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A2 THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2021 IN BRIEF LASTING LIGHT Nineteen new coronavirus cases reported in county over the weekend The Oregon Health Authority reported 19 new coro- navirus cases in Clatsop County over the weekend. Since the pandemic began, the county has recorded 1,683 cases and 12 deaths. The county reported that 23,094 people — 58.5% — were fully vaccinated against the virus as of Friday. The county has set of a goal of having 27,533 people — 70% — vaccinated to try to achieve herd immunity. In a weekly update on local hospitalizations from the virus, the county reported 14 from Aug. 14 to Friday, the same number as the previous week. The county said 10 of the people hospitalized were unvac- cinated and four were vaccinated. The North Head Lighthouse rises from the mist at Cape Disappointment State Park. David Campiche Virus cases disclosed at North Coast Family Fellowship SEASIDE — Pastor John K. Nagle, in a letter to parishioners at North Coast Family Fellowship, said last week that “a number of our staff members have contracted COVID.” Nagle said he was diagnosed as COVID positive, along with two staff members. “None of us are, at this moment, horribly ill, but we are defi nitely ‘out of com- mission’ for the next 10 days provided that our symp- toms are gone for 24 hours prior to ‘reentry,’” he said. The church has limited access for all but essential staff and volunteers, he said. Sunday services were held online. — The Astorian DEATH Aug. 20, 2021 In WILSON, Brief Lanny D., 77, of Astoria, died in Port- land. Caldwell’s Luce-Layton Mortuary of Astoria is in charge of the arrangements. Death MEMORIALS Saturday, Aug. 28 from 1 to 4 p.m., War- Correction FALCK, Raymond renton Community Cen- Stanley (Ray) — Grave- side service at 1 p.m., Ocean View Cemetery, 575 S.W. 18th St. in Warrenton. Sunday, Aug. 29 FORNEY, Norman R. Jr. — Celebration of life ter, 170 S.W. Third St. in Warrenton. HEINER, Dan William — Celebration of life and ice cream social at 2 p.m., Clat- sop County Fairgrounds, 93003 Walluski Loop. Incorrect grade — Silqet Ra’s daughter will attend fi rst grade this school year. An A1 story on Saturday about child care challenges on the North Coast incor- rectly said she would attend kindergarten. ON THE RECORD Theft second degree, harassment On Record • Edgar the Emmanuel Ortiz in the third degree, resist- ing arrest and criminal trespass in the fi rst degree. DUII • Steven Craig Oster- lund, 60, of Gearhart, was arrested Sunday morning on McCormick Gardens Road in Gearhart for driv- ing under the infl uence of intoxicants, criminal tres- pass in the second degree and criminal mischief in the second degree. • Joshua Ray Ship- ley, 20, of Warrenton, was arrested Saturday morning at S.E. Galena Avenue and E. Harbor Drive in War- renton for DUII, hit-and- run and failure to perform the duties of a driver. PUBLIC MEETINGS TUESDAY Arts Council of Clatsop County, 11 a.m., 800 Exchange St., Suite 430, Astoria. Astoria City Council, noon, special meeting to consider vaccination requirement for child care providers, City Hall, 1095 Duane St. 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. 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). THURSDAY Sunset Empire Transportation District Board, 9 a.m., (electronic meeting). Cannon Beach Planning Commission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower 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 Will Portland continue to be chopped up into slices to maintain districts that stretch out further from the center of the city? Republicans point out Portland is just short of the 710,000 mark for its own congressional district — a prospect that would make the GOP more competitive elsewhere. Boundaries redrawn after 2020 census CORRECTION Vera, 23, of Salem, was arrested Aug. 15 at Walmart in Warrenton for theft in the fi rst degree and criminal mischief in the third degree. Criminal trespass • Eduardo Jose Alonzo, 33, of Warrenton, was arrested Sunday night for criminal trespass in the fi rst degree and theft in the second degree at Walmart in Warrenton. Disorderly conduct • Andrew Alton Larsen, 41, of Hammond, was arrested Sunday morning at the South Jetty Dining Room and Bar on Pacifi c Drive in Hammond for disorderly conduct in the Public can experiment with new political maps 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 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 By GARY WARNER Oregon Capital Bureau It’s a new video game that comes with a big prize. It’s not streaming on Twitch or played on an Xbox console. It’s on OLIS, which is not a gaming company, but the Oregon Legislative Informa- tion System. The point of the game is to design a new political map of Oregon — a patch- work of blue and red. The grand prize is polit- ical sway in Oregon for the next 10 years. Normally this once-a- decade resizing of political districts has the L egislature drawing maps, the L egis- lature voting on maps and the governor signing off on maps. The public role is in hearings. If all goes swimmingly — somewhat of a historical rar- ity — there is a new political atlas for the next election. This year, mapmaking is going pro-am as amateur cartographers can get on the OLIS video game to draw their own political dream maps. They’ll get the same recently arrived, deeply detailed c ensus tract infor- mation and software pro- gram as lawmakers use. “Oregonians can begin drawing new lines using the gold standard data,” said state Rep. Shelly Boshart Davis, R-Albany, co-chair of the House Redistricting Committee. The starting point is www.oregonlegislature. gov/redistricting. After cre- ating an account, taking a tutorial and preparing a lot of patience to deal with the wonky program, mapmak- ing can begin. As a template, the dis- tricts with a 37-22 Demo- cratic majority in the House and 18-12 edge in the Sen- ate can be called up for ref- erence. So can the U.S. House map of the delega- tion’s four Democrats and one Republican. A few valley curves, a straight-edge county line, following a river path, or running up against a moun- tain range will be challeng- ing. But with enough eff ort and time, voila! your own version of the political land- scape of Oregon. The full slate of work includes: • Six congressional dis- Biggest scramble Brian Hayes/Statesman Journal Oregon will redraw political boundaries based on new census data. tricts of 710,000 people each • 30 Senate Districts of 127,700 people each • 60 House Districts of 63,850 people each The computer will tell you whether your maps meet geographical requirements and demographic goals. Tripping points One of the biggest trip- ping points is Oregon’s requirement that two House districts be completely “nested” inside each Sen- ate d istrict. So, for example, House d istricts 59 and 60 fi t completely inside Senate District 30. There also are federal voting rights laws. Ore- gon’s state directives say districts must be contigu- ous, be of equal population, utilize existing geograph- ical or political boundar- ies, not divide communities of common interest and be connected by transportation links. The full set of do’ s and don’ts, rules, laws and other mapmaking stuff is on the website. When done, the map can be submitted to the L egisla- ture for consideration. The deadline is 5 p.m. on Sept. 7 . A note of receipt of the map will be sent by email. Whether maps found to have fl aws will be noted in time for resubmission is still undecided . “It depends on how many maps we receive,” said Alli- son Daniel, a legislative pol- icy and research analyst. Those that make the cut by checking all the boxes for size, shape, location, equity and other items will pop up on the legislature’s redis- tricting website. After a whirlwind series of public hearings, the com- mittee will deliberate on what plan to bring to the full L egislature when it meets in a special session begin- ning Sept. 20. The hope is the House and Senate can debate and pass the legisla- tion quickly so it can get to Gov. Kate Brown for review. The Oregon Supreme Court has set a Sept. 27 deadline to receive the maps. Making maps that work on every level is not easy, no matter your political stripes. Oregon’s state popula- tion is 4.2 million . But the nearly 10.6% growth wasn’t spread out equally across the 36 counties. Only Grant County lost population, but much of E astern Oregon and parts of southwestern Oregon beside Jackson and Josephine coun- ties grew at a relatively tepid pace. All the new numbers and percentages will determine whether districts shrink or stretch — and with them, any shifts in political power in Salem. In Portland, House dis- tricts are densely packed with people. Some districts are measured in a matter of blocks. On the fl ip side, much of Oregon east of the Cascades has a lot of land and not a lot of people. Incumbents could fi nd themselves battling allies over fewer people meaning fewer districts. Portland is now the 25th largest city in the nation, it’s 652,503 population placing it just below Boston and just above Las Vegas. In the past decade, it passed Milwau- kee, Louisville, Baltimore, Memphis and Detroit — but was leapfrogged by Okla- homa City. The city makes up most of Multnomah County, where the population grew by 80,000 people in 10 years — roughly equal to adding everyone in Medford. The biggest scramble will be over the congressional seats. Where to put the sixth seat the state was awarded for its population growth. All fi ve incumbents are run- ning for re election — who will have to give up what territory to form the new district? The Cascades are a mighty tall wall to get over for any change. Bend is a growing Democratic island in a Republican landscape. But unless mapmakers can justify straddling the Cas- cades, it’s likely stuck in the 2nd C ongressional D istrict, a slam-dunk for the GOP. The spoiler is that all this mapmaking could end up counting for nothing. Most recent redistricting plans ended up stuck in gridlock in the L egislature, with the jumble ending up in the lap of the secretary of state or the courts. Democrats had hoped by controlling both chambers of the L egislature and the governor’s offi ce, this was the year to get it all done. COVID-19 tossed a chance for a relatively undramatic redistricting into the trash bin. Whoever ends up draw- ing the fi nal maps, there’s one group hanging on every twist and turn of the process: the candidates. The window to fi le for offi ce opens Sept. 9. The deadline to get on the ballot is March 8 . It’s doubtful that any of the legislative seats will be more than guessing games until somewhere in between those two dates. Candidates and vot- ers will have to wait until autumn to see what the polit- ical landscape starting in spring 2022 will look like. The Oregon Capital Bureau is a collaboration between EO Media Group and Pamplin Media Group. 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