149TH YEAR, NO. 3
DailyAstorian.com // TUESDAY, JULY 6, 2021
Wyden
convenes
panel
on crisis
response
$1.50
A NORTH
COAST
FOURTH
Fireworks light up the
sky above Astoria on
the Fourth of July.
Photos by
Hailey Hoff man/
The Astorian
Federal money could
help hire clinicians
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
Federal money may help Clatsop
County expand mobile crisis response .
Clatsop Behavioral Healthcare, the
county’s mental health provider, has a
mobile crisis team available to help law
enforcement handle crisis calls, but inad-
equate funding and staffi ng has kept it
from being a more eff ective resource for
police.
The county plans to invest some of the
$7.8 million it is projected to receive in
American Rescue Plan Act money to hire
more clinicians.
Help may also become available
through legislation led by U.S. Sen. Ron
Wyden . The Oregon Democrat has pushed
to enhance federal funding so states can
expand on ideas like CAHOOTS, a crisis
intervention program of the White Bird
Clinic in Eugene.
“Under this approach, when there’s
a 911 call dealing with someone experi-
encing a mental health crisis, CAHOOTS
sends trained health professionals as
fi rst responders instead of just police,”
See Wyden, Page A6
Locals and tourists celebrated a spirited Fourth of July with
community events, parades and fi reworks throughout the day Sunday.
Families
struggle to
get travel
refunds
Student trips delayed
by the pandemic
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Astorian
Vicky Rutherford had always been
told that if her son had a chance to go
on the annual eighth grade history trip to
Washington, D.C., they should jump at
the opportunity.
So when her son was in seventh grade
at Astoria Middle School in 2019 and it
was time to sign up for the June 2020 trip,
she didn’t hesitate. She also signed up to
join him as a chaperone.
But then 2020 arrived and, with it, the
coronavirus pandemic. The trip, coor-
dinated by Educational Travel Services
Inc., based in Milwaukie, was suddenly
in limbo, postponed until August 2020
and then to later in 2021.
See Refunds, Page A6
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Warrenton High School cheerleaders wave in the parade. • A person in a blow-up dinosaur costume
walks down Main Avenue in Warrenton. • A miniature horse decked out in red, white and blue navigates the parade route. • A vintage
truck rolls through the end of the parade. See more photos at DailyAstorian.com
Ocean Park poet refl ects on colorful past
Puzauskas has
published two books
By PATRICK WEBB
Chinook Observer
CEAN PARK, Wash. — He
lives in s outhwest Washington
state. It is clear his heart is in Lithua-
nia. But Andrew Puzauskas is content.
The artist and poet became a
Buddhist at 19 and the Zen con-
cepts of mindfulness and balance
permeate his adult life.
He has just published a second
book of poetry. He hopes “Poetic
O
Patrick Webb/Chinook Observer
In publishing poetry, Andrew Puzauskas celebrates a lifelong passion for
sharing ideas with the written word.
States of Mind” will give readers
“a warm afterglow.” It follows last
year’s self-published “Journeys
Backwards into Inner Space.”
Identity infi ltrates many verses
of the new book, subtitled “Chang-
ing As We Go.” “Exactly who I
am is a decision I have postponed
making,” one poem declares.
Puzauskas was born in 1942.
His earliest memories are of fl ee-
ing his native Lithuania, seeking
refuge in defeated Germany. The
Baltic nation, which dates to 1253,
was occupied by the Germans
during World War I, then by the
expanding Soviet Union, then by
the Nazis. As World War II ended,
Soviet tanks rumbled back.
See Poet, Page A6