WEEKEND EDITION // SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2022
149TH YEAR, NO. 136
AT ISSUE/ABORTION
On the North Coast, lack of access
to abortion can complicate choice
$1.50
Hyak
Maritime
secures key
state grant
A $13.9M infusion
for boat lift project
By ABBEY McDONALD
The Astorian
Centralia
The Oregon Transportation Commission
approved $13.9 million in state funding for
Hyak Maritime’s mobile boat lift project at
Tongue Point during a meeting Thursday
after hearing objections from several ship-
yards on the Columbia River.
The funding comes from Connect Ore-
gon, which had $46 million available this
year for transportation projects statewide.
The grant brings the public spending on
Hyak’s project to over $21 million, includ-
ing $7 million from the state’s share of the
federal American Rescue Plan Act and
$350,000 from the Governor’s Strategic
Reserve.
Hyak has also secured a commitment
from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to
dredge the 2-mile Cathlamet Bay channel
approach, a $9 million project.
The Connect Oregon grant requires that
applicants provide at least 30% of the proj-
ect’s funding. Hyak matched around $7 mil-
lion in funds, including half the cost of the
site’s land acquisition at $2 million.
The contributions mean that public fund-
ing will cover most of the project, which is
estimated to total $35 million for the lift and
Astoria
Seaside
Vancouver
Portland
Salem
John Bruijn/The Astorian
Women on the North Coast have to travel to the Portland metro area
or cities along the Interstate 5 corridor to access abortion services.
Barriers exist despite legal protections
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
and NICOLE BALES
KMUN and The Astorian
efore her son turned a year old,
Chelsea Johnsen had cervical sur-
gery to remove cells that had the
potential to become cancerous. Then she
found out her copper intrauterine device,
or IUD, had failed.
She was pregnant.
There was a chance her cervix had
not healed enough to carry a baby to full
term. A pregnancy could be dangerous
for her. They also couldn’t find her IUD.
The timing wasn’t right, Johnsen
decided. She wanted to end the preg-
nancy. Her doctor at Columbia Memo-
rial Hospital in Astoria said she respected
Johnsen’s decision and offered her sup-
port, but the hospital did not provide
abortion services.
“I will never forget that feeling,”
Johnsen said, “because it’s like you have
to be so vulnerable and tell someone
something that has such a stigma around
it and you’re already a mother and just
to tell someone, ‘Hey, this is the choice
that I’ve made and I’m comfortable
with.’ And then for them to respond with,
‘I fully support you. However, we don’t
do anything for that.’ It was like … OK.
Well, great.”
Johnsen set up an appointment for an
abortion with Planned Parenthood on her
own. Then the results came back from an
ultrasound to locate her IUD.
Johnsen was told the abortion she had
B
AT ISSUE/ABORTION
The U.S. Supreme Court could
overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark
1973 ruling that legalized abor-
tion nationwide. The Astorian and
KMUN found that even in states like
Oregon, where abortion is legally
protected at all stages of pregnancy,
women in rural communities face a
lack of access to abortion services.
Let us know what you think in a
letter to the editor: bit.ly/3930Wky
agonized over was now a medical neces-
sity. The IUD was embedded somewhere
in her body. It would be too risky to pro-
ceed with the pregnancy not knowing
where the IUD was located.
In mid-December, Johnsen, who
owns the Doe & Arrow boutique down-
town, had an abortion procedure at Ore-
gon Health & Science University Hospi-
tal in Portland. Right after Christmas, she
had surgery to remove the IUD that doc-
tors found pushed up against her colon.
While her doctor in Astoria could
make referrals on her behalf, most of the
logistics — like the initial appointment
with Planned Parenthood — were left to
Johnsen.
Abortion rights are protected in Ore-
gon at all stages of pregnancy. There are
no waiting periods, no mandated paren-
tal involvement, no limitations on public-
ly-funded abortions.
As the U.S. Supreme Court appears
ready to roll back Roe v. Wade, the land-
mark 1973 decision that legalized abor-
tion nationwide, Oregon is poised to
become a destination for women seeking
to end their pregnancies.
But despite the legal protections and
the promise of expanded access to repro-
ductive health care, the Guttmacher Insti-
tute found in 2017 that most Oregon
counties — 78% — did not have any
clinics that provided abortions.
Rural counties, like Clatsop County
on the North Coast, are especially lack-
ing in abortion services, creating barriers
for women that complicate their health
care choices.
‘A very big political hot topic’
On the North Coast and across the
Columbia River in Pacific County,
Washington, abortions are not available
at any local hospital. Not at Columbia
Memorial, Providence Seaside or Ocean
Beach in Ilwaco.
Health care providers instead refer
women to Planned Parenthood or hospi-
tals and clinics in the Portland metro area
and cities along the Interstate 5 corridor
hours away.
This could mean a trip out of town,
time off work, maybe the need to arrange
for child care. For pregnant teenag-
ers, women who live in controlling or
abusive situations or people who lack
their own transportation, the logistical
See Hyak, Page A6
Jewell
superintendent
hired to lead
Newberg schools
Phillips is on paid
administrative leave
By ETHAN MYERS
The Astorian
JEWELL — Steve Phillips, the super-
intendent of the Jewell School District
who is on paid administrative leave pend-
ing an investigation, has been selected to
fill the same role in Newberg.
At a meeting Tues-
day, the school board at
Newberg Public Schools
announced Phillips as
the school district’s next
superintendent. The board
voted 5 to 2, authoriz-
ing the board chair to
negotiate a contract with Steve Phillips
Phillips.
He will take on the role as soon as pos-
sible, pending contract negotiations, the
school district said.
Phillips was announced as one of three
finalists for the position in April. The
See Abortion access, Page A6
See Phillips, Page A5
Commissioners side with couple in permit dispute over home business
Board votes to reverse
Planning Commission
By ERICK BENGEL
The Astorian
The Clatsop County Board of
Commissioners has reversed a
Planning Commission decision to
deny a conditional use permit to a
business owner who for about six
years has operated from his home
off U.S. Highway 26.
Jose Antonio Velazquez-Silva
runs a home improvement firm,
Velazquez Painting & Construc-
tion LLC, at property he owns
with his wife, Susana Huanosta,
on W. Campbell Loop, east of the
junction.
The couple uses the property
for office space and warehousing
supplies. Their employees arrive
to pick up and drop off materials,
working elsewhere on job sites,
Ian Sisson, the county’s senior
planner, said at the board’s meet-
ing Wednesday night.
The couple turned in an appli-
cation for a conditional use per-
mit in 2015, but, for reasons
unknown, never got a hearing.
The home occupation continued
unpermitted.
Neighbors have complained
about the business activity and
commercial traffic on the road,
which is maintained by a home-
owners’ association.
In September, the couple
applied again for a permit, which
would normally be processed
administratively, Sisson said,
but the community development
director — mindful of the viola-
tions and neighbor concerns —
chose to bring the matter to the
Planning Commission.
County staff recommended that
the Planning Commission approve
the permit and give the business
a chance to come into compli-
ance. Any further rule-breaking
could then be handled through the
code-compliance process.
In February, the Planning Com-
mission rendered a split 2-2 deci-
sion denying the permit.
Planning commissioners who
voted “no” said the business
exceeded the number of employees
See Dispute, Page A2
A couple was cleared for a permit for a home improvement business off
U.S. Highway 26.