UPDATE — KMUN was at the city’s forum on livability and homelessness in Astoria and recorded the event. You can listen by clicking play on the sound file above. Lorraine Veach recently overheard two women talking about a divisive proposal to build workforce and affordable housing in Astoria’s Heritage Square downtown. The women were bemoaning…
Local News Archive
Clatsop County held an online press conference about COVID trends and testing. The County is bracing for an Omicron surge. By Joanne Rideout [Scroll down to listen, script below] Judy Geiger is vice president of patient care services at Columbia Memorial Hospital in Astoria. Judy Geiger: “We’ve seen an uptick in COVID but it’s staying…
Clatsop County hospitals are bracing for yet another Covid-19 surge. That’s due to the Omicron variant. KMUN’s Jacob Lewin has this report: [Scroll down to Listen:] Oregon Health Sciences University’s top forecaster is projecting that Omicron covid hospitalizations will soon surge to 17-hundred per day statewide, up from a peak of 12-hundred with the delta…
Story by KMUN Correspondent Jacob Lewin [Scroll down to listen] Astoria city officials are upbeat about compliance with the city’s covid vaccine mandate. Next Monday is the deadline and 89% of staff have been vaccinated. Others are in the process of being vaccinated or have been exempted but are working under restrictions. Fire Chief Dan…
Volunteer firefighters in Warrenton have had a change of heart. A month ago, city officials feared that most of them would resign rather than be forced to get vaccinated. Today the situation is very different. KMUN’s Jacob Lewin reports: [Scroll down to listen] The city of Warrenton has 20 volunteer firefighters, three paid staff, and…
Administrators from Clatsop County school districts weighed in at a press conference Wednesday about what seems to be a successful school year so far, as COVID-19 continues to define how adults and children interact outside of home. Joanne Rideout reports. [Scroll down to listen] “I think the community needs to understand the details that we…
The superintendents of schools in Clatsop County are all giving an upbeat assessment of the start of the school year despite the increase in COVID cases. Meanwhile new data show Clatsop with the state’s lowest COVID infection rate among kids. KMUN’s Jacob Lewin has details: [Scroll down to listen]: Despite fears that an upsurge in COVID…
Health officials in Clatsop County held a press conference Wednesday, to give an update on the status of the pandemic locally. Here’s that story. On hand for the zoom meeting were Margo Lalich, Clatsop County Interim Health Director, Julie Geiger, Vice President of Patient Services at Columbia Memorial in Astoria, and Jason Plamonden, Chief Nursing…
Officials at both Columbia Memorial Hospital and Providence Seaside are worried about the impact of a state requirement that requires all health care workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The requirement takes effect next month. KMUN’s Jacob Lewin has details: [Scroll down to listen] At Columbia Memorial, vice president for patient services Judy Geiger says…
As weekly COVID-19 case counts in Clatsop County continue to surge, primarily in unvaccinated residents, Clatsop County Commissioner Courtney Bangs sent a letter to Oregon Governor Kate Brown urging her to reconsider vaccine and mask mandates, especially, she said, with regard to schools. Bangs said in the letter, quote: “While the vaccine is a valuable…
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Despite Surge, Hood to Coast is a Go
By Joanne Rideout. The Hood to Coast Relay Race will proceed this weekend, bringing thousands of runners to Seaside, during a time when COVID-19 cases are rising again and rural hospitals risk being overwhelmed. Rebecca Coplin is interim chief executive at Providence Seaside Hospital. “I would say that in many ways this is a typical…
by Jacob Lewin. Columbia Memorial Hospital says several patients have died there because they could not be transferred to larger, more specialized hospitals. These are not covid deaths, although it is overcrowding due to covid that kept them from getting treatment. In a brief statement made to the Astorian, Columbia Memorial’s CEO—Erik Thorson– says that…
The head of the Clatsop County Health Department held a news conference today with head nursing staff from hospitals in Astoria and Seaside, to talk about the renewed and escalating pandemic in the county, fueled by the delta variant. She called the rebounding crisis a “wildfire” that is beyond containment. Joanne Rideout reports. Scroll down…
For years, Fort George Brewery blew a work whistle at its downtown brewery every day, audible in and near downtown Astoria. For some, it was a kind of connection during the pandemic. The whistle was moved earlier this year, but that’s not the end of the story. KMUN’s Jacob Lewin reports: Ever since Fort George…
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Clastsop County Vaccine Update
With 18 new cases a day, some of the covid-19 spread we’re now seeing in Clatsop County is coming from people who have been vaccinated. KMUN’s Jacob Lewin spoke with County Public Health Director Margo Lalich and has this report: While the large majority of new covid cases involve the unvaccinated, locally about 15-percent of…
A crew of historic preservation students spent the past two weeks working on a century-old, women-owned commercial building in Astoria, Oregon. The project, funded by the TAWANI Foundation, is part of an effort to get more women involved in the preservation trades. Joanne Rideout reports. Photo: Students get a lesson in period window restoration as…
Scroll down for radio story… Clatsop County Vaccine Update – May 10, 2021 Clatsop County continues to offer vaccine clinics, new venues are now offering vaccines, and county awaits federal approval, anticipated this week, to give the Pfizer vaccine to 12 year olds and up. Joanne Rideout reports. Last week, the county administered 1,500 first…
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Oregon’s Clatsop County Vaccine Update
By Joanne Rideout. COVID-19 vaccination efforts continue in Clatsop County, as the health department pushes toward herd immunity. Clatsop County Vaccine Task Force Incident Commander Chris Laman said that last week the county administered close to 3,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine, including almost 1,000 second doses. “Twelve thousand five hundred people have now been…
By Jacob Lewin. The Oregon Health Authority is calling it a fourth wave of covid and it may push a dozen or so counties into the extreme risk category. Clatsop will likely NOT be getting yet more restrictions, but the numbers here have also surged. Meanwhile the county is doubling down on its vaccination…
By Joanne Rideout. COVID-19 vaccines will soon be more available than ever in Clatsop County. Officials hope that will help reverse a trend toward fewer people seeking a vaccine, even though the county is still far from the herd immunity needed to stop the pandemic. KMUN’s Joanne Rideout reports. At a Clatsop County…
By Joanne Rideout. COVID-19 vaccines will soon be more available than ever in Clatsop County. Officials hope that will help reverse a trend toward fewer people seeking a vaccine, even though the county is still far from the herd immunity needed to stop the pandemic. At a Clatsop County Vaccine Task Force meeting on…
Over 50 people were in attendance on Wednesday when Oregon US Senator Jeff Merkley held an online Clatsop County Town Hall meeting. To begin the meeting, Merkley praised the efforts of Clatsop Economic Development Resources success in distributing pandemic relief funds and personal protective equipment to hundreds of small businesses in the county, especially in…
by Joanne Rideout. As of the end of last week, the Clatsop County Public Health Department had administered a total of 20,000 first and second doses of the COVID-19 Moderna vaccine, since the vaccination effort began. Clatsop County Vaccine Task Force Incident Commander Chris Laman estimated that about 35 percent of county residents…
By Jacob Lewin. New numbers from Clatsop Community College show a 44-percent drop in student enrollment for the current year. That’s the highest decrease of any of the state’s 17 community colleges. Enrollment at the college has dropped from more than 13-hundred fulltime equivalent pre-covid to only about 750 currently on an annualized basis: “By…
Clatsop County COVID Vaccine update 3/22/21 Clatsop County is continuing to vaccinate residents against COVID-19. Joanne Rideout has an update. [Scroll down to Listen…] Last week, the county held four vaccination events and gave about 1200 people their first shot of the two-shot Moderna vaccine. They’ve also administered the Johnson and Johnson vaccine (referred to…
COVID-19 vaccine events and opportunities [Scroll down to Listen. Script below:] Intro: Clatsop County continues to ramp up COVID 19 vaccine distribution. Joanne Rideout reports. The Clatsop County Vaccine Task Force held its largest clinic to date last week, administering approximately 900 first doses Thursday at the county fairgrounds in Astoria. In total, the county…
A Big Week in Clatsop County for Vaccinations. Jacob Lewin. Clatsop County will be accelerating its Covid-19 vaccine effort this week and hopes to have 20% of county residents vaccinated by the end of the week. As of last Friday, about 14% of Clatsop County residents had received first doses of a…
US Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici held a virtual town hall meeting on Wednesday, where she took questions from constituents who called into the live streaming event. Callers asked about topics ranging from the proposed $15 federal minimum wage, to what’s next for Congress after the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. Joanne Rideout reports. Scroll down…
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More on COVID Vaccines
Clatsop County expects to start using a new shipment of six hundred doses of COVID-19 vaccine today. For the first time, some seniors—outside of those in congregate care facilities—will be eligible. KMUN’s Jacob Lewin reports. Two hundred county residents over the age of 80 are expected to get the vaccines this week—one hundred today in Seaside…
Oregon will begin vaccinating seniors this week. Joanne Rideout reports on options in Clatsop, Tillamook and Columbia counties. [Note: scroll down to bottom of story for how to get connected to vaccine resources in your county.] Starting today, Oregon seniors 80 years and older are eligible to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Starting now through the…