Jordan Center
Sheriff looks ahead to 2nd year in office Page A2
hosts grand re-opening Page A5
FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020
The Chief
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VOL. 128, NO. 37
Serving the Lower Columbia Region since 1891
Valentines for Veterans STAFF REPORT chiefnews@countrymedia.net
A special gift will be on its way to local veterans following Monday’s Martin Luther King, Jr. National Day of Service project. On Jan. 20, more than 30 volunteers met at the Scappoose Senior Center to create over 300 valentines, all hand made with love, to distribute to local veterans during Columbia County Retired Senior & Volunteer Program’s (RSVP) 6th Annual Valentines for Vets. The volunteers created each valentine to show appreciation and respect to veterans for serving the country. During the first two weeks of February, volunteers will distribute the hand-made valentines to as many veterans as possible in Columbia County. Organizers give special thanks to Miss B’s (Carrie Bodenhamer) 4/5 split class at Olympic Elementary in Longview, WA for making an additional 80 valentines to distribute to the veterans.
“All the valentines are sure to bring smiles,” according to a release from Columbia County RSVP. If you know of a group where veterans gather who RSVP could deliver valentines to, or know of a veteran that would appreciate a card, please contact Columbia County RSVP. Columbia County RSVP is located at 270 Columbia Blvd. in St. Helens. The office is open from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Call 503-3975655, or see RSVP’s Facebook page at, www.facebook.com/co lumbiacountyrsvp. Columbia County Retired Senior & Volunteer Program serves a dual purpose of engaging persons 55 and older in volunteer service to meet critical community needs, and in providing a high quality experience that will enrich the lives of volunteers. Columbia County RSVP promotes the engagement of older persons as community resources in planning for community improvement and in delivery of volunteer services.
Photo courtesy of Columbia County RSVP
Pictured from left to right are volunteers Carla Bodenhamer, Sharon Brown and Mary Ann Shaw displaying the valentines they made for Columbia County veterans.
A Street Improvements challenging, but promising CHRISTINE MENGES chronicle2@countrymedia.net
Improvements for the A Street Improvement Project are still on schedule and expected to be completed by June of this year as originally expected, according to Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) Public Information Officer, Lou Torres. City residents have reportedly felt the strain of construction, with some residents complaining about not being able to reach the post office. Torres said reaching a public entity like the post office can be difficult during an improvement project because it’s such a frequented public place for many people. “We knew that that was going to be an issue, and we tried to maintain access as best we could,” Torres said, adding residents have to maneuver a little bit more to access the post office. Torres said the contractors have tried to keep as much access as they can to the businesses and to the post office.
Illustration courtesy of ODOT
This is one of the conceptual drawings of the completed A Street Improvements.
“But it is awkward, there’s no question with the construction,” he said. “Really this whole project’s going to change the way people maneuver downtown. In the past, they could cross railroad tracks any way they wanted. The city thought that
wasn’t very safe, and it’s going to change the way people do things.” The $12.2 million improvement project began in June of last year, and since then several aspects of the project have been completed, including:
• “Daylighting” the rail tracks, moving and realigning them to expose the tracks and eliminate the asphalt road covering of the tracks • Upgrading city utilities • Installing curbing to maintain separation between vehicles and rail tracks • Adding new crossing gates at the intersection of the railway and the road There is still work yet to be completed, including installing new curbs, sidewalks and two to three different paving lifts, with striping to be set as the last step, according to Torres. “We’re still on track, despite the weather, and we’re making a lot of progress. Overall, we’re still on schedule to finish by the end of June,” Torres said. The improvement project came with its own set of challenges, including working with three different contractors; one with the city, one for the railway, and one for the roadway, Torres said. “I’ve rarely been involved in a project where we’ve had three different contracts involved. Even despite
the complexity of the project and all the challenges, it’s actually gone pretty well, and that’s good news,” Torres said. The A Street Improvement Project is designed to improve safety along the main street of the City of Rainier, where previously the rail line had bisected the community without any safety barriers, according to an information page on the A Street project on the ODOT website. The project has been in the works for approximately 13 years. In those 13 years, funds have been raised from different sources: ODOT’s Rail and Public Transit Divison, a Connect Oregon grant, the Regional Solutions program passed by the 2014 Oregon Legislature and the City of Rainier itself. When everything is completed, Rainier residents can expect a different, and safer main street, according to Torres “It’s quite a dramatic change from what it was previously,” he said. “A Street was a unique thoroughfare, it had railroad tracks, but cars could pass at any time, it was quite a safety problem. Now we don’t have that.”
Oregon’s record employment From Clatskanie, across Columbia County and throughout the state, more Oregonians are working. In fact, the December unemployment rate released this week at 3.7 percent, is the lowest on comparable records dating back to 1976. The November unemployment rate was 3.9 percent.
Police Blotters.....A2 Poll........................A4 Cartoon................A4 Viewpoints...........A4 Letters..................A5 Obituaries............A5 Market Place........A6 Public Notices......A6 Sports...................A7 Clatskanie Grows A7 Calendar...............A8
“The latest estimates suggest there are fewer unemployed Oregonians now than at any point since 1976, when comparable records begin,” Oregon Employment Department Systems and Economic Analysis manager Nick Beleiciks said. “That’s especially striking considering Oregon’s labor force is twice as large as it was 44 years ago.” In December, many of Oregon’s workforce metrics set records, indicating an increasingly tight labor market. The number of people who were unemployed for less than half a year dropped to the lowest level in at least 18 years. The number of people who were unemployed due to a layoff also dropped to the lowest level in the past two decades. The broadest measure of labor underutilization, called “U-6,” came in at the lowest on records dating back nearly two decades. This measure includes the unemployed, plus those who want a full-time job but who were working part-time due to the economy. Total nonfarm payroll employment grew by 800 jobs in December, following a gain of 3,800 jobs, as revised, in November. December
Jeremy C. Ruark / The Chief
The Oregon Employment Department reports 2,036,400 employed and 60,847 unemployed in December.
gains were strongest in leisure and hospitality (+2,000 jobs). In addition, several industries added between 300 and 500 jobs. Meanwhile, two industries declined by more than 500 jobs: health care and social assistance (-900 jobs) and professional and business services
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(-1,600 jobs). Oregon’s over-the-year job growth of 1.4 percent equaled the U.S. job growth of 1.4 percent. Most of Oregon’s major industries expanded by between 1 percent and 3 percent since December 2018. The fastest growing industries in
the past 12 months were private educational services (+1,300 jobs, or 3.6%) and transportation, warehousing, and utilities (+2,100 jobs, or 3.0%). In that time only two industries cut jobs: retail trade (-700 jobs, or -0.3%) and mining and logging (-300 jobs, or -4.2%).
•C orrection • •
The article Controlling Columbia County’s Mosquitoes published on Jan. 17 mistakenly stated that the district conducts on land herbicide spraying. The district does not use herbicides it uses pesticide spraying. The Chief website was immediately corrected upon notification of fact. We regret the error and are happy to set the record straight.