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About The Columbia press. (Astoria, Or.) 1949-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 4, 2022)
The Columbia Press February 4, 2022 State lauded for anti-tobacco spending A recent Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids report has ranked Oregon No. 1 in the nation in funding to- bacco prevention at levels recommended by the Cen- ters for Disease Control and Prevention. CTFK’s Jan. 13 report, “Broken Promises: A State-by-State Look at the 1998 Tobacco Settlement 23 Years Later,” found that Oregon, at 93.9 percent, and Alaska, at 89.6 percent, are the only states to pro- vide at least three-quarters of the CDC-recommended funding for tobacco pre- vention and cessation pro- grams. They also are among only 10 states – along with Utah, California, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Del- aware, Wyoming, Ha- waii and Maine – to provide more than half of the CDC-recommended funding. Thieves apprehended after hitting three stores The Columbia Press Three men who’d stolen merchandise from three lo- cal stores were thwarted as police spotted them leaving Walmart. Two men were arrested af- ter a chase and manhunt and a third remained at large. Walmart security called police about a theft that had just occurred at 5:21 p.m. Jan. 27. The caller said the suspects Letter to the editor County shouldn’t be swayed by short-term gains Zoning is and should have always been the primary start- ing point regarding transient rental businesses in our coast- al residential (CR) zone neigh- borhoods. All the conflict, re- sources, time, and effort could have been saved had zoning been upheld and voters includ- ed from the beginning. We live in a CR zone and commercial businesses are not allowed. CR zones are for sin- gle-family residences. Vacation rentals are, in fact, commercial businesses and are not allowed. That’s the foun- dation of the conflicts arising from the many sub-violations -- noise, sewage, light pollu- tion, parking, traffic and many more impacts -- that more than 100 full- and part-time residents (an overwhelming majority) have been meeting with the county and writing about for years. Instead of improvement, these commercial business- es have explosively doubled in three years and now make up 30 percent of the homes in this community -- homes that should be available for sin- gle-family residences. The county’s selective en- forcement of the CR zone elements is prejudicial and preferential treatment for short-term revenue gain. It favors absentee commercial business owners and disre- gards the cost and impact on residents and communities, decimating affordable and available housing. This prejudicial and exploit- ative favoring for short-term revenue gain opens our county and our precious tax revenue up to myriad risks--how can you enforce anything then? If you allow commercial busi- nesses of one kind, why not others? If you allow transient occupancy in a single-fami- ly residential zone, why not a five-story hotel, restaurant, or multiple duplexes on a single lot? We don’t want our limited county resources spent slaying those dragons. None of this is allowed or de- sired, for all of the reasons that were analyzed when the zon- ing was enacted, at much cost and effort. The county says it wants to streamline and wants efficien- cy. What could be more effi- cient than adhering to the ex- isting code? The county needs to consis- tently uphold and enforce the zone elements. Not doing so is anti-residential community and anti-affordable housing, effectively exploiting and ex- cluding voters and residents. Ethical and effective leaders listen to and heed the voices 3 of voters, residents, and peer leaders in nearby communi- ties, as well as independent studies such as the recent af- fordable housing study that was paid for with taxpayer dol- lars. How can it be that the plac- es where many of the board members and much of the County Planning Department live have upheld the conditions of residential neighborhood zoning, but our leaders are not enforcing existing zoning? Talk with the leaders and res- idents in Astoria, Warrenton, Gearhart, and even south to Wheeler and Lincoln County, all places where the govern- ment leaders prioritize resi- dential communities. They understand and uphold the value these communities contribute to our area, and know available and afford- able housing for residents in residential neighborhoods far outweighs any short-sighted revenue or fear of retributions from the transient commercial rental industry. The overwhelming majority of your constituents want the same respect and rights as you have to be upheld in our resi- dential communities. Please support our residential neigh- borhoods. Beth Radich Cove Beach were leaving the area in a red hatchback with Washington license plates. Officer Josh Hollaway spot- ted the vehicle at the High- way 101 and Ensign Lane intersection and turned around to follow it, Chief Matt Workman said. The driver attempted to elude officers by turning off Ensign onto Alternate Highway 101 and then down Southeast 14th Place, a small street with a dead-end near Highway 101. The car pulled over and two men ran from the vehi- cle while the driver stayed put, according to Workman. “The driver gave a state- ment and allowed Officer Hollaway to search his ve- hicle,” Workman said. He found a sizeable amount of new merchandise. A canine and officers from Warrenton and Astoria po- lice departments and the Clatsop County Sheriff’s Of- fice searched the area and found one of the two men. Eugene Burt Kornoely, 42, of Ilwaco, Wash., was arrest- ed on suspicion of two counts of second-degree theft and one count of first-degree theft. He also had an out- standing warrant. Driver Jacob Michael Riv- ers, 35, of Astoria was arrest- ed on suspicion of eluding a police officer, carrying brass knuckles, two counts of sec- ond-degree theft and one count of first-degree theft. The third suspect has been identified, but hadn’t been arrested as of Wednesday. Officers determined that all the merchandise stolen from Walmart had been recovered and totaled $942, according to Workman. The merchandise found in the vehicle included $1,250 in equipment stolen from Home Depot and $393 in items stolen from Fred Mey- er. All merchandise was re- turned to the stores. Additional charges could be brought at a later date, Workman said.