149TH YEAR, NO. 97
WEEKEND EDITION // SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2022
$1.50
Crab fest
to return
after virus
disruption
In-person event
set for late April
By ABBEY McDONALD
The Astorian
Photos by Lydia Ely/The Astorian
New signs, lighting and a Portland Loo-style outdoor bathroom are planned for the Astoria Riverwalk.
Astoria approves design for
Riverwalk wayfi nding signs
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
N
ew signs , lighting and a Port-
land Loo-style outdoor bath-
room are in the works for the
Uniontown and downtown portions
of the Astoria Riverwalk .
The city expects to have new way-
fi nding signs, interpretive maps, trol-
ley-stop maps and mile markers
installed by spring. New lighting and
an outdoor bathroom will follow.
The Oregon Parks and Recre-
ation Department awarded the city a
$428,408 grant in 2021 to carry out
improvements. The city pro-
vided a 40% match from urban
renewal and tourism promo-
tion funds to bring the proj-
ect total to $717,345.
The City Coun-
cil on Monday
approved the
design for the signs.
“I think it’s an excellent eff ort,”
Mayor Bruce Jones said. “The signs
are really good. I’m appreciative of
the fact that each of the neighbor-
hoods have something, whether it’s
a full interpretive wayfi nding sign or
the trolley stop signs.”
W ayfi nding trailhead signs are
planned near the Maritime Memorial
in Uniontown, the Sixth Street view-
ing platform and the Barbey Mari-
time Center near the Columbia River
Maritime Museum off Marine Drive .
See Signs, Page A2
The Crab, Seafood & Wine Festival
will be held in person this April for the
fi rst time in three years.
The popular event, which regularly
sees over 10,000 attendees, serves as
a fundraiser for the Astoria-Warrenton
Area Chamber of Commerce and com-
munity groups.
First held in 1982, the festival was
canceled in 2020 due to coronavirus pan-
demic safety measures.
Last year’s virtual event featured an
online marketplace allowing participants
to chat with vendors and watch live music
from their screens. It also included Festi-
val Feast p assports, encouraging trips to
participating businesses and restaurants
around town.
See Crab fest, Page A6
CORONAVIRUS
State passes
the crest of
omicron wave
Risk remains over
next several weeks
By GARY WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
One of the wayfi nding trailhead signs is planned
near the Sixth Street viewing platform.
Oregon has passed the crest of the omi-
cron wave of COVID-19, but still faces a
dangerous time before levels drop back to
where they were in June, state health offi -
cials said Thursday.
“The number of people hospitalized
with COVID-19 has peaked and will
steadily recede until reaching pre-omi-
cron levels by the end of March,” accord-
ing to the forecast Thursday by Oregon
Health & Science University.
But the wave is not over.
See Omicron, Page A6
Lawmakers look to make child care more aff ordable
‘MY STORY IS THE SAME AS COUNTLESS OTHER PARENTS
STRUGGLING TO FIND AFFORDABLE CHILD CARE. I AND
SO MANY OTHER PARENTS SHOULDN’T HAVE TO CHOOSE
BETWEEN CARING FOR A CHILD AND WORKING.’
Gov. Brown calls for
a $100 million boost
By JULIA SHUMWAY
Oregon Capital Chronicle
As Jasmine Casanova-Dean
spoke to state legislators at a hear-
ing about child care this month , her
67-year-old grandmother watched
her 2-year-old daughter in another
room.
Casanova-Dean can only aff ord
professional child care two days a
week, so every other day she’s left
to shift her work schedule, seek help
from family or friends or tell her
daughter to be patient while she fi n-
Jasmine Casanova-Dean | Portland resident who spoke at a recent hearing about child care
ishes an important work meeting.
“My story is the same as count-
less other parents struggling to fi nd
aff ordable child care,” Casano-
va-Dean, of Portland, said. “I and so
many other parents shouldn’t have
to choose between caring for a child
and working.”
Lawmakers and Gov. Kate
Brown are trying to help, though
they acknowledge that the state can’t
do enough to make sure every fam-
ily that needs child care can aff ord it.
For state Rep. Karin Power, the
Milwaukie Democrat who leads the
House Early Childhood Commit-
tee, it’s a personal issue. She has two
young children in child care.
“It’s really expensive, and it’s
really expensive for everybody,”
Power said. “I’m hearing right now
too from families who can aff ord
care and still can’t get it because pro-
viders have closed.”
Brown has called for $100 million
in new spending. The Legislature’s
budget writers haven’t yet decided
how to spend the roughly $1.5 bil-
lion in extra state money, but there’s
broad support among Democrats in
the majority to spend at least some
on child care.
Child care advocates back a plan
that would spend about half of the
$100 million sum on grants for new
child care providers and existing
facilities that plan to hire more staff
or otherwise expand their programs.
A San Francisco model
ment Fund, which reported spend-
ing $168 million to create 273,000
new child care slots between 1984
and 2020. In total, that $168 million
resulted in $29 billion in monetary
benefi ts to families and communities,
according to the organization.
Oregon would use another $21
million for direct payments to child
care workers as incentives to stay
in the workplace. Child care work-
ers are paid an average hourly wage
of $14.95, according to the Oregon
Employment Department, slightly
more than the minimum wage but
lower than the starting salaries many
retailers and fast-food establish-
ments are off ering because of staff
shortages.
The last $4.3 million would go to
administrative costs associated with
combining the work of two state
Supporters pointed to the San
Francisco-based Low Income Invest-
Feb 19th & 20th
Saturday: 9 am- 3 pm ◆ Sunday: 10 am- 3 pm
Seaside Convention Center
You Never Know What You’ll Find At
A Collectors West Gun & Knife Show!
415 1st Avenue, Seaside
collectorswest.com
See Child care, Page A6
$
ADM
8
ISSIO
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