The Columbia press., August 07, 2020, Page 7, Image 7

The Columbia Press
August 7, 2020
Senior
Moments
with Emma Edwards
Never, never, never give in
I’ve been accused of being
a positive person as well as
an encourager.
I’m a firm believer in the
Biblical truth that God gives
each of us a gift or gifts that
we are responsible to use
during our time on earth. I
like to think God has gifted
me, as well as many others,
in this manner.
However, we need to
choose our words carefully,
certainly not like the man
who, when his wife asked
for encouragement in her
weight-loss attempt, an-
swered “Don’t worry honey;
it will be a piece of cake.”
I’m sure you can identify
with this Mark Twain quote
from the mid-1800s: “There
are basically two types of
people: People who accom-
plish things, and people who
claim to have accomplished
things. The first group is
less crowded.”
Many times, I’ve heard
the expression, “When life
knocks you down, get back
up.” But the last three words
of that expression frequent-
ly are left out: “and fight
harder.”
When we are tempted to
simply give up, it not only
hurts us, but affects those
who need our encourage-
ment.
If ever there was a time
to be there for our family
and friends, it’s now as we
are in the midst of so many
crises in our lives and our
country.
And I daresay that if we
are tempted to become neg-
ative, then shame on us!
As seniors, we’ve lived
through many decades of
life, along with many a cri-
sis.
We have choices and,
among them, is to either
shrivel and give up or come
out fighting.
As a news addict, I have to
fight every day to stay on the
positive side of whatever is
going on, as I am sure many
of you do, too.
Not to say some of us don’t
have “why bother” days
when we feel like giving up.
Often, we never learn the
why of situations, but we do
learn lessons that will stay
with us all the days of our
lives.
I think of a speech once
given by Winston Churchill
in 1941, when he admon-
ished his listeners to “never
give in. Never give in. Never
give in. Never, never, never,
never, never -- in nothing,
great or small, large or pet-
ty – never give in, except to
convictions …”
The other day, I read a chil-
dren’s book titled “That’s
Life” by Ame Dyckman, in
which I was reminded that
life can be crazy, even weird,
but beautiful. Toward the
end, she reminds us to love
life because when we do, life
will love us back.
Mark Twain gives us an-
other important admoni-
tion: “Be careful about read-
ing health books. You may
die of a misprint.”
One last note of encour-
agement: “Draw near to
God and he will draw near
to you,” James 4:8.
7
Coronavirus cases up again in past week
The past week continued to
see Oregon cases of COVID-19
rise.
During the week that ended
Aug. 2, there were 2,278 new
statewide cases of the virus,
up slightly from the previous
week’s total of 2,241. And
there were 39 Oregon deaths,
up from 27 the previous week.
As of Wednesday, Oregon
has had 19,979 cases with 338
deaths.
An outbreak of 27 cases was
reported at the Walmart Dis-
tribution Center in Hermis-
ton. The case count includes
all people linked to the out-
break, including household
members. Initial reports of
the virus among workers
there started July 9.
An outbreak of 20 cases was
reported at the OR1 data cen-
ter construction site in Hills-
boro. The first case there was
reported July 8.
A third outbreak, at the
Lamb Weston potato pro-
cessing plant in Boardman,
involves 74 people. The first
case among the three facilities
there was reported July 1.
Clatsop County
In Clatsop County, there
were nine new cases during
the past week, for a total of 82.
Sixty-five of them have recov-
ered. None are hospitalized.
The new cases included two
women and one man in their
20s, two women in their 40s,
one woman and one man in
their 50s, a woman in her
60s and a woman in her 80s.
Three of the cases were in
south county.
SNAP benefits
While extra unemployment
benefits have gone away,
those receiving food help will
see it continue in August.
The Oregon Department of
Human Services will contin-
ue to waive the interview re-
quirement for new applicants
– making it faster and easier
to access benefits.
It means an additional $30
million going to Supplemen-
tal Nutrition Assistance Pro-
gram recipients.
“As the pandemic continues,
access to food has worsened
greatly,” said Claire Seguin,
a DHS director. “Providing
another month of emergency
assistance will help ease the
threat of chronic hunger in
Oregon.”
History in the Making
A look at Warrenton’s top stories from
The Columbia Press annals
Clatsop College wants to move downtown
August 2010
10 years ago
• Michael’s Ars & Crafts an-
nounces plans to open in a
new shopping center planned
at Ensign Lane and Highway
101, adjacent to Staples and
The Dollar Tree.
• Students in the War-
renton-Hammond
School
District performed well in
Average Yearly Progress test-
ing. Middle school students
showed a 65 percent growth
rate in mathematics and high
schoolers had a 22 percent
growth rate in reading.
• Clatsop County Hear-
ings Officer Peter Livingston
grants conditional approval
to Oregon LNG for a 36-inch
pipeline across the county to
serve its proposed liquified
natural gas terminal in War-
renton.
August 2000
20 years ago
• Clatsop Community Col-
lege holds a town hall meet-
ing to discuss a proposal to
move the college, which has
aging buildings and sits on an
unstable slope, from Jerome
Street to downtown Astoria.
August 1995
25 years ago
• Students in the Warren-
ton-Hammond School Dis-
trict scored a little behind the
state average, particularly in
math among third and fifth
graders, in the statewide test-
ing program administered by
the Oregon Department of
Education.
• County Commissioner
Tom Carmichael proposes
hiring private contractors
to pave county roads. Pub-
lic Works Director Randy
Trevillian calls Carmichael a
“hired gun for the Associated
General Contractors.”
Special columns in The Columbia Press
Every week: Senior Moments with Emma Edwards
Week 1: History in the Making
Week 2: Financial Focus with Adam Miller
Week 3: Off the Shelf by Kelly Knudsen
Final week: Mayor’s Message by Henry Balensifer