A2
THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2021
IN BRIEF
Two virus deaths reported in county
The Oregon Health Authority reported two new
coronavirus deaths for Clatsop County from the
summer.
A 66-year-old woman died on Sept. 12 at Prov-
idence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland.
She tested positive on Aug. 24 and had underlying
conditions.
A 75-year-old man died on Sept. 13 at Providence
Portland Medical Center. He had tested positive on
Aug. 21.
Both were unvaccinated, the county said.
Clatsop County’s reported number of virus deaths
now stands at 34. The health authority has recorded
35, but the county maintains that the extra death was
not a county resident.
Meanwhile, the health authority reported 12 new
virus cases in the county over the weekend and two
new cases on Friday.
As of Monday, the health authority had recorded
2,567 virus cases in the county since the pandemic
began. The state surpassed more than 5,000 virus
deaths since the start of the pandemic, with the total
standing at 5,017 on Monday.
The health authority on Tuesday also lifted the
mandate on wearing masks in outdoor public spaces
because of declining numbers in virus cases and
hospitalizations.
City Council will review
construction near 11th Street steps
An Astoria homeowner who built into a city right
of way next to the iconic 11th Street pedestrian stairs
will appeal to elected offi cials to keep her deck and
fence intact.
On Monday, city staff recommended denying
Billie O’Neel’s request for a license to occupy a
portion of land next to the so-called pigeon steps
that rise between Irving Avenue and Jerome on 11th
Street.
O’Neel, who lives in Arkansas but has owned her
Astoria home at the top of the steps for years, had
built a deck and fence over a failing retaining wall
located in the city right-of-way without fi rst obtain-
ing necessary permissions from the city. A license
to occupy would have allowed her to keep what she
built on city property.
O’Neel has requested a review of the staff ’s deci-
sion. The matter is expected to go in front of the City
Council in early December.
City staff wrote that O’Neel’s additions to the
property impact “one of the most recognized and
iconic vistas” in the city. The improvements were
not consistent with Astoria’s development code and
could make it diffi cult to access and maintain water
and sewer pipes located in the city right-of-way in
the future.
O’Neel’s renovations also hide the city’s retain-
ing wall from view, staff noted, and create a safety
issue since any further deterioration “will not be eas-
ily visible and may go unaddressed until catastrophic
failure occurs.”
And there was another issue: O’Neel had not
received prior approval or obtained permits or
permissions before she built into the city right
of way.
O’Neel contends that the city has long neglected
the retaining wall and her fi x was done with good
intentions. She also wants to help fund improve-
ments to colonnades at the top of the 11th Street
stairs.
She had hoped applying for a license to occupy
would put her back in good standing with the city.
Staff say they are looking into other code violations
tied to her renovation work.
— The Astorian
DEATHS
In Brief: Nov. 25,
2021
Deaths
Nov. 21, 2021
KUJALA,
Norman
Frederick, 90, of Warren-
ton, died in Warrenton.
Caldwell’s Luce-Layton
Mortuary of Astoria is in
charge of the arrangements.
Nov. 20, 2021
HELLBERG,
Neil
Roger Sr., 86, of Astoria,
died in Portland. Ocean
View Funeral & Cre-
mation Service of Asto-
ria is in charge of the
arrangements.
Nov. 11, 2021
NIEMI, Edward A.,
87, of Portland, for-
merly of Astoria, died in
Portland.
MEMORIAL
Wednesday, Dec. 1
Memorial
MATTILA, Vicki Icel — Burial service at noon,
Wilhelm’s Portland Memorial Mausoleum, 6705 S.E.
14th Ave.
ON THE RECORD
On the Record
DUII
• Diego Francisco Escorcia Rosales, 32, of Astoria,
was arrested on Saturday at Commercial and Eighth
streets in Astoria for driving under the infl uence of
intoxicants.
Established July 1, 1873
(USPS 035-000)
Published Tuesday, Thursday
and Saturday by EO Media Group,
949 Exchange St., PO Box 210, Astoria, OR
97103 Telephone 503-325-3211,
800-781-3211 or Fax 503-325-6573.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to
The Astorian, PO Box 210, Astoria, OR
97103-0210
DailyAstorian.com
Circulation phone number:
800-781-3214
Periodicals postage paid at Astoria, OR
ADVERTISING OWNERSHIP
All advertising copy and illustrations
prepared by The Astorian become the
property of The Astorian and may not
be reproduced for any use without
explicit prior approval.
COPYRIGHT ©
Entire contents © Copyright,
2021 by The Astorian.
MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MEMBER CERTIFIED AUDIT OF
CIRCULATIONS, INC.
Printed on
recycled paper
PREPPING
FOR THE FEAST
Lydia Ely/The Astorian
Deanna Evans, left, and Esther Steele put together Thanksgiving grocery bags for the South County Community Food Bank to pass out.
Crash: ‘We’ve lost some amazing young men here’
Continued from Page A1
Paul Nofi eld recalls Brax-
ton’s extensive assortment of
colorful and crazy shoes that
refl ected his personality.
“He had a Nike collection
that was wild,” he said, add-
ing even when Braxton was
wearing professional shoes for
work, he often had on wacky
socks underneath.
The Braxton family was
traveling to Union, Wash-
ington, for Escape Lodging’s
managers retreat at the Alder-
brook Resort & Spa when the
accident occurred.
Upon hearing of the inci-
dent, the mood and the focus
of the retreat changed, said
Patrick Nofi eld.
“We gathered all our man-
agers up in a room and talked
about the grief and loss and
prayed and just tried to be
there for each other.”
Instead of celebrating the
company’s success and going
through their strategic plan-
ning process, Patrick Nofi eld
added, it became a time to
explore, “How do we honor
our core values by being fam-
ily right now?”
“This kind of stuff hap-
pens every day throughout the
world, but when it hits you,
it’s like, ‘How tragic, what a
loss,’” he said. “It gives you
more empathy.”
A tribute to Kobe
At Cannon Beach Acad-
‘THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR ALL
THE DONATIONS AND PRAYERS. WE
LOVE EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU.’
Trisha Sweet | Amber Hulbert’s sister, who started
a GoFundMe to support the family
emy, “It’s been a roller
coaster,” Hull said. “All those
things that make life so busy
and hectic just seemed to
stop. You just are shocked and
numb and can’t realize what
has just happened and what
has been taken away.”
When he fi rst heard the
news about the accident on
the afternoon of Nov. 10, his
response was disbelief.
“You’re like, ‘Well, no,
they got their information
wrong. That can’t be what
happened,’” he said.
The academy was holding
its fi rst Parent Teacher Orga-
nization meeting that evening,
and throughout it, they contin-
ued to get updates about the
family, including that Kobe
was in a medically induced
coma at the hospital.
“That was very tough,”
Hull said. “Everybody was
very caring and thoughtful,
and we had good discussions
there with the parents.”
The school also sent out a
message on Veterans Day, so
families had a chance to talk
about what happened with
their students on a day when
they didn’t have school. It
Food tax: Is meant to target tourist dollars
Continued from Page A1
The
tax
dominated
City Council meetings for
months, but it was a big item
that involved other big items,
such as a new City Hall.
Though city councilors set-
tled on rebuilding at the loca-
tion of the present City Hall
facility, that discussion is still
in its infancy, Steidel said.
Then there is the ques-
tion of how to budget the
food tax. City offi cials
are gearing up to prepare
the next fi scal year’s bud-
get, but it is still unknown
how the tax revenue will be
accounted for in those doc-
uments. The fi re district and
the city are not sure what to
expect in revenue returns
in the early months of the
tax.
The food tax is meant to
target tourist dollars. It was
promoted as a way to get
visitors to help cover the
costs of needed infrastruc-
ture upgrades in the city and
rising calls for emergency
services.
Proponents emphasized
DIGITAL
EZpay (per month) .................................................................................................................$8.25
the passthrough nature of the
tax and believe businesses
who administer the tax will
not suff er as a result. Visi-
tors, they argue, probably
won’t even notice. Many vis-
itors travel to Cannon Beach
from areas that already have
sales taxes, they said.
But
business
own-
ers argue that administer-
ing the tax will bring addi-
tional costs and the tax could
be a deterrent to customers.
They worry about the overall
impact after nearly two years
of pandemic-related restric-
tions and disruptions.
The City Council had
considered passing the tax
as an ordinance. City Coun-
cilor Robin Risley pushed
for the matter to go to voters
and ultimately voted with the
majority to put the tax on the
November ballot.
“I felt it was a big enough
issue that the citizens should
make that decision,” she said.
To her, the close vote
justifi ed this approach: It
showed just how important
the issue was to the commu-
nity, she said.
Peace tree: ‘Really tolerant of the ocean and they’re drought tolerant’
Continued from Page A1
In locating the tree, Flem-
ing and Dale McDowell, the
city’s Public Works director,
recognized they couldn’t
plant it in the park’s fi eld
or near the swings or under
power lines — and sites by
the side of the road proved
problematic. They settled
on a southern area of the
park. While still small, the
tree could grow from 30
to 45 feet, Fleming said,
although don’t expect that
anytime soon — ginkgo
mature slowly.
Ginkgo trees can be
found up and down Hol-
laday Drive, she said.
“They’re really tolerant
of the ocean and they’re
drought tolerant. One of the
criteria for us getting the
tree was that we had to have
irrigation, and there’s irriga-
tion here.”
Fleming nurtured the
tree in a pot in her driveway
until it was sturdy enough
for replanting.
“If you plant a tree too
far in the ground and actu-
ally cut off its air, it’ll suff o-
cate it,” she said. “You want
to lay a shovel handle across
it horizontally. You can use
Subscription rates
Eff ective January 12, 2021
MAIL
EZpay (per month) ...............................................................................................................$10.75
13 weeks in advance ...........................................................................................................$37.00
26 weeks in advance ...........................................................................................................$71.00
52 weeks in advance ........................................................................................................ $135.00
wasn’t until Nov. 12 that news
reached the school about the
tragedy.
“We talked to the kids,”
Hull said. “We were very hon-
est, very transparent on what
happened and what’s going
on, and then we listened, too.”
The students in Kobe’s
class immediately came up
with the idea of writing notes
to place around his desk. They
are fi lled with drawings and
messages such as, “We miss
you, Kobe” and “I love you,
Kobe.”
“Our kids, our family, our
community, our teachers, they
are very strong in supporting
each other,” Hull said.
The Seaside School Dis-
trict also had counselor Kaile
Jones visit the academy on
Nov. 15 to provide support to
the students. When it became
clear there was need for extra
time to counsel students, she
returned on Nov. 16.
“Every kid that came to
her asked to come,” Hull said,
adding some students were
able to go back a second time
“after they had a chance to
think about it.”
Since the crash , Trisha
Sweet, Hulbert’s sister, started
a GoFundMe campaign to
support the family. While the
original fundraising goal was
set at $20,000, the amount
raised had surpassed $77,000
as of Monday, with more than
570 donors.
“We are very thankful for
everyone that is helping and
supporting our family through
this rough time,” Sweet wrote
on the GoFundMe page, later
adding, “Thank you every-
one for all the donations and
prayers. We love each and
every one of you.”
On Nov. 11, there was a
post on Driftwood’s Face-
book page stating, the Drift-
wood family “is mourning the
shocking loss of our beloved
manager, Michael Brax-
ton, who passed away ear-
lier this week in a tragic auto
accident.”
“Please join us in show-
ing Michael’s family incred-
ible support as they move
through this tragedy,” the
post continued. “Your gener-
osity and prayers are deeply
appreciated.”
Community members and
contributors have expressed
an outpouring of love and sup-
port for the family and shared
memories of Braxton and
Kobe .
“Our community is get-
ting back and we’re getting
through this, but we’ve lost
some amazing young men
here,” Hull said. “It is a loss.”
WANTED
Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber
Northwest Hardwoods • Longview, WA
Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500
the handle of the shovel to
make sure the ‘fl are’ of the
tree is not too low.”
After planting the tree,
volunteers placed soil back
around it and added com-
post over the top.
Fleming will put pro-
tective stakes and netting
around the tree, and eventu-
ally a plaque with the history
of the tree will be installed.
The local Kiwanis club
donated the Cartwright Park
playground equipment and
adopted the park.
Tracy MacDonald, the
lieutenant governor of the
Lower Columbia Division
of Kiwanis, said h e appre-
ciated the symbolism of
the planting. “We have pro-
gressed since the war,”
MacDonald, a former U.S.
Marine, said. “It’s been a
big shift.”
GAME MEAT PROCESSING
Debbie D’s will be at
Cash & Carry in Warrenton
at 10:00 a.m. every Saturday
to pick up and deliver
meat for processing.
20 lb. min • Each batch individual
Please call Mon-Fri between
10-4 so we know to expect you.
DEBBIE D’S Jerky & Sausage Factory
2210 Main Avenue N. • Tillamook, OR • 503-842-2622