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THE ASTORIAN • SATuRdAy, JANuARy 8, 2022
Virus: Several new
cases disclosed at
county schools
Continued from Page A1
Photos by Lydia Ely/The Astorian
Flooding has made driving treacherous on the North Coast.
Weather: North Coast schools closed Friday
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The school districts in Astoria, War-
renton, Knappa and Seaside canceled
classes on Friday.
Craig Hoppes, the Astoria superin-
tendent, said the school district made
the decision because of a “lack of
access to roads for buses — transporta-
tion. The weather report also came out
as having high winds and the potential
for power outages, but mainly lack of
access to roads.”
Hoppes said the decision to close
was made Thursday to help parents find
child care options.
On Thursday, after implementing
a two-hour delay, the Knappa School
District canceled all classes. Sev-
eral areas near Knappa faced signifi-
cant flooding and landslides, as well as
downed trees and other road debris that
disrupted transportation and left bus
drivers unable to complete their routes,
Knappa Superintendent Bill Fritz said.
Fritz said the school district con-
sulted with the Oregon Department of
Transportation and the Clatsop County
Public Works before making the
decision.
“They indicated that road condi-
tions would only get worse,” Fritz said.
“So we decided to shut down classes
to maintain the safety of students and
staff.”
Schools in Warrenton and Sea-
side closed early on Thursday due to
flooding.
Because of the flooding conditions
in neighboring communities and a con-
cern for safe travel, Clatsop Community
College announced Thursday that all of
its campuses would close at 5 p.m. and
through the remainder of the evening.
ABOVE: A gate near the Necanicum River was partially submerged by floodwaters. BELOW
LEFT: Cars crossed a submerged section of U.S. Highway 101 south of Seaside on Thursday.
BELOW RIGHT: A person stands at the edge of a flooded U.S. Highway 101 south of Seaside.
Phone and Internet Discounts
Available to CenturyLink Customers
Moratorium: ‘An unwillingness to discuss an issue’
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looking into in-depth to
make sure the best interests
of the community are being
served.”
Commissioners said it is
the City Council’s, not the
Planning
Commission’s,
responsibility to take the lead
in shaping the ordinance.
Commissioner Seth Mor-
risey, who is also a former
city councilor, said the deci-
sion to declare a moratorium
should come from the coun-
cil, not the commission.
“They’re more of the
political body,” he said. “I
feel that it would be more
appropriate if they actu-
ally initiated this, if that’s
what they want to do.”-
Commissioner Jon Wicker-
sham said he sought “a little
bit more information about
why we’re making a recom-
mendation and maybe a little
more structure around that
recommendation.”
After the meeting, Klec-
zek said she was disap-
pointed by the Planning
Commission’s
decision.
“Not seconding a motion to
me indicates an unwilling-
ness to discuss an issue,” she
said.
“I hope that the City
Council does move for-
ward with a moratorium of
some form. My motion was
not detailed intentionally, so
that the council would be
the body to determine the
form a moratorium would
take, depending on the time
frame and direction their
action would take — study
stand-alone or in conjunc-
tion with the comprehensive
plan review.”
Business park: Property part of enterprise zone
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it for development,” Assis-
tant County Manager Mon-
ica Steele said. “That is ulti-
mately what’s going to be
best for the taxing district.”
Columbia
Memorial
Hospital and Fort George
Brewery own portions of the
property on the south side of
Ensign Lane.
The property is part of
the Clatsop Enterprise Zone,
which is administered by the
county, Astoria, Warrenton
and the Port of Astoria.
The enterprise zone offers
companies tax breaks on
new investments in return
for improving property and
creating new jobs that pay
at least 150% of the average
county wage.
Fort George Brewery,
the first company to partic-
ipate, was approved in 2020
for an estimated $617,000 in
tax relief over 15 years. The
company promised to invest
at least $12.5 million in its
development of the former
Statewide, the health
authority reported a record
10,451 new virus cases on
Friday.
“Once again, COVID-19
has regrouped and is on the
march across Oregon,” Dr.
Dean Sidelinger, the state
health officer and state epi-
demiologist, said at a news
briefing. “Today, the high-
ly-contagious omicron vari-
ant is driving an alarming
spike in COVID-19 infec-
tions, virus-related hospital-
izations and test positivity.
We have seen this across our
recent days.
“Today, OHA will report
10,451 new daily cases
of COVID-19, a sobering
reminder of the formidable
challenge that lies ahead for
all of us. This is not the way
any of us wanted to begin
the new year. We are all tired
of taking steps to fight this
virus. We’re anxious as we
hear from more of our fam-
ily and loved ones who are
sick with, or were exposed
to COVID-19. All the data is
stark and discouraging.
“We all have tools to help
protect ourselves, loved ones
and our neighbors — vacci-
nations and masks.”
Gov.
Kate
Brown
announced she will deploy
up to 500 Oregon National
Guard personnel to support
frontline health care workers
at hospitals. An initial 125
National Guard personnel
will provide logistical sup-
port, help with testing and
other nonclinical services.
The National Guard had
been deployed during the
summer surge of virus cases
linked to the delta variant.
“With more than 500 cur-
rent hospitalizations and daily
record-breaking numbers of
COVID-19 cases, we are at
another critical point in this
pandemic — and the Oregon
National Guard is stepping
up again to assist,” the gover-
nor said in a statement.
With the new wave fore-
cast to peak on Jan. 27 with
1,650 people in the hospital,
the Oregon Health Author-
ity issued a crisis care pro-
tocol to guide doctors on
prioritizing possibly life-or-
death treatment.
Based on a model
already used by Washing-
ton and other states, patients
who would not survive if
discharged have top prior-
ity. Patients already under
care take precedence over
newly arriving cases of the
same level. If a choice needs
to be made between two
patients in identical medical
situations, the choice will be
made at random using a sys-
tem on the health authority
website.
“This is a very difficult
topic to consider and work
on,” said Dr. Dana Hargu-
nani, the health authority’s
chief medical officer.
The Jewell School Dis-
trict, meanwhile, sent all
kindergarten-through-third
grade students home this
week due to coronavi-
rus cases on Tuesday and
Wednesday.
One student and two staff
members tested positive,
Jewell Superintendent Steve
Phillips said, and due to con-
tact tracing and erring on the
side of safety, the school dis-
trict made the decision to
send all 32 of the K-3 stu-
dents home.
“We are following safety
protocols and doing our
best to keep kids safe and in
school,” Phillips said.
In a weekly outbreak
report, the Oregon Health
Authority disclosed seven
new virus cases at schools in
Clatsop County.
Three of the virus cases
were from the Warren-
ton-Hammond School Dis-
trict. One was a staff member
at Warrenton Grade School,
while the other two were
a student and staff mem-
ber from Warrenton High
School.
Two of the virus cases
were students at Hilda Lahti
Elementary in the Knappa
School District.
The final two virus cases
were students from the Sea-
side School District – one at
Pacific Ridge Elementary
and one at Seaside Middle
School.
The Oregon Capital
Bureau is a collaboration
between EO Media Group
and Pamplin Media Group.
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Lydia Ely/The Astorian
The North Coast Business Park property has been a challenge to develop.
Astoria Warehousing cam-
pus in Uniontown and create
at least 35 jobs.
Buoy Beer and Pilot
House Distilling’s par-
ent company, River Bar-
rel Brewing Inc., joined in
2021, along with fishmeal
company Scoular.
River Barrel prom-
ised to invest $8 million in
an expansion of its water-
front campus in Astoria, and
Scoular planned to spend
$10 million on a new fish-
meal plant near the Asto-
ria Regional Airport in
Warrenton.
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