A QUALITY OF LIFE WORTH PROTECTING B1 Yamhill County’s Friday February 19, 2021 $2 KEEPING YOU CONNECTED SINCE 1866 McMinnville, Oregon 156th year, No. 14 HOUSING Law highlights ‘missing middle’ City looks at new requirements; ing duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes, cottage clusters and townhouses in single-family public forums planned in April neighborhoods. By DORA TOTOIAN Single-family zoning has historically Of the News-Register encouraged discrimination and exclusion, The city of McMinnville is in the process according to several researchers, though of ensuring its zoning code complies with they also say the move from exclusive the recently approved rules for HB 2001, single-family zoning will be slow and chal- the “missing middle housing bill” passed lenging. in 2019 eliminating exclusive single-family “My sense is it’s going to be a long time zoning in much of the state. before the market shifts and provides these Rusty Rae/News-Register Oregon was the first in the nation to make units. The pacing will allow us the chance Townhomes on Cypress Street are among mid-level housing offerings in McMinnville. such a law, required for cities over 25,000 Townhomes and duplexes must be allowed in single-family neighborhoods under a new law. population, which now must allow build- See HOUSING, A7 Area outages keep hotels, Cleanup continues motels busy By STARLA POINTER Of the News-Register A week ago, the Atticus Hotel in downtown McMinnville was preparing for a busy three- day weekend: In addition to the usual tourists, people had booked reservations for Val- entine’s Day and Feb. 15, the Presidents Day holiday. When the winter storm approached and people around the region began losing electric- ity, holiday travelers canceled. But the cancellations were no problem: People without power at home were clamoring for places to stay with heat, lights and hot water. “It was wild,” said Brandie Blanco, Atticus manager. The hotel filled with people. Some spent a night or two; others extended their stays for several days as they waited for electricity to return. Other lodging sites in McMin- nville told the same story: Every room was full. It was the same throughout the northern Willamette Valley, leading many people to drive long distances in search of shel- ter. “We have people from as far away as Portland,” said Jay Pta- cek, who works the front desk Marcus Larson/News-Register at the Red Lion Inn and Suites. McMinnville School District facilities workers Cory Hayden and Kevin Schroeder remove hanging branches near Memorial Elementary. Many trees were damaged around schools and in other places across Yamhill County during the recent ice storm. The city of McMinnville issued an emergency blanket See LODGING, A2 tree removal permit this week and released guidance on public/private responsibilities for dealing with hazardous debris. See Page A5 for details. County starts vaccinating McMinnville teachers, Chehalem Parks & Rec district reach agreement ages 75-plus By STARLA POINTER of each group said. Of the News-Register pursuing bypass trail “Both sides feel sat- By NICOLE MONTESANO Of the News-Register McMinnville’s teach- isfied,” said Erik Svec, a ers’ union and the school Yamhill County reported 14 District seeking support from including a possible sketch of the project fifth-grade teacher who led and a description of all the phases and district reached a tentative the union bargaining team. new cases of COVID-19 Thurs- county for grant application contract agreement this day, bringing the county to a grants required. He said he’s especially The multiuse trail is part of a master week after nearly a year of pleased by the collaborative total, to date, of 3,690 cases. By DORA TOTOIAN negotiations that included There have been 62 deaths in the Of The News-Register plan created in 2010 for a 77-mile trail effort the accord represents. network that would span the district’s several sessions stretching county, and hospitalizations con- The Chehalem Parks and Recreation “It’s very positive,” Svec coverage area and eventually connect to long into the night. tinue to increase, although not in District (CPRD) is working toward a said. Sherwood, Wilsonville and Forest Grove The four-year con- large numbers. major addition to its Chehalem Heritage Superintendent Mary- and beyond. tract will be positive for Winter storms throughout the Trails project. both members of the alice Russell called the country have made vaccination The Newberg-Dundee Bypass Trail “Once it is in place, we envision it McMinnville Education agreement “great news.” shipments and clinics difficult, would eventually run from Highway becoming such a big part of the lives of Association, or McEA, and but the county is continuing to 99W near Newberg Providence to Wil- generations to come that they will have the district, representatives See AGREEMENT, A3 vaccinate as many people as lamette River waterfront property and a hard time imagining what life was like it can, according to the Public Rogers Landing, and then south, eventu- without it,” Ricker wrote to commission- Health Department, which said it ally connecting with Dundee. ers. received 900 doses for this week, The parks district presented the plan Confusion arose Thursday from com- CORONAVIRUS and expected to administer all to county commissioners Thursday and missioners about the sources of funding by today. asked for a letter of support for a grant for the project and whether or not federal (COVID-19) People 75 and older are now application that would fund Phase 1, funds would play a role. Ricker said the eligible for the vaccine. which would run from Highway 219 to department had not presented the latest Below are a number of resources to The county is offering a regis- Rogers Landing via Industrial Way. versions of the grant application. tration form for all adults 65 and help educate you and your family. The Oregon Department of Transpor- The discrepancy prompted Commis- older, to sign up for notification sioner Mary Starrett to say the county is tation has approved the eligibility of the Oregon Health Authority - Oregon.gov/OHA when the vaccine is available. Newberg-Dundee Bypass Trail, and the Our Health Oregon - OurHealthOregon.org The notification will include district is seeking a state Community See TRAIL, A6 instructions on how to make Pathways Grant to fund the first phase, Yamhill County Public Health - hhs.co.yamhill.or.us/publichealth an appointment. The registra- which is estimated to cost $2 million. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - CDC.gov tion form is available online. significant percentage of the cost would World Health Organization - WHO.int Go to the county’s webpage on be spent on a nearly 700-foot bridge over vaccines, hhs.co.yamhill.or.us/ Hess Creek and its floodplain, said Kat For general information on coronavirus, call 211 publichealth/page/covid-19-vac- Ricker, CPRD public information direc- Power outage Additional resources are also available at cines, and click on the link. tor, in a letter to the county. WillametteValleyMedical.com For assistance, or if internet is Commissioners tabled the discussion nearly leaves to next week, saying they’d prefer to Amity dry /A2 See VACCINE, A6 see the entire updated grant document, U|xaIICGHy02366qzZ A2 Friday, February 19, 2021 News-Register/McMinnville, Oregon KEEPING YOU Chipping away at the damage CONNECTED HOW TO REACH US Editor-in-Chief Sports Editor Ossie Bladine Logan Brandon 503-687-1269 503-687-1205 [email protected] [email protected] Associate Editor Viewpoints Editor Racheal Winter Steve Bagwell 503-687-1246 503-687-1226 [email protected] [email protected] INDEX Arrests A4 Marketplace B5-7 Crossword B5 Obituaries A4 Horoscope B6 Sports A8 Kid Scoop B8 Viewpoints B1-4 WEATHER McMinnville area Local climate, past 7 days TODAY High Low Precip. Thursday 40 30 .17 Friday 31 29 m H 49 Saturday 42 27 .56 L 37 Sunday 41 37 .58 Rusty Rae/News-Register Monday 55 38 .33 City worker Jeff York feeds downed tree limbs into a chipper Wednesday afternoon as crews rolled through McMinnville’s Light rain, Tuesday 52 1 .01 downtown area cleaning up debris and repairing damage from the weekend ice storm. SSW winds 5 to 10 mph Wednesday 51 37 trace Actual Feb. to date 3.44 SATURDAY Average Feb. 1-28 4.44 Actual year to date 11.78 H 50 Average year to date 8.92 Average Jan.1-Dec. 31 39.74 L 42 Recorded at McMinnville Airport at 5:30 a.m. daily. M=missing data. Storm leaves Amity almost dry Cloudy, WSW winds 5 to 10 mph Historical temperatures By PAUL DAQUILANTE SUNDAY Feb. High Low Precip. Of the News-Register “When PGE restored power to the city we didn’t get Average 43 31 4.44 Extreme 72 -2 13.34 Last weekend’s destruc- power back to the (water) plant as it is on another H 52 From records 1894 to present tive Western Oregon ice L 48 Temperature extremes and snow storm left Amity power grid. That means throughout most of the with only about 24 hours of Rain, Oregon extremes for the 24 hours water remaining before the weekend we were drawing water off the reservoirs.” SSW winds 5 to 10 mph ending at 5:30 a.m. Thursday : High temp: North Bend ........... 52 city went dry. — City Administrator Michael Thomas MONDAY Low temp: Meacham ................5 As of 8 a.m. Wednes- High precip: Meacham.. .....0.11 day, however, thanks to get power back to the plant then restored this morning water doesn’t help us fill the H 53 Source: National Weather Service the teamwork of the Amity as it is on another power (Wednesday).” tanks any faster.” Public Works Department, grid,” he said.