A2
THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2021
IN BRIEF
SALTY
SPIRIT
Virus case tied to Lewis and Clark
Elementary School
Less than a week after the school year began for the
Astoria School District, some students at Lewis and
Clark Elementary School are in quarantine because of
the coronavirus.
In an email to parents and school district staff , the dis-
trict said that someone associated with the school tested
positive for COVID-19 and is recovering at home. The
school district declined to specify whether the person is
a student or staff member.
Superintendent Craig Hoppes told The Astorian that
the number of students distance learning for the next two
weeks because of the virus case is less than half a dozen.
He stressed that this does not necessarily mean the
children in isolation caught the virus, only that they may
have had close contact with the virus case. These stu-
dents are in touch with their teachers and will be pro-
vided work electronically and by packet.
“We have trained for that in case this had to happen,”
Hoppes said.
In a written statement, Hoppes said: “I am acutely
aware that parents have received a notice regarding
COVID-19 cases within the schools each day, for the
last few days. It is important that families know that,
although concerning, the cases we have been han-
dling are isolated and have not spread within the school
community.
“We would like to remind parents to monitor symp-
toms closely and keep children home if they are show-
ing any signs of infectious illness. We thank you for your
partnership in keeping our schools safe and healthy.”
Hatchery coho retention
reopens on Columbia River
Oregon and Washington state fi shery managers have
reopened a portion of the Columbia River to hatchery
coho retention.
Fishing is open from the Tongue Point/Rocky Point
line upstream to the Warrior Rock/Bachelor Island line.
Salmon fi shing in this area and up to Bonneville Dam
had closed after higher-than-expected impacts on a key
salmon stock, the listed lower Columbia River natural
origin tule fall Chinook.
Fishermen are allowed a bag limit of two hatchery
coho. All Chinook salmon must be released. Steelhead
may not be retained until Nov. 1.
Fishery managers also added sturgeon retention days
in the main stem Columbia River from the Wauna Pow-
erlines to Bonneville Dam, including the Cowlitz River.
Warrenton approves
lease transfer of Sturgeon Paul’s
WARRENTON — The lease transfer of Sturgeon
Paul’s from Paul Leitch to fi shing guide James Fowler
was approved by city commissioners on Tuesday night
after Leitch took care of issues with the property.
The transfer was held up in August after an inspec-
tion found that the buildings, which sit on city land in
Hammond, had multiple lease violations. Leitch also
had outstanding personal property taxes. Commission-
ers said at an August meeting that the transfer would not
be approved until those violations were cured.
In a report to the city, Fowler said his plans for the
property are to “acquire the shop as soon as possible and
continue to serve our current sport and commercial cli-
ents while also attracting new clients through the next
couple months as a record salmon run passes through
our community.”
— The Astorian
ON THE RECORD
Strangulation
and criminal mischief in
On
the Record
•
Steven
Gerard the second degree. The
Larsen, 59, of Warren-
ton, was indicted on June
15 for strangulation and
attempted assault in the
fourth degree constituting
domestic violence. The
crimes allegedly occurred
in April.
Burglary
• Miles Alexander
Berry, 19, of Portland,
was indicted on Tues-
day for burglary in the
fi rst degree, two counts
of theft in the fi rst degree,
unlawful possession of
a fi rearm, criminal tres-
pass in the second degree
crimes allegedly occurred
in August.
Mail theft
• James Evan Osburn,
41, of Gearhart, was
arrested on Thursday
morning for three counts
of attempting to com-
mit mail theft. The crimes
took place on Seppa Road
in Astoria.
DUII
• Lorenzo F. Melgoza,
35, of Astoria, was arrested
Friday at Marine Drive
and 14th Street in Astoria
for driving under the infl u-
ence of intoxicants.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
MONDAY
Astoria City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 1095 Duane St.
TUESDAY
Astoria Historic Landmarks Commission, 5:30 p.m., City
Hall, 1095 Duane St.
Seaside Planning Commission, 6 p.m., work session, City
Hall, 989 Broadway.
Seaside School District, 6 p.m., (electronic meeting).
PUBLIC MEETINGS
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Reenactors brought back the spirit of the Corps of Discovery over the weekend by making salt in Seaside.
Overwhelmed by virus patients,
hospitals postpone surgeries
By ERIK NEUMANN
Jeff erson Public Radio
It’s a bad time to get
sick in Oregon. That’s what
many doctors are telling their
patients and the public, as
hospitals full of COVID-19
patients have been forced to
postpone some treatments of
other medical conditions.
Charlie Callagan had
his scheduled bone marrow
transplant postponed. Now
he’s waiting for a new sur-
gery date, hunkered down at
his home in Merlin, a small
Rogue Valley town .
Though he looks perfectly
healthy, sitting in the smoky
summer air on his outdoor
deck, Callagan, 72, has multi-
ple myeloma, a blood cancer
of the bone marrow.
“It aff ects the immune
system; it aff ects the bones,”
he says. “I had a PET (posi-
tron emission tomography)
scan that described my bones
as looking ‘kind of S wiss
cheese-like.’”
Callagan is a retired
National Park Service ranger.
Fifty years ago, he served in
Vietnam. This spring, doctors
identifi ed his cancer as one of
those linked to exposure to
Agent Orange, the defoliant
used during the war.
In recent years, Callagan
has consulted maps showing
hot spots where Agent Orange
was sprayed in Vietnam.
“It turns out the airbase I
was in was surrounded,” he
said . “They sprayed all over.”
A few weeks ago, Call-
agan was driving to Oregon
Health & Science University
in Portland for a bone mar-
row transplant, a major pro-
cedure that requires intensive
follow-up tests and monitor-
ing for complications.
But during the drive, Cal-
lagan got a call from his
doctor.
“They’re like, ‘We were
told this morning that we
have to cancel the surgeries
we had planned,’” he said .
Callagan’s surgery was
postponed until further notice
because the hospital was
full. That’s the story at many
hospitals in Oregon where
they’ve been fl ooded with
COVID -19 patients.
OHSU spokesperson Erik
Robinson said the hospital,
which is the state’s only aca-
demic medical center and
serves patients from across
the region, has had to post-
pone numerous surgeries and
procedures in the wake of the
delta surge. “Surgical post-
ponements initially impacted
patients who needed an over-
night hospital stay, but more
recently has impacted all out-
patient surgeries and proce-
dures,” Robinson wrote.
Callagan says his bone
marrow transplant has not yet
been rescheduled.
Such delays can have con-
sequences, according to Dr.
Mujahid Rizvi, who leads the
oncology clinic handling Cal-
lagan’s care.
“With cancer treatment,
sometimes there’s a window
of opportunity where you can
go in and potentially cure the
patient,” Rizvi said . “If you
wait too long, the cancer can
spread. And that can aff ect
prognosis and can make a
potentially curable disease
incurable.”
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‘THERE’S SO MANY OTHER PEOPLE
WHO ARE BEING AFFECTED.
PEOPLE ARE DYING WAITING FOR A
HOSPITAL BED. THAT JUST ANGERS
ME. IT’S HARD TO STAY QUIET NOW.’
VOLUNTEER
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2021 by The Astorian.
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Erik Neumann/Jeff erson Public Radio
Charlie Callagan’s bone marrow transplant for multiple myeloma was postponed at the last
minute because Oregon hospitals are overwhelmed with treating COVID-19 patients.
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Such high stakes for
delaying treatment at hospi-
tals right now extends beyond
cancer care.
“I’ve seen patients get
ready to have their open-heart
surgery that day. I’ve seen
patients ( who) have brain
tumor with visual changes,
or someone with lung cancer,
and their procedures are can-
celed that day and they have
to come back another day,”
said Dr. Kent Dauterman, a
cardiologist and co-director
of the regional cardiac cen-
ter in Medford . “You always
hope they come back.”
In
early
September,
according to Dauterman, the
local hospital had 28 patients
who were waiting for open
heart surgery, 24 who needed
pacemakers, and 22 who
were awaiting lung surgeries.
He said during normal times,
there is no wait.
“I don’t want to be dra-
matic, it’s just there’s plenty
of other things killing Ore-
gonians before this,” Dauter-
man said .
Right now, the vast major-
ity of COVID patients in
Oregon hospitals are unvac-
cinated — about fi ve times
as many as those who got
the vaccine, according to the
Oregon Health Authority.
COVID infections in Oregon
are starting to decline from a
peak of the most recent d el-
ta-variant driven wave, but
hospitals are still burdened
with the most severe cases.
Even in non pandemic
times, there’s not a lot of
room to spare in Oregon’s
health care system.
“If you look at the num-
ber of hospital beds per cap-
ita, Oregon has 1.7 hospital
beds per thousand popula-
tion. That’s the lowest in the
country,” said Becky Hult-
berg, the CEO of the Oregon
Association of Hospitals and
Health Systems.
At his home in south-
ern Oregon, Callagan said
he doesn’t consider his bone
marrow transplant as urgent
as what some people are
facing .
“There’s so many other
people who are being
aff ected,” he said . “People
are dying waiting for a hospi-
tal bed. That just angers me.
It’s hard to stay quiet now.”