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Bridge closure to bring commuting delays

WILL LOHRE Country Media, Inc.

The Lewis and Clark Bridge will close at 8 p.m. Sunday, July 16, for up to eight days.

The closure will disrupt everyday traffic on the bridge. It will create substantial delays as commuters are asked to find alternative routes to cross the river through Portland, Astoria, and on the Wahkiakum County Ferry between Westport and Cathlamet.

“The people who use the bridge every day need to plan ahead,” Oregon Department of Transportation’s (ODOT) Don Hamilton said. “There aren’t a lot of good alternatives for the people in Rainier to use as a detour. You can go to Portland and use the interstate bridge across the Columbia River or all the way up to Astoria. These are not good options, and these are long, long detours. So, anyone who has important appointments to make on the Washington side of the river needs to make plans!”

During the closure, crews from Combined Construction, Inc. will replace two of the bridge’s three expansion joints and a fractured floor beam. The repairs are necessary to ensure the long-term life of the bridge. Hamilton said the bridge closure has been in the works for a while. While massively inconvenient, the bridge closure was the best solution among the options considered by Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and ODOT. Hamilton said the closure equates to “ripping a band aid off.”

Pedestrians, bicyclists, and emergency vehicles will be able to cross the bridge except for 10-hours while replacing the fractured floor beam when no traffic will be allowed. The floor beam replacement is expected to occur during the closure’s first days.

will not allow anyone, including emergency responders, to cross, Co lumbia River Fire & Rescue (CRFR) was concerned about efficient emergency response during the rest of the closure.

While ambulances could use the bridge during transport to hospitals in Portland, WSDOT wanted emergency vehicles to return via the ferry in Cathlamet or drive down and around through Portland on Highway 30. After meeting with WSDOT and transportation officials, CRFR EMS Division Chief Jerry Cole and CRFR have secured an agreement that could allow emergency transports to return over the bridge when they are shortstaffed.

“Plan as far as emergency transports will be ambulances are allowed to transport to St John and return based on staffing levels left in the district,” Cole said. “They will be able to return with Battalion Chief authorization if our resources are depleted. If resources are ok, then it is asked that we go around using the ferry or through Portland. It should also be

gency response capacity by three ambulances in each bridge closureaffected district, but its request was unsuccessful.

In addition to the impact the closure could have on emergency services, commuters and those who use the bridge every day will bear the brunt of the delays.

“People that use the bridge regularly need to plan ahead,” Hamilton said. “If they use the bridge to get back and forth to work every day, they should think about making alternative plans; they should work from home, they should figure an alternate route to get to where they’re going.”

City Manager Scott Jorgensen is one such affected Rainier worker who uses the bridge to commute. Jorgensen, who lives in Longview, said this closure be disruptive to many in Rainier and Washington.

“This is going to be a very big deal. I live on the other side of the river. Our Public Works Director lives

on the other side of the river. I’m just going to have to take the week off, work from home as I can,” Jorgensen said.

Jorgensen said that people should utilize the bridge while they can and make plans for the normally short commute to take much longer than usual. One solution Jorgensen wished WSDOT had given more consideration was contracting a ferry to accommodate people.

Ferry frustration

While the Wahkiakum County Ferry between Cathlamet and Westport, Oregon, will run twice an hour, 24 hours a day, while the bridge is closed. This ferry has extremely limited capacity, and the priority for passage will be returning emergency service transports and those who have medical appointments.

WSDOT’s Kelly Hanahan said there will be a “priority lane set up and enforced” that will accommodate travelers with non-emergency medical needs, as well as first responders and healthcare workers. All other travelers for the ferry should expect “hours of lengthy wait times and long

Hanahan said that contracting a larger ferry was one of the first solutions that was considered, but it was ultimately not feasible.

“A larger ferry was one of the first options we explored, but unfortunately, there are no WSDOT ferries to be borrowed from other parts of the state,” Hanahan said. “The Wahkiakum County Ferry has traditionally been used during Lewis and Clark Bridge closures, and all fares will be paid for by WSDOT during the closure.”

With the bridge closure looming this weekend, the people who rely on the bridge for convenient transport should make the necessary plans to minimize the impact on their lives.

“It’s going to be very disruptive, and I think business owners and employers have had a while to plan for it, but it’s less than ideal; I think people are going to realize how much that bridge means to them very soon when they can’t get across it,” Jorgensen said.

Follow developments at thechiefnews.com and in the Friday print version of The Chief.

My Fair Lady and Gentleman 2023 Pageant

Country Media, Inc.

The 2023 Annual My Fair Lady and Gentleman Pageant is scheduled to be held at 1 p.m. July 19 at the Columbia County Fairgrounds in St. Helens.

The My Fair Lady and Gentle man Pageant is held during the Columbia County Fair each year to recognize seniors (55+) for their outstanding community service.

Introducing the 2023 Court

• Pat Turpin, Scappoose

• Dena Nelson, St. Helens

• Clint Kelley, Rainier

• Virginia Leloff, Clatskanie

• Paula Hanson, Vernonia

The 2023 My Fair Lady and Gentlemen Court was welcomed during the tea at Caples House on May 23. The five senior volunteers have embraced this opportunity through participation in the St. Helens Kiwanis Parade, Clatskanie 4th of July Parade and Heritage Days Parade. They will continue to Thank you to Columbia County

Contact The Chief

volunteerism and philanthropy. The United Way of Columbia County

https://www.unitedwayofcolumbia county.com/senior-volunteers.

Columbia County Fair and Rodeo

The Columbia County Fair and Rodeo will be returning to the Columbia County Fairgrounds at 58892 Saulser Road, in Saint Helens, from Wednesday, July 19, through Sunday, July 23.

The Columbia County Fair has been going annually for more than 100 years. The theme this year is “Spurring Up Summer Fun.” The four-day event will feature the hugely popular rodeo, food, live music, and carnival rides.

Hours:

Wednesday, July 19: 10 a.m. - 10 p.m.

Thursday, July 20: 10 a.m. - 10 p.m.

Friday, July 21: 10 a.m. - 12 a.m.

Saturday, July 22: 10 a.m. - 12 a.m.

Sunday, July 23: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Find more information at https://www.columbiacountyfairgrounds.com.

Cherry Bomb’s Cafe to close too soon

WILL LOHRE Country Media, Inc.

After less than two months since opening, the operator of Cherry Bomb’s Café in Rainier says he must vacate the building that houses the café by the end of the month.

Opened May 26 by artist and entrepreneur Jessie Perkins, Cherry Bomb’s Cafe located at 102 E B St. was the fulfillment of Perkins’ dream to bring a fun, family-friendly business to Rainier.

“I wanted to create a magical place where everyone could feel safe “and at home in a fun, loving, fantastical environment,” Perkins said. I wanted to open a place for artistic expression, and create a hub for our budding artists in our community, especially our children. I truly wanted to show Columbia County that we, too, can have culture being brave with something new and exciting.”

The project began about a year ago, and Perkins began renting the space that was once Triple X Ar-

chery and spent nine months decorating and renovating the building to get up to code and open Cherry Bomb’s Cafe.

Perkins said they had to open before they were ready to counter the construction project’s mounting financial burden.

“I didn’t even get to finish my vision. I wasn’t all the way done with construction. I had a lot more dreams for the place. I am an artist, first and foremost. I’m not of the traditional business mindset,” Perkins said. “I know that was a tough gamble to take starting out, but I truly believed that the community would support us and the underdogs would come out on top. Sadly it just didn’t happen.”

The brightly colored interior of the store and the variety of sweets and creative drinks were part of what Perkins wanted to be an “interactive piece of art” that would touch all five senses. Sadly, Perkins said they did not get the business they needed

Courtesy photo

The 2023 Court, from left to right is Virginia Leloff, Dena Nelson, Clint Kelley, Pat Turpin, and Paula Hanson.

Will Lohre / Country Media, Inc.

The Lewis and Clark Bridge closes for eight days on July 16.

Courtesy from WSDOT

A map of alternative routes suggested during the bridge closure.

Reports of racial bias rising in Oregon

JULIA SHUMWAY

Oregon Capital Chronicle

Chief Guest Article

Reports of racial, ethnic and anti-LGBTQ bias increased again in 2022, a new report from Oregon’s Criminal Justice Commission showed.

Oregonians in 2022 reported to a confidential state hotline about more than 2,500 incidents of bias crimes or non-criminal incidents that made people from protected classes feel unwelcome. It’s an increase of 178% since the hotline launched in 2020.

The report said Oregonians likely still underreport bias incidents, both to police and to the state-run hotline. A 2021 survey cited in the report found that 18% of people of color in Oregon were victims of race-motivated assaults or witnessed family members

being assaulted, and 25% of all Oregonians have experienced or witnessed racebased harassment.

And another 2021 survey cited in the report estimated that more than 1.2 million bias incidents occurred in Oregon in 2019, with nearly 8% of Oregonians being victims of bias incidents each year.

New data comes from the state-run bias response hotline, which since 2020 has logged more than 6,000 reports of hate crimes and non-criminal bias incidents.

They included grocery stores refusing to serve customers, school boards banning LGBTQ Pride flags, people painting swastikas or other hate symbols on structures, schools forcing transgender students to use unwanted names in their yearbooks and even a report of race-based murder.

“Hate is a stain on our

state,” Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said in a statement. “Our bias response hotline is an essential resource for supporting victims of bias and hate incidents, as well as a critical tool for monitoring trends in bias and hate in Oregon. Everyone should feel like they belong in Oregon.”

Victim Hotline

If you’ve experienced or witnessed a hate crime or other bias incident, call the state’s bias response hotline at 1-844-924-2427 or make an online report at StandAgainstHate. Oregon.gov.

The hotline, established by a 2019 state law, is meant to collect quantitative data on hate crimes, which are often under-

charged. Advocates who answer calls can help callers connect with law enforcement to report crimes, but they don’t open investigations on their own.

Bias crimes can be charged as a misdemeanor or class C felony. The latter case, punishable by up to five years in prison, involves causing physical injury or fear of imminent physical injury because of the perpetrator’s perception of the victim’s race, color, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability or nationality.

Race-based incidents made up more than half the reports the hotline received in 2022, with anti-Black incidents responsible for a quarter of the total reports. Anti-Hispanic reports more than tripled in the past three years, reaching 15% of total reports in 2022.

Anti-Asian reports de -

creased from 2021 to 2022, from making up about 13% of total reports to 6%.

Researchers attributed this drop in part to the COVID pandemic, as reports nationwide of anti-Asian harassment soared in 2020 and 2021.

Anti-LGBTQ incidents increased over the past few years, with reports about incidents targeting people over their sexual orientation making up 11% of reports in 2020 and 20% in 2022.

Incidents targeting people for their gender identity made up 6% of reports in 2020 and 15% in 2022.

Callers are free to share as much or little identifying information with the hotline staff as they choose, meaning hotline staff have some leeway in how they classify incidents. For instance, an anonymous report that a student was flying a Confederate flag from their

car in a school parking lot would be classified as antiBlack, even if the race of the person who felt targeted by the flag was unknown.

Swastikas are always classified as an anti-Jewish symbol at the request of the Anti-Defamation League, though a swastika could also be classified as an antiLGBTQ or anti-disability symbol if the person targeted perceives it that way. https://oregoncapitalchronicle.com/briefs/ reports-of-racial-ethnic-antilgbtq-bias-continue-rising-inoregon.

Oregon Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oregon Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Lynne Terry for questions: info@oregoncapitalchronicle. com.

Museum bringing attention to human rights

WILL LOHRE Country Media, Inc.

The Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education (OJMCHE) has reopened, and visitors can experience three new exhibitions in the newly expanded space.

The museum reopened on June 11 following a four-month closure due to construction as the museum incorporated new space into the existing museum floor plan while also expanding the museum’s footprint for its other galleries and providing new museum lighting on the first floor.

The OJMCHE, located at 724 NW Davis Street in Portland, explores the legacy of the Jewish experience in Oregon, teaches the enduring and universal relevance of the Holocaust, and provides opportunities for intercultural conversations.

To that end, the OJMCHE has a variety of programs, exhibitions, and speakers to help engage visitors, community members, teachers, and students. According to their website, these programs and initiatives “celebrate and explore, in the broadest terms, Jewish contributions to world culture and ideas, issues of identity, and the forces of prejudice.”

In April, the St. Helens Public Library hosted OJMCHE guest speaker Ruth Bollinger, who shared her experience as a child survivor of the Holocaust. The reopening of the museum offers Oregonians an opportunity to connect to Jewish history and themes of human rights in their new exhibitions.

New exhibitions

Executive Director for the museum Judy Margles is excited to present the newlook museum and is thrilled with the new exhibitions the museum has to offer.

One of the temporary exhibitions is called, But a Dream; it is a series of paintings by Salvador Dalí, commissioned by a publisher in New York City in 1966. The exhibition

is at the museum until August 13, 2023. The goal of the series was to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of Israel becoming a country.

“Dalí really took to the subject, as you’ll see by these images, he sort of went to the bible, he went into Jewish history, and then he connected each image to a quotation from the bible,” Margles said.

The series explored the journey of Jewish history up to the recognition of Israel as its own state. Margles said the series is especially interesting, given that Dalí expressed fascist sympathies and was suspected of being an anti-semite. Margles said she wasn’t convinced he was an anti-semite and noted that he was more of a “generic rascist.” Margles said, ultimately, it probably came down to money and that he likely wasn’t antisemitic.

The next exhibition is called The Jews of Amsterdam, Rembrandt and Pander, and it will be on display until September 23, 2023. Curated by Adjunct Curator for Special Exhibitions Bruce Guenther, the exhibit focuses on the 400-year history of Jews of Amsterdam through the eyes of two artists.

The two artists are Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) and Henk Pander (19372023). The exhibit features 22 original etchings from Rembrandt and six canvases from Pander that reflect the lives of Jews in Amsterdam at two very different times of change.

Pander was a Dutch artist, but he spent much of his life in Portland. His art in the exhibit shows Jewish parts of the

city of Amsterdam following the destruction experienced at the hands of Nazi occupation during World War II.

“That’s the contrast; the optimism and the solidity of the Dutch golden age in Rembrandt, who witnesses the pinnacle. And Pander, who was a witness of the end,” Guenther said. “It’s about art. But it’s art as a reflection, as an imaging, of the human experience.”

The new core exhibition is called Human Rights After the Holocaust and was developed by guest curator Scott Miller, who formerly was chief curator at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. The exhibition was designed by Bryan Potter Design.

The focus

The exhibition will be at the museum indefinitely and focuses on human rights issues that transpired after the Holocaust and that still persist today.

“This is, sadly, an unfolding story day by day. There are headlines, even, about human rights abuses, ships of refugees overturning in the Mediterranean Sea,” Miller said. “Read the newspapers. The history books are very important, but it’s absolutely present day.”

The exhibit begins with the Holocaust and touches on the development of the legal definition of human rights, and details why and how human rights abuses, hatred, racial injustice, and genocide continue to happen while also illustrating why hope and

action are critical to making positive changes. While the exhibit delves into some of the darkest parts of human history, the exhibit ends with a note that seeks to motivate museum-goers and asks the question, “How do you turn hope into action?”

People are encouraged to write their responses, and they are put up on the wall in the exhibit. When asked why the

hope component was important, Miller said that hope breeds action.

“Hope is what leads to activism. If you don’t have hope, then what’s the point? So it’s hope for hope’s sake, but it’s really the idea hope can lead to activism, which can lead to change,” Miller said.

After the closure and the renovation, Margles is proud

to not only present the new space that was incorporated but also hopes these exhibitions give people the opportunity to learn world history in ways they never thought of before. Ultimately she hopes people who visit the museum will be inspired to make a change. Margles also spoke to the continued crisis of houselessness in Portland.

“We want people to come in here and think, ‘there is hope,’” Margles said. “Empathy is the other piece we’re trying to help our visitors understand. In this neighborhood, it’s a neighborhood where there’s a lot of misery; it’s a humanitarian crisis. If you walk out of here and you see somebody who’s quite manic and a little scary, that your reaction isn’t one of indignity. They are human beings. They had a mother, they had a father, they had siblings, they had a family. They are in deep deep distress, ‘is there something I can do?’”

North Columbia County’s trusted

Will Lohre / Country Media, Inc.

The new core exhibition focuses on human rights.

Will Lohre / Country Media, Inc.

But a Dream is a series of paintings by Salvador Dalí.

Evidence of human occupancy in Oregon 18,000 years ago

STAFF REPORT

Country Media, Inc.

Oregon archaeologists have found evidence suggesting humans occupied the Rimrock Draw Rockshelter outside of Riley, Oregon more than 18,000 years ago.

University of Oregon’s Museum of Natural and Cultural History Archaeological Field School, led by archaeologist Patrick O’Grady, has been excavating at the Rimrock Draw Rockshelter.

Excavation has been occurring since 2011 under an official partnership agreement with the Bureau of Land Management. Discoveries at the site have included stone tools and extinct-mammal tooth fragments from the Pleistocene era. The pieces of tooth enamel are identified as

bison (Bison sp.) and camel (Camelops sp.).

In 2012, O’Grady’s team found camel teeth fragments under a layer of volcanic ash from an eruption of Mount St. Helens that was dated over 15,000 years ago. The team also uncovered two finely crafted orange agate scrapers, one in 2012 with preserved bison blood residue and another in 2015, buried deeper in the ash. Natural layering of the rockshelter sediments suggests the scrapers are older than both the volcanic ash and camel teeth.

Radiocarbon-dating analysis on the tooth enamel – first in 2018 and then again in 2023 – by Dr. Thomas W. Stafford, Jr of Stafford Research and Dr. John Southon of University of California, Irvine, yielded exciting

results: a date of 18,250 years before present (14,900 radiocarbon years).

That date, in association with stone tools, suggests that Rimrock Draw Rockshelter is one of the oldest humanoccupation sites in North America.

Additional testing of other camel and bison teeth fragments is currently underway, and archaeo-botanists are studying plant remains from cooking fires as well.

“The identification of 15,000-years-old volcanic ash was a shock, then Tom’s 18,000-years old dates on the enamel, with stone tools and flakes below were even more startling,” O’Grady said.

Presently, Cooper’s Ferry, another archaeological site on BLM-managed public lands in western Idaho, is thought

to be the oldest known site in western North America. Evidence there suggests human occupation dating back more than 16,000 years.

“This is a very exciting development for the archaeological community,” said Heather Ulrich, BLM Oregon/Washington Archaeology lead. “Thanks to the partnership with Dr. O’Grady and the University these new dates push our archaeological knowledge of human occupation in North America even farther, perhaps the oldest yet!” These discoveries highlight the importance of good stewardship of our public lands. Damage, destruction, or removal at an archaeological site is a federal crime. Leave what you find and do not collect artifacts or oth-

erwise harm archaeological sites on public lands.

This summer, Dr. O’Grady plans to complete the final archaeology field school at

Draw. The team will be working on several units where more Ice Age animal remains and artifacts are providing supporting evidence for the 2012 discoveries.

DMV camera breakdown stalls ID’s, driver’s licenses

Chief Guest Article

Oregon’s Department of Motor Vehicles has suffered another breakdown: Its cameras stopped working for a few days, preventing the agency from issuing IDs and driver’s licenses.

The system was down from midday last Wednesday, July 5 to midday Friday, July 7 and then stopped working for a time on Monday, July 10 said spokeswoman Michelle Godfrey.

“The outage prevented us from performing credential

STAFF REPORT

Country Media, Inc.

Oregon Treasurer Tobias Read has announced the agency’s plan to return approximately $10 million in unclaimed funds as part of the “Checks Without Claims” initiative.

The 2023 effort will be the largest mass disbursement of funds by Oregon’s Unclaimed Property Program to date.

“We’re excited to return millions of dollars in unclaimed funds to their rightful owners,” Treasurer Read said. “In-addition to collecting and safeguarding Oregonians’ unclaimed property, Treasury is committed to raising awareness across Oregon and offering easy, accessible ways for individuals to find and claim money owed to them.”

Through “Checks Without Claims”, Treasury will return

transactions that required a photo (to) be taken, but we continued all other transactions,” she said. She said it took the vendor – Veridos Identity Solutions – those two days to get the systems running again by adding memory to process data. When photos are taken at the DMV, the system compares the current photo with any previous ones to prevent fraud. The breakdown affected all 60 DMV offices throughout the state, and as many as 7,000 people were unable to obtain an ID card or driver’s license because of the breakdown, Godfrey said.

Agency officials initially gave customers passes to come back when the system was working and skip to the front of the line, but that soon became untenable as the outage dragged on, Godfrey said. The agency rescheduled appointments and issued 30day temporary permits when possible. The agency did not issue a release about the breakdown but posted yellow signs on “many office doors” to alert the public and told them to return when the signs were taken down, Godfrey said. This is not the first such breakdown of the system,

which the first DMV offices began using in 2018, but past outages have only lasted 30 to 45 minutes, Godfrey said.

She said the problem was not related to the massive data breach last month. DMV announced on June 15 – 15 days after discovering the breach – that hackers had gained access to personal information of those with ID cards and driver’s licenses. Godfrey said Tuesday the agency has no way of knowing how many people were affected.

The agency estimated last month that hackers may have obtained information about 3.5 million Orego-

nians, or about 90% of those with state-issued ID cards or driver’s licenses. The breach included personal information such as birthdate, home address and physical characteristics, potentially enabling the hackers to apply for credit cards, loans or unemployment insurance using the information.

The hackers gained access to DMV data through a vulnerability in a software program, MOVEit, that enables the transfer of large files. No other agency in Oregon uses the program, and it is not used by government agencies in Washington, Idaho or Mon-

tana. But Louisiana’s DMV, which used MOVEit, also suffered a data breach, with 6 million records compromised. And the U.S. Department of Energy was hacked through MOVEit as well, Reuters reported.

Oregon Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oregon Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Lynne Terry for questions: info@oregoncapitalchronicle.com.

to Oregonians

unclaimed funds to individuals over the course of three phases in the first half of 2023.

• In February, the first phase will disburse payments to verified owners of unclaimed funds reported to the state in 2018.

• In April, the second phase will disburse payments to verified owners of unclaimed funds reported to the state in 2019.

• In June, the third phase will disburse payments to verified owners of unclaimed funds reported to the state in 2020.

Individuals identified as the owner of unclaimed funds currently held by Oregon’s Unclaimed Property Program will be notified via letter from Treasurer Read a month prior to payment if they are

part of the “Checks Without Claims” initiative. Payments, via check, will be mailed to individuals and accompanied by an additional confirmation letter from the Treasurer.

Reconnecting Oregonians

With over $1 billion in unclaimed funds currently held by the state, “Checks Without Claims” is one way to reconnect more Oregonians with their unclaimed money and property, according to the Oregon Treasury. Payments distributed through “Checks Without Claims” represent unclaimed property reported to the state in 2018, 2019, and 2020 by various businesses and organizations that were unable to return funds to the rightful owner. Common examples of unclaimed property include

uncashed checks, forgotten bank accounts, tax refunds, credit balances, investment accounts, payroll checks, refunds, and more. Typically, individuals need to file a claim with Oregon’s Unclaimed Property Program and complete the verification process to receive the funds they are owed. Treasury conducts “Checks Without Claims” to proactively verify some owners of unclaimed assets and facilitate payments directly to them. Checks distributed will vary in amount between $50 and $10,000.

How the payback works

The effort excludes payments to owners of more challenging claims such as safety deposit boxes, securities, or co-owned property. To recover funds that were not distributed as part of “Checks

Without Claims” individuals can search for an unclaimed asset and file a claim at unclaimed.oregon.gov.

The Unclaimed Property Program advises people who receive letters about the forthcoming checks to wait for the checks to arrive rather than submitting a claim online, as filing a claim may delay receipt of payment.

In July 2021, the state’s Unclaimed Property Program transitioned to Treasury from the Oregon Department of State Lands. Since the transition to Treasury, the program has completed over 47,000 claims, returning over $65.4 million to current and former Oregonians.

Searching for unclaimed funds is free and easy, accoding to the Oregon Treasury. Interested individuals are encouraged to visit Treasury’s unclaimed property website at

unclaimed.oregon.gov.

More information about “Checks Without Claims” is available online at unclaimed. oregon.gov/app/checks-without-claims. Questions about unclaimed funds or “Checks Without Claims” can be directed to Oregon’s Unclaimed Property Program via email claims@ost.state.or.us or phone at 503-378-4000.

About Oregon State Treasury

Oregon State Treasury improves the financial wellbeing of all Oregonians. We provide low-cost banking, debt management, and investment programs for governments and empower Oregonians to invest in themselves and their loved ones through the Oregon College Savings Plan, Oregon ABLE Savings Plan, and OregonSaves.

STATEPOINT CROSSWORD THEME: IDIOMS

ACROSS

1. Nebraska city on Missouri River

6. Not her 9. Earnhardt of racing fame

13. Sea near Australia

14. Slippery when cold

15. Printer cartridge contents

16. *Title of this puzzle, sing.

53. Modeling material

55. Robinson in “The Graduate”

57. *Resting on these stops

61. *No use crying over this

65. Money in the bank, e.g.

66. Certain frat house letters

68. Little dear

69. Like a disreputable neighborhood

70. College assessment test,

71. Fairy-tale oil lamp dweller

72. Hawaiian tuber

73. “Oui” in English

74. The Three Musketeers’ swords

DOWN

1. Ear-related

2. Skirt length

3. Gulf V.I.P.

4. Moonshine

5. Cloth armband

6. Kaa’s warning

7. *Break it to start a conversation

8. Synchronizes, for short

9. Pillow filler

10. “Green Gables” character

11. Suggestive look

12. Blunders

15. Full of tribulations

20. Derive

22. Dinghy propeller

24. Bear witness

25. *Read between these for real meaning

26. Writer Asimov

27. Likewise

29. *Don’t beat around it

31. Claudius’ successor

32. Breadth

33. Oil holder

34. *Cut one some of this and don’t be critical

36. Dirt on Santa’s suit?

38. Gallup’s inquiry

42. Like Raphael’s cherubs

45. Polite social behavior

49. How many of the President’s men?

51. *Cross it when you get to it

54. Investigative report

56. Count sheep

57. Bringing up the rear, adj.

58. Between ports

59. Consumer

60. Overhaul

61. Tennis scoring term, pl.

62. Pool path

63. Great Lake

64. Henna and such

67. *One up your sleeve gives advantage

Rimrock

LYNN TERRY Oregon Capital Chronicle

$10M in unclaimed funds to be returned

Mostly perfect gardening weather

CHIP BUBL Clatskanie Grows

Chief Guest Column

Summer has started well for gardeners.

We have had a few days in the 90s and are due for another one or two this weekend, but they haven’t been sizzling. Peppers love this weather and tomatoes, and corn are growing nicely.

Some of the leafy vegetables (lettuce especially) have matured quickly and aren’t in their best condition but all can still be planted for continuous crops.

This is the right time to harvest garlic. Do not irrigate it anymore. When you harvest, put the plants (bulbs and attached stems/ leaves) in a place with good air circulation but not direct sun. Assuming the weather pattern continues, they should dry fairly quickly.

Drying them in the sun can lead to sunburned bulbs.

The cloves turn soft and yellow/tan in color when you peel the “skins” around the cloves. They are off flavored, not good to eat, and will rot quickly. Garlic can be stored in a dry space for about two to three months at summer temperatures.

As we move into fall, and the bulbs experience more uneven temperatures, they start to sprout. Many gardeners have learned to take apart the bulbs and freeze the cloves individually. They are easy to work with in the kitchen and won’t

decay once frozen. As I have mentioned in earlier columns, now is the time to plant vegetables for fall into winter eating. The cabbage family is on top of the list with kale, cabbage, cauliflower, turnips, rutabagas (they need to go in quickly to mature), and kohlrabi. Chard and beets are strong winter vegetables. Spinach is great and is best planted in mid-August.

Lettuce can be planted anytime from now until early September. Green beans can be planted for fall eating. And finally, leeks can be planted now and will stand very cold temperatures. As far as insects this summer, it has mainly been flea beetles (different species for different crops) that have caused the most trouble, especially on cabbage family seedlings. The cabbage butterfly is now flying so her very hungry caterpillars can’t be far behind. Yellow jackets, which feed on caterpillars, are not abundant yet but as summer progresses, expect to see more.

Apple and pear and other tree fruit crops are abundant. High fruit load on branches and main limbs will damage some trees as the fruits mature and get heavier. Thinning fruit now can help. Finally, don’t stomp on the black beetles you see patrolling your garden. They move fast because they are adept predators. As a group, they feed on cutworms, slugs, caterpillars if they can get to them, soil insects, an slugs. There are several body types. Most, but not all, are shiny black in appearance. They are garden partners that need encouragement.

Blackberries –we love and hate them

For whatever reason, blackberries (the weedy and not the more cultured types like Marion berries) seem to be growing with a devilish passion this year. Their thorns even seem sharper! Blackberries can be controlled by repeated cutting to the ground, first by hand and later with a heavy-duty lawn mower for the new shoots. If you are using herbicides for control, you will

No recession expected in 2023

AMY VANDER VLIET

Chief Guest Article

Inflation is slowing, wages are rising, and job growth remains strong.

For these reasons, the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis (OEA) believes we will avoid a recession in the near term. However, we’re not out of the woods yet. Inflation remains well above the Federal Reserve’s target rate, and inflationary economic booms historically end in recession. According to OEA’s latest forecast, a recession is not so much a question of ‘if’ but of ‘when.’

The strength of the economy is pushing the recession date farther out into the future.

Forecasting the timing of recessions is difficult and

made more challenging today by the ongoing momentum in the economy. In addition to easing inflation, low unemployment, strong job growth, and improving household finances, the nation has also thus far survived the goods recession of 2022 and is working through the banking turmoil of early 2023.

In light of this, OEA recognizes that it’s difficult to see where an imminent recession comes from. So for now, they are not incorporating one into their baseline scenario and instead allowing for the possibility of a soft landing and continued, albeit slowing, economic growth.

However, the risk of recession is uncomfortably high, and is played out in OEA’s alternative, or ‘boom/

bust’ scenario. In this situation, interest rate hikes (past and potential future ones) result in a moderate recession beginning in early 2024. Oregon would see three quarters of job losses totaling 3%, or 60,000 jobs. No industry escapes unscathed, but the goods-producing sectors (construction, manufacturing) will see relatively larger losses. The unemployment rate rises to 7%.

The OEA’s complete report is available at www. oregon.gov/das/OEA/Pages/ forecastecorev.aspx.

Amy Vander Vliet is an Oregon Employment Department Regional Economist. She may be reached at amy.s.vandervliet@employ. oregon.gov, opr at 971-8042099.

c ommunity e vents

July 13, 14, & 15 Plant Sale

9 a.m. - 5 p.m. at the Columbia County Fairgrounds, 58892 Saulser Rd., St. Helens. No entry fee. Get beautiful plants at great prices. Don’t forget to bring your wagon. For questions call 503-397-4231 or email fairoffice@columbiacountyfairgrounds.com. Proceeds support the Columbia County Fair & Rodeo.

July 14 Birdies Devine Delights Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting

10 a.m. Grand opening and ribbon cutting for Birdies Devine Delights at 126 W. B Street, Rainier, Oregon.

July 16 Plant Sale

10 a.m. - 2 p.m. at the Columbia County Fairgrounds, 58892 Saulser Rd., St. Helens. No entry fee. Get beautiful plants at great prices. Don’t forget to bring your wagon. For questions call 503-397-4231 or email fairoffice@columbiacountyfairgrounds.com. Proceeds support the Columbia County Fair & Rodeo.

Ongoing

Clatskanie Senior Center lunches

Clatskanie Senior Center Lunches now served Monday, Wednesday, and Friday

at noon at the Castle Cafe, 620 SW Tichenor. Call 503728-3608 for reservations. Use ground floor entrance to the left of front stairs. Good parking in back off of SW Bryant Street. Castle Tours available by appointment, includes Clatskanie Historical Society museum. Call Debbie at 503-338-8268.

Volunteers Needed

The City of St. Helens has partnered with Columbia County and is seeking volunteers to help with a 6-week Pickleball program at Campbell Park starting midJune on Sunday afternoons. If interested, please contact, Casey Garrett: casey. garrett@columbiacountyor. gov - or - Shanna Duggan at sduggan@sthelensoregon. gov

Caples Evening Programs

The cost for this evening and all our Fireside Chats will be only $5. Caples will be offering a different program the third Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. at 1925 First Street in Columbia City. For more information, call 503-3975390.

Lower Columbia River Watershed Council

Lower Columbia Watershed Council meets the second Monday of the month at

find ones that don’t work well now are very good in September. Call me and we can discuss options that will give you the best results. Be careful with Crossbow and related herbicides. While they work well now, they are prone to leaving where you sprayed them and wandering to your or your neighbor’s garden if the temperatures are above 75 degrees, even 8 hours after spraying! This has resulted in lawsuits for damage. Again, call me if you have questions.

sion office located at 505 N. Columbia River Highway in St. Helens. If you have questions, phone Jenny Rudolph at the office at 503-397-3462.

You can download for free all our food preservation publications at https://extension.oregonstate.edu/mfp/ publications. An additional great resource is the National Center for home Food Preservation at http://www.uga.edu/ nchfp.

Important notes

Metro Creative Connection

Food Preservation:

Are you planning to preserve food from your garden or purchased from a farm this summer? If so, call or visit the OSU Extension Service office before you start canning, freezing, or drying.

Costly and potentially harmful mistakes can be made by using outdated canning recipes and instructions. You can find free publications and pressure gauge testing at the Columbia County Exten-

• Donate extra garden produce and/or money to the food bank, senior centers, or community meals programs. It always is greatly appreciated.

• The OSU Extension Office is fully open from 8 a.m to 5 p.m.

• The Extension Service offers its programs and materials equally to all people.

Have questions?

If you have questions on any of these topics or other home garden and/or farm

Chip Bubl, Oregon State University Extension office in St. Helens at 503-397-3462 or at chip.bubl@oregonstate. edu. The office is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Free newsletter (what a deal!): The Oregon State University Extension office in Columbia County publishes a monthly newsletter on gardening and farming topics (called County Living) written/edited by yours truly. All you need to do is ask for it and it will be mailed or emailed to you. Call 503397-3462 to be put on the list. Alternatively, you can find it on the web at http:// extension.oregonstate.edu/ columbia/ and click on newsletters.

Resource contact

Oregon State University Extension Service – Columbia County 505 N. Columbia River Highway St. Helens, OR 97051 503-397-3462

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p.m. in the Clatskanie PUD building. Zoom links are also available. Visit the council’s website for agenda postings and Zoom at www.lowercolumbiariver.org/events-page.

The Rainier Oregon Historical Museum (ROHM) is open from noon - 4 p.m. Saturday (except major holidays weekends). ROHM is located inside Rainier City Hall at 106 W B Street. For more information, call 360751-7039.

The Rainier Public Library is open from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Fridays and 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturdays. It will be closed Sundays and Mondays.

Avamere at St. Helens hosts a Virtual Dementia Support Group – 3rd Wednesday of each month from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. For more details, contact Jenny Hicks/Avamere at St. Helens at 503-366-8070.

To list an event in the Community Calendar, email details with a phone number that may be published, to chronicleclassifieds@ countrymedia.net, or call 503-397-0116.

telephone number (only the name and city of residence will be published). By submitting a letter, writers also grant permission for them to be posted online. Opinions expressed on this page are the writer’s alone and do not represent the opinion of the newspaper or its parent company, Country Media, Inc.

1-877390-0458.

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HELP WANTED

CC23-1812

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE STATE OF OREGON FOR THE COUNTY OF COLUMBIA

Probate Department In the Matter of the Estate of ALBERT M. PARKER, Deceased. No. 23PB04950

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the undersigned has been appointed personal representative of this estate. All persons having claims against the estate are required to present their claims, with vouchers attached, within four months after the date of first publication of this notice to the personal representative at

CC23-1816

P. O. Box 459, Rainier, OR 97048, or the claims may be barred. All persons whose rights may be affected by the proceedings may obtain additional information from the records of the Court, the personal representative or the attorney for the personal representative. Dated and first published July 7, 2023.

Tina Marie Cramer, Personal Representative. STEPHEN D. PETERSEN, L.L.C. Attorney at Law, P.O. Box 459, Rainier, OR 97048.

CC23-1817

CLATSKANIE PEOPLE’S UTILITY DISTRICT MEETING NOTICE

The Clatskanie People’s Utility District Board of Directors has scheduled the next regular Board meeting for Wednesday, July 19, 2023 at 6:00 pm in the community room of the District’s administration building located at 495 E Columbia River Highway, Clatskanie. A Board Workshop will be held at 5:30 pm. An executive session may be called

at the workshop and/or meeting, pursuant to: ORS 192.660 (2) (f) information or records that are exempt by law from public inspection. AGENDA CLATSKANIE PEOPLE’S UTILITY DISTRICT BOARD WORKSHOP Wednesday, July 19, 2023 at 5:30 P.M.

I. PRESENTATION: BPA’s System Capabilities, Director of Energy Resources Chris Roden II. POLICY

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

The city of Rainier City Council will hold a public hearing on August 6, 2023, to consider a variety of proposed amendments to Rainier Municipal Code (RMC) Chapter 2.15 Planning Commission; Title 17 Subdivisions, and Title 18 Zoning. The proposed amendment to Chapter 2.15 would authorize the planning commission to set a schedule for its regular meetings at its last meeting of the year for the subsequent year.

The Planning Commission has recommended the City Council adopt the ordinance. The hearing will start at 6:00 p.m. in the council chambers at Rainier City Hall, 106 W B Street, Rainier. The

proposed amendments to Title 17 include authorizing the planning commission to make the final decision on preliminary subdivision plats, with an appeal to the city council; shifting the administrative responsibilities of managing development applications from the public works supervisor to the city planner and city recorder; granting authority to the city planner to act on preliminary partition plats; streamlining the review and decision process on property line amendments by granting authority to the city planner to take action on such applications. Additionally, preliminary plat and final plat would replace subdivision

plan and subdivision plat for both subdivisions and partitions. Proposed amendments to Title 18 include adding definitions for Residential Care Facility and Residential Home (group homes for people with special needs;) making such facilities permitted uses in all residential zoning districts; taking action on request for similar use requests at the staff level with public notice; and amending the notice period on applicable proposed actions to the Oregon Department of Land Conservation from 45 days to 35 days, consistent with state law. The proposed amendments will be reviewed as required against the applicable

provisions of the Rainier Comprehensive Plan and applicable statewide planning goals and/or administrative rules as adopted by the Land Conservation and Development Commission. Draft Ordinance 1091 effecting the proposed amendments is available at City Hall; contact Sarah Blodget during regular business hours. All interested persons are invited to submit written comments and/or attend the hearing and present testimony. Only those who make an appearance of record shall be entitled to appeal. The staff report to the planning commission will be available for review by the close of business May 15.

REVIEW: 111 Review of Annexation Petitions, 304 Vehicle Replacement Policy, and 320 Cybersecurity Policy III. STAFF REPORTS

UPDATE CLATSKANIE

PEOPLE’S UTILITY DIS-

TRICT REGULAR BOARD

MEETING Wednesday, July 19, 2023 at 6:00 P.M.

I. PUBLIC COMMENTS

II. CONSENT AGENDA

· Minutes of Board Workshop, June 21, 2023 ·

Minutes of Regular Board Meeting, June 21, 2023 · Review payment of bills for June 2023 III. ACTION

ITEMS · Policy Review:

102 Landlord and Renter Agreement Policy, 301 Safety Policy, and EH 503

Telecommuting Policy IV.

DISCUSSION / INFORMA-

TIONAL ITEMS · Board Comments & Calendar V. EXECUTIVE SESSION VI. ADJOURNMENT.

NOTICE OF HOME AUCTION

out of park, probably not habitable. $9500 Lien.

NOTICE

Rainier Days in the Park have come and gone, and in addition to pro wrestling, carnival fare, fireworks, and other festivities, here are the parade winners in each of the parade categories. Winners

CLOSURE

From Page A1

to sustain the vision.

Slow summer

After a strong opening in May, business began to slow in the middle of June. Perkins said that the cafe was hoping to generate enough revenue to sustain itself into August during Rainier Days. Unfortunately, Perkins said that low turnout during Rainier Days and a lack of business during the weekend dashed their hopes.

Now Perkins and her staff have the unenviable task of having to “liquidate everything,” and the landlord has requested that she repaint the interior before she leaves at the end of the month.

“I’m having the hardest time preparing to undo and take apart what took me a year of my life to build, including nine months of construction; my whole life was sacrificed to bring this to life for our community,” Perkins said.

Cherry Bomb’s Cafe announced the closure on its Facebook page, where Perkins addressed the business’s closure in a video. The video has more than 380 reactions and more than 150 comments. Many of the comments express dismay at the closure and messages of support.

A community member has since started a Gofundme to try and generate financial support from within the community to help keep Perkins in business. Sadly, as of right now, Perkins says the company will only remain operational for the next three weeks.

“I can’t expect my landlord to let us stay for free while we get our feet on the ground, and that’s what it would take for us to continue,” Perkins said. “It just wasn’t in the cards, and now we face the horrible task of repainting the building and liquidating everything we have just to get out from under it all by the end of the month.”

A place for children

Part of what is so hard for

building.

Perkins is that she felt that Cherry Bomb’s Cafe filled a void in Rainier and Columbia County because there aren’t a lot of businesses directed towards kids and younger audiences.

While she and her staff tried everything they could to keep the place open, from hosting events to creating new menu items and drinks, the business never got the traction it needed to stay afloat. The closure marks the end of a long and difficult journey for Perkins.

“I’m grieving the loss of a piece of myself because I

was just Rainier and Columbia County. If you want to see a change, be the change, and I did just that. I’m just sorry I couldn’t keep it alive.”

While Cherry Bomb’s Cafe may soon be gone, Perkins will have plenty of opportunities to bring art to Rainier as she has been commissioned to paint several murals around town. Perkins said she already has painted three murals in Rainier and six other businesses that have

One thing Perkins hopes is Bomb’s Cafe will inspire similar projects in the future. “I hope the message of Love I was hoping to spread through the community through Cherry Bomb’s Cafe is remembered and not just as another business closing its doors too soon,” Perkins said. “Please don’t let the legacy die with the business. Cherry Bomb’s Cafe wasn’t just a business; it was a piece of my soul I wanted to share with the world.”

Will Lohre / Country Media, Inc.

The brightly colored interior of Cherry Bomb’s Cafe will sadly need to be repainted before they vacate the

Jon Campbell / Country Media, Inc.