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Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Multiple ongoing projects throughout Intersection improvements on Highway 30 Page A3 the city

The Chronicle Serving Columbia County since 1881

On Stage!

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thechronicleonline.com

Systems down: City still offline

Christine Menges / The Chronicle

This sign was posted Thursday, Jan. 16 outside the St. Helens Public Library alerting patrons of computer issues inside the city agency. STAFF REPORT chroniclenews@countrymedia.net

Jeremy C. Ruark / The Chronicle

Children practice their roles during the Missoula Children’s Theater rehearsal of Cinderella.

Local children become actors, actresses JEREMY C. RUARK jruark@countrymedia.net

It’s not often that The Chronicle gets an invitation to go back stage for a behind-the-scenes look at a Missoula Children’s Theater production, so we took advantage of the opportunity on Jan. 14, just a few days before the production of Cinderella in St. Helens. Local children spent their afternoons last week on stage at St. Helens High School rehearsing for the Missoula Children’s Theatre production of Cinderella. Missoula Children’s Theatre

first year tour actor director Sydney Hover and second year tour actor director Johnathan Handley showed The Chronicle how they work with the children to prepare for the play. “The biggest thing they can pull off is learning what to do in this play,” Handley said. “We hand them a script at the beginning of the week, you know that can be literally impossible for some, but in five days they do. So I think that is the biggest accomplishment for them. It is always astonishing!” “I hope that they come away with the ability to work hard and believe in themselves, and the

confidence to take the lessons that they learned, do this show, and take those lessons with them for the rest of their life,” Hover said. Hover said she takes away pride in helping the children. “It’s really exciting to see the kids experience the major of theatre for the first time,” she said. “Maybe they’ve done it a hundred times, but each time is different in theatre.” “For me, I get a great sense of purpose,” Handley said. “I am making a difference in a field that I have chosen as my career. This makes us take a back seat and really see theatre from a different side. It is re-

ally a positive accomplishment for us and the kids.” During the rehearsals, Hover and Handley show each child what their role is and how to perform it. “We help them until they feel confident and that they feel good about it,” Hover said. “Building that confidence is very important. That’s what theater taught me and I think everyone can learn a little bit of it through theatre as well.” “For some of these children, this is all they will do on stage, so our

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See THEATER Page A11

Controlling Columbia County’s Mosquitoes JEREMY C. RUARK jruark@countrymedia.net

(503) 232-7292

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Events: ......................A2 Poll: ...........................A4 Cartoon: ...................A4 Viewpoints: ..............A4 Opinion: ...................A5 Obituaries: ................A5 Calendar: ..................A6 TV Guide: ................A7 Classified Ads: .........A8 Legals: .......................A9 Garden Plots: ...........A9 Vol. 138, No. 4

In a new proactive approach to control mosquitoes and the diseases they can spread, the Columbia Drainage Vector Control District will use high technology in their efforts this spring and summer. West Nile Virus The District has purchased two drones to add to their tool box of control equipment that also includes a helicopter and on-land vehicle pesticide spraying. Columbia Drainage Vector Control District Director Mike Roberts said the drones will help District crew members locate and treat mosquito breeding areas all along the Columbia River and other areas in Columbia County. The District’s boundaries stretch from the Multnomah County line to the Clatsop County line and seven miles inland from the Columbia River. Roberts said adding the hi-tech drones are critical in helping to track down mosquitoes that could be carrying the West Nile Virus (WNV). “We found West Nile Virus in bird species in Columbia County a few years ago,” he said. “What we are seeing is with the warmer and longer summers the mosquito spe-

cies that carry West Nile are moving farther north from California and Southern Oregon into our area. We predict we will have more West Nile in the future.” According to the Oregon Health Authority (OHA), WNV is carried by mosquitoes and can infect humans, horses, and birds. Humans can only get the virus

from the bite of an infected mosquito. The disease does not spread from other animals to humans, or from person to person. Most infections are mild, with fever and flu-like symptoms, but severe infections may cause encephalitis (inflammation of the brain), and rarely, death. WNV was first detected in humans in Oregon in 2005. There have been 195 human cases of the virus in Oregon between 2005 and 2019, according to the OHA. Preventing WNV • Avoid mosquito bites.

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• Mosquito-proof your home by draining standing water where mosquitoes breed. • Help your community by reporting sick or dead birds to reduce your risk for becoming sick. The Public Health Division of the Oregon Health Authority works with local health departments, mosquito control districts and other agencies to detect and test for the presence of WNV. The mosquitoes can breed along the river front and in ponds, old tires and anything that can hold water. “There are species of mosquitoes that have a flight range of 20 miles, that’s why it is very important that we treat these species,” he said. Now, with a small scout drone that can land on water in the search for the mosquitoes and a large drone that will be used to drop approved pesticides onto the mosquito breeding areas, the District is gearing up for a more intense control effort. “Beforehand, we would go into the fields with trucks to locate and treat the mosquito breeding areas, but there are many locations we would not get to because of road hazards and mud,” Roberts said. “In the spring we would use a helicopter, which would allow us to treat about 600 acres at a time. Roberts said the helicopter could

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See MOSQUITOES Page A6

Most City of St. Helens city departments are still without computers, email and phone services, although some computers are slowly coming back online, according to city staff The Chronicle spoke with Tuesday morning, Jan. 21 Previously, all City of St. Helens city departments had been without computers, email and phone services until at least late Thursday afternoon, Jan. 16, a disruption that had begun Tuesday, Jan. 14. The Chronicle went to St. Helens City Hall Thursday afternoon and spoke with Matt Brown, Assistant City Administrator, who said the systems are down for unplanned maintenance. Brown said he would be unable to answer any further questions about the offline issues for the time being, and the city would release another statement sometime next week. According to a statement posted at the City of St. Helens website Tuesday, Jan. 14, all the City’s phones, email, and computer systems are offline and will remain so until at least Tuesday, Jan. 21. This affects all City departments, including City Hall, Library, Public Works, Police, and the Recreation Center. Emergency 911 and non-emergency dispatch (503-397-1521) are still working. “If you need to reach a City department before next week, you will need to go to their physical location to speak to a staff member,” the City’s website message reads. “We apologize for this inconvenience. I.T. staff is aware of the issue and working hard to resolve the problem.” There have been no official details released by the City about what caused the systems disruption. On Jan. 16, there were signs of the offline disruption throughout the city. The St. Helens Public Library had a notice posted in front of the building on 18th Street informing patrons that the library computers were down. The city library director Margaret Jeffries referred The Chronicle back to city hall for further details about the offline issues. At approximately 3 p.m., The Chronicle went to the St. Helens Police Department just a few blocks from the city library and found a notice on that agency’s front door that the police quarters were temporarily closed and that officers were conducting business elsewhere. The notice instructed people to call 911 for any emergencies. The notice did not indicate that the closure was related to the offline issue. St. Helens City Council President Doug Morten told the Chronicle that the council is not involved with the systems disruption and it is currently a city staff issue. Follow this developing story online at thechronicleonline.com

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