The
Columbia
Press
Celebrating
our
100th year
• 1922-2022
1
50 ¢
503-861-3331
How safe are
your children?
By Cindy Yingst
The Columbia Press
Few things stab the soul as sharply as
the random killing of children.
As the country and the world mourn
the deaths of 19 elementary students
and two teachers in a small town in
Southern Texas, we can’t help but won-
der how safe our own children are.
Despite intense training at campus-
es nationwide, mistakes were made
in Uvalde. A side access door was left
open or didn’t lock as expected; local
police treated the shooter as a hostage
taker instead of acknowledging he was
actively shooting children.
“My officers and I talk about these
scenarios often, especially when there
is an incident like the recent shoot-
ings,” Warrenton Police Chief Matt
Workman said. “Clatsop County lacks
many of the resources and manpower
of other areas, but we have great part-
nerships and cooperation with all the
agencies in the area.”
And priority has been
placed on acknowledg-
ing the rural divide while
forming a unified game
plan.
Cohort is a word that
has come up plenty
during the pandemic. It’s
an apt description for the Workman
essential need to work
together.
“We have a pretty for-
tunate situation in our
community both with
our relationship with the
police department and
Clatsop County Sher-
iff’s Office,” Warren- Rogozinski
ton-Hammond School
Superintendent Tom Rogozinski said.
What was unthinkable in the May-
berry life of grandparents and many
See ‘Safety’ on Page 4
June 3, 2022
Vol. 6, Issue 22
History and markers to get attention at Ocean View
The Columbia Press
Local college students get live history lessons
from the dead as well as experience toward a fu-
ture career thanks to an injection of state fund-
ing.
Clatsop Community College’s Historic Preser-
vation and Restoration program won a competi-
tive grant to assess and restore grave markers at
Ocean View Cemetery in Warrenton. Students
also will research the cemetery’s poorly docu-
mented history and learn the fundamentals of
historic cemetery preservation.
Historical records for the cemetery, which is
owned by the city of Astoria, are incomplete and
scattered in several locations.
The discovery of a wooden sign with the in-
scription “All is lost but hope” has raised many
questions about the cemetery’s history.
The sign was found earlier this year by War-
renton City Commissioner Rick
Newton while walking through an
abandoned portion of the cemetery
Students in Clatsop
with historian Bob Ellsberg. New-
Community College’s
ton lives across from what’s been
Historic Preservation
called the Pauper’s Cemetery that
Program repair and
had belonged to the county.
clean some of the
While the sign is likely not histor-
oldest gravestones at
ic, it has increased public aware-
Ocean View Cemetery
ness and focused the need to bet-
in Warrenton.
ter understand and document
Clatsop Community
the cemetery’s history, said John
College
Goodenberger, historic preserva-
See ‘Cemetery’ on Page 6
Local businesses honored for regional contributions
The Columbia Press
Businesses throughout Clatsop
County were honored late last week
for their contributions to the health
and well-being of the region.
Three Warrenton-based businesses
– Encore Dance Studio, J.M. Brown-
ing Logging, and Kiosco Mexicano --
were among the winners.
Clatsop Economic Development
Resources, better known as CEDR,
sponsored the awards ceremony be-
fore a full house on May 26 in Patriot
Hall at Clatsop Community College.
Kevin Leahy, executive director of
CEDR, said he was happy to see this
year’s event bring together a variety
of businesses.
“I would say that’s kind of our secret
sauce,” Leahy said. “We’re not just re-
lying on one thing, like tourism. We
have so much going on here with nat-
ural resources and hospitality and re-
tail and health care, that’s what really
makes things special here.”
State Rep. Suzanne Weber, R-Til-
lamook, was keynote speaker. She
praised the resiliency and growth of
the Clatsop County business commu-
nity, and how the award winners re-
flected the diverse economy that sets
the county apart from other regions.
See ‘Awards’ on Page 3