A2
THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2022
IN BRIEF
Astoria to hold public information
meeting on sidewalk project
Astoria and the Oregon Department of Transporta-
tion will host a virtual public information meeting Thurs-
day to discuss upcoming construction projects along state
Highway 202.
The projects include construction of a new sidewalk,
bike lane, retaining walls and drainage improvements
between Dresden Street and Fifth Street.
The city is also planning to replace an aging water-
line along the highway between Alameda Avenue and
Fifth Street.
State discloses virus case at local school
The Oregon Health Authority has disclosed one new
coronavirus case at a school in Clatsop County.
The case was a student from Hilda Lahti Elementary
School in Knappa, according to the health authority’s
weekly outbreak report.
Free fi shing during
Presidents Day weekend
Fishing, clamming and crabbing will be free state-
wide during Presidents Day weekend.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife will not
require fi shing and shellfi sh licenses or tags. All other regu-
lations, including bag limits and size restrictions, still apply.
Before harvesting crabs and clams, call the Oregon
Department of Agriculture’s shellfi sh safety hotline at
1-800-448-2474 or visit the website at oregon.gov/ODA
to check for closures due to biotoxins.
Mask, less
Luke Whittaker/Chinook Observer
Several Ilwaco High School students walked out earlier this month in
protest over mask mandates to control the spread of the coronavirus.
About 30 students, and several parents, amassed near the front steps
of the high school, waving signs and voicing their concerns. Gov. Jay
Inslee announced on Thursday that the mask mandate for schools
and other places in Washington state would be lifted on March 21.
County revises voter precinct numbers
Recent adjustments made to Clatsop County Board
of Commissioners’ district boundaries after the census
have changed the numbering of voter precincts.
The county clerk’s offi ce has numbered the precincts
101 through 125.
Voter ID cards refl ecting updated precinct and dis-
trict numbers will be mailed out around early March, the
county said.
March 8 is the deadline for potential candidates to fi le
for county commission seats 1, 3 and 5 for the May election.
Tillamook man to run for state House
Logan Laity, of Tillamook, has fi led to run in the
Democratic primary for state House District 32.
Laity, a volunteer coordinator and a small-business
owner, was one of the eight candidates nominated by the
Democratic Party of Oregon to fi ll a state Senate Dis-
trict 16 vacancy. Laity fi nished fourth in voting at a party
meeting in Seaside in January.
State Rep. Suzanne Weber, R-Tillamook, is giving up
her seat to campaign for Senate District 16.
— The Astorian
Weyerhaeuser receives $40,000 water
quality fi ne from Washington state
LONGVIEW, Wash. — The Washington Department
of Ecology has fi ned Weyerhaeuser $40,000 for storm-
water quality violations at its Longview mill.
According to a penalty notice issued to Weyerhae-
user, the department found 30 occasions where the
mill’s stormwater discharge broke the state limits on cer-
tain water quality parameters between October 2020 and
November. The discharge violations largely had to do
with the water’s fi ve-day biochemical oxygen limit and
its turbidity, or relative clarity.
— The Daily News
DEATHS
In Brief
Deaths
Feb. 17, 2022
HAUKE, Skip, 78,
of Astoria, died in Asto-
ria. Ocean View Funeral
& Cremation Service of
Astoria is in charge of the
arrangements.
Feb. 16, 2022
SIMMONS,
Paula
Mary, 76, of Seaside, died
in Seaside. Caldwell’s
Luce-Layton Mortuary of
Astoria is in charge of the
arrangements.
DUII
possession and consum-
On
the
• Tanner
James Record
Cork- ing a marijuana item
in a motor vehicle on a
highway.
• Robert Francis
Cole, 45, of Astoria, was
arrested on Feb. 1 on U.S
Highway 101 for DUII
and reckless driving.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
TUESDAY
Clatsop County Planning Commission and Countywide
Advisory Committee, 9 a.m., joint meeting, (electronic
meeting).
Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District Board,
5:15 p.m., 1225 Ave. A, Seaside.
Warrenton City Commission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 225 S. Main Ave.
Astoria City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 1095 Duane St.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
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949 Exchange St., PO Box 210, Astoria, OR
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POSTMASTER: Send address changes to
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DailyAstorian.com
Continued from Page A1
Last summer , Clatsop Care Mem-
ory Community, which houses resi-
dents with dementia, experienced an
outbreak of 37 virus cases among resi-
dents and staff . Five residents died.
The federal Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention warned early in
the pandemic that care homes — where
residents, who often have age-related
health issues, gather in close quar-
ters — were especially susceptible to
COVID-19 outbreaks that could lead
to severe illness or death.
Clarissa Barrick, the administrator
at Clatsop Care Health & Rehabilita-
tion, another facility under the health
district umbrella , said that, at this stage
in the pandemic, an outbreak would not
necessarily keep residents from seeing
their loved ones. “It’s so important, to
just daily life, to be able to receive vis-
itors,” she said.
The health authority also disclosed
that an outbreak reported at Columbia
Memorial Hospital in Astoria in late
January now stands at 24 virus cases.
The investigation started on Jan. 19.
Nancee Long, the hospital’s com-
munications director, said in an email
that the hospital has no new informa-
Circulation phone number:
800-781-3214
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2022 by The Astorian.
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Clatsop Care Health District
The state reported a coronavirus
outbreak at a local memory community.
tion on the outbreak. “CMH, like most
other organizations and hospitals,
experienced a surge in COVID cases at
the end of January and early February,”
she wrote.
Long said that none of Columbia
Memorial’s cases associated with the
outbreak originated in the hospital, and
that all caregivers notifi ed the hospi-
tal’s employee health department.
The Astorian
A Portland man is suing
Clatsop County and s her-
iff ’s o ffi ce personnel for
actions he claims led to a spi-
nal injury that required emer-
gency surgery.
In a complaint fi led in
U.S. District Court in Port-
land in August, William
Darmody, 59, claims that in
August 2019, when the s her-
iff ’s o ffi ce drove him from
Marion County Jail’s pris-
oner exchange hub to Clat-
sop County Jail, he was not
safely secured in the vehicle.
He claims that while the
vehicle was moving at least
50 mph on state Highway
217 in Tigard, the driver hit
the brakes, causing Darmody
to lurch from his bench seat,
strike the seat in front of him
and end up on the fl oor.
He alleges that jail staff
did not off er him proper med-
ical treatment when he asked.
When Darmody was
released
from
Clatsop
County Jail a few days later,
he went to Oregon Health &
Science University Hospital,
was diagnosed with cauda
equina syndrome, indicat-
ing pressure on nerves in his
spine, and underwent sur-
gery, according to his lawsuit.
The injury, Darmody
alleges, has led to a host of
medical issues in his lower
body.
Darmody claims his civil
rights were violated .
In the county’s answer to
Darmody’s complaint, the
defendants’ deny that Dar-
mody pleaded for help or that
he was injured on the trip as
he describes.
The lawsuit is in the early
stages of discovery, accord-
ing to Aaron Tillmann, Dar-
mody’s
Portland-based
attorney.
“The s heriff ’s o ffi ce has
a moral, ethical and legal
responsibility to provide ade-
quate medical care for every
human being in its custody.
Every defendant named in
this lawsuit failed to meet
that responsibility over and
over again,” Tillmann said
in a statement. “As a result
of these repeated failures of
the Clatsop County Sheriff ’s
Offi ce, Mr. Darmody suf-
fered irreversible damage.
We intend to hold the defen-
dants accountable for those
failures.”
Sheriff Matt Phillips said
his offi ce has been advised
not to comment on pending
litigation.
In observance of Pres-
idents Day on Monday,
all federal, state, county
and city offi ces and ser-
vices, including Astoria,
Warrenton, Gearhart, Sea-
side and Cannon Beach
city halls, are closed.
All U.S. post offi ces are
closed, and there is no
mail delivery.
Astoria,
Jewell,
Knappa,
Warrenton/
Hammond and Seaside
(including Cannon Beach
and Gearhart) school dis-
trict schools, and Clatsop
Community College, are
closed.
The Astoria Library,
Seaside Library and War-
renton Library are closed.
The Port of Astoria
offi ces and services are
closed.
Garbage
collection
through Recology West-
ern Oregon and the city
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of Warrenton garbage col-
lection are not aff ected
by the holiday. Recology
Western Oregon’s transfer
station is open.
The Sunset Pool in
Seaside is open. The
Astoria Aquatic Center is
closed for maintenance.
The Clatsop County
Heritage Museum and
Uppertown Firefi ghters’
Museum are closed. The
Oregon Film Museum
is open from 11 a.m. to
5 p.m., the Flavel House
is open from 11 a.m.
to 4 p.m., and the Car-
riage House is open from
10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Sprouts Learn-
ing Center is closed. Fort
Clatsop is open from
9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The
Columbia River Maritime
Museum is open from
9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Sunset Empire
Transportation
District
(“The Bus”) is running.
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“We are grateful that this surge
seems to have passed and we continue
to care for the community,” she wrote.
Long urged people to consider get-
ting vaccinated and boosted against
COVID-19, and to “maintain good
hygiene habits as we fi ght this pan-
demic together.”
In Seaside, Suzanne Elise Assisted
Living Community is listed in the
weekly outbreak report as having 12
virus cases — up from an initially
reported eight — tied to an outbreak
fi rst reported on Jan. 11.
Administrators at Suzanne Elise
referred The Astorian to Avamere
Heath Services LLC, the facility’s
owner-operator based in Wilsonville.
Avamere Heath Services could not
immediately be reached for comment .
S tate health offi cials have said the
wave of virus cases related to the omi-
cron variant has crested. Oregon’s
indoor mask requirement is slated to
end by March 31 .
T he health authority reported 11
new virus cases for Clatsop County
on Thursday and 14 new cases on
Wednesday.
Since the pandemic began, the
county had recorded 4,448 virus cases
as of Thursday.
Offi ces to close
Former inmate
sues county over for Presidents Day
spinal injury
By ERICK BENGEL
The Astorian
ON THE RECORD
ill, 20, of Seaside, was
arrested on Feb. 4 near
U.S. Highway 101 and
Highlands Lane for driv-
ing under the infl uence
of intoxicants, speed-
ing, being a minor in
Outbreak: ‘This surge seems to have passed’
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