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inessJournal.co
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Volume 16 •
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Chronicling
Published monthly
September
2021
Inside:
Buoy 10
Guides help fi shermen
Page 4
Issue 9
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Page 8
Downtown sees
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Apothecary
Couple opens store in
Page 6
Ilwaco
Spawn Fly Fish
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Month
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Page 10
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DailyAstorian.com // TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2021
149TH YEAR, NO. 30
$1.50
Competing
plans for
new political
districts
Rep. Andrea Salinas,
D-Lake Oswego, the com-
mittee’s other co-chair,
objected to the accusation,
By GARY WARNER
especially during the fi rst
Oregon Capital Bureau
look at proposals.
“These maps aren’t
State l egislative lead- fi nal,” Salinas said. “None
ers have released compet- of them are.”
ing plans for new polit-
In
all,
lawmakers
ical districts to be used showed three plans for the
beginning with the 2022 60-district House, three
elections.
plans for the 30-district
Hopes for a quick con- Senate and two plans for
sensus to meet
the six congres-
a looming Sept.
sional districts.
27 deadline to
None
of
MORE
get a proposal
the
maps
were
INSIDE
to the Oregon
released to the
Labor Day
Supreme Court
public
until
marks the
were immedi-
minutes before
kickoff of
ately hit by a
an 8 a.m. joint
the 2022
partisan cross-
meeting Friday
election
fi re over the fi rst
of the House and
season • A2
drafts of maps
Senate
redis-
that would be
tricting commit-
used for the
tees. Because of
next decade.
COVID-19 concerns, the
“Our current districts meeting was held online. A
have diluted the voices series of 12 planned public
of Oregonians for two hearings — dubbed “the
decades to advance one roadshow” — that were
political party and incum- going to be held across the
bent politicians,” said state will also now be vir-
state Rep. Shelly Boshart tual amid a spike in pan-
Davis, R-Albany, co-chair demic infections.
of the House Redistricting
See Districts, Page A3
Committee.
Virtual hearings
start this week
Buoy Beer closing
kitchen indefi nitely
Issues with the
pilings underneath
By ETHAN MYERS
The Astorian
Buoy Beer Co. is clos-
ing its kitchen indefi nitely.
David Kroening, the
president and one of the
founders of the company,
told The Astorian on Fri-
day that issues with the
dock and pilings beneath
the kitchen in the restaurant
will require construction.
“As it is with all the
docks on the Astoria river-
front, they’re all 100-plus
years old,” he said. “You
have to monitor them as
you go.”
Buoy will continue to
serve beer, wine and cider
as the company makes
improvements to the dock.
“It’s a hard thing to
shut down the kitchen
right now,” Kroening said.
“There has been a lot of
change and adapting over
the years and our team has
done a great job at it.
“To have to change our
model for the time being,
it’s tough to swallow.”
Kroening added that
Buoy is hoping to bring in
a food truck while the con-
struction takes place. In the
meantime, the brewery will
be off ering limited snacks
and welcoming outside
food.
The restaurant was shift-
ing hours due to construc-
tion unrelated to the dock,
but Buoy will now return
to being open seven days a
week.
“We just hope to continue
to give people the Buoy
experience,” Kroening said.
Photos by Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
Booster shots for COVID-19 are planned.
County offi cials plan
booster shot rollout
Mass vaccination
events will return
By ERICK BENGEL
The Astorian
C
latsop County plans to hold
mass vaccination events
once federal authorities
approve booster shots for people
who have received a COVID-19
vaccine.
The county’s tentative plan
was to open the clinics later
this month, but “I would not
be surprised if the launch date
is delayed a little bit,” Margo
Lalich, the interim public health
director , said.
T he Biden administration
set a Sept. 20 deadline to begin
making boosters available, but
experts at the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration and federal
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention have said the agen-
cies may not have the informa-
tion by then to determine when
and whether the extra jab is
necessary.
The booster shot discussion
is happening as the more conta-
gious delta variant circulates on
the North Coast and across Ore-
gon, leading to a spike in virus
cases and hospitalizations.
The likely locations for the
booster clinics will be the Clat-
The Clatsop County Fairgrounds will again host mass vaccination events
against COVID-19.
sop County Fairgrounds and
Camp Rilea Armed Forces Train-
ing Center in Warrenton. Camp
Rilea is becoming a coronavirus
response hub: tests, vaccinations,
boosters, as well as the Public
Information Call Center, will all
be on site. Tom Bennett, a county
spokesman, said the county is
seeking volunteers for the call
center and vaccination clinics.
The booster is meant to extend
a vaccinated person’s ability to
fi ght off the virus, as the eff ec-
tiveness of COVID-19 vaccines
may wane over time.
Breakthrough infections —
cases of vaccinated people get-
ting the virus — do occur but are
less likely to lead to hospitaliza-
tion and death.
For most people, the U.S.
Department of Health and Human
Services recommends a booster
at least eight months after receiv-
ing the second shot of Pfi zer or
Moderna or the single-shot John-
son & Johnson vaccine.
See Booster shot, Page A3
THE BOOSTER SHOT DISCUSSION IS HAPPENING AS THE
MORE CONTAGIOUS DELTA VARIANT CIRCULATES ON THE
NORTH COAST AND ACROSS OREGON, LEADING TO A
SPIKE IN VIRUS CASES AND HOSPITALIZATIONS.
For a mediator, civility is key
Ocean Park retiree has
passion for writing
By PATRICK WEBB
Chinook Observer
O
Patrick Webb/Chinook Observer
Ira Kitmacher, an Ocean Park
retiree, believes the philosophies
used during his career mediating
disputes and teaching managers
can be applied to help heal a
fractured society.
CEAN PARK, Wash. — It
might take the wisdom of Sol-
omon to heal the nation.
Ira Kitmacher wants to play his
part.
The Ocean Park author is busy
promoting his book of Northwest
ghost stories, published in July.
But already he is embarked
on his next project — revising
a how-to book he wrote several
years ago off ering b iblical insights
to solve modern disputes.
Kitmacher, 60, is a retired attor-
ney who held high-level posi-
tions in human resources with the
federal government and is called as
an expert witness in cases involving
labor laws. He has taught classes
in the Bay Area, at Portland State
University and at Georgetown Uni-
versity, as well as virtually in the
bachelor’s in organizational man-
agement degree program at Grays
Harbor College in Aberdeen.
When he and wife, Wendy, a
U.S. Department of Labor execu-
tive, retired to Ocean Park a few
years ago, he felt he had time to
delve into his passion — writing.
His work draws on skills honed
in his professions. “I enjoy doing
research and organizing informa-
tion,” he said .
The result is “Haunted Grave-
yard of the Pacifi c,” a 144-page
road trip that takes the reader from
Tillamook to British Columbia, via
Cannon Beach, Astoria and Long
Beach, examining spooky legends.
Kitmacher admits he is a ghost
skeptic. “I am not a full believer,
but I am fascinated by stories,” he
said . “I have a love of history and
hauntings.”
However, he points to inventor
Thomas Edison’s quote, “It’s obvi-
ous that we don’t know one millionth
of one percent about anything.”
See Kitmacher, Page A2
Ira Kitmacher wrote ‘Haunted
Graveyard of the Pacifi c.’