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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (July 27, 2021)
A2 THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JULY 27, 2021 IN BRIEF Lil’ Sprouts Academy staff er tests positive for virus A staff er at Lil’ Sprouts Academy, Astoria’s child care program, has tested positive for the coronavirus. City Manager Brett Estes said the city is working with the Clatsop County Public Health Department to ensure all appropriate protocols are being taken. “Nothing more is known at this point in time,” Estes said. City Councilor Brownson to hold meet-and-greet event Astoria City Councilor Tom Brownson is holding a “Meet Your Councilor, Ward 2” event at 9 a.m. Saturday at Peter Pan Market, 712 Niagara Ave. City Councilor Herman to host meeting Astoria City Councilor Joan Herman will host her fi rst in-person “Meet the Councilor” event in more than a year. The event will be held from 4 to 5 p.m. on Aug. 4 in the Flag Room at the Astoria Library. The event is a chance for Herman to hear from residents about their concerns. Herman can also be reached at jherman@astoria. or.us or by voicemail at 503-298-2408. — The Astorian FLIPPING OUT Luke Whittaker/Chinook Observer Ty Sarkkinen, 16, of Battle Ground, did a backfl ip as fi reworks exploded behind him on the Fourth of July in Long Beach. Washington state urges masks indoors Washington state’s top epidemiologist is recom- mending that everyone wear a mask or face covering in crowded indoor places because of the rise of the COVID- 19 Delta variant — even if they have been vaccinated. Dr. Scott Lindquist said Friday the state is seeing a “fi fth wave” of the coronavirus that is sending more peo- ple to the hospital. “The majority of these hospitalizations can be pre- vented by people getting vaccinated,” Linquist said. The Department of Health and Gov. Jay Inslee aren’t formally reinstating mask mandates or other measures yet, Lindquist said. Warming rivers in the West killing fi sh SAN FRANCISCO — Baby salmon are dying by the thousands in one California river, and an entire run of endangered salmon could be wiped out in another. Fishermen who make their living off adult salmon, once they enter the Pacifi c Ocean, are sounding the alarm as blistering heat waves and extended drought in the West raise water temperatures and imperil fi sh from Idaho to California. Hundreds of thousands of young salmon are dying in Northern California’s Klamath River as low water lev- els brought about by drought allow a parasite to thrive, devastating a Native American tribe whose diet and tra- ditions are tied to the fi sh. And wildlife offi cials said the Sacramento River is facing a “near-complete loss” of young Chinook salmon due to abnormally warm water. A crash in one year’s class of young salmon can have lasting eff ects on the total population and shorten or stop the fi shing season, a growing concern as climate change continues to make the West hotter and drier. That could be devastating to the commercial salmon fi shing indus- try, which in California alone is worth $1.4 billion. The plummeting catch already has led to skyrocket- ing retail prices for salmon, hurting customers who say they can no longer aff ord the $35 per pound of fi sh, said Mike Hudson, who has spent the last 25 years catching and selling salmon at farmers markets in Berkeley. Hudson said he has considered retiring and selling his 40-foot boat because “it’s going to get worse from here.” — Associated Press DEATHS In Brief: July 27, 2021 Deaths July 24, 2021 DUMOND, Nancy Lynn, 67, of Seaside, died in Seaside. Ocean View Funeral & Cremation Ser- vice of Astoria is in charge of the arrangements. July 21, 2021 CROTHERS, Cynthia B., 68, of Astoria, died in Portland. Caldwell’s Luce-Layton Mortuary of Astoria is in charge of the arrangements. ON THE RECORD Theft • Jacob Terrill, 34, of On Record • Ciara the Roundtree, 20, Gearhart, was arrested of Seaside, was arrested Sunday afternoon at Walmart in Warrenton for theft in the second degree. Saturday afternoon at Fred Meyer in Warren- ton for theft in the second degree. PUBLIC MEETINGS TUESDAY Astoria Planning Commission, 5:30 p.m., City Hall, 1095 Duane St. Seaside Airport Advisory Committee, 6 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broadway. Warrenton City Commission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 225 S. Main Ave. WEDNESDAY Astoria Parks Board, 6:45 a.m., City Hall, 1095 Duane St. Clatsop County Board of Commissioners, 6 p.m., (elec- tronic meeting). PUBLIC MEETINGS Established July 1, 1873 (USPS 035-000) Published Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday by EO Media Group, 949 Exchange St., PO Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103 Telephone 503-325-3211, 800-781-3211 or Fax 503-325-6573. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Astorian, PO Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103-0210 DailyAstorian.com Circulation phone number: 800-781-3214 Periodicals postage paid at Astoria, OR ADVERTISING OWNERSHIP All advertising copy and illustrations prepared by The Astorian become the property of The Astorian and may not be reproduced for any use without explicit prior approval. COPYRIGHT © Entire contents © Copyright, 2021 by The Astorian. MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MEMBER CERTIFIED AUDIT OF CIRCULATIONS, INC. Printed on recycled paper Planned proposal to lay cables under Columbia River met with skepticism By PETER FAIRLEY InvestigateWest Can slicing a 100-mile trench into the bed of the Columbia River be good for the environment? The answer is a big “yes,” says a team of energy developers that pro- poses submerging power cables in the riverbed. The developers say the cables could deliver clean energy that will be crucial for getting the most densely developed areas of Cascadia off fossil fuels. A proposal by energy developer Sun2o Partners and transmission developer Pow- erBridge would insert the cables into the Columbia at The Dalles in Oregon. This electrical on-ramp is near the wind farms and solar farms installed along the Columbia Gorge in E astern Oregon and Washington state. The cables also would intersect the monster trans- mission lines at the Bonne- ville Power Administration’s Big Eddy substation, draw- ing cheaper solar power from the Southwest, steadier wind ‘WHETHER IT’S RENEWABLE ENERGY OR FOSSIL ENERGY, WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND HOW A PROJECT IS GOING TO IMPACT PEOPLE THAT RELY ON THE COLUMBIA FOR SALMON AND FOR CLEAN WATER.’ Lauren Goldberg | legal and program director for Columbia Riverkeeper power from Montana and Wyoming and reliable backup power from British Colum- bia’s supersized hydropower reservoirs. But even climate-con- scious developers can’t make plans involving a natural resource like the Columbia River without causing uneas- iness among those concerned with ecosystems and commu- nities. Along the Columbia, those aff ected would include tribal nations and unique cul- tural interests. Sun2o and PowerBridge propose to bring their cables ashore in Portland, helping to electrify industries, buildings New reporter a familiar face “I wanted to study it in a serious and systematic way,” Bengel said. Journalism fi rst came on By ETHAN MYERS Bengel’s radar at Portland The Astorian State, where he was a news writer , the arts and culture A familiar face is back editor and eventually the with The Astorian. editor-in-chief at the uni- Erick Bengel, who versity’s student newspaper, worked as a reporter and The Vanguard. the Coast Weekend editor Bengel fi rst joined for the paper from 2015 to The Astorian through the 2019, will cover criminal Snowden internship pro- justice, social ser- gram in 2011, where vices and county he fi rst saw the ser- government this vice that local jour- time around. nalism fi lls. “I’ve always “We give peo- envied the person ple the information who occupied this they need to nav- beat,” he said. “It igate their day-to- Erick always seemed like day lives and com- Bengel an essential chal- munities,” he said. lenge … I like that “It has an immedi- it is a serious beat and has acy that oftentimes large- very sharp edges to it.” scale reporting fails to cap- Bengel fi lled in for ture because you are reading reporters over the years and about your neighbors, you dabbled in the beat during are reading about locations his two years at the Cannon you know well — an imme- Beach Gazette. diacy and an intimacy. Inso- “But this is the fi rst time far as you think anything I’ve been able to own it,” he local is important — local said. elections, local services — When Bengel left The local journalism is incredi- Astorian in 2019, he moved bly important.” to New York to get a mas- As for Bengel’s long- ter’s degree in journalism at term goals, he hopes to keep Columbia University. broadening his horizons With a bachelor’s degree within journalism. from Portland State Univer- “At this point, I am try- sity in philosophy and polit- ing to get good at diff erent ical science, he had never modes and forms of jour- formally studied journalism nalism and that is what outside of a few high school excited me about this beat,” classes. he said. Bengel rejoins The Astorian Subscription rates Eff ective January 12, 2021 MAIL EZpay (per month) ...............................................................................................................$10.75 13 weeks in advance ...........................................................................................................$37.00 26 weeks in advance ...........................................................................................................$71.00 52 weeks in advance ........................................................................................................ $135.00 DIGITAL EZpay (per month) .................................................................................................................$8.25 WANTED Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber Northwest Hardwoods • Longview, WA Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500 and vehicles while reducing the use of coal- and gas-fi red power plants. Hence the proj- ect’s name: Cascade Renew- able Transmission. “The only places you can site solar and wind at scale are, for the most part, east of the Cascades. But the demand, the need for the electricity, is in Portland and Seattle, on the west side,” said Corey Kuper- smith, the New York–based renewable energy developer who cofounded Sun2o and dreamed up the cable scheme. And power lines that link east and west are fi lling up fast, he said . Anticipating environmen- tal concerns, the developers assert they will do little harm to the Columbia, employ- ing high-pressure pumps that make underwater cable instal- lation quick and not so dirty. Water jets would shoot down from a hydroplow towed along the riverbed, stirring open an 18-inch-wide trench in the sediment. Environmental impacts, they argue, would likely be short term and outweighed by environmental gains: reduc- tions in pollution from natural gas, petroleum fuels and coal. That includes emissions of carbon dioxide and methane, two greenhouse gases that are supercharging Cascadia’s wildfi res and heat waves and disrupting even the Colum- bia’s temperature and timing. One more industrial enterprise To Elaine Harvey, how- ever, the Cascade Renewable Transmission pitch sounds like one more industrial enter- prise in a stream of projects that have harmed her people. See Cables, Page A3 Coast Weekend welcomes new editor Davidson brings experience in multimedia Iowa Public Radio. She has had reporting and anchor roles at television sta- tions in Michigan, South Car- olina, Iowa, Minnesota and By GRIFFIN REILLY Louisiana. The Astorian While often diffi cult, Davidson said her time in Though Nikki Davidson’s broadcast journalism exposed career in journalism has taken her to the value of visual her all over the coun- media in storytelling, try, her landing in something she hopes Astoria will be her to incorporate into fi rst taste of Oregon. her work with Coast Weekend . Davidson is tak- “We can do mul- ing over as the new timedia, maybe some editor of Coast Week- videos — just to end, a weekly arts Nikki really showcase the and entertainment Davidson area and the people in publication featured a way that print alone in The Astorian and can’t do,” she said. “I think Chinook Observer. She hopes telling the sto- it can really complement the ries of a region with such work that we’re doing here.” In an area as beautiful as rich history will help her get familiar with the area, as well the North Coast, she said , as let her explore one of her creating that type of content shouldn’t be a problem. biggest interests. “It seems like a really awe- “I’m very interested in his- tory,” she said. “I really want some place to be, ” she said. Davidson said oversee- to delve into the quirky his- tory stories that people don’t ing Coast Weekend is some- hear about as often — the what of a perfect situation ones that seem like they’re for her, since it allows her to stick beside her husband in lost in time.” Davidson started her time the U.S. Coast Guard while in journalism at the Univer- indulging her passions for sity of Northern Iowa, where storytelling and journalism. Her husband, Patrick, is she was editor of the school’s paper. At the same time, she stationed at Cape Disappoint- juggled working for a local ment in Washington state. public access station and as Previously, the couple lived an associate producer for in Louisiana. “You don’t always nec- essarily get to choose where OREGON CAPITAL you end up in journalism,” Davidson said. “Getting the ability to do what has been Get the inside my passion in life in the place scoop on state that we are is really what government and politics! attracted me to this.” INSIDER
