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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 21, 2021)
A2 THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, AUGUST 21, 2021 IN BRIEF Astoria public works employee tests positive for coronavirus An Astoria public works employee has tested positive for the coronavirus, city offi cials reported Friday. The city is working with the Clatsop County Public Health Department to notify other people who have had close contact with the employee. City Manager Brett Estes announced Tuesday that a staff er in the Astoria Police Department had tested pos- itive. Estes declined to off er more information about either case. The two cases have not impacted any city operations, Estes said. Lil’ Sprouts Academy, the city-run day care, is closed until September after an employee tested positive for the virus. Youth programs close after park district staff er tests positive for virus SEASIDE — Youth programs were closed Friday at the Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District after a staff er tested positive for the coronavirus. The staff er has been off work since Monday, had min- imal contact with others and will quarantine at home. The youth programs facility was being cleaned on Friday. The park district has been working with the Clatsop County Public Health Department and is taking precau- tions beyond those recommended to ensure the safety of staff and patrons. Police investigate reported sexual assault in Seaside SEASIDE — Police are investigating a sexual assault that was reported between midnight and 1 a.m. on Aug. 13. The incident occurred near the Seaside Civic and Convention Center in a First Avenue parking lot. To report information, call 503-738-6311. State closes Youngs River to Chinook salmon retention fi shing With poor projected returns of Chinook salmon to Youngs Bay, state fi shery managers will close Youngs River and its tributaries to retention fi shing for Chinook. Youngs River is a tributary of the Columbia River and the closure will help maximize returns of Chinook destined for the basin’s hatcheries, according to fi sh biologists. The closure took eff ect Monday. — The Astorian DEATHS Aug. 18, 2021 In HARRIMAN, Brief Daniel Brian, 67, of Astoria, died in Astoria. Caldwell’s Deaths Luce-Layton Mortuary of Astoria is in charge of the arrangements. Feb. 19, 2021 EVALT, Paul H., 64, of Astoria and Coos Bay, died in Coos Bay. Nel- son’s Bay Area Mortuary in Coos Bay was in charge of the arrangements. ON THE RECORD Assault was arrested Monday On the • Aaron Joseph Record Siger- evening on U.S. Highway son, 35, of Astoria, was indicted June 17 for assault in the second degree, two counts of fail- ing to perform the duties of a driver to injured per- sons, unauthorized use of a vehicle, reckless driv- ing and recklessly endan- gering another person. Aggravated harassment • Celeste Ellaine Kris- tine Karge, 24, of Sea- side, was indicted Tues- day for aggravated harassment, attempted aggravated harassment, criminal mischief in the third degree and crimi- nal trespass in the second degree. Harassment • Jonathon Tyler Owen, 26, of Seaside, 26 for harassment and interfering with police. Attempting to elude • Chad Lee Mason, 49, of Astoria, was arrested early Monday at U.S. Highway 101 and Pacifi c Way in Gearhart for attempting to elude law enforcement in a vehicle and resisting arrest. DUII • Jennifer Kay Van- gundy, 38, of Astoria, was arrested late Thurs- day afternoon on Lief Erikson Drive in Asto- ria for driving under the infl uence of intoxicants. • David R. Adams, 51, of Newberg, was arrested Monday afternoon at the Shilo Inn in Warrenton for DUII. BREAKING GROUND Mandate: ‘COVID-19 poses a risk to our kids’ Continued from Page A1 The Oregon Health Authority recorded 35 new virus cases in Clat- sop County on Friday and 26 new cases on Thurs- day. Since the pandemic began, the county recorded 1,664 virus cases as of early Friday. The county on Friday reported a 12th death from the virus. The county said a 52-year-old man died Thurs- day at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in Portland. No other information was immediately available. Masks required Brown had already announced she will require mask-wearing in school buildings in the coming school year. The governor directed school districts to off er in-person education. “Our kids need to be in the classroom full time, fi ve days a week,” Brown said at a news conference on Thurs- day. “We need to do every- thing we can to make that happen.” Masks and vaccinations are critical tools in creat- ing safe environments and ensuring minimal disrup- tion to school operations, the governor said. With chil- dren under 12 still ineligible to receive a vaccine, Brown said it is up to the adults around them to provide that additional protection by get- ting vaccinated. “COVID-19 poses a risk to our kids,” Brown said, “but kids need to be pro- TUESDAY Arts Council of Clatsop County, 11 a.m., 800 Exchange St., Suite 430, Astoria. Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District, 5:15 p.m., Bob Chisholm Community Center, 1225 Avenue A, Seaside. Astoria Planning Commission, 5:30 p.m., City Hall, 1095 Duane St. Cannon Beach Planning Commission, 6 p.m., (electronic meeting). Warrenton City Commission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 225 S. Main Ave. 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 ‘I HAVE A BUNCH OF 12 (YEAR OLD) AND UNDER KIDS SHOWING UP TO SCHOOL THIS FALL UNVACCINATED.’ Craig Hoppes | superintendent of the Astoria School District tected and they need to be in school.” Washington state imposed a similar mandate earlier this week, with vaccination required for all school and child care workers. Portland Public Schools has required staff to be vaccinated when in-person instruction starts in September. Colt Gill, the direc- tor of the Oregon Depart- ment of Education, said the state would not withhold state funds from schools that push back against the vac- cine mandate. The goal is to be able to off er in-person instruction, he said. The Oregon Health Authority could levy civil penalties against school districts or employers who refuse to follow the mandate. School districts on the North Coast had encouraged employees to get vaccinated, but did not keep records of how many people ultimately followed through . Craig Hoppes, the super- intendent of the Astoria School District, said he isn’t sure how staff will respond . “I guess it matters which teachers and staff you talk to,” he told The Astorian. “There are some who are very pro-vaccination and some that are not.” fair, but has not determined a specifi c number or particular fair event or events because of the many overlapping events, workplaces and households that many of the individuals had contact with before and after the event,” Tom Bennett, a county spokesman, said in an email. According to Morrell Gas- ser, the United Way board had diverse opinions about how to proceed. One concern was that even though United Way would require all festi- val attendees to wear masks , the organization had limited options to enforce the rule as there is no state or local mandate to mask at outdoor events. “Who is to say an aff ected person doesn’t abide by our request to wear masks, and our requests to socially dis- tance? All it would take is one person,” Nye said. “If one person gets sick, if one person dies, that would be on us.” Ultimately, the board put the decision to a vote Wednes- day night. T he majority voted to cancel. “It was heart-wrenching. I’m going to try not to cry when I say this, but we know that our nonprofi ts are in need of support,” Morrell Gasser said. “We know that our com- munity is need of support.” In the past, United Way has relied on it s most popu- lar fundraiser, Iron Chef Goes Coastal, to raise money for more than a dozen local non- profi ts. According to Morrell Gasser, the 2019 event raised $100,000 for nonprofi ts. T he DINE UNITED campaign they created last fall during the pandemic took in minimal funds. The potential of losing money during a diffi cult fund- raising year has prompted organizers to ask sponsors and ticket-holders to consider 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 Astoria and other school districts are waiting until an offi cial rule comes down from the Oregon Health Authority. In the past, lead- ership for Astoria’s teachers union had spoken in favor of vaccination against the virus for those who were able to get a vaccine . For Hoppes, there’s a bot- tom line. “I have a bunch of 12 (year old) and under kids showing up to school this fall unvaccinated,” he said. “Anything I can do to pro- vide another layer of help and safety and support to them, I’m going to do. Whether that’s masking or other things.” ‘Pretty dire’ The night before Brown’s announcement, the Knappa School District’s Board had voted to send a letter to the governor’s offi ce and state education and health agen- cies requesting local con- trol over decisions about safety protocols tied to the pandemic. Board member Will Isom had proposed sending the letter. “I think local control over the type of situation we’re in is really important,” he said at the Wednesday night meeting. The school district is not looking to circumvent rules, Isom clarifi ed, nor is it tak- ing an anti-mask stance. Things are “pretty dire” locally, which makes local control even more important when it comes to decisions that aff ect small communi- ties like Knappa, he said. “Just because things are going a certain way in Mult- nomah County or Marion County or Lane County, doesn’t mean it works for the Knappa School Dis- trict,” Isom said. The letter referenced an outbreak of the virus among seafood processing workers in Warrenton that impacted school operations in Knappa. “To our knowledge, no workers at the plant live in the Knappa area and there was no direct risk of infec- tion in our community due to the outbreak,” the let- ter states, “yet the require- ments at that point in time caused us to close school nonetheless.” The school district had several virus cases last school year. But, the let- ter states, “We were able to conduct school safely all year without any examples of COVID spread within our schools.” Case counts, classroom sizes and resources vary from community to com- munity, the letter contin- ues, “and decisions about safety can best be made by those who know all of these conditions best — the local district.” Shipwrecked: ‘Our nonprofi ts are in need of support’ Continued from Page A1 PUBLIC MEETINGS Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian Dozens of people attended the groundbreaking for the Astoria Nordic Heritage Park on Thursday afternoon. Construction is expected to start in early September. A dedication is planned for June before the opening of the Astoria Scandinavian Midsummer Festival. WANTED Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber Northwest Hardwoods • Longview, WA Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500 making a donation instead of a refund if possible. Ticket prices for the event ranged from $20 to $65. “After we cover the expenses the vendors need to take from us, those donations will go back to the nonprof- its,” Morrell Gasser said. In Cannon Beach, Pub- lic Coast Brewing Co. made a similar decision to can- cel their HAYDAY! b eer f est due to concerns about the spread of the delta vari- ant of the virus. The festival was planned for Aug. 28, and, according to the brewery’s website, ticket-holders will receive full refunds. Griffi n Reilly contributed to this report. Astoria Public Library New hours effective August 2, 2021: Our open hours will be: Monday 9-1 PM Tuesday 9-5 PM Wednesday 9-5 PM Thursday 9-5 PM Friday 9-5 PM Saturday 9-1 PM. Sunday Closed.
