A2
THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, MARCH 12, 2022
IN BRIEF
Longview man dies
in crash on Highway 26
SOLIDARITY
A man from Longview, Washington, died on Thurs-
day in a crash on U.S Highway 26 about a mile and a
half west of the state Highway 53 junction.
Oregon State Police said Joseph Arient, 46, was driv-
ing westbound in a commercial truck and towing a fl at-
bed trailer when the truck veered into oncoming lanes, left
the highway, collided with a tree and ended up on its side.
Warrenton High School receives
career readiness grant
WARRENTON — Warrenton High School received
$125,000 as a part of the state’s CTE Revitalization
Grant program.
The grant, with a focus on career readiness, will go
toward the school’s advanced manufacturing program.
State revises case count
for care home outbreak
The Oregon Health Authority on Wednesday
revised the case count for a coronavirus outbreak at a
Seaside care home.
The number of virus cases tied to an outbreak fi rst
reported on Jan. 11 at Suzanne Elise Assisted Living
Community now stands at 16.
The updated number was disclosed in the health
authority’s weekly outbreak report.
The health authority also disclosed three new virus
cases at Hilda Lahti Elementary School in Knappa.
Two cases were students and one case was a staff
member or volunteer.
The health authority, meanwhile, reported three
new virus cases for Clatsop County on Thursday and
one new case on Wednesday.
Since the pandemic began, the county had recorded
4,541 virus cases as of Thursday.
— The Astorian
DEATHS
March 9, 2022
BENSON,
Mark
Edward, 59, of Federal
Way, Washington, died
in Astoria. Caldwell’s
Luce-Layton Mortuary of
Astoria is in charge of the
arrangements.
H O L M S T E D T,
Donna Mae, 92, of Asto-
ria, died in Astoria.
Caldwell’s
Luce-Lay-
ton Mortuary of Asto-
ria is in charge of the
arrangements.
PORTER,
Roberta
Adrienne, 84, of Man-
zanita, died in Seaside.
Caldwell’s
Luce-Lay-
ton Mortuary of Asto-
ria is in charge of the
arrangements.
March 8, 2022
BRENDEN, Carolyn
Elaine, 73, of Warren-
ton, died in Warrenton.
Caldwell’s
Luce-Lay-
ton Mortuary of Asto-
ria is in charge of the
arrangements.
MEMORIALS
Wednesday,
March 16
AARNIO, Jean D. —
Mass of Christian Burial at
11 a.m., St. Birgitta Catho-
lic Church, 11820 N.W. St.
Helens Road in Portland.
Thursday,
March 17, 2022
AARNIO, Jean D.
— Graveside service
at 12 p.m., Greenwood
Cemetery, 91569 Oregon
Highway 202.
ON THE RECORD
Robbery
•
Cameron
Dar-
nell Petteway, 34, from
Steubenville, Ohio, was
indicted on Thursday for
second-degree
robbery,
aggravated harassment and
second-degree disorderly
conduct. The crimes are
alleged to have occurred
earlier this month.
Burglary
• Vincent David David-
son-Gilbert, 33, of Asto-
ria, was indicted on
Thursday for fi rst-degree
burglary, second-degree
burglary and attempted
second-degree burglary.
The crimes are alleged to
have occurred earlier this
month.
Theft
• William Charles
Whiteside, 36, of Asto-
ria, was indicted on Tues-
day for fi rst-degree theft,
second-degree theft, two
counts of unlawful entry
into a motor vehicle and
second-degree
criminal
mischief. The crimes are
alleged to have occurred in
February.
Disorderly conduct
• Kayla Marie Hun-
dley-Sandoval, 29, of
Astoria, and Sheila Lynn
Robb, 31, of Warrenton,
were arrested on Wednes-
day at the Garden of Surg-
ing Waves in Astoria for
second-degree disorderly
conduct.
• Denis John Reyn-
olds, 36, of Astoria, was
arrested on Wednesday on
W. Marine Drive for sec-
ond-degree disorderly con-
duct and third-degree crim-
inal mischief.
DUII
• Brandi June Morin,
41, of Seaside, was
arrested on Thursday at the
New Youngs Bay Bridge
for driving under the infl u-
ence of intoxicants.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
MONDAY
Jewell School District Board, 6 p.m., Jewell School Li-
brary, 83874 Oregon Highway 103.
Seaside City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broadway.
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Ukrainian fl ags are set up along Grand Avenue in Astoria. The United States has supported Ukraine after an invasion by Russia.
Federal grant helps state
improve access to jobless benefi ts
By PETER WONG
Oregon Capital Bureau
Oregon will spend more
than $4.5 million from a new
federal grant, one of four in
the nation, to improve its
reach to people who have
trouble obtaining unemploy-
ment benefi ts.
David Gerstenfeld, the
acting director of the Oregon
Employment Department,
said the grant will enable
the state to build on what
it started at the onset of the
coronavirus pandemic two
years ago, when a surge of
benefi t claims overwhelmed
the staff . Many claims were
from people who had never
applied for help or were
unfamiliar with the process.
“We have listened to the
needs that were voiced by
Oregon’s diverse commu-
nities,” Gerstenfeld told
reporters at a virtual brief-
ing Wednesday. “We have
quickly applied strategies
that have improved access.
“However, we know
we are still not meeting the
needs of all Oregonians,
especially those in under-
served communities. We
want to do better. This grant
will help us reach those peo-
ple who really need our ser-
vices, but have not been able
to access them.”
The agency will build on
its expansion of written and
website materials in lan-
guages other then English,
outreach to community
groups that can help people
navigate the system and one-
on-one meetings between
staff and workers who need
help.
A new unit within the
agency will focus on equita-
ble access to unemployment
benefi ts.
Among the groups that
the new eff orts will focus on
are Black people, Hispanics,
Asian Americans, Pacifi c
Islanders, Native Amer-
icans, immigrants, peo-
ple with disabilities, people
whose primary language is
not English and people who
are poor.
Money also will be spent
on collecting information
that the agency can use to
measure and improve its
eff orts.
Other jurisdictions that
received similar grants were
DIGITAL
EZpay (per month) .................................................................................................................$8.25
dreds of thousands of claims
that piled up in the early
weeks of the pandemic,
when businesses closed or
curtailed operations and
thousands lost their jobs or
took pay cuts.
In a move he later said
was a rare intervention in
state government aff airs,
Wyden called on Gov. Kate
Brown to fi re the depart-
ment’s director. Brown did
so in May 2020, and named
Gerstenfeld acting direc-
tor. He had led the unem-
ployment insurance divi-
sion from 2011 to 2019,
when he was moved over
to lead the paid family med-
ical leave program under
development.
“While the Oregon
Employment Department
continues to work tire-
lessly to get benefi ts out the
door as quickly as possi-
ble, I’m gratifi ed to see fed-
eral dollars going to help the
state address equity issues
head-on,” Wyden said in a
statement.
The Oregon Capital
Bureau is a collaboration
between EO Media Group
and Pamplin Media Group.
Oregon to receive
$425 million from
opioid settlements
By ROLANDO
HERNANDEZ
Oregon Public Broadcasting
After two settlements
with manufacturers and dis-
tributors of opioids, Ore-
gon is expected to receive
about $425 million for treat-
ment and prevention of opi-
oid abuse.
Approximately fi ve Ore-
gonians die every week from
opioid overdoses . According
to the Oregon Health Author-
ity, many overdose deaths are
linked to both prescription
pharmaceuticals and illicit
opioids such as heroin.
Wally Hicks is the legal
counsel for Josephine County.
He said in rural Oregon, the
eff ects were more dramatic
than other parts of the state.
“By 2012, Josephine
County was plagued by the
highest rate of opioid use in
the state,” he said. “Nearly
300 prescriptions per 1,000
residents.”
The statewide average at
the time, according to Hicks,
was 234 prescriptions per
1,000 residents.
He said that opioids not
only aff ected the health of the
community, but its workforce
as well.
“When the spike in opi-
oid availability occurred,
there was a dramatic decline
in the wood product industry
in southern Oregon,” he said.
Josephine County wasn’t
the only community hit hard
by opioids. Alex Cuyler is the
intergovernmental relations
manager for Lane County.
He said that despite eff orts
to make anti-overdose drugs
like n aloxone more accessi-
ble, Lane County continued
to feel the brunt of the opioid
crisis.
“Even through 2020, we
had the higher burden of
overdose deaths in the state
of Oregon,” he said.
Money from the settle-
ments will be divided among
local governments and the
state, with the state receiving
45%.
This wasn’t always the
case.
The
state
originally
intended to keep 85% to have
more centralized control,
but Lane and other counties
pushed back.
“We felt strongly that
since we initiated the lawsuit
… it was inappropriate for the
state to take the vast major-
ity,” Cuyler said.
Hicks said that if the orig-
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
Pennsylvania, Virginia and
Washington, D.C.
“These grants are the
fi rst of their kind to advance
equity in state unemploy-
ment insurance programs,”
said U.S. Labor Secretary
Marty Walsh, whose agency
oversees those programs.
“To become a more robust
safety net and economic
stabilizer, our unemploy-
ment insurance system must
serve all workers fairly and
equitably.”
Eff orts have stalled in
Congress to overhaul some
aspects of unemployment
benefi ts after Congress cre-
ated a host of temporary
federal benefi t programs in
2020 and 2021. Basic bene-
fi ts go back to 1935.
One of the champions
of change is U.S. Sen. Ron
Wyden, the Oregon Dem-
ocrat who leads the Senate
Finance Committee, which
oversees the payroll tax sys-
tem that employers pay into
to support benefi ts on a state
level.
Wyden had been critical
of the Oregon Employment
Department when it fell far
behind in processing hun-
Kristian Foden-Vencil/Oregon Public Broadcasting
Approximately fi ve Oregonians die every week from opioid
overdoses.
inal plan went through, it
would mean less relief at the
local level.
“Counties in Oregon are
the local public health author-
ity and really are the ones
who do the lion’s share of the
work to battle the opioid epi-
demic and deal with the con-
sequences,” he said.
He said more funds from
the settlement means more
investments in education and
prevention, medical examin-
ers, sheriff s and jails.
According to Hicks, the
cost associated with crime
and opioids in Josephine
County has been approxi-
mately $7 million beginning
in 2017.
“We are going to see an
impact here, but this epi-
demic is so overwhelming
and it’s not over yet,” Hicks
said.
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