»INSIDE
WEEKEND EDITION // SATURDAY, JULY 24, 2021
149TH YEAR, NO. 11
Seaside
focuses on
homeless
solutions
$1.50
Record heat
scorched trees
Forums end with a plea for help
Heat wave struck when trees were
putting out a lot of new growth
By R.J. MARX
The Astorian
SEASIDE — Using city-owned lots
or buildings for shelters and overnight
parking. A resource center . Showers and
port-a-potties. A warming center and
improved access to mental health and
drug treatment services.
These options were among the pro-
posed solutions at Seaside’s fi fth forum
on homelessness held on Wednesday at
City Hall.
“You lose your self-esteem when
you are homeless,” Michaela, who
chose to only use her fi rst name, told the
audience.
Michaela, 55, said she was four days
away from being homeless and living in
Mill Ponds, a natural history park where
some homeless people have chosen to
stay.
“These people have been out there so
long, they get so down,” she said. “You
can’t get off the streets when you’re there
at ground zero with nothing. You’re so
broken. You’re sleeping on the sidewalk.
And it’s hard, and it’s cold.
“You wake up in the morning and
you’ve got to go to the toilet. Where do
you go? The bushes. There’s nowhere to
go. It’s gross. Nobody wants to live like
that. None of these people want to be like
that.”
See Homeless, Page A6
State helps
with job
searches
Extended federal benefi ts
to end in September
By PETER WONG
Oregon Capital Bureau
Weeks before the end of federal
unemployment benefi t programs , Ore-
gon Employment Department offi cials
have shifted their eff orts toward helping
recipients get jobs — and not necessar-
ily the jobs they had prior to the eco-
nomic downturn from the coronavirus
pandemic .
“We want to make sure that people
looking for work get the services they
need, so they can be back at work before
those important safety-net programs
end,” David Gerstenfeld, the depart-
ment’s acting director, said .
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Astorian
ulia Wentzel has fi elded numer-
ous calls about damage to fruit
— on trees, on bushes, on vines,
but especially on apple trees.
People call thinking there’s
some sort of pathogen at work.
When the fruit is examined more
closely, though, all the damage is at
the top.
“Basically: apples getting a sun-
burn,” said Wentzel, the master gar-
dener and small farms coordinator at
the Oregon State University Exten-
sion Service for Clatsop County.
The historic heat wave that struck
the Pacifi c Northwest at the end of
June only touched the North Coast
for several days, but certain eff ects
have lingered or only become more
apparent in the p ast few weeks.
In some cases, the full extent of
the damage to trees and some plants
won’t be known for months or even
until next year. What is clear is that
the heat wave created more dry mate-
rials to add to already worryingly dry
conditions.
“We’re defi nitely at an elevated
(fi re) risk,” said Ty Williams, the
district operations coordinator for
J
The dry spring
paired with the sudden
heat wave damaged
trees around
Clatsop County.
Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
the Oregon Department of Forestry’s
Astoria District.
The heat wave followed on the
heels of a record-dry spring, the time
when the real damage was done,
said Dan Goody, the Astoria D istrict
forester .
As temperatures briefl y inched
over 100 degrees in Astoria, the heat
hit trees that had already limped
through multiple seasons of drought
conditions and a region that is more
than a month ahead of schedule in
terms of how dry it is in the woods.
Along the coast-facing portions
of the c ounty, hillsides of spruce,
hemlock and other ever green coni-
fers look strangely autumnal now,
the trees’ needles scorched brown
and red.
“In June we were in late August
conditions,” Goody said. “Then you
couple that with a historic heat wave
and that fried the young growth, par-
ticularly on the coastal strip.”
It was in this area that the worst
heat wave-related browning seems
to have happened. Places like Jewell
regularly see 90-degree days during
the summer, but vegetation on the
coastal strip rarely endures such
intense temperatures.
Unfortunate time
The heat wave also hit at an unfor-
tunate time, when trees were putting
out a lot of new growth.
See Scorched, Page A6
See Jobs, Page A6
Oregon Liquor Control Commission to change name
Move refl ects scope of
regulation over cannabis
By JAELEN OGADHOH
Oregon Capital Bureau
Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press
The state will change the name of the Oregon
Liquor Control Commission to add cannabis.
The Oregon Liquor Control Commission
will offi cially change its name to the Oregon
Liquor & Cannabis Commission in August
to refl ect its new regulatory responsibilities
while retaining its previous acronym.
House Bill 3000 directs the commission
to work in tandem with the state Depart-
ment of Agriculture and other state and local
agencies to further regulate illegal cannabis
growth and add restrictions on the sale of
cannabis extractions such as THC.
This includes preventing the sale of THC
products to children, such as the unregulated
psychoactive Delta-8 THC, which can be
sold to minors in convenience stores.
“Delta-9 THC is the intoxicating THC
‘WHAT’S GOING ON IN SOUTHERN OREGON
WITH THE CARTEL TAKEOVER OF CANNABIS
GROWING THROUGH THE GUISE OF HEMP
AND OUR ROLE IN BEING ABLE TO ENFORCE
THAT IS ALL INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT.’
Steve Marks | executive director of the commission
that’s found in marijuana, which our agency
regulates,” said a commission spokesperson,
adding that Delta-8 THC is among the other
chemical conversions of hemp plants .
“What this bill does, and what our rules
address, are getting those products out of the
general market and getting them to a place
where they can be sold within the regulated
market, because of the fact that Delta-8 THC
is an intoxicant,” the spokesperson added.
On Monday, the commission approved
temporary rules allowing it to test hemp
fi elds across Oregon for illegal grows.
The temporary rules establish limits upon
the legal level of THC allowed in hemp
See OLCC, Page A6