started in June 2019 with a
countywide advisory committee and
six citizen advisory committees rep-
resenting land use planning areas .
When commissioners issued the
pause , eight of 18 goals were covered.
Commissioners said they wanted to
simplify and expedite the process.
Concerns were also raised about some
of the policy ideas coming out of the
committee meetings.
During a P lanning C ommission
meeting in April, Robert Stricklin, a
planning commissioner, was critical
of the county commission. He said the
P lanning C ommission, which makes
recommendations to c ommission-
ers and some land use decisions, had
become irrelevant since the county
began hiring consultants to do more
of the work . Following the meeting,
county C ommissioner John Toyooka
said the mission of the P lanning C om-
mission needed to be restated, saying
there had been a “drift.”
During work sessions in June, the
county presented a draft of revised
bylaws for the P lanning C ommission
and commissioners supported a new
plan for proceeding with the compre-
hensive plan update.
See Land use, Page A6
See Column, Page A6
Fund helps cancer patients with costs
Arm-in-Arm Fund
was founded by
the Armingtons
By EMILY LINDBLOM
The Astorian
Columbia Memorial Hospital
Mary Armington and her son, Bill, at the grand opening of the Columbia Memorial
Hospital-Oregon Health & Science University Knight Cancer Collaborative.
For patients and their fami-
lies dealing with cancer, every-
day costs not covered by insurance
like utility bills, day care and trans-
portation can add up to become
unmanageable.
That’s why Mary Arming-
ton and her son, Bill Armington,
decided to establish the Arm-in-
Arm Fund through the Columbia
Memorial Hospital- Oregon Health
ARM-IN-ARM FUND
For more information about
the Arm-in-Arm Fund, visit
cmh-foundation.org/giving-
priorities/arm-in-arm-fund
& Science University Knight Can-
cer Collaborative.
Bill Armington, a radiologist,
said his mother had been con-
cerned about cancer patients who
might face fi nancial roadblocks
that kept them from receiving the
care they need.
“So the Arm-in-Arm Fund was
started to help meet those needs
and make cancer care available to
people who might not be able to
receive it,” he said.
Though the Armingtons started
the fund and are the largest con-
tributors , they want to get the word
out and encourage people to donate
so there will be enough going into
the future.
Mark Kujala, the director of
the Columbia Memorial Hos-
pital Foundation, said the fund
See Fund, Page A6