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Senior Center gets big beef donation

Originally published in The Chronicle Vol. 141

May 10, 2023

WILL LOHRE Country Media, Inc.

The St. Helens Senior Center has benefited from a donation of three full-grown steers courtesy of a longtime St. Helens resident.

Hill Top Off Road Mudding owner Jerry Pritchett had the steers since they were young and bought them to help maintain the grass around his property.

“I got them to eat the grass down so it wasn’t a fire hazard around the property, and then I would butcher one occasionally for my own beef,” Pritchett said. “But they just got so big I needed to do something with them, and I wanted to help out the community.”

Pritchett decided between donating the steers to the food bank or the senior center and ultimately decided to donate to the senior center because he has a connection there through his daughter, Amy Pritchett. The Meating Place, a butcher business owner from Hillsboro, brought out a truck to help butcher the steer so they

could be donated. The hanging weights for the cows are 790 lbs., 817 lbs., and 1,101 lbs.

St. Helens Senior Center Activities Coordinator

Amy Pritchett said that the meat they received will help provide meals for their homedelivered meals program as well as their in-house congregates. That program sees the senior center serving home-delivered meals to over 175 people aged 60 or older throughout Columbia County.

“It’s a program aimed at promoting better health among our home-bound adults, and older segments of the population,” Amy Pritchett said.

The St. Helens Senior Center serves a total of about 500 people each year, according to Amy Pritchett. When the senior center assesses how they will use the meat, they may also donate some to the food bank.

For Jerry Pritchett, donating the steer to the community was a good way to give back, but it’s bittersweet to part with the cows who maintained his land after all these years.

“I miss them, they were my friends, you know, I raised them all from the bottle,” Jerry Pritchett said.

Lewis and Clark Bridge to close for up to eight days

Originally published in The Chief Vol. 132

May 12, 2023

STAFF REPORT

Country Media, Inc.

The Lewis and Clark Bridge between Rainier and Longview, Washington will close for up to eight days beginning at 8 p.m. Sunday, July 16 for bridge deck repairs, according to a release from the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) and the Washington State Department of Transportation.

During the closure, crews from Combined Construction, Inc. will replace two bridge expansion joints and a fractured floor beam.

Pedestrians, bicyclists, and emergency responders will be able to cross the bridge during the closure except during a small window when the floor beam is being replaced.

Closure of the only bridge across the Columbia River between Astoria and Portland may create hardships for communities along the Columbia River and require residents to reschedule medical and other important appointments.

The bridge must be closed to ensure a long-lasting repair and for the safety of travelers and construction crews in the work zone. To set the new expansion joints in place, crews will pour concrete which needs four days to cure and strengthen, without movement and disturbance from moving traffic, according to the release.

The replacement of the floor beam also requires no traffic on the bridge.

“There is no good time to close a bridge, and the vital importance of the Lewis and Clark Bridge to Washington and Oregon communities cannot be overstated,”

WSDOT Southwest Region Administrator Carley Francis said. “Our goal is to do this

repair work right and re-open the bridge to travelers as soon as safely possible.”

Construction work taking place before and after the closure will be done at night using single-lane closures and alternating traffic across the bridge. The five-week construction schedule of nighttime lane closures and a bridge closure of up to eight days shortens the construction timeline for this $1 million preservation project. It also avoids months of daytime single lane closures that would create congestion throughout Southwest Washington and Northwest

Oregon.

On April 12, bridge inspectors discovered a fractured floor beam resulting in an emergency 12-hour closure. Prior to that discovery, the bridge was scheduled to close for up to six days for expansion joint replacement work. The closure has been extended to accommodate the additional work of installing a new floor beam.

Construction schedule

Construction is estimated to begin the week of June 12 and travelers should expect traffic delays or detours for

approximately five weeks. The full closure of the Lewis and Clark Bridge for up to eight days begins at 8 p.m. on Sunday, July 16.

Emergency vehicles –including only ambulances with active critical medical needs or law enforcement emergency response – can use the bridge during the closure except when crews install the new floor beam. The timing of this work will be communicated in advance. Due to safety, no park and ride facilities are available. Before and after the closure, crews will reduce travel

Courtesy from ODOT

across the bridge to one lane each night beginning at 8 p.m. and alternate traffic through the work zone.

There will be no single lane closures during the Fourth of July holiday weekend -Friday, June 30 – Tuesday, July 4.

For the safety of travelers and the construction crew, the work zone will have reduced speed limits.

Plan for longer travel times during the following times travelers should expect longer delays and congestion due to nighttime single lane closures:

• 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. Sunday through Friday.

• 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. Friday to Saturday.

• 8 p.m. to 9 a.m. Saturday to Sunday.

Plan ahead for lengthy detours

During the closure, all traffic crossing the Columbia River will detour to either U.S. 101 Astoria-Megler Bridge between Astoria and Megler, WA or the Interstate Bridge on Interstate 5 between Vancouver and Portland.

Ferry service

The Wahkiakum County Ferry between Cathlamet, Washington and Westport, Oregon will run twice an hour 24 hours a day while the bridge is closed. This ferry has extremely limited capacity. Its use should be reserved for urgent matters that do not require an ambulance. Travelers should also be prepared for lengthy wait times and long lines.

Medical access

Depending on where people begin and end their travel, using the detour routes can add upwards of two and a half hours of travel time. People who use the SR 433 Lewis and Clark Bridge to access scheduled medical services should plan their travel time with this in mind and contact their providers to confirm or reschedule their appointments.

The best way the traveling public can stay up-todate about news and closure dates is to subscribe to email alerts for this project. For real time traffic updates in Oregon, go to TripCheck. com.

Follow this developing story at thechiefnews.com and in the Friday print editions of The Chief.

Courtesy photo from Amy Pritchett

The three-steer donated by Jerry Pritchett weighed in at 790 lbs., 817 lbs., and 1,101 lbs.

The Lewis and Clark Bridge between Rainier and Longview, WA will close for up to eight days starting July 16.

Anniversary