A2 • Friday, March 4, 2022 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com
Oregon aims to lift indoor mask mandate next week
By GARY WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
Oregon will drop its
indoor mask mandate against
COVID-19 more than a
week earlier than planned.
Gov. Kate Brown said
Monday morning that Ore-
gon, California and Wash-
ington state would lift their
mandates simultaneously at
11:59 p.m. March 11. The
new date includes ending
mask mandates in schools.
The order will aff ect
over 51.2 million peo-
ple from the Mexican bor-
der to the Canadian border,
about 15% of the national
population.
The move comes on the
two-year anniversary of
the fi rst case of COVID-19
reported in Oregon. Working
with California and Wash-
ington state was crucial to
having a unifi ed timeline for
the change in mask policy,
R.J. Marx
Sanitizing station in the lobby of the Sunset Empire Park and
Recreation District’s Bob Chisholm Center.
Brown said.
“As has been made clear
time and again over the last
two years, COVID-19 does
not stop at state borders or
county lines,” the gover-
nor said in a statement. “On
the West Coast, our com-
munities and economies are
linked. Together, as we con-
tinue to recover from the
omicron surge, we will build
resiliency and prepare for
the next variant and the next
pandemic.”
The move by the three
states comes after the federal
Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention late last
week called for new guide-
lines to determine risk that
would allow for the loosen-
ing of restrictions for 70%
of the country’s population
cron-related severe cases
accelerated and the date was
moved last week to March
19. But late last week , OHSU
issued a forecast showing
Oregon would dip below the
400-mark by March 12.
The Oregon Health
Authority said the lifting of
the mask mandate did not
include changes to federal
and state rules on masks in
health care settings, airline
fl ights, public transit and
other specialized places.
Brown’s statement on
Monday did not change her
plan to lift the state of emer-
gency on COVID-19 ear-
lier than April 1, the date
she announced last week.
The emergency rules gave
Brown wide powers to set
public policy during the cri-
sis, including the closing and
reopening of in-person class-
room instruction, business
hours, mask usage and limits
on event sizes.
The three West Coast
states have sought to coordi-
nate on COVID-19 response
throughout the pandemic,
though they have gone their
own way at times, such as the
vaccine priority list in early
2021. Brown said the gover-
nors believed the mask man-
date change was best done at
the same time for the stretch
from the Mexican border to
the Canadian border.
“Our communities and
economies are linked,”
Brown said.
Brown underlined that the
move did not mean the pan-
demic was burning out or
nearly over.
“As we learn to live with
this virus, we must remain
vigilant to protect each other
and prevent disruption to
our schools, businesses and
communities – with a focus
on protecting our most vul-
nerable and the people and
communities that have been
disproportionately impacted
by COVID-19,” she said.
6:45 p.m., 400 block S. Lincoln:
EMS call.
9:27 p.m.,300 block Ninth Ave-
nue: EMS call.
Feb. 22
11:49 p.m., First Avenue: EMS
call.
ing assisted at the scene. The
driver, a Portland man, wasn’t
injured.
where coronavirus is posing
a low or medium threat to
hospitals. However, the map
released by the CDC showed
much of eastern, central
and southwestern Oregon
remained in the 30% of pop-
ulation areas that remain at
high risk.
California Gov. Gavin
Newsom and Washington
Gov. Jay Inslee issued sim-
ilar statements Monday
morning with the same date
and time for dropping indoor
mask mandates.
The new date is the sec-
ond time in two weeks that
health offi cials have moved
up the date to lift mask
mandates.
Brown had originally said
that the mask mandate would
end by March 31, about
when Oregon Health & Sci-
ence University projected
the state would drop below
400 daily patients hospital-
ized with COVID-19.
The decline in omi-
PUBLIC SAFETY
SEASIDE POLICE DEPT.
PUBLIC SAFETY LOG
self-harm. The person is con-
tacted and says they are not a
danger to themselves or others.
No further action was taken.
Feb. 19
Feb. 18
4:45 a.m., 800 block S. Roos-
evelt: EMS call.
10:43 a.m., 300 block Fifth Ave-
nue: Caller says a motorhome is
causing a parking obstruction
in the area.
12:44 a.m., 1700 block Pine
Ridge Drive: EMS call.
2:37 a.m., First Avenue: Fire
alarm.
10:16 a.m., N. Holladay: Police
and fi refi ghters respond to a
fi re alarm at a hotel.
11:24 a.m., 300 block First Av-
enue: Caller reports ongoing
issue with transient parking
in Convention Center public
parking.
11:49 a.m., 500 block S. Lin-
coln: Two people reported
arguing loudly say the fight is
verbal only. Police warn them
of disorderly conduct.
11:26 a.m. 300 block Fourth Av-
enue: EMS call.
1:12 p.m., 800 block Broadway:
A person is arrested on a war-
rant.
11:41 a.m., 33000 block Wild
Daff odil: Assist another agency.
12:30 p.m., 15th and Holladay:
A person is cited for careless
driving.
5:57 p.m., Convention Center:
A transient in a red car report-
ed lighting sheets of paper on
fire and throwing them is ad-
vised of their behavior.
11:57 p.m., 1000 block Beach
Drive: Police do a welfare check
requested by a third party re-
garding someone who might
2:56 p.m., N. Roosevelt: Tran-
sients accused of doing drugs
in the bathroom are found
eating cheeseburgers. After
being advised of the com-
plaint, they said they would
move along.
4:01 p.m., Sunset Beach: Gear-
hart police are assisted with a
traffi c stop.
5:58 p.m., 600 block S. Edge-
wood: Medix, fi refi ghters and
police are on scene for an EMS
call.
Feb. 20
1:27 a.m., Bridge Tender: A
person is accused of trying
to start fi ghts with other peo-
ple.
2:10 a.m., 900 block S. Hol-
laday: A person reported
screaming in the Napa Auto
Parts lot is warned of disor-
derly conduct. A case is tak-
en.
2:51 a.m., Library: A person is
reported on the property after
hours. Police advise them to
move along.
5:36 p.m., 1200 block Avenue B:
EMS call.
6:02 p.m., 16th and Ocean
Shore: Fire investigation.
9:51 p.m., 1200 block S. Holi-
day: A person is arrested and
charged with driving while
under the infl uence of intoxi-
cants.
Feb. 21
5:19 a.m., 2020 block Beach
Drive: EMS call.
6:03 a.m., Forest Drive: EMS
call.
8:59 a.m., 2100 block Lewis and
Clark Road: EMS call.
2:26 p.m.. Broadway Park: An
assault is reported.
energytrust.org
10:47 a.m., 1700 block 12th Av-
enue: EMS call.
Feb. 24
11:20 a.m., 10th and Necani-
cum: A person is cited for un-
lawful lodging.
9:22 a.m., 3100 block Sunset
Blvd: An odor of gas/smoke/
chemical was reported.
11:45 a.m., 82000 Maple Road:
Structure fi re reported fl ames
and black smoke.
2:01 p.m., 1000 block Beach
Drive: Options are given to a
caller with questions.
3:20 p.m., 300 block S. Colum-
bia: Fraud is reported.
3:42 p.m., N. Prom: A message
was delivered.
5:01 p.m., 11th and Necani-
cum: Welfare check requested.
3:55 p.m., 300 block S. Colum-
bia; EMS call.
10:59 p.m., 10th and Necani-
cum: Police respond to a report
of suspicious activity but on
arrival say nothing suspicious
is happening.
10:53 p.m., 800 block Broad-
way: A disturbance is reported.
Feb. 23
OREGON STATE
POLICE
PUBLIC SAFETY LOG
5:33 p.m., 1100 block Broad-
way: Caller reports suspicious
activity at a vacant house; on
contact, the subject clears with
police she is allowed to be
there.
On the same stretch of road,
U.S. Highway 26 near mile-
post 8 at 9:03 a.m., another
driver encountered ice and
slid off the highway. The car
came to a stop and both the
driver and a passenger left
the car, did not report what
happened, and continued on
to their workplace. Troopers
saw the car when responding
to the ice-related crash that
happened an hour earlier. The
owner of the second car told
police they’d already called for
tow. The business owner said
he was unaware of Oregon
law regarding crash reporting.
Seaside Tow recovered the ve-
hicle.
Car on fi re
2:51 a.m., 1000 block S. Down-
ing: EMS call.
9:00 a.m., 1100 block N. Roo-
sevelt; A disoriented elderly
man reported by CMH Urgent
Care is reunited with his family.
Ice-related crash
Ice on roadway
A crash occurred Feb. 22 at
8:01 a.m. on U.S. Highway 26
near milepost 8 after a driv-
er encountered ice on the
roadway. The car slid off the
paved portion of the roadway
and rolled on to its top before
coming to a stop. Hamlet fi re-
fi ghters, ODOT and Gary’s Tow-
A car was reported on fi re Feb.
22 at 8:58 p.m. on the beach
between Sunset Beach and
DeLaura Beach. An abandoned
and burning blue Ford pickup
was located and the fi re ex-
tinguished by Warrenton fi re
fi ghters. The Clatsop County
Sons of Beaches removed the
burned pickup from the beach
and Clatsop Towing completed
the tow.