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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (July 2, 2022)
A2 THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, JULY 2, 2022 IN BRIEF Police investigate bank robbery in Astoria Police are investigating a bank robbery that occurred in downtown Astoria on Thursday. A report at about 12:30 p.m. said a man who appeared in his 50s or 60s entered Lewis & Clark Bank on Com- mercial Street. He presented a note to a teller and left with an undisclosed amount of money, police said. The suspect was described as wearing sunglasses, a black beanie, a black-and-blue raincoat, black pants and black shoes. He was last seen walking on 10th Street toward Marine Drive, police said. “For the weather, the clothing should have been fairly noticeable to people,” Astoria Deputy Police Chief Eric Halverson said. Virus death reported by county Clatsop County has reported a 52nd coronavi- rus-related death. On June 18, a 75-year-old woman died of the virus at an area hospital, the county reported. No other information was immediately available, includ- ing whether she had been vaccinated against COVID-19. State discloses virus cases at local schools The Oregon Health Authority has disclosed four new coronavirus cases at schools in Clatsop County. Three cases — one student and two staff members — were from Astoria High School, according to the health authority’s biweekly outbreak report. The other case was a student from Warrenton Mid- dle School. Two arrested after car crash in Warrenton Two men allegedly involved in a car crash in War- renton on Wednesday were arrested for possession of a stolen vehicle and other charges. Christopher Courtney Jessup, 47, of Kennewick, Washington, was also charged with unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, failure to carry or present a license, a hit-and-run involving property and driving uninsured. Christopher Michael Vivona, 29, of San Emidio, Cali- fornia, was also charged with giving false information to avoid citation. He had a warrant out for his arrest. The crash occurred at S.E. Discovery and S.E. Ensign lanes. Fishery managers add Chinook fi shing days Fishery managers have added 13 days of summer Chinook fi shing below Bonneville Dam, lasting from Friday through July 13. Sockeye retention will also be permitted as part of the adult salmon bag limit from Friday to July 31 from the Astoria Bridge to the Highway 395 Bridge in Pasco, Washington. Sockeye can only be tagged on a combined angling tag. The bag limit is two adult salmonids, with no more than one steelhead. The bag limit for jack salmon is fi ve fi sh. A total of 239,575 sockeye have been counted at Bonneville Dam through June 26, 60% higher than the recent 10-year average, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. — The Astorian DEATHS June 30, 2022 Deaths MILLER, Dr. Rodney Spexarth, 100, of Clats- kanie, formerly of Astoria, died in Clatskanie. Cald- well’s Luce-Layton Mor- tuary of Astoria is in charge of the arrangements. June 29, 2022 GLORIA, Luisito Sengco, 81, of Seaside, died in Seaside. Ocean View Funeral & Crema- tion Service of Astoria is in charge of the arrangements. OLSON, William Pat- rick, 86, of Nehalem, died in Nehalem. Caldwell’s Luce-Layton Mortuary of Astoria is in charge of the arrangements. June 26, 2022 McCLINTOCK, Ron- ald James, 82, of Knappa, died in Knappa. Ocean View Funeral & Crema- tion Service of Astoria is in charge of the arrangements. ON THE RECORD Assault On • Jose the Enrique Record Gutierrez Sanchez, 28, of Astoria, was arrested on Tuesday on W. Marine Drive in Asto- ria for fourth-degree assault and strangulation, both charges constituting domestic violence. PUBLIC MEETINGS TUESDAY Seaside Community Center Commission, 10 a.m., Bob Chisholm Community Center, 1225 Avenue A. Port of Astoria Commission, 4 p.m., 10 Pier 1, Suite 209. Seaside Library Board, 4:30 p.m, 1131 Broadway. Cannon Beach City Council, 5 p.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower Ave. Clatsop County Fair Board, 5:30 p.m., 92937 Walluski Loop. Miles Crossing Sanitary Sewer District Board, 6 p.m., 34583 U.S. Highway 101 Business. Seaside Planning Commission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broadway. Astoria City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 1095 Duane St. PUBLIC MEETINGS Established July 1, 1873 (USPS 035-000) Published Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday by EO Media Group, 949 Exchange St., PO Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103 Telephone 503-325-3211, 800-781-3211 or Fax 503-325-6573. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Astorian, PO Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103-0210 DailyAstorian.com Circulation phone number: 800-781-3214 Periodicals postage paid at Astoria, OR ADVERTISING OWNERSHIP All advertising copy and illustrations prepared by The Astorian become the property of The Astorian and may not be reproduced for any use without explicit prior approval. COPYRIGHT © Entire contents © Copyright, 2022 by The Astorian. MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MEMBER CERTIFIED AUDIT OF CIRCULATIONS, INC. Printed on recycled paper SURF GULL Luke Whittaker/Chinook Observer A sea gull in the surf on the Long Beach Peninsula. False gun threat leads to precautions in Gearhart City Council will meet via Zoom By R.J. MARX The Astorian GEARHART — A false gun threat has led to city pre- cautions, Police Chief Jeff Bowman said , including a Zoom-only City Council meeting on Wednesday . Conversations from pri- vate Facebook groups admin- istered by local residents led to reports of potential gun use at an upcoming c ouncil meeting. The reports of threats were unfounded, Clatsop County Sheriff Matt Phillips said in an incident report. The sher- iff determined the discussion had been distorted via word- of-mouth and social media. The issue surfaced in the aftermath of the contentious May vote on a fi rehouse bond measure . After the bond mea- sure failed , residents who had opposed the bond appeared at the City Council meet- ing on June 1 and threatened to recall the mayor and city councilors, who had endorsed the measure . Paulina Cockrum resigned as mayor the next day, citing personal reasons. On June 3, an anonymous social media post alarmed acting Mayor Kerry Smith enough to tell City Admin- istrator Chad Sweet he was concerned about people car- rying weapons to public meetings. “In regard to the risk of CONVERSATIONS FROM PRIVATE FACEBOOK GROUPS ADMINISTERED BY LOCAL RESIDENTS LED TO REPORTS OF POTENTIAL GUN USE AT AN UPCOMING C OUNCIL MEETING. violence, I was sent a screen- shot of two handguns, a bot- tle of s cotch and a Bible with a caption that made me ill because of its content,” Smith said this week . “I considered it hate-mongering in tone, and because it came from a person who frequents social media, I felt it showed a real lack of responsibility in the indi- vidual, which in turn, made me think safety and secu- rity needed beefi ng up at C ity H all. Threats to people in our community will elicit a timely response by the city.” Smith asked for better security doors and a metal detector to prevent weapons from entering C ity H all. Sweet sent an email to city councilors and Smith ask- ing to get all sources of the threats or perceived threats in the form of emails, texts or screenshots. His message was trans- mitted by word-of-mouth to a member of T he Pacifi c Way Group, who referred to a potential for violence at the next City C ouncil meeting. On June 8, Beth Cameron, an opponent of the fi rehouse bond, reported social media posts to the sheriff ’s offi ce after reading on Facebook Hospital dropped from lawsuit over loss of leg Columbia Memorial was incorrectly named By ERICK BENGEL The Astorian Columbia Memorial Hos- pital has been dropped from a lawsuit involving a man who claims his right leg was amputated after a doc- tor failed to accurately diag- nose him. The lawsuit, fi led by Douglas Flesey in Circuit Court in March, named the Astoria hospital as a defen- dant doing business as the Lower Columbia Clinic. “CMH was incorrectly named in this lawsuit as being the owner of the Lower Columbia Clinic,” Erik Thorsen, the hospital’s CEO , wrote in a statement. “CMH does not own or operate the Lower Columbia Clinic and has been offi cially dismissed from the lawsuit.” The complaint says that in October 2018, Flesey visited the Lower Columbia Clinic after a thorn had punctured his foot, which had become infected. His doctor, Thomas Dun- can, prescribed antibiotics. Flesey’s foot developed a necrotic ulceration, accord- ing to the complaint. Flesey claims that Dun- can neglected to sanitize the wound before remov- ing dead tissue, and that the doctor wiped the wound with a pad that had been on the fl oor absorbing Flesey’s blood. Duncan removed Fle- sey’s bandages a week later. The wound had turned black; the discoloration had spread to two toes, and later four, according to the com- plaint. Gangrene had set in. Over several visits, Dun- can prescribed multiple 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 DIGITAL EZpay (per month) .................................................................................................................$8.25 that Sweet “was saying there would be guns at the next City Council meeting,” the sheriff said in his incident report. Cameron told the sher- iff she was concerned that Sweet was “unstable,” high- lighting past troubles related to alcohol. The rumored threat came just days after the mass shoot- ing at a school in Uvalde, Texas, Cameron said Friday. “I was understandably con- cerned for the safety of every single person attending City Council meetings, ” she said. Chief Bowman wrote in his blog in early June that City Hall did receive an anon- ymous letter , she said. “So what did I falsely report? ... I reported because I would never have been able to live with myself if someone had been hurt, or killed, and I had known about that poten- tial from social media rumors beforehand, ” she said. Jack Zimmerman, an administrator of The Pacifi c Way Group , also contacted the sheriff ’s offi ce about the matter . The sheriff ’s offi ce deter- mined that the discussion had been distorted . Instead of Sweet being proactive in ensuring security at meetings, messaging led to a percep- tion Sweet was either going to bring a fi rearm to a meeting or invite others to bring them, the sheriff said in his incident report. “Sweet was aware of the misinformation being spread and we discussed the email he sent,” Phillips said. “Mr. Sweet has no inclination whatsoever to bring fi rearms of any type to a meeting.” Zimmerman, one of the leading opponents of the bond measure and a critic of Sweet , said his report to the sheriff ’s offi ce wasn’t motivated by politics. “The question on my part — and I know on Beth Cam- eron’s part — was if there were in fact, people coming to City Council with guns, why was this not reported?” he asked. “One, to the county sheriff ; two, to the residents of Gearhart; and then three, what were the actions that would be taken to protect the residents?” Along with the Zoom-only meeting next week, the City C ouncil could consider addi- tional measures regulating fi rearms on city property. “Due to possible negative reactions by others from these social media posts and the members themselves, certain precautions should be taken,” Bowman said. “Everyone should be able to feel a sense of safety at a public meeting or gatherings. By making a few adjustments and setting forth some security protocols, citizens will have just that.” WANTED Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber Northwest Hardwoods • Longview, WA Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500 rounds of antibiotics that proved ineff ective, the com- plaint says. A vascular surgeon at a Portland hospital eventually informed Flesey that the foot had about 30% blood fl ow, the complaint says. On Nov. 15, 2018, Flesey’s leg was amputated below the knee. The complaint says that Flesey’s health and quality of life have diminished as a result of the amputation and mobility loss. He has had to use a wheelchair and a pros- thetic leg, undergo physical therapy and modify his liv- ing environment, the com- plaint says. Flesey is seeking more than $2.8 million covering medical expenses, noneco- nomic damages and other costs. Duncan could not imme- diately be reached for comment. Patrick Angel, Flesey’s Lake Oswego-based attor- ney, could not be reached for comment. 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