WEEKEND EDITION // SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2021
149TH YEAR, NO. 35
Virus
wave
crests
$1.50
A fresh coat of joy
Business owner spearheads community mural
Candy Yiu and artist Gary Hirsch stand at the
top of the Botjoy mural on 11th Street.
Experts caution recovery
could extend into winter
By GARY WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
Oregon’s record wave of
COVID-19 cases appears to have
crested, but the long recovery will
likely stretch into the winter holi-
day season.
“I’m happy to deliver some
promising news — daily cases and
hospitalizations are slowly com-
ing down from record highs,”
said Dr. Dean Sidelinger, the state
epidemiologist, during a Thursday
press call.
New infections and deaths also
remain high but are trending down
the past two weeks after eight
weeks of rising numbers driven by
the highly contagious delta variant.
But it will take as long to get
down from the crest as it took
to get there, about two months,
according to state forecasts.
“The delta variant remains a
formidable threat,” Sidelinger said.
With more than 1,000 COVID-
19 patients statewide — nearly
all unvaccinated — hospitals are
reeling and medical attention is
delayed to not just virus patients,
but heart attack victims, those
injured in car crashes and other
life-threatening incidents.
By NIKKI DAVIDSON
The Astorian
See Virus, Page A6
A
Hood to
Coast
draws
complaints
Some residents upset
after relay’s return
By R.J. MARX
The Astorian
SEASIDE — The return of
Hood to Coast has triggered
a new round of complaints from
residents that the regional event
is too large and disruptive for the
city.
The iconic 198-mile relay from
Mount Hood to the Prom, which
was suspended last year because of
the coronavirus pandemic, brought
thousands of people to the coast in
late August.
Several residents told the City
Council that some runners were
rude, that organizers failed to
enforce virus precautions and con-
trol traffic and that hosting the
event compounded the public
health risk during a surge of new
virus cases.
s Candy Yiu gazed at the build-
ing she purchased behind the
food carts on 11th and Duane
streets, she giggled.
“It’s just one of those things that I
see, and it makes me smile,” she said.
She was staring at an image not
often seen in a historic downtown.
A freshly painted mural of 73 goofy,
joy-ridden robots. The words “keep
smiling” appear to be coming from the
mouth of one of the bizarre creatures.
An army of the figures are seemingly
dancing alongside the question, “What
brings Astoria joy?”
It’s just the beginning of Yiu’s mis-
sion to turn the space into the city’s
newest hot spot for food. She and her
husband are the owners of boutique
hotel Near the Pier, along with local
food delivery service Slurpalicious.
Their love of food drove them to pur-
chase the lot and building off 11th
Street in April.
“I really love food carts and wanted
this space to be cheerful and happy,”
Yiu said. “I always feel bad that my
favorite food, people have to grab it
and sit on the ground.”
Nikki Davidson/The Astorian
ABOVE: Candy Yiu asks people to write
what brings them joy on pieces of fabric
beside the new Botjoy mural. LEFT:
Candy Yiu’s son helps paint a blue robot.
An upgrade
The first step to revitalizing the space
was simple. Yiu added a few color-
fully painted picnic tables between the
food carts. When it came to the build-
ing itself, she felt the exterior needed a
major upgrade. Originally built in 1940
as a service station, it had also served as
a dental office and most recently a ther-
apy treatment center.
“One thing that was always in my
head was this building,” she said. “It’s
really run down, not cared for, and it’s
hidden behind everything. No one actu-
ally noticed the building.”
Yiu had a desire to create a project
that would involve the community. Her
thoughts immediately went to a mural
she had passed in Portland, composed
of several tiny robots. The artwork was
created by international mural artist
Gary Hirsch.
“When I was kid, I used to have
these terrible nightmares,” Hirsch said.
“My dad would ask me to draw them,
so I have drawings from when I was
7 that are some of these robot figures.
One day he asked me, ‘Well, if you
can make them, can you erase them?’
That’s how my nightmares got bet-
ter, and that’s how I became an artist
because it ended up being so helpful.”
As an adult, Hirsch found his former
nightmares packed a powerful punch,
actually sparking joy and confidence in
strangers. He began donating tiny ver-
sions of the bots to kids who needed
See Mural, Page A6
See Hood to Coast, Page A6
RVs near park cause headaches in Seaside
Residents want the
city to take action
By R.J. MARX
The Astorian
R.J. Marx/The Astorian
Vehicles parked in the lot north of Goodman Park on Necanicum Drive.
SEASIDE — After a city
crackdown on Necanicum Drive
near 12th Avenue earlier this year,
residents say that people living in
RVs have moved across the street
to Goodman Park.
The
park’s
popular-
ity as a place to shelter
grew after overnight street
parking
prohibitions
and
increased ticketing.
“We all came here in the spring
to see most of you here,” Robert
Clark, a resident, told the City
Council on Monday. “We got a
lot of nodding that you would be
doing things. ... Now, it’s worse
than it was.”
Karl Schorr, a resident, said
See RVs, Page A6