149TH YEAR, NO. 50
WEEKEND EDITION // SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2021
$1.50
Oregon
renters
still await
assistance
Requests total $300 million
By PETER WONG
Oregon Capital Bureau
Lydia Ely/The Astorian
The Lower Columbia Youth Soccer Association held a ‘Silent Saturday’ at the Warrenton Soccer Complex.
IN WARRENTON, A YOUTH
SOCCER LEAGUE TURNS
DOWN THE VOLUME
Despite millions of dollars paid out by
a federal deadline at the end of Septem-
ber, thousands of Oregonians continue to
await emergency rental assistance as their
applications slip past state and local grace
periods intended to avert evictions.
The backlog remains greatest in the
three Portland metro area counties, where
42.1% of completed applications have
been paid through Monday, compared
with 54.5% statewide.
Still, the Oregon Housing and Com-
munity Services Department and 18 com-
munity action agencies paid out $133
million by a Sept. 30 deadline set by the
U.S. Treasury for states to commit at least
65% of their initial shares of rental assis-
tance. Oregon’s initial share was $204
million, and Oregon is in line for more
money that will be reallocated from other
states failing to spend their full amounts.
See Rental aid, Page A6
The goal was to let the kids play without adults distracting them
SEASIDE
By ERICK BENGEL
The Astorian
ARRENTON — Adults
at last Saturday’s youth
soccer games were asked
to do something out of character.
Something that goes against every
impulse of the passionate soccer
parent.
Be quiet.
The Lower Columbia Youth
Soccer Association held a “Silent
Saturday.”
Parents could clap but not speak to
the players.
Coaches could only give nonver-
bal guidance — or, if speaking was
necessary, do it in a mild voice, and
only when a game wasn’t underway.
They could talk to the refs, but only
to swap out players. And if coaches
made comments to the opposing
team, they had better be nice ones.
The goal was to let the kids play
without adults distracting them — to
give them a new way to experience
the game.
It was also to dial down the inten-
sity — the cheering and hollering and
drilling from the sidelines — that is
easy for grown-ups to get swept up
in.
“Even at practices, the parents
can be very, very, very loud,” said
Kirsten Pierce, of Astoria, whose
6-year-old daughter plays on a team.
“And when kids hear their names
they tend to turn around and look and
not pay attention. So I can see how
that would be an issue.”
At times, the noises can turn nega-
tive. Some adults have given players
and young volunteer referees a hard
time.
Couple
appeal to
city for
water
W
Dilemma over drinking water
By R.J. MARX
The Astorian
Erick Bengel/The Astorian
Parents had to hold their tongues on the sidelines.
‘A sour game
experience’
Earlier this month, the association’s
board members sent an email to parents
and coaches saying that, in an organi-
zation with about 600 players, “a very
small percentage of people are causing
problems and being out of line. Sadly
those people are loud enough to create
a sour game experience.
“We exist to provide a fun and safe
place to play soccer,” the email contin-
ued. “When kids don’t want to play and
refs don’t want to ref we have a problem.
The club leadership has received enough
complaints from parents of players and
refs that this needs to be addressed to
move the club in a positive direction.”
Participants come from all corners
— from Cannon Beach to Long Beach,
Warrenton to Knappa. Six hundred
kids on the roster means thousands of
people can pass through the Warrenton
Soccer Complex on Saturdays.
“Silent Saturdays” is practiced in
youth soccer organizations throughout
the country, O’Brien Starr-Hollow, the
association’s president, said.
“It just gives the kids an opportu-
nity to think, talk and do their thing
without input, or without looking to
the sidelines for input,” he said.
“Silent Saturdays are very, very,
very popular and common,” said John
Chapman, the association’s director of
coaching.
SEASIDE — An untreated water main
runs down their driveway in the middle
of the property off of U.S. Highway 26.
To the east, the water system’s headwa-
ters are only a mile and a half away. The
treated water connection is 1,700 feet to
the west. But Peggy and Brian Pogue
can’t get drinking water for their home
for up to 10 years, the city says, when the
system receives upgrades.
“We’re stuck, really,” Brian Pogue told
the City Council this month. “We don’t
have a water source. Right now, it’s abso-
lutely making us miserable. Our request
is that you consider letting us tap your
untreated line since we already have a
treatment system in place that we used for
our well water. Your line already crosses
our property and we believe it would be an
easy job to tap the line and install a meter.”
See Silent game, Page A6
See Appeal, Page A6
Film crew shoots scenes in Astoria
An independent project
starring Ridley
By NIKKI DAVIDSON
The Astorian
An independent film crew is in
Astoria shooting several scenes for
a movie starring Daisy Ridley.
Ridley is best known for her
role as Rey in the “Star Wars”
sequel trilogy “The Force Awak-
ens,” “The Last Jedi” and “The
Rise of Skywalker.” She also
appeared in the film “Murder on
the Orient Express.”
The crew for the independent
film quietly staged scenes at Cof-
fee Girl, Golden Luck Restaurant
& Lounge, the Port of Astoria, an
intersection downtown and pri-
vately owned property in the area.
Due to the independent nature
of the film and small size of the
crew, producers worked to keep
the production under wraps.
The name of the project hasn’t
been released yet, and producers
are tight-lipped about the details.
They revealed that the story takes
place near the water, which turned
their attention to Astoria.
“We needed a coastal town, and
we wanted to do it on the West
Coast because it’s honestly not as
photographed in film as the East
Coast is, like shooting something
in Maine or Massachusetts,” Alex
Saks, the film’s producer, said.
Saks, who has co-produced
several movies, including “The
Florida Project,” said it’s too early
to publicly disclose the details
and plotline of this film, but that
the team feels strongly about the
piece.
John Jolley
See Film, Page A6
A film crew shoots a traffic scene in a parking lot downtown.