»INSIDE
149TH YEAR, NO. 26
WEEKEND EDITION // SATURDAY, AUGUST 28, 2021
$1.50
County to use
Camp Rilea as
virus testing site
Partnership between
the county, hospitals
By GRIFFIN REILLY
The Astorian
WARRENTON
—
Camp Rilea will serve as a
coronavirus testing site.
In
a
partnership
between Clatsop County,
Columbia Memorial Hos-
pital in Astoria and Prov-
idence Seaside Hospital,
the armed forces training
center will host testing by
appointment fi ve days a
week starting Sept. 6.
Margo Lalich, the
county’s interim public
health director, made the
announcement during a
county Board of Commis-
sioners work session on
Wednesday.
“We wanted a central-
ly-located place that would
be able to accommodate
traffi c instead of having
to move between diff erent
locations, as we’re doing
now in Seaside and Asto-
ria,” said Tom Bennett, a
county spokesperson.
“This will provide us
a single place where we
can do the testing. We also
hope to add vaccinations at
the same site also.”
MORE INSIDE
Virus hospitalizations
could peak on
Labor Day • A2
In recent weeks, the
county P ublic H ealth
D epartment and local hos-
pitals had reported a short-
age of polymerase chain
reaction tests, which are
considered the most reli-
able for the virus. Offi -
cials had urged residents to
avoid seeking tests unless
they were exhibiting
severe virus symptoms in
order to relieve pressure on
hospitals and other health
care providers .
Bennett, however, said
an unexpected shipment of
testing supplies now allows
for more tests in the short
term, though the county
still wants to reserve sup-
plies for people with
advanced symptoms and
the medically vulnerable.
The county has more
than 20 local outbreaks,
Lalich told commissioners
on Wednesday, but s he did
not disclose any locations
or other details .
See Testing, Page A7
County commissioner
wants governor to lift
vaccine mandates
In a letter on Tuesday,
Bangs, who represents the
mostly rural eastern por-
tion of the county, said she
By ERICK BENGEL
was particularly concerned
The Astorian
for support staff , custodi-
ans, bus drivers and teach-
Clatsop County Com- ers’ aides at schools.
missioner Courtney Bangs
“In rural Oregon, vac-
has penned a letter to Gov. cine hesitancy is real and
Kate Brown object-
many hard work-
ing to the gover-
ing
Oregonians
nor’s vaccine man-
will be required to
dates to contain the
choose
between
coronavirus , argu-
the vaccine and
ing that local agen-
their personal free-
cies and industries
dom (and, thus,
should be the fi nal
job),” she wrote to
Courtney
decision-makers .
Brown. “As you
Bangs
Alarmed
by
can imagine, many
the spread of the
will choose per-
delta variant, which has sonal freedom.
led to a surge of virus
“It is important that
cases and hospitalizations even during a pandemic,
across Oregon, Brown government is respectful
has required teachers and of individual rights and
other staff at K-12 schools freedoms. In my opinion,
and health care work- we need to reject the type
ers to get vaccinated by
See Commissioner, Page A7
mid-October.
Bangs wrote letter
to Gov. Brown
Photos by Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
Housing is the ultimate goal for Clatsop Community Action’s homeless liaisons.
‘It is a home visit, but
their home is outside’
For homeless liaisons, the outreach is often personal
By ERICK BENGEL
The Astorian
t’s shortly after 8 a.m. on the
Astoria Riverwalk, just east of
the trolley stop near Safeway.
Cheryl Paul and Jodi Anderson,
the homeless liaisons of Clatsop
Community Action, stroll toward
the bushes and greet a 44-year-
old man who emerges from a
small, makeshift shelter .
“Anything going on?” Paul
asks him.
“Oh, just the same,” he said ,
clutching a small coff ee in one
hand, a bag of tobacco in the
other. He’s broke and waiting for
the beginning of the month . For
much of the last three years, he’s
been homeless.
Paul tells him he’s high on the
list to get into the Merwyn Apart-
ments, the renovated aff ordable
housing complex downtown .
“Really?” he said .
“You may be next, so you need
to make sure that you’re check-
ing in with them,” Paul said .
“OK ,” he said .
He’s in the queue for a studio
apartment, as long as he follows
through with the property man-
ager. “Please check in with her,
OK?” Paul urges.
“Uh-huh.”
“And then we’ll help you
after that, you know?” Paul said.
“Don’t spend all your time down
here and not check in and miss
your apartment ... ”
“OK .”
I
Cheryl Paul, left, and Jodi Anderson stop at the Garden of Surging Waves.
“ ... because she can’t get a
hold of you, you know? Got it?”
He said he planned to head that
way after he fi nishes his coff ee.
The conversation is casual, but
Paul’s drift is intentional, struc-
tured. She is helping the man,
who has autism, map out his day,
break it down into little missions
that, taken together, could make
his life better, or at least prevent it
from getting worse.
Paul, the former coordinator
of the Astoria Warming Center,
a seasonal, low-barrier homeless
shelter, has known him for about
three years, when he became a
frequent overnight guest. Ander-
son met him when she served
dinner there.
Paul reminds the man it is
“shower day,” a thrice-a-week
By GRIFFIN REILLY
The Astorian
The Astoria Riverfront
Trolley, struggling to fi nd
volunteers, will suspend
operations starting Sunday .
“It’s a very tough deci-
sion,” said Frank Kemp,
the trolley’s maintenance
coordinator.
Operators cited a shortage
of volunteers, who expressed
concern for their health amid
the rapid spread of the delta
variant of the coronavirus , as
the primary reason .
The trolley, one of Asto-
ria’s most popular attrac-
tions, resumed in July after
a 16-month hiatus.
Bob Miller, an operator ,
said the suspension is espe-
cially painful for those who
worked so hard to get Old
300 back up and running.
“This hurts. We were hav-
ing so much fun out there,”
Miller said.
Even before the delta
variant’s spread, however,
See Homeless, Page A3
‘WE’RE TALKING ABOUT 1,000 PEOPLE WHO ARE STAYING
IN A PLACE NOT MEANT FOR HUMAN HABITATION.’
Viviana Matthews | executive director of Clatsop Community Action
Transit district OKs
cuts to bus routes
Riverfront trolley
to suspend service
Operators point to
a lack of volunteers
service where he can wash up
and get some fresh clothes at the
warming center. S he and Ander-
son want him to look nice when
he visits the Merwyn. And later
that day, they tell him, there
would be pizza at Ninth Street
Park furnished by Filling Empty
Bellies.
But, she tells him, make sure
you check in with the Merwyn
so that apartment doesn’t go
to someone else. “I want you,
you, you to be housed,” Paul
encourages.
“He’s kind of special to us,”
Paul said afterward. She and
Anderson worry about him. He
may become frustrated, not show
up at all.
Changes take eff ect
next weekend
By ETHAN MYERS
The Astorian
Colin Murphey/The Astorian
The Astoria Riverfront Trolley will suspend service starting Sunday.
Miller said the trolley had
diffi culty fi nding as many
volunteers as before the
pandemic.
“The numbers are what
they are. We’re look-
ing at hospitalizations and
things with the delta variant
and suddenly there’s con-
cern,” he said. “We’re look-
ing out for our people and
we’re looking out for our
passengers.”
The trolley typically ends
seasonal service in mid-Sep-
tember, so operators are not
optimistic service will return
in 2021.
“If things get better, we’ll
be back,” Miller said. “B ut
I don’t have a lot of faith in
that. ”
The Sunset Empire
Transportation District has
approved cuts to several
bus routes on the North
Coast due to a shortage of
drivers.
The transit district’s
board voted unanimously
Thursday to make the
changes.
“It has gone beyond
critical (regarding) the
amount of drivers that we
have currently employed
and the lack of applica-
tions currently coming in
for drivers,” Jeff Hazen,
the transit district’s execu-
tive director, said . “It has
gotten to the point where
our drivers are working six
and seven days a week.
“They are burning
out. It is aff ecting their
health, so we are having
a lot of sick calls and that
just makes matters worse.
What we are doing now is
not sustainable.”
Most of the cuts are to
weekend routes, including
See Bus routes, Page A7