A2
THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2021
IN BRIEF
Walgreens employee in
Warrenton stabbed in parking lot
A Walgreens employee in Warrenton was stabbed
in the pharmacy’s parking lot on Saturday night.
The suspect, a male wearing a black hoodie with
white lettering, had fl ed on foot, running through
Walgreens’ east-side parking lot, Warrenton police
said.
He was seen with a sharp weapon, which caused a
serious but not critical wound to the 70-year-old male
victim, who was transported for treatment at Colum-
bia Memorial Hospital in Astoria. The victim lives in
Warrenton.
Warrenton police have partnered with the Clat-
sop County Major Crime Team to investigate the
incident.
Anyone with information is asked to contact offi -
cer David Yelton at dyelton@ci.warrenton.or.us or
503-325-8661.
Offi ces to close for Thanksgiving holiday
In observance of Thanksgiving Day, all federal
and state offi ces are closed Thursday. County and
city offi ces and services, including Astoria, Warren-
ton, Gearhart, Seaside and Cannon Beach city halls,
are closed Thursday and Friday. All U.S. post offi ces
are closed Thursday, and there is no mail delivery.
The Astoria School District and Clatsop Com-
munity College are closed Thursday and Friday.
The Knappa and Seaside school districts are closed
Wednesday through Friday. The Jewell and War-
renton school districts are closed Monday through
Friday.
The Astoria Library and Warrenton Library are
closed Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The Seaside
Library is closed Thursday and Friday.
The Port of Astoria offi ces and services are closed
Thursday and Friday.
Recology Western Oregon garbage collection cus-
tomers whose regular service is on Thursday will
have their garbage picked up on Friday; customers
whose regular service is on Friday will have their
garbage picked up on Saturday. The Transfer Station
is closed Thursday. City of Warrenton garbage col-
lection customers whose regular pickup day is Thurs-
day will have their garbage picked up on Friday.
The Sunset Pool in Seaside and the Astoria Aquatic
Center are closed Thursday.
The Clatsop County Heritage Museum, Oregon
Film Museum, Flavel House and Carriage House
are closed Thursday. The Uppertown Firefi ghters’
Museum is closed for the winter.
The Sprouts Learning Center is closed Thursday
and Friday. Fort Clatsop is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Columbia River Maritime Museum is closed
Thursday.
Sunset Empire Transportation (“The Bus”) is not
running Thursday.
— The Astorian
DEATHS
Nov. 20, 2021
In KILLION,
Brief
David
Clinton, 81, of Warren-
ton, died in Warrenton.
Deaths
Caldwell’s
Luce-Lay-
ton Mortuary of Asto-
ria is in charge of the
arrangements.
Nov. 19, 2021
QUINN, Vivian, 95,
of Seaside, died in Sea-
side.
Hughes-Ransom
Mortuary is in charge of
the arrangements.
Nov. 13, 2021
HAGMAN, Mark, 67,
of Madras, died in Sea-
side.
Hughes-Ransom
Mortuary is in charge of
the arrangements.
Nov. 1, 2021
MATTILA, Vickie,
82, of Seaside, died in
Seaside. Hughes-Ransom
Mortuary is in charge of
the arrangements.
ON THE RECORD
Experts advise eating one
crab species to save another
By KALE WILLIAMS
The Oregonian
Sometimes the best thing
you can do to help a crab
survive is to eat a crab.
At least that’s the case
when two species, one
native and one invasive,
are competing for the same
resources, as has recently
come to pass in Coos Bay on
the southern Oregon Coast.
The European green crab,
described by researchers as
an “aggressive invader,” has
been making its way around
the world’s temperate coast-
lines over the past century. In
the past six years, it has been
making increasing inroads
in Coos Bay, according to
Shon Schooler, lead scien-
tist and research coordina-
tor at South Slough Reserve,
which recently published a
study on green crabs in the
region.
“Green crab numbers
have reached a critical
point where we can begin
to expect negative impacts
on surrounding coastal and
estuarine habitat and other
organisms,” Schooler said
in a statement. “This in
turn may impact our local
fi sheries.”
Green crabs destroy eel-
grass meadows, important
food sources for other spe-
cies, and they prey on clams,
oysters and mussels. Most
troublingly, though, the
invaders also displace juve-
nile Dungeness crabs, which
are native to the Oregon
Coast, and make them more
vulnerable to predators.
The spread of the green
crab is not isolated to Coos
Bay, either, said Sylvia
Yamada, an assistant pro-
fessor at Oregon State
University.
“All estuaries follow sim-
ilar trends,” Yamada said in a
statement. “In the past, green
crab larvae were carried in
warm ocean currents to Ore-
gon from established pop-
ulations in California. Now
that green crabs are abun-
dant in Oregon, Washington
and British Columbia, there
is evidence some larvae
are coming from the north,
while others are reproducing
locally. This doesn’t bode
well for the future unless we
get a series of years when
the water is colder.”
Coastal residents, visitors
and Dungeness crab lovers
are not powerless against the
tide of green crabs washing
Experts are hoping the public can help stem the tide of the European green crabs, an invasive
species competing for resources with Oregon’s native Dungeness crab population.
Crab season: ‘I think we’re
headed for some positive stuff ’
Continued from Page A1
At the same time, domoic acid —
and the diatom that produces the natu-
rally-occurring marine toxin — seems
to have almost disappeared from ocean
waters off Oregon and Washington.
Crabbing vessels can begin to set gear
on Nov. 28 and could begin pulling ocean
crab pots on Dec. 1.
It is the fi rst time in years that Ore-
gon has cleared meat fi ll hurdles in the
fi rst round of tests, said Tim Novotny,
spokesman for the Oregon Dungeness
Crab Commission.
A starting price per pound still needs
to be set, but, Novotny said, “we are
over one big hurdle to a potential Dec. 1
opener for the fi rst time since 2014.”
Last season, the state gave commer-
cial crabbers the green light in mid-De-
cember but regional price talks and
elevated levels of domoic acid in Wash-
ington delayed the start of season.
Still, with the all-clear from the state
this season, fi shermen and buyers can
begin to prepare in earnest earlier than
has been normal for a while.
Crab could be at markets in time for
Christmas this year, another fi rst in a long
time, said Dan Ayres, coastal shellfi sh
manager with the Washington Depart-
ment of Fish and Wildlife.
Commercial Dungeness crab is one
of Oregon’s most valuable fi sheries.
up on Oregon’s shores, how-
ever. Offi cials and experts
alike are asking the pub-
lic to do its part by catching
and consuming some of the
uninvited crustaceans.
Despite a delay last year, fi shermen still
landed 12.2 million pounds coastwide in
Oregon for an ex-vessel value of $60.6
million. The West Coast fi shery is man-
aged under a tri-state agreement between
Oregon, Washington and California.
Cold water off the coast now could
also mean domoic acid is unlikely to
be an issue this winter. The toxin load
in razor clams — an important indica-
tor species when it comes to tracking the
presence of domoic acid — is in the sin-
gle digits and dropping in Washington
state, Ayres said.
In Oregon, domoic acid and pseu-
do-nitzschia, the diatom that produces
the toxin, is just “background noise at
this point,” said Matt Hunter, shellfi sh
project manager with the Oregon Depart-
ment of Fish and Wildlife.
“You never give it 100% confi dence,
but I think compared to past years it cer-
tainly looks better than it was,” he said.
The good meat fi ll results may also be
a boon for the fi shery beyond allowing for
an earlier start. Fishery managers do not
use the tests to predict crab abundance,
but Ayres said they did see a higher num-
ber of crabs in pots they pulled.
It is impossible to predict very far in
advance for any fi shery, however.
“We’ll see what we see when we get
there,” Ayres said.
But, he added, “I think we’re headed
for some positive stuff ahead.”
The
South
Slough
Reserve even published
some culinary recommenda-
tions for eating green crab,
including how to identify,
clean and trim the critters
— for both soft- and hard-
shell varieties — as well as
recipes for green crab cev-
iche, green crab fried rice
and green crab stock, among
others.
Theft
DUII
On
the
Record
• Thai
Clappe,
39,
• Richard Nelson Sur-
Knappa Fire: Women were subjected to sexist comments
of Astoria, was arrested geon, 63, of Goodyear,
on Friday at Walmart in
Warrenton for theft in
the second degree and
criminal trespass in the
fi rst degree.
Arizona, was arrested on
Saturday on U.S. High-
way 26 near milepost
4 for driving under the
infl uence of intoxicants
and reckless driving.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
TUESDAY
Clatsop County Planning Commission-Countywide
Citizen Advisory Committee, 9 a.m., joint meeting, (elec-
tronic meeting).
Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District, 5:15 p.m.,
Bob Chisholm Community Center, 1225 Avenue A, Seaside.
Astoria Planning Commission, 5:30 p.m., City Hall, 1095
Duane St.
Cannon Beach Planning Commission, 6 p.m., (electronic
meeting)
Seaside Airport Advisory Committee, 6 p.m., City Hall,
989 Broadway.
Warrenton City Commission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 225 S. Main
Ave.
WEDNESDAY
Astoria Parks Board, 6:45 a.m., City Hall, 1095 Duane St.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
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Continued from Page A1
Although both Olhe-
iser and Sue Stunkard, a
fi re district board member,
said Lenz did not apply for
the lieutenant rank, they
acknowledged that the fi re
district did not have a formal
application process in place.
In the absence of a pro-
cess, promotions happened
by appointment and at the
chief’s discretion.
Lenz was “both the only
woman to hold an offi cer
role and was also the only
offi cer who was not given
the lieutenant ranking,” the
report said .
“Chief Olheiser was
unable to explain why he
had not given (Lenz) an offi -
cer ranking and therefore
could not provide a legit-
imate,
nondiscriminatory
reason for his actions,” the
report said .
F ire C hief Kurt Donald-
son put a formal applica-
tion process in place after he
replaced Olheiser in 2019.
The bureau found that
Lenz and another female
colleague were not given
the same chances to partic-
ipate in training needed to
advance professionally.
In addition, women on the
A longtime Knappa fi refi ghter faced gender discrimination,
the state found.
crew were subjected to sex-
ist and degrading comments.
One male coworker
described a woman as “too
fat and short to be a fi re-
fi ghter” and claimed that
women “should not (be) on
the fi re service ,” the report
said .
This same coworker
“refused to let the women
perform certain aspects
of their jobs, berated and
demeaned them in front
of others, including new
recruits, and may have
aff ected the way others in
the fi re district perceived or
treated” the women on staff ,
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the report said .
Lenz
discussed
the
harassment and discrimina-
tory treatment with Olheiser,
who did not take corrective
measures.
She also shared her con-
cerns with Stunkard and the
rest of the fi re board , but
the unprofessional behavior
went unaddressed.
Olheiser also made it
clear he did not appreci-
ate that Lenz had gone to
the board, according to the
report.
In April 2019, Lenz was
“suspended from confl agra-
tion fi res for one year.” The
following November, she
discovered that the fi re dis-
trict had “replaced her as
EMS o ffi cer without noti-
fying her.” Lenz, who had
been with the district since
2003, perceived these moves
as retaliation.
Lenz fi led her complaint
the next month.
The Bureau of Labor and
Industries’ report said the
fi re district denied many of
the allegations, including
that women on staff were
denied career opportunities
based on their gender. The
district said in its defense
that Lenz had “never offi -
cially reported unlawful
conduct to the b oard, and
only raised concerns during
an unoffi cial get-together of
b oard members.”
The report, however,
found that “admissions,
witness statements and
text messages are substan-
tial evidence that (Lenz)
reported gender discrimina-
tion to Chief Olheiser, Sue
Stunkard, and to the b oard,
and that (the district) did not
take immediate or appropri-
ate corrective action.”
Asked about the state’s
fi ndings and Lenz’s poten-
tial lawsuit , Donaldson
said the fi re district does
not comment on personnel
matters.
It is worth discussing, he
said, “how woefully unrep-
resented women are in
the American fi re service
overall.”
Donaldson said the fi re
service “should strive to
look like the folks that we
work for, and we don’t.”
The fi re chief said, “We
as a service need to be
doing everything we can to
get more equal representa-
tion in our ranks. ”