»INSIDE
Art in
THURSDAY
MARCH 3
Gearhart
2022
GALLERIES HOST
ART WALK
PAGE 4
ECOLOGY
OF INVASIVE
PLANTS
PAGE 6
RNS
CANNING RETU
TO ASTORIA
WATERFRONT
PAGE 8
ARTIST
INSPIRED I
BY FUNG
PAGE 9
DailyAstorian.com // THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2022
149TH YEAR, NO. 105
$1.50
Regatta to
return from
pandemic
disruption
Festival planned for August
County looks
to strengthen
emergency
management
By ABBEY McDONALD
The Astorian
The Astoria Regatta will return to tra-
dition this summer after opting for virtual
and scaled-back events during the past two
years of the coronavirus pandemic.
This year, the festival will be held from
Aug. 10 to Aug. 13. Signature events will
return, including the coronation of the
Regatta Queen, the Seamen’s Memorial
and the Grand Land Parade and the High-
water Boat Parade.
This is Melissa Grothe’s fi rst full-
scale festival since becoming president
of the Astoria Regatta Association last
year, which she said makes her both ner-
vous and excited. Grothe was a member of
the Regatta Court back in 2005, and since
joining the board in 2016 has served as a
chaperone, secretary and vice president.
“Growing up here, I watched the parade
as a kid and was totally that kid on the side-
walk collecting candy,” she said, laugh-
ing. “And so it’s fun to go from 4 -year-
old Melissa to now being in charge of the
whole festival.”
Grothe, who teaches fourth grade at
Lewis and Clark Elementary School, said
she is looking forward to the parades.
“They’re so much fun, and it’s just great
to see the community out and enjoying the
moment, as well,” she said.
The Astoria Regatta began in 1894,
making it the city’s oldest annual celebra-
tion. In its long history, it saw previous
cancellations due to World War I, the Asto-
ria fi re of 1922 and World War II.
The festival was canceled in 2020 due
to coronavirus safety precautions . L ast
year, organizers staged a shortened, one-
day festival, which included the Seamen’s
Memorial and the Highwater Boat Parade.
Gov. Kate Brown announced on Mon-
day that the state will lift an indoor mask
mandate next week , along with Washing-
ton state and California, following projec-
tions of a signifi cant decline in hospitaliza-
tions due to the virus. The governor will lift
the state of emergency on COVID-19 on
April 1.
Annalyse Steele, an alumni of Astoria
High School, has been the reigning Regatta
Photos by Lydia Ely/The Astorian
Water covers the edge of Highway 202 near Astoria in January.
A new director will lead a county department
By ERICK BENGEL
The Astorian
C
latsop
County
is
look-
ing to strengthen emergency
management .
The work of responding to natural
hazards and disasters — from fi res and
fl oods to a megaquake and tsunami —
would belong to a new county depart-
ment instead of the emergency manage-
ment offi ce.
Along with the restructure, the
county will recruit a full-time depart-
ment director, who will report to the
county manager. Tiff any Brown, the
county’s emergency manager and direc-
tor of the Emergency Operations Cen-
ter, will report to the new director.
The position will be funded by
money reallocated from an emergency
management coordinator role, which
has been vacant since last year.
At a recent county Board of C om-
missioners meeting, County Man-
ager Don Bohn said he hopes to have
someone in place within three to four
months.
Rain and high tides caused fl ooding near Seaside in January.
See Emergency, Page A3
See Regatta, Page A3
Crockett to run for Astoria City Council Jewell superintendent
She serves as
executive director of
the Liberty Theatre
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
Jennifer Crockett, the
executive director of the
Liberty Theatre, intends
to run for the Astoria City
Council in the November
election.
Crockett is the fi rst per-
son to announce her can-
didacy for the downtown
Ward 3 seat held by City
Councilor Joan Herman.
Herman has chosen not
to seek a second, four-year
term.
Crockett, who has led the
Liberty since 2016, said she
is invested in the arts and the
success of downtown busi-
nesses. She said she wants to
be part of the discussion in
deciding how the city posi-
tions itself for the future,
especially coming out of the
coronavirus pandemic.
“Looking
at
Commer-
cial, it looks
like it’s strug-
gling,” she said.
“We have a lot
of empty spaces,
or underutilized
spaces. We have
a really divided community
right now.
“I feel like the commu-
nity needs a win. And often-
times, that win comes from
arts and culture.”
Crockett said the arts
are an economic driver in
Clatsop C ounty. She also
pointed to two times in the
past century when the arts
helped pull Astoria out of
hard times.
Once, she said, was after
the fi re of 1922, when the
Liberty and sev-
eral other the-
aters were built.
Then, after the
economic down-
turn in the late
1980s and early
1990s, she said
the Liberty was
renovated and helped spur
economic revitalization in
the community.
“I would really like
to inject arts into the
See Crockett, Page A3
placed on paid leave
School board says
Phillips under
investigation
By ETHAN MYERS
The Astorian
Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
Jennifer Crockett is the
executive director of the
Liberty Theatre.
Harbor Freight Tools to open store in Warrenton
Moving into space
vacated by Staples
By ETHAN MYERS
The Astorian
WARRENTON — Har-
bor Freight Tools, a tool
and equipment retailer, has
announced plans to open a
location in Warrenton.
The Calabasas, Califor-
nia-based company will
occupy the vacant building
alongside U.S. Highway 101
off Ensign Lane in the War-
renton Highlands shopping
center, where Staples had
been located until the offi ce
supply store closed last year .
See Store, Page A3
Harbor Freight Tools will open a location in the Warrenton
Highlands shopping center.
JEWELL — Steve Phil-
lips, the superintendent
of the Jewell School Dis-
trict, has been placed on
paid administrative leave
pending an independent
investigation.
Following an executive
session Tuesday night, the
rural district’s school board
took steps toward fi nding
an acting replacement for
Phillips .
The disciplinary action
taken against Phillips
was announced during
the school board’s Feb.
15 special session, which
also followed an executive
session. An investigation
began shortly after that
meeting, Michael Stahly,
the school board’s chair-
man , said.
Stahly declined to dis-
close why Phillips was
placed on leave or the rea-
son for the investigation.
Phillips could not imme-
diately be reached for
comment.
“We are trying to main-
tain smooth operations of
the district while we are
going through the inves-
tigation,” Stahly told The
Astorian .
Dan Goldman, the
superintendent of the
Northwest Regional Edu-
cation Service District,
attended Tuesday’s meet-
ing to assist the school
district with bringing in a
replacement.
The school board voted
unanimously to approve
the job description that was
crafted by Goldman, which
states that the acting super-
intendent will be on duty
through June .
Cecilia Mialon, a par-
ent attending the meet-
ing, asked the school board
about the possibility of
the acting superintendent
becoming permanent in
their role.
“It depends if we fi nd
them, we have that need
and they are willing,”
Stahly replied.
The pursuit of a new,
full-time
superinten-
dent down the road would
require another process,
said Nancy Hungerford,
the school board’s general
counsel, who attended the
meeting virtually .
Goldman and Hunger-
ford said it may be diffi cult
to fi nd many candidates to
See Phillips, Page A3