WEEKEND EDITION // SATuRdAY, AuguST 7, 2021
149TH YEAR, NO. 17
$1.50
County
records
11th virus
death
Virus case counts
spike across state
By GRIFFIN REILLY
The Astorian
Clatsop County has recorded an 11th
death from the coronavirus as virus cases
spike across Oregon.
A 69-year-old man died on July 27 at
Holyoke Medical Center in Holyoke, Mas-
sachusetts, after initially testing positive for
the virus on July 9, according to the Oregon
Health Authority. No other information was
provided.
The health authority reported 26 new
virus cases in the county on Friday and 31
new cases on Thursday. Four new cases
were reported on Wednesday.
Since the pandemic began, the county
recorded 1,294 virus cases as of early Friday.
The county Public Health Department
said there are a handful of local outbreaks,
but, as of early Friday, did not provide any
details, such as how many virus cases are
tied to each outbreak and whether they
are linked to workplaces, events or social
gatherings.
The county has also not detailed
whether any particular factors have influ-
enced the sudden rise of local virus cases
over the past several weeks. Statewide,
See Virus death, Page A6
Park district
wants fresh look
at Broadway Field
Title IX settlement
provides new wrinkle
By R.J. MARX
The Astorian
SEASIDE — The city owns the land.
The school district uses the fields. The
Sunset Empire Park and Recreation Dis-
trict maintains them.
The park district’s board believes it is
time to take a look at expenses and fore-
casts for Broadway Field and whether a
new deal should replace an intergovern-
mental agreement from 2012.
Photos by Hailey Hoffman/The Astorian
Harm reduction coordinator Jenna King organizes boxes of supplies for the needle exchange near Safeway in Astoria.
Needle exchange helps
create a ‘stigma-free zone’
County outreach to
manage addiction
By ERICK BENGEL
The Astorian
J
ust before 2:30 p.m. on a recent
Thursday, a white cargo van rolled
onto 32nd Street behind Safeway,
stopping near the Astoria Riverwalk.
Out climbed two Clatsop County
workers: Jenna King, the Public
Health Department’s harm reduction
coordinator, and Nadine Campbell,
a nurse with the department. They
opened the rear doors, set up a folding
table and a sign that read, at the top,
“Harm Reduction” and, at the bottom,
“Syringe Service Program.”
Soon a small woman approached
the table and, with Campbell’s assis-
tance, filled out a questionnaire. The
visitor turned in some used syringes
and left with fresh ones, along with
Used needles are disposed of in a
sharps container.
supplies for filtering drugs and using
them safely.
That day, the needle exchange set a
record for the most syringes the county
has collected in a single day: 27,980
across exchange sites in Astoria, out-
See Broadway Field, Page A6
A Coronavirus Snapshot
TOTAL CASES IN JULY: 115
NUMBER OF CASES
Clatsop County recorded a surge of COVID-19 cases in July as government restrictions
to contain the virus ended and the delta variant spread across Oregon.
Source: Oregon Health Authority
JULY 2021
side the Premarq Center in Warrenton
and near Providence Seaside Hospi-
tal. The number given out was slightly
less.
Launched in fall 2017 with the
unanimous blessing of the county
Board of Commissioners, the needle
exchange aims to minimize the risks,
particularly the spreading of disease,
associated with illegal drug use.
Needle exchange programs, which
arose in communities nationwide a
few decades ago in response to drug
addiction and disease transmission,
acknowledge an uncomfortable real-
ity — this behavior is going to happen
— and endorse the view that society
should help curtail the related dangers.
Parallels are often drawn to the prac-
tice of passing out condoms in high
schools, rather than relying on absti-
nence-only sex education, to avert
sexually transmitted diseases and teen
pregnancies.
See Needle exchange, Page A6