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149TH YEAR, NO. 126
DailyAstorian.com // THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022
$1.50
City
chooses
child care
provider
A partnership with
Bumble Art Studio
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
Photos by Lydia Ely/The Astorian
Nathan Pinkstaff , a
deck mechanic, is the
challenger in
District 3.
Commissioner Pamela Wev Commissioner Mark Kujala,
is running for a second term
the board’s chairman, is
in District 3 representing
running unopposed for a
Astoria.
second term in Warrenton’s
District 1.
Commissioner Lianne
Thompson is running
for a third term in South
County’s District 5.
Steve Dillard, an
innkeeper, is the
challenger in
District 5.
CANDIDATES’ FORUM
HOUSING, CHILD CARE AMONG TOPICS
AT COUNTY COMMISSION FORUM
By ERICK BENGEL
The Astorian
C
latsop County commissioners and the
challengers looking to unseat them
in the May election outlined their
strengths and diff erences
Tuesday night at a candidates’
forum at Clatsop Community
College in Astoria.
Two of the region’s defi n-
ing issues — housing and
child care — came up during
a discussion moderated by
Chris Breitmeyer, the college
president, in the Patriot Hall gymnasium.
Breitmeyer asked the candidates what
projects they would promote to increase
aff ordable housing.
The question came after a controver-
sial project at Heritage Square in Asto-
ria that would have provided work-
force and supportive housing was nixed,
amid a storm of criticism, after the cost
to the city became clear. The
Northwest Oregon Housing
Authority recently unveiled
an aff ordable housing project
for seniors and the disabled
next to the Owens-Adair
Apartments in Astoria.
Commissioner
Pamela
Wev, who is running for a
second, four-year term as the District 3
representative for Astoria on the Board
of Commissioners, cited her support for
two housing projects: Trillium House,
a workforce housing project slated to
break ground in Warrenton , and the pro-
posed expansion at Owens-Adair .
Wev is the board’s delegate to the
h ousing a uthority, which manages
low-income housing in Clatsop, Colum-
bia and Tillamook counties.
Her challenger, Astoria resident
Nathan Pinkstaff , said that in addition to
cities and the county, developers should
be brought into the conversation.
Pinkstaff , a deck mechanic for Tide-
water Barge Lines, also said the 2019
c ounty h ousing study should be updated
to refl ect the pandemic era.
See Commissioners, Page A6
State Senate, House candidates appear at forum
A potential preview
of November election
By ETHAN MYERS
The Astorian
In a potential preview of the Novem-
ber election, candidates for the state Sen-
ate and House went behind the micro-
phones Tuesday night at a candidates’
forum in Astoria.
Betsy Johnson’s decision to launch an
independent campaign for governor cre-
ated an open seat in state Senate District
16 and a domino eff ect in state House
District 32.
State Rep. Suzanne Weber, a Tilla-
mook Republican, and Melissa Busch,
See Candidates, Page A6
Melissa Busch, a
nurse in Warren,
is the Democratic
candidate in state
Senate District 16.
State Rep.
Suzanne Weber
is the Republican
candidate in state
Senate District 16.
Cyrus Javadi, a
Logan Laity, a
community organizer dentist in Tillamook,
is a Republican
in Tillamook, is
candidate in state
the Democratic
House District 32.
candidate in state
House District 32.
The city will partner with Bumble Art
Studio, an Astoria preschool provider, on
child care.
The new arrangement means 21 chil-
dren enrolled at Sprouts Learning Center
will continue to have child care without
interruption.
After the city ends services at Sprouts
at the end of June, Bumble Art Studio will
take over operations at the Astoria Recre-
ation Center on July 1.
“I can’t tell you how excited all of us on
council are that our program — although
it will terminate in its current form — that
the facility will still be used for child care
under diff erent management with a part-
nership with the city, and those kids will
continue to be cared for,” Mayor Bruce
Jones said during a City Council meeting
on Monday night.
The city announced plans to close
Sprouts Learning Center in February after
reaching a critical staffi ng shortage and
operating at an unsustainable loss. After
See Child care, Page A3
Surf Pines man
sentenced for
child porn
Cazee pleaded guilty
to two counts
By ERICK BENGEL
The Astorian
A Surf Pines man received a 17-year
sentence in federal prison on Monday for
producing child pornography.
Kirk Richard Cazee,
60, was convicted in U.S.
District Court in Port-
land for crimes involv-
ing the sexual exploita-
tion of two girls younger
than 16.
He had been indicted
by a federal grand jury Kirk Richard
Cazee
in September 2018 on 10
counts that covered pro-
ducing, receiving, possessing and trans-
porting child pornography. As part of a
plea deal, Cazee pleaded guilty to two
counts of producing the pornography.
See Cazee, Page A6
Jewell principal resigns Transit district drops mask requirement
Wood declined to
disclose reason
By ETHAN MYERS
The Astorian
Jon Wood, the principal at
Jewell School, has resigned.
At Monday night’s school
board meeting, Mike Stahly, the
board chairman, read a state-
ment acknowledging that Wood,
who has been in the role for three
years, is stepping away at the end
of the school year.
Wood declined to comment on
his resignation or the reason for
his departure.
School b oard members Stahly
and Mike Wammack and acting
Superintendent Brian Gardner all
thanked Wood for his service .
Wood was brought on as prin-
cipal in 2019 after serving as
the director of programs for the
Nyssa School District in Eastern
Oregon.
“In my experience – again,
I got here a month and a half,
two months ago – Jon has done
everything that I’ve asked him to
do,” said Gardner, who was hired
by the school district in March
on an interim basis. “He’s essen-
tially running the operations of
the school right now and he’s
done a good job. I wish him well
in his next endeavors.”
M embers of the unions for
Jewell’s educators and classi-
fi ed employees sent a letter to the
school board in March regarding
their confi dence in Wood’s abili-
ties and leadership.
Move follows a
federal judge’s ruling
By ETHAN MYERS
The Astorian
The Sunset Empire Transporta-
tion District announced that masks
to protect against the coronavirus
are optional for riders and employ-
ees on buses and in facilities.
The move comes after a federal
judge in Florida struck down the
national mask mandate for public
transportation on Monday, leav-
ing room for agencies to determine
their own mask requirements.
The decision was based on the
judge’s ruling, guidance from the
Federal Transit Administration and
the U.S. Transportation Security
Administration’s announcement
to make masks optional, the transit
Colin Murphey/The Astorian
See Principal, Page A3
Masks are no longer required on local buses.
See Masks, Page A6