ecial Report Sp
2021
What you need to know
Special Report: Port of Columbia County
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T h e C hief
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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2021
VOL. 129, NO. 40 Serving the Lower Columbia Region since 1891
Columbia County moves down to ‘high risk’ COVID-19 level, in-person dining returns Local response
MONIQUE MERRILL chronicle2@countrymedia.net
Declining COVID-19 case rates in Columbia County have allowed the county to move down to the ‘high risk’ category, which means limited in-person dining, along with other indoor activities, can return starting Friday, Feb. 12. Gov. Kate Brown announced Feb. 9 that Columbia County, and nine other counties in the state, have moved from ‘extreme risk’ to ‘high risk.’ “Thanks to Oregonians who have stepped up and made smart choices, we have made incredible progress in stopping the spread of COVID-19 and saving lives in Oregon,” Brown said. “This week we will see 10 counties move out of extreme risk, including the Portland tri-county area, for the first time since November. This is welcome news, as we’ll start to see more businesses open up and Oregonians being able to get out a bit more.” County Commissioner Margaret Magruder applauded the work of individuals in the area in following health guidelines and keeping the rates low. “We need to compliment everybody throughout the county for being diligent and staying healthy,” she said at a county meeting Feb. 10. “Hopefully we wont backslide.” Backsliding would mean a rise in case rates and could potentially shift the county back up to ‘extreme risk’ at the next risk level
Metro Creative Connection / The Chief
As Columbia County transitions to high risk, the classification will allow indoor dining and indoor entertainment to return at 25% capacity.
assessment in two weeks, and close the restaurants and businesses allowed to reopen in ‘high risk.’ ‘High risk’ restrictions Columbia County had been at an ‘extreme risk’ since the framework was put into place at the start of December, which has limited
certain business operations and capped gathering sizes at six. Transitioning to high risk will allow indoor dining and indoor entertainment to return at 25% capacity. It will also expand the number of people allowed to participate in outdoor events to 75, up from 50 allowed in extreme risk. This impacts K-12 sports and outdoor
fitness classes. Some restrictions will remain unchanged in the transition to high risk, however. Social and at-home gatherings inside are still capped at six people from a recommended limit of two households total and retail stores are still limited to operating at 50% capacity with curbside pick-up encouraged.
For Kim Rogers, owner of Colvins Pub in Clatskanie, the news was a welcome relief for him and his staff. With the history of closing and reopening with little notice, he hopes the numbers stay low enough to keep the county out of the extreme risk level. “I hope we’ve learned out lesson and we can stay on the positive side,” he said. “I hope and pray that we all do our due diligence and keep this thing at bay so we can continue to get our profits.” He said that some of his staff were “basically crying” when they heard that in-person dining would return to the restaurant. For servers and bartenders, tips from waiting tables have a major impact on income and in-person dining means more hours for staff. Rogers plans to take advantage of every hour they are allowed to be open and will welcome in-person diners from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday when the new rules go into effect. In Rainier, owner of Cornerstone Cafe Marc Overbay is similarly ready to reopen the dining area to customers. The restaurant is on the smaller side and Overbay expects that maybe about four tables will be available for diners. “It’s not huge, but it’s good,” he said. “Just getting people back to work is all I’m concerned about.” See COVID-19 Page A6
Dream to reality: Rainier enhances area trails JEREMY C. RUARK jruark@countrymedia.net
Rainier’s river trail project enhancements have began along the Columbia shoreline. Work crews are clearing away unwanted brush and large boulders to make way for a paved path through the natural setting. Rainier City Administrator Scott Jorgensen said the riverfront project has been in the making for the past 19 years. “What we want to do is increase recreational opportunities for folks around town so there is connectivity and more access for the handicapped, pedestrians, those bicycling, so that folks will be able to walk from the park to the post office to our A Street area businesses in a natural setting,” he said. Rainier Major Jerry Cole said the Columbia River and the city’s riverfront walkway is an economic,
environmental and health plus for the city. “These trails add enjoyment to people’s lives and helps their health,” Cole told The Chief in an earlier interview. “People love that kind of stuff. They enjoy the outdoors and the river.” Jorgensen said the trail enhancements give the city an advantage. “It’s for residents to enjoy and it helps to bring people to our community,” Jorgensen said. Crews are now working on the first phase of the trail enhancement, which is 720 feet heading from the city park south along the shoreline. Jorgensen said the second phase will be longer, an estimate is pending since that enhancement is still under design. Jorgensen says the cost of the first two phases of the river path work will be approximately $200,000 that would be paid for through grants and if necessary, the
city could use a portion of timber funds that are dedicated for capital improvements. “So if we don’t get the grants, we are basically loaning money from the timber fund at zero percent interest and paying it back over time,” he said. For Jorgensen, the development of the riverfront path is all about community livability. “A goal of mind is to make Rainier attractive for young professionals with families,” he said. “One of the ways to do that is through promotions of active lifestyles. Thats why we have a parks committee forming because we have city properties throughout town that would allow us to provide more opportunities for the youth of the community.” Jorgensen and Cole said they Jeremy C. Ruark / The Chief
See TRAILS Page A2
Work has begun to clear a section along the Rainier riverfront to enhance the city’s trail system.
Clatskanie’s lost sports seasons MONIQUE MERRILL chronicle2@countrymedia.net
The Clatskanie girls basketball team is in a unique position. For two years, the Lady Tigers won game after game on their road to state. And for two years they took home the state title. Then the pandemic hit. Now, nearly a year after schools first closed and sports seasons were
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initially delayed, the team has two back-to-back championship titles with no chance to go for a third. Olivia Sprague is a senior at Clatskanie Middle/High. She has played sports in Clatskanie for as long as she can remember. She started young— playing in youth leagues and local tournaments— and joined the basketball and softball teams in high school. She was a member of the basketball team that brought home the first ever women’s state championship to Clatskanie in 2018, a proud memory of overcoming odds. Even further, the team did it the next year, too. “Winning that second championship was just as great as the first one,” she said. “Us winning once again only reinforced that we deserved to be there and took away any doubt that the year before was just luck.” After riding the high of back-toback victories, the pandemic was unexpected. “This was supposed to be the beginning of our junior year success, as we planned to go back to back in softball as well, but when we got home everything was different,” Sprague said. Instead of having a community celebration in honor of the
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The Clatskanie girls basketball team celebrates their win at the state 3A semifinal game March 7, 2020. They went on to win state, but haven’t been able to get back on the court to defend it this year.
team, people across the state were instructed to stay home and limit time around others in order to contain the early spread of COVID-19. Sprague, like many others at the time, didn’t expect the pandemic to span as long as it has. “I figured we would be out for two weeks, then return after spring break, and life would remain normal,” she said. “Never in a million years would I have guessed that I still wouldn’t go back to school one year later.”
A different kind of year Ryan Tompkins, athletic director of Clatskanie School District, has been navigating the tumultuous year of sports schedules and adapting plans as restrictions have changed. A big part of those schedules, and sports seasons at large, is factoring in the final weeks of play offs leading to championship games. “Clatskanie has state championships to defend. We won the last two girls basketball state champion-
ships and softball championship,” he said. “For our community that’s a big deal.” As the restrictions have changed over the last year, affecting what is and is not allowed on school campuses, Tompkins said he and other athletic directors have been left with questions. For instance, are teams limited to playing teams in the same county, or teams in counties at the same risk level? Will there be state championships? “All of that is ‘TBD,’” he said. “They’ve left the door wide open.” He said it’s been difficult on the athletes. Some of the teams, like the girls basketball team, were able to squeeze in their seasons last year, but spring sports were not as lucky. “The softball team felt like it missed out on that, feel like they’re currently missing out,” he said. Senior Alexis Smith has dabbled in different sports and been playing since she was in kindergarten, though basketball and softball have been her main interests. “Basketball and softball I have played throughout my high school career until COVID said ‘Yeah, no. Not this year,’” Smith said. “It was very heartbreaking to me, softball is See SPORTS Page A4