A2
THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2022
IN BRIEF
John Dudley
County off ers vaccines against
the virus to children
Children older than six months can now get vac-
cinated against the coronavirus through the Clatsop
County Public Health Department.
The vaccination series for children 5 and younger
involves three doses of the Pfi zer-brand COVID-19 vac-
cine. Three weeks must elapse between the fi rst and sec-
ond jabs, eight weeks between the second and third jabs,
the county said.
Parents can schedule an appointment for their child
by calling the Public Health Department offi ce in Astoria
at 503-325-8500 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Moderna vaccines are also available for eligible peo-
ple 18 and up.
County reports virus death
More than a
hundred visitors
and 30 aircraft
came to the Seaside
Municipal Airport
on Sunday for an
airport fl y-in and
appreciation day.
UP IN
THE
AIR
An 80-year-old woman died at her home of COVID-
19 on June 2, Clatsop County announced.
The county resident was fully vaccinated against the
virus, the county said.
No other information was immediately available.
She is the 51st county resident to die of the virus, the
county said.
Warrenton adopts new budget
WARRENTON — The City Commission voted
unanimously on Tuesday night to adopt a $57.4 million
budget for the fi scal year that starts in July.
The budget is an increase over the $49.5 million
spending plan for this fi scal year.
The commission also adopted the capital improve-
ment program, which outlines major infrastructure proj-
ects to be completed over the next six years, including a
waterline project in Hammond and a pedestrian corridor
on Main Avenue.
— The Astorian
Former Ilwaco mayor
appointed to City Council
ILWACO, Wash. — Former Mayor Gary Forner was
appointed to fi ll a vacancy on the City Council.
Forner was mayor from 2018 to 2022 and also served
as a city councilor for the seven preceding years. He was
defeated by Mike Cassinelli in last fall’s election.
With his appointment by the City Council on Mon-
day in a 3-1 vote, Forner fi lls the seat that was vacated by
Kirsten Mathison in May. City Councilor Matt Lessnau
voted against the appointment.
Four other residents were vying for the seat, which
will be up for election for a full four-year term in 2023.
The other applicants were Don Berger, Dallas Busse,
Josh Phillips and Richard Rubio.
— Chinook Observer
Oregon’s minimum wage set to increase
Starting Friday, minimum wage workers in Oregon
will see an increase in pay.
In 2016, state lawmakers created a three-tiered min-
imum wage. That means while many minimum wage
workers will see a new rate of $13.50 an hour — includ-
ing in Clatsop County — employees in the Portland area
will get an increase to $14.75. Those are both increases
of 75 cents per hour. Meanwhile, the minimum wage in
rural parts of the state will jump by 50 cents to $12.50
an hour.
The Oregon Employment Department said roughly
5% of hourly workers earn the minimum wage.
This is the seventh and fi nal increase that was written
into the 2016 law. Next year, minimum wage increases
will once again be indexed to infl ation, though urban and
rural areas will still have diff erent rates.
“It’s not going to be a fi xed (increase) like it has
been for the last several years,” said Bob Uhlenkott, a
researcher with the Oregon Employment Department.
“Now it will fl oat, based on the Consumer Price Index.”
Oregon’s rate remains among the highest minimum
wages in the nation.
— KLCC
ON THE RECORD
Criminal mischief
Fred Meyer in Warrenton
On
the
• Johnny
Rafeal Record
Greg- for fi rst-degree theft.
ory Valencia, 38, of Sea-
side, was indicted on
Friday for fi rst-degree
criminal mischief. The
crime is alleged to have
occurred in November.
Theft
• Jack Thomas Fisher,
31, of Astoria, was
arrested on Saturday at
DUII
• Marco Alonso Avalos
Martinez, 23, of Seaside,
was arrested on Sunday
on U.S. Highway 101 at
Sunset Beach for driv-
ing under the infl uence of
intoxicants, reckless driv-
ing and operating a vehi-
cle without privileges.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
THURSDAY
Clatsop County Recreational Lands Planning Advisory
Committee, 1 p.m., Oregon Department of Forestry Asto-
ria District, 92219 Oregon Highway 202.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
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SUMMER SUNSET
Luke Whittaker/Chinook Observer
Teenagers enjoyed the sunset on Saturday on the Long Beach Peninsula.
Long Beach’s fi reworks ban scrapped after date snafu
Ban was
supposed to take
eff ect next year
By BRANDON CLINE
Chinook Observer
LONG BEACH, Wash.
— The i nability to publish a
notice in time threw a wrench
into the City C ouncil’s plans
to ban consumer fi reworks
within city limits next year.
City Administrator David
Glasson reported during a
special meeting on Monday
that, after consulting the city
attorney earlier in the day,
approving an ordinance that
lays out the city’s ban on the
sale and use of consumer
fi reworks does not provide
enough time for the ban to
go into eff ect ahead of July
Luke Whittaker/Chinook Observer
A boy held a smoke bomb as another covered his face from
the fumes on July 4, 2019, in Long Beach.
4, 2023.
Because July 4, a holi-
day, lands on a Monday, he
said the necessary fi ve-day
notice before an ordinance
goes into eff ect would not be
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met until Tuesday . Since the
ordinance would be more
restrictive than the state’s
fi reworks law, a one-year
waiting period is required
and the ordinance would
not go into eff ect until July
5, 2023 — after the Fourth
of July holiday period.
Other than briefl y during
the New Year’s holiday, the
Fourth of July holiday is the
only time consumer fi re-
works are legally permitted
in the state, essentially serv-
ing as a cutoff date for any
new restrictions .
The snafu means that the
three local governments on
the Long Beach Peninsula
— Long Beach, Ilwaco and
Pacifi c County — will have
a diff erent fi reworks policy
in 2023.
The Long Beach City
Council passed an ordi-
nance last fall reducing the
sale and use of consumer
fi reworks from eight to fi ve
days, Pacifi c County c om-
missioners passed an ordi-
nance last December limit-
ing the sale to four days and
the use to three days, and the
Ilwaco City Council last fall
passed a ban on the sale and
use of consumer fi reworks.
The inconsistencies are
sure to cause headaches for
enforcement — Ilwaco and
Long Beach are both cov-
ered by the Long Beach
Police Department, while
the Pacifi c County Sher-
iff ’s Offi ce covers Seaview
and the north peninsula
communities.