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THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, JUNE 11, 2022
IN BRIEF
County commissioners adopt new budget
The Clatsop County Board of Commissioners on
Wednesday night passed the county’s budget for the new
fi scal year that begins in July.
The budget of $100.3 million is down from $109.9
million from this fi scal year.
The commissioners approved a fi ber-optic project
for the new Clatsop County Jail. The project, a $50,000
expenditure in the special projects fund, was in this fi scal
year’s budget and will carry over to the next.
Astoria school board chairman resigns
Jimmy Pearson, the chairman of the Astoria School Dis-
trict Board, resigned from his position after Wednesday
night’s meeting.
Pearson, who works as the director of the Astoria Library,
cited personal reasons for his departure from the board.
Heidi Wintermute, the vice chairwoman, will lead the
meetings until a new chair is chosen in August.
The school district is looking for applicants to serve
the remainder of Pearson’s term through June 2023.
Planning Commission in Seaside
tweaks vacation rental rules
SEASIDE — The Planning Commission picked up
where they left off in April with approval of tweaks to
the city’s vacation rental policies.
They include density reductions, a waiting period
after transactions and new construction and a grace
period for property owners and managers to clear out
reservations when a property is sold.
“We carefully discussed and debated how to tackle
the issue and make sure that we were doing our part to
maintain a livable community for people that live here
full time and for people that visit here,” Commissioner
Kathy Kleczek said at Tuesday’s meeting. “That was
our goal, and we had a vigorous discussion about how
to go about that. The fact that rentals for people that are
attempting to reside in the area are disappearing was the
motivation to look at the numbers and fi nd a balance.”
GULL PRIDE
Lydia Ely/The Astorian
Seniors at Seaside High School had their graduation ceremony
on Thursday at the Seaside Civic and Convention Center.
FLEETING
Linh DePledge/For The Astorian
The USS Michael Monsoor, a Zumwalt-
class guided missile destroyer, stopped in
Astoria on the way to the Portland Rose
Festival’s Fleet Week.
Liberty Theatre receives grant
for marketing coordinator
The Liberty Theatre has been awarded a grant from
the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust that will allow the
Astoria venue to create a marketing coordinator position.
The marketing coordinator will develop social media
content, implement print, digital and radio advertising
campaigns and other duties as assigned.
Jennifer Crockett, the Liberty’s executive director, said
the position will help to build the theater’s brand and bring
audiences back to attend events. The grant, which comes
from an arts and culture resiliency fund to help with the
COVID-19 pandemic, will be paid out over three years.
— The Astorian
DEATHS
June 10, 2022
Deaths
COLSON,
Brian
Lynn, 55, of Astoria, died
in Astoria. Caldwell’s
Luce-Layton Mortuary of
Astoria is in charge of the
arrangements.
June 6, 2022
JOHNSON,
Arthur
Richmond, 89, of Astoria,
died in Astoria. Caldwell’s
Luce-Layton Mortuary of
Astoria is in charge of the
arrangements.
ON THE RECORD
Endangering the
children were evaluated at
On
the
Record
welfare
of minors
a local hospital and taken
• Daniel Christian
Lunsford, 32, of Astoria,
and Brianna Rae Scar-
borough, 31, of Warren-
ton, were were arrested at
Shively Park in Astoria on
Wednesday for endanger-
ing the welfare of minors.
They were allegedly found
sleeping in their vehi-
cle under the infl uence
of drugs with 1-year-old
twins in car seats.
Scarborough was also
charged with second-de-
gree child neglect. The
into protective custody.
DUII
• George Palmer Pin-
ney, 50, of Astoria, was
arrested on Tuesday at
12th Street and Klas-
kanine Avenue in Astoria
for driving under the infl u-
ence of intoxicants.
• Richard Wayne Gei-
ger, 74, of Hammond, was
arrested on Monday near
the intersection of state
Highway 104 and Karis
Lane in Warrenton for
DUII and reckless driving.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
MONDAY
Seaside City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broadway.
TUESDAY
Clatsop County Planning Commission, 10 a.m., (electronic
meeting).
Port of Astoria Commission, 4 p.m., 10 Pier 1, Suite 209.
Clatsop Care Health District Board, 5 p.m., (electronic meet-
ing).
Clatsop Community College Board, 5:30 p.m., IMTC building
lounge, MERTS Campus, 6550 Liberty Lane.
Cannon Beach City Council, 6 p.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower Ave.
Lewis & Clark Fire Department Board, 6 p.m., meeting and
budget hearing, main fi re station, 34571 U.S. Highway 101
Business.
Warrenton City Commission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 225 S. Main Ave.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
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CLATSKANIE
School goes into lockdown after weapon scare
By KATIE
FRANKOWICZ
KMUN
The last day of school at
the Clatskanie Middle/High
School ended on an alarming
note after one student told
another student there was a
weapon on campus.
No weapon was found,
but students went into lock-
down for more than an hour
Thursday while Columbia
County Sheriff ’s Offi ce dep-
uties swept the building.
The school had been in the
middle of an assembly and
went into lockdown around
11:20 a.m. after the informa-
tion was reported to admin-
istrators. Clatskanie School
District
Superintendent
Cathy Horowitz estimates as
many as 200 students were in
the building at the time and
many ended up in lockdown
in the school gym because of
the assembly.
The building remained in
lockdown until just before
1 p.m.
The last day of school
“didn’t end well for our stu-
dents and that makes me
sad,” Horowitz said. “We
had a very, very terrifi ed
community and students.”
“It was a terrible experi-
ence, especially since Texas
is so close and still on our
minds,” she added, referring
to the mass shooting in May
at Robb Elementary School
in Uvalde, where 19 students
and two teachers were killed.
Though the threat in Clats-
kanie ended without tragedy,
Horowitz and staff say they
are disturbed by how things
unfolded on social media
during the lockdown.
When the school went
into lockdown, students
DIGITAL
EZpay (per month) .................................................................................................................$8.25
families after the fact, but
says there is frustration
among school staff over the
social media posts.
Going forward, Horowitz
feels the school safety proto-
cols worked as they should
and when students return to
school in the fall, there will
be even more safety mea-
sures in place.
The school district suc-
cessfully passed a bond in
May that will fund safe-
ty-related upgrades to school
buildings, including the mid-
dle/high school. Work begins
next week.
The school district can-
not aff ord the cost of a
school resource offi cer, but
has entered into agreements
with Columbia County dep-
uties to do regular walk-
throughs of school buildings
and to get to know students
and staff .
Oregon DMV has temporarily closed 10% of fi eld offi ces
Reduced hours
in Astoria offi ce
By CHRIS LEHMAN
KLCC
The Oregon Department
of Motor Vehicles said it’s
closing a half-dozen field
offices for the next three
months because it doesn’t
have enough employees to
keep them open.
The summer months are
its busiest time of year, the
DMV said . That’s in part
because teenagers are more
likely to take their driving
test during the summer. The
agency said a lack of staff
has caused last-minute clo-
sures of many of its offi ces.
By shifting employees
to higher-demand loca-
tions, the DMV hopes to
provide a more predict-
able level of service, even
if that means cutting off
some communities entirely
in the short term.
The offices that will be
closed this summer are in
Lebanon, Redmond, Stay-
ton, Sandy, Ashland and
Cave Junction.
Another 10 field offices
will have reduced hours:
Astoria,
Canyonville,
d owntown Portland, Hep-
pner, Hermiston, Junction
City, Klamath Falls, Lake
Oswego, Lincoln City and
Milton-Freewater.
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
began reaching out to their
parents to let them know
what was happening. This
was understandable, Horow-
itz said.
But then people in the
community began posting
the location of students and
staff on social media and
this, Horowitz said, is deeply
concerning.
“Had this been an event,
they just gave the location of
students out to the public and
that put every student and
staff member in that building
at risk,” she said.
“Having contact with
your child, I know, makes
you feel, ‘OK, they’re safe,’”
she added, “but to go out and
post it while the event is still
happening, I don’t under-
stand what prompted our
community to do that.”
Horowitz spoke with
community members and
The DMV said many
routine transactions can be
handled online, although
some types of services do
require an in-person visit.
That includes getting a
Real ID driver’s license.
The agency also said
it’s working to recruit and
train new employees.
“DMV has been expe-
riencing the same short-
age of applicants for job
openings as other employ-
ers statewide and nation-
wide,” said DMV Admin-
istrator Amy Joyce in a
press release.
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