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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (March 8, 2022)
A2 THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, MARCH 8, 2022 IN BRIEF Flory to step into interim Seaside planning director role SEASIDE — Jeff Flory, the city’s code enforce- ment offi cer, will serve as acting planning director. The position became open after Kevin Cupples retired on Feb. 15. Cupples was a Seaside employee since 1998. Assistant City Manager Jon Rahl made the announcement at last week’s Planning Commission meeting. The city has received one internal applicant for the planning director position, Rahl said, although the search outside the city “has been slow, to be quite frank.” State reports new virus cases for county The Oregon Health Authority has reported several new coronavirus cases for Clatsop County over the past few days. The health authority reported nine new virus cases for the county over the weekend, one new case on Fri- day, four new cases on Thursday and three new cases on Wednesday. Since the pandemic began, the county had recorded 4,536 virus cases as of Monday. — The Astorian State lawmakers scrap plan to clear some past nonunanimous jury convictions The Oregon Legislature eff ectively decided convic- tions by nonunanimous juries should remain in place for older criminal cases. In 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled nonunan- imous juries unconstitutional. The court’s decision in Ramos v. Louisiana also noted Oregon’s jury sys- tem for more than 80 years was rooted in racism and discrimination. In a separate ruling last year, the justices left it up to Oregon to determine whether to apply the ruling retro- actively, meaning people convicted by nonunanimous juries could have their cases re-examined. The amended version of Senate Bill 1511, which did not reach the Senate fl oor for a vote, would’ve applied only to people in custody convicted by a jury of 10 to 2 or 11 to 1, and whose victims were not minors. Democrats declined to advance the bill after it passed the Senate Judiciary Committee last month along party lines. — Oregon Public Broadcasting DEATH Feb. 22, 2022 In OSBURN, Brief James A., 77, of Seaside, died in Sea- side. Hughes-Ransom Mortuary is in charge of the arrangements. Death MEMORIALS Saturday, March 12 Memorials CARLSON, Bertie Leonard “Len” Jr. — Vir- tual celebration of life at 10 a.m., via Facebook, at fb.me/e/2lWmQll87 CARLSON, Charles B. “Chuck” — Cele- bration of life at noon, American Legion Post 99, 1315 Broadway in Seaside. ON THE RECORD DUII On the Robert Record • William Romine, 70, of Cornelius, was arrested on Sunday on U.S. Highway 26 for driving under the infl uence of intoxicants and reckless driving. PUBLIC MEETINGS TUESDAY Clatsop County Planning Commission, 10 a.m., (elec- tronic meeting). Seaside School District Board, 4:30 p.m., special meeting, (electronic meeting). Clatsop Care Health District Board, 5 p.m., Clatsop Re- tirement Village, 947 Olney Ave., Astoria. Lewis & Clark Fire Department Board, 6 p.m., main fi re station, 34571 U.S. Highway 101 Business. Cannon Beach City Council, 6 p.m., work session, (elec- tronic meeting). Warrenton City Commission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 225 S. Main Ave. Clatsop Community College Board, 6:30 p.m., (electronic meeting). WEDNESDAY Clatsop Soil and Water Conservation District, 10 a.m., (electronic meeting). Astoria School District Board, 5:45 p.m., (electronic meeting). Clatsop County Board of Commissioners, 6 p.m., (elec- tronic meeting). Warrenton-Hammond School District Board, 6 p.m., Warrenton High School Library, 1700 S. Main Ave. Knappa School District Board, 6:30 p.m. Knappa High School Library, 41535 Old U.S. Highway 30. THURSDAY Seaside Convention Center Commission, 5 p.m., 415 First Ave. PUBLIC MEETINGS Established July 1, 1873 (USPS 035-000) Published Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday by EO Media Group, 949 Exchange St., PO Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103 Telephone 503-325-3211, 800-781-3211 or Fax 503-325-6573. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Astorian, PO Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103-0210 DailyAstorian.com Circulation phone number: 800-781-3214 Periodicals postage paid at Astoria, OR ADVERTISING OWNERSHIP All advertising copy and illustrations prepared by The Astorian become the property of The Astorian and may not be reproduced for any use without explicit prior approval. COPYRIGHT © Entire contents © Copyright, 2022 by The Astorian. MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MEMBER CERTIFIED AUDIT OF CIRCULATIONS, INC. Printed on recycled paper END OF AN ERA On their fi nal evening as owners and operators of The Depot in February, Nancy Gorshe and Michael Lalewicz did as they had done at the Seaview restaurant for nearly the past 20 years. Gorshe greeted eager guests at the door and escorted each to their awaiting table. Meanwhile, chef Lalewicz was busy in the back kitchen, grilling ribeyes and pan-searing rockfi sh. Luke Whittaker/Chinook Observer Beach house: ‘We’ve been dealing with this easement since September’ Continued from Page A1 The City Council held a public hearing last week for a driveway access easement — a requirement before the building permit is consid- ered — but held off making a decision pending the out- come of the legal challenges and other information. Prior to the hearing, Hay- stack Rock LLC, which owns land to the north of the Roberts’ property, fi led a claim for declaratory relief in Circuit Court to determine the rights and obligations of the city and the Roberts. The court fi ling claims the Roberts do not have the right to build a driveway on an unimproved public right of way. T he city, the fi ling claims, has the authority to deny the easement request for failure to adequately demonstrate safety, code compliance or that it is in the public’s interest. Haystack Rock LLC also argued that the city may not grant the proposed private easement, and that the right of way cannot be used for anything other than a public thoroughfare. The property owned by Haystack Rock LLC includes a replica of a his- toric cabin once owned by former Gov. Oswald West. To the south of the Roberts’ property sits an undevel- Lydia Ely/The Astorian Stanley and Rebecca Roberts want to build a beach house off Hemlock Street. oped city-owned lot called Inspiration Point, purchased in the early 2000s with the help of the public to preserve green space along the coastal cliff . The undeveloped lots off the Hemlock Street curves are some of the few ocean- front parcels left near the heart of the city. As drafted, the easement agreement would still give the city authority to allow public pedestrian access to and along the city’s prop- erty at any time. The drive- way is also required to be at grade or as close to grade as possible. William Rasmussen, the attorney representing Hay- DIGITAL EZpay (per month) .................................................................................................................$8.25 erts’ attorney, told the City Council he does not think the lawsuit has any merit. He suggested the council approve the easement sub- ject to a condition that the design be approved by the city. “We look at the law- suit really as not a friendly lawsuit to the city, but one that’s kind of been designed to intimidate my client and city in this public process,” Koback said. “We don’t think a late fi ling of a law- suit the day before a public hearing is a reasonable basis to say, ‘L et’s put this on hold,’ after we’ve been deal- ing with this easement since September.” Qaqundah: Comes from a family of doctors Continued from Page A1 Another room is devoted to music and features a col- lection of acoustic instru- ments, new and vintage, that Qaqundah’s wife, the song- writer and guitarist Mysh- kin Warbler, has found and spruced up. In 2013, one of Qaqundah’s musician friends, who decided to play matchmaker, invited her to a gig she would perform with Warbler. She showed Qaqundah a poster with Warbler on it. “‘Look who’s coming to town to play a show with me,’” Qaqundah recalls her friend saying. “And I was like, ‘Yes! OK!’” Soon afterward, Qaqundah and Warbler started dating long distance, then moved in together. About two months into their cohabitation, Qaqundah had a minor procedure that required stitches. Two days later, she went into septic shock. Her organs began shutting down. She slipped into a coma that lasted six days. She was given epineph- rine, which shunts blood from the extremities to vital organs. Qaqundah survived, at the expense of both legs, the fi ngers of her right hand, damaged internal organs and much of her skin. Her body is covered with skin grafts, and she spent time in a burn unit, she said. She was put on opioids, then had to kick them once she was out of hospital care. “There’s such a dark place — like I’d lost my hope and light, you know? — and really had to rely on my friends to remind me who I was,” she said. Qaqundah collected her friend’s stories surround- ing her hospital experience — how they heard about her ordeal, how it aff ected them, how they rallied around her. Subscription rates Eff ective January 12, 2021 MAIL EZpay (per month) ...............................................................................................................$10.75 13 weeks in advance ...........................................................................................................$37.00 26 weeks in advance ...........................................................................................................$71.00 52 weeks in advance ........................................................................................................ $135.00 stack Rock LLC, told the City Council that the suit was fi led, in part, to help reduce the city’s risk of a future lawsuit from the Roberts. He asked the City Council to hold off until the litigation and a traffi c safety assess- ment have been completed. “The legal expense and making all the arguments that I want to make, and my clients want to make and the public wants to make, will not be on the city’s dime,” he added. Haystack Rock LLC was one of the groups that signed on in support of the city in the Roberts’ appeal to the Court of Appeals. Chris Koback, the Rob- WANTED Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber Northwest Hardwoods • Longview, WA Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500 She turned the pieces into a 456-page collaborative memoir, “Held Together,” self-published in 2018. Around the same time, Warbler fi nished an album, “Trust and the High Wire,” largely about meeting Qaqundah and what they went through together. The couple wove their words and music into a performance piece, which debuted with about a dozen musicians and readings by the book’s contributors. Eventually, Qaqundah and Warbler turned the piece into a two-person act and took it on the road. A gig at KALA marked Qaqundah’s fi rst time in Astoria. “We got out of our rig, and we were like, ‘Oh yes,’” she recalled. A year later, they were Astoria residents. Qaqundah has been musical since she was a child , playing piano, guitar and djembe. She was just learning the violin when she got sick. Afterward, she couldn’t hold the instru- ment properly; she had lost too much tissue on her left arm. She and Warbler realized Qaqundah could hold an upright instrument. So she took up the cello. “I am lucky enough to get to play in Myshkin’s band,” she said. In the offi ce they share at Grateful Rain, mounted on the wall, is the poster of the concert that brought them together. rial Memo for March 12th, 3pm at Astoria Elks Lodge Steve Roman Vaccinated Only Please
