A2
THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2021
IN BRIEF
PLUVIUS
SNOW
Seaside student faces discipline
after bomb threat
SEASIDE — A Seaside Middle School student made
a bomb threat on social media on Sunday, police said.
The threat was reported by another student, who saw
the message during an Instagram Live session, school
administrators said in a letter to the community.
“After interviewing the student and their parent in per-
son we have determined that this is not a credible threat,”
administrators said.
Classes operated as normal on Monday.
Cpl. Justin Gagnon, the student resource offi cer, made
contact with Instagram and was able to retrieve critical
information establishing the account was created using a
local phone number, administrators said.
That information allowed administrators and police
to confi rm that a middle school student made the threat
during the Instagram Live session.
The incident came days after a similar threat on social
media led to the cancellation of classes in the Seaside
School District. Police determined that it was not a credi-
ble, localized threat.
The student involved with the second threat could face
criminal charges and disciplinary action from the school.
— The Astorian
Conservation group sues Army Corps over
Columbia River pollution
A conservation group is suing the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, saying the agency is polluting the Columbia
River with hot water, oil and toxic chemicals that are kill-
ing large numbers of endangered salmon.
Columbia Riverkeeper fi led the lawsuit Wednesday
in federal courts in both eastern Washington state and
Oregon.
The lawsuit contends four dams operated by the Army
Corps on the Columbia River between Portland and the
Tri-Cities of Richland, Pasco and Kennewick in Wash-
ington discharge illegal pollution in violation of the Clean
Water Act.
The dams make the water too hot for endangered
salmon and steelhead to survive, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit contends the Army Corps failed to obtain
permits that would place regulatory limits on its dis-
charges of heated water, grease and oil from the dams.
The Clean Water Act prohibits discharges of pollutants in
federal waters unless permitted.
“Salmon are dying because the water is too hot. It’s
past time for the Army Corps to reduce illegal heat pol-
lution from dams,” said Brett VandenHeuvel, the execu-
tive director of Columbia Riverkeeper. “No one is above
the law.”
— Associated Press
Green hydrogen production could benefi t from
Oregon State research
Researchers at Oregon State University say they have
developed a breakthrough that could make hydrogen
energy more aff ordable.
Hydrogen has for years been in the clean energy con-
versation, along with solar panels, electric vehicles and
wind turbines. One of hydrogen’s big advantages is that
it can store carbon-free energy for when it’s needed the
most.
But clean hydrogen has yet to take off , in part because
of its high production costs — a barrier that Oregon
State’s new research has the potential to help overcome.
The research uses a catalyst — a substance that
increases the rate of a chemical reaction without chang-
ing itself permanently — to make green hydrogen pro-
duction more aff ordable and accessible, said Zhenxing
Feng, a chemical engineering professor at Oregon State
who led the research.
“We actually improved its effi ciency by almost 1,000
times better than commercial standards,” said Feng,
who is with the faculty of Oregon State’s College of
Engineering.
— Oregon Public Broadcasting
In Brief
PUBLIC MEETINGS
TUESDAY
Clatsop County Planning Commission, 10 a.m., (elec-
tronic meeting).
Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District Board,
4 p.m., workshop, Bob Chisholm Community Center, 1225
Avenue A, Seaside.
Cannon Beach City Council, 6 p.m., work session, (elec-
tronic meeting).
Lewis & Clark Fire Department Board, 6 p.m., main fi re
station, 34571 U.S. Highway 101 Business.
Warrenton City Commission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 225 S. Main
Ave.
Seaside School District Board, 6 p.m., (electronic meet-
ing).
Clatsop Community College Board, 6:30 p.m., (electronic
meeting).
WEDNESDAY
Clatsop County Board of Commissioners, 10 a.m., work
session, (electronic meeting).
Astoria City Council, 1 p.m., work session, City Hall, 1095
Duane St.
Seaside Tourism Advisory Committee, 3 p.m., City Hall,
989 Broadway.
Seaside Library Board of Directors, 4:30 p.m., 1131
Broadway St.
THURSDAY
Cannon Beach Design Review Board, 6 p.m., (electronic
meeting).
Seaside Transportation Advisory Commission, 6 p.m.,
City Hall, 989 Broadway.
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Jeff Clemens/Chinook Observer
Pluvius — in the Willapa Hills near the Pacifi c-Lewis county line — had about 4 inches of snow on the ground at midday Thursday.
Store: A ‘showcase’ for Astoria
Continued from Page A1
“I’m trying to breathe
some life down here,” he
said.
Crowchild, a mem-
ber of the Nlaka’pamux
Nation — a Native Amer-
ican tribe from British
Columbia — has been
thrifting for over 2 1/2
decades. He started his
entrepreneurship selling
items online, but began
participating in Portland
markets the past couple
of years, where he devel-
oped a number of connec-
tions with the thrifting
community.
Those
connections
eventually brought him to
Astoria, where he reached
out to William Hicks —
the owner of the building
— with interest in open-
ing a more permanent
location.
Rain Town features
items from nearly 30 dif-
ferent vendors. Many are
local, while some have
ventured from Portland to
sell their products.
Crowchild is well aware
of the countless number
of thrift and vintage-style
shops in the area. He
believes his will stand out .
“I’m looking for this to
be the working person’s
vintage store,” he said.
“You don’t have to come
here and buy a $100 shirt.
We have $10 shirts.”
He plans to keep rent
low for vendors, so, in turn,
they can keep prices low
for customers.
Rain Town features a
variety of vintage products:
clothing, records, jewelry,
furniture, audio equipment,
antiques and more. The
older the better, Crowchild
said. S ome products are
nearly a hundred years old.
Crowchild despises fast
fashion — a term referring
to cheap and trendy cloth-
ing that samples ideas from
celebrity culture.
A focus of Rain Town,
he said, is recycling and
avoiding wasteful habits .
“You don’t think about
it when you are buying a $5
shirt — ‘Oh, that’s cheap.’
But that is going to break
down in a couple washes
and you’re going to throw
it away,” he said. “When
this stuff — some of it is
from the ‘20s — we keep
recycling it and giving it
new life. I am really, really
passionate about that and I
think it is important.”
Just a few days after
opening the shop, Crow-
child hosted a clothing-
and-cash drive for his
vendors .
The
clothes
were
donated to the Astoria
Warming Center, while the
money was donated to the
Chinook Indian Nation .
Since opening, Crow-
child has heard from sev-
eral customers eager to
support a Native American
businessman .
To pay homage to the
region’s native history,
Crowchild is working with
the Chinook Indian Nation
to get local art set up. He
looks forward to selling
those items, in addition to
other items acknowledging
Astoria’s rich history.
“There are a lot of
things that Astoria has to
show, and I just want to
be a showcase for all those
things,” he said.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
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Mentors: Group collaborates with other agencies
Continued from Page A1
part about what they hear
from us is that our services
are free, that they don’t
have to spend any money,
they don’t have to do any
paperwork.”
Staff member Jessica
Moon will be handling
cases in the region, and she
recently placed their fi rst
local client with a job at a
health care facility. S he is
focusing on sharing infor-
mation with employers
about hiring people with
disabilities.
Norbury said the group
hopes to combat the stigma
around disability and to
educate employers. Their
clients include veterans,
people with mental health
challenges and those with
physical and cognitive
disabilities.
“I think that (vocational
rehabilitation) is just not as
well known, and anybody
can apply to VR,” Norbury
said. “Even if you don’t
think you have a disability,
if you’re seeking employ-
ment and you are fi nding it
diffi cult, there’s a challenge
ment of Human Services,
Clatsop Behavioral Health-
care, WorkSource Ore-
gon and the Youth Transi-
EVEN IF YOU DON’T THINK
YOU HAVE A DISABILITY, IF
YOU’RE SEEKING EMPLOYMENT
AND YOU ARE FINDING
IT DIFFICULT, THERE’S A
CHALLENGE OR BARRIER
TO YOU FINDING THAT
EMPLOYMENT.
Dee Norbury, director of Bridge City Mentors
or barrier to you fi nding that
employment. Apply for VR,
they’ll either deny you or
accept you.”
Bridge City is a refer-
ral based program, and
they often receive clients
through the state .
The program is also
working with t he Depart-
tion Program . They are also
open to private clients.
“It’s a group eff ort, all
the agencies want to work
together. They want to work
with agencies like ours,
they want to work with VR.
But it’s not really built
into the fabric of this thing
to talk to each other,” Nor-
bury said.
She said she is seeing
more collaboration among
agencies, and hopes to
work toward their com-
mon goals of job place-
ment, increased inter-
net access and housing
assistance.
“Our work will be in
continuing to go to cham-
ber events, continuing to
speak out about what it
is we do, monitoring the
employment environment
here in Astoria, and getting
to know other agencies and
employers,” she said.
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