OPINION
6A
Founded in 1873
STEPHEN A. FORRESTER, Editor & Publisher
LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor
BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager
CARL EARL, Systems Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager
DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager
HEATHER RAMSDELL, Circulation Manager
Water
under
the bridge
Compiled by Bob Duke
From the pages of Astoria’s daily newspapers
10 years ago this week — 2005
The Big One didn’t hit Tuesday night.
But while no waves touched the North Coast, the California earthquake – and
the subsequent tsunami warnings touched many lives.
“It was insane,” said Seaside Police Communications Manager Lynn Smith,
whose phones were jammed with callers.
The 7.0-magnitude quake struck at about 7:50 p.m., about 90 miles southwest
of the coastal community of Crescent City, Calif., and 300 miles northwest of San
Francisco, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Law enforcement leaders have known for years that Astoria-based
Senior Trooper Jim Pierce was one of the best.
Now they have rewarded him.
In a ceremony Saturday at the Evergreen Air Museum in McMin-
nville, Pierce received the Gerry Frank Employee of the Year Award
from Oregon State Police Superintendent Ronald C. Ruecker.
The postmortem from Tuesday night’s tsunami warning has zeroed in on one
key issue.
What went wrong with the radio broadcasts?
Coastal communities went on alert after an earthquake off the Californian
coast, which sparked some evacuations of beaches. However, there were reports
of families still out along the shore in Long Beach, Wash., and nearby Fort Canby
during the period of the warnings, which were canceled after more than an hour
when geologists realized the quake wasn’t the kind that triggers a tsunami.
The latest evidence suggests that many local radio stations didn’t broadcast a
tsunami warning Tuesday night. One exception was KCYS (98.1 FM), which did
run a warning, getting its information from a U.S. Geological Service online pro-
gram.
50 years ago — 1965
The Russian fishermen are back along our coast again, this time
with a fleet of boats rather than just one. Apparently they may make a
serious effort to fish for bottom fish in North American coastal waters.
This creates a real problem for domestic fishermen, far more dif-
ficult to deal with than the problem created by Japanese high seas
salmon fishing.
We have no regulatory treaty with Russia, as we do with Japan.
We can make no claim that the bottom fish spawn in our streams,
giving us proprietary interest in them. We have no trade with Russia,
enabling retaliatory boycott action as fishermen are proposing against
Japan.
The Russians are fishing on the high seas, beyond the three mile
limit, and if they go in there and clean out the bottom fishing banks
completely there is nothing legal we can do about it.
Perhaps our State Department could exert more than its usual dim
interest in the plight of domestic fishermen, and urge the Russians to
restrain their fishermen for fear of retaliatory action.
Wednesday’s issue of The Daily
Astorian had a considerable quota
of news about new developments
that show the Astoria area is forging
ahead.
There was a story about two local
men launching a 40-home housing
development at Knappa within short
range of the new Crown-Zellerbach
Daily Astorian file
$90 million Wauna project; about a
new $200,000 motel for downtown The Wauna Mill in 1965, a catalyst
Astoria, and a $300,000 nursing for major development in the As-
toria region at the time.
home in the West End.
All this new construction activity
is on top of the Coast Guard’s $400,000 new air station at Clatsop airport.
All these stories are indications that the Astoria area is growing and that there
are people who expect it to continue to grow.
75 years ago — 1940
The Astoria Sea Scout ship Flying Cloud was the winner in the
Portland area council regatta Sunday at Portland.
The local ship ran a point tie with the Ranger of Portland, but was
conceded first place because of its three firsts to none for the Ranger.
President Roosevelt predicted today that some form of universal government
service on a compulsory basis will be proposed shortly for all American young
men and women of all classes.
Artillerymen of the Oregon National Guard today completed tar-
get practice at Fort Stevens after a “home-made” smoke screen Tues-
day silenced the ten-inch rifles of Battery Russell while the Klamath
Falls gunners were engaged in hurling 550-pound projectiles at a raft
well off Clatsop spit.
A brush fire, started by the scorching hot breath of the big guns,
swept over a half an acre to the west and south of Battery Russell Tues-
day, setting up such a quantity of smoke that target practice had to be
suspended because the raft could not be seen at all.
The old police docket book that has resided at the desk of the police department
for the last 14 years, is at last full. The first entry was September 1, 1926. Written in
the fine script of an earlier desk officer, the first page of the book had 38 entries, of
which 26 were charges of drunkenness. That is in contrast with the last page of the
book which was finished yesterday. There are seldom more than one or two charge
of drunkenness of the last pages, most of the items being traffic violations.
Charles Murphey was chief of police when the old book was started. He was
replaced by Chief John Acton, who took office on May 1, 1929, and has been in
office since.
Anti-aircraft guns at Fort Stevens will open fire tonight after dark
on a plane-size target, towed over the sea west of the post, by an army
observation plane which will fly without running lights.
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 2015
Trojan horse burns!
Live! Onstage!
A
PORTLAND
FRIEND
says that if the best player
of any sport or game is in town,
you should go.
Most recently, my friend went
to a tavern in Southeast Portland to
see the world’s best pinball play-
er, whose parents accompanied
him because he’s a teenager. On
another occasion, he watched the
world’s best squash player during
a Portland match.
‘The time has come,’ the Walrus said,
‘To talk of many things;
Of shoes — and ships — and sealing wax —
Of cabbages —and kings —’
Through the Looking-glass
of Cabbages and Kings
My wife and I have chanced into
a number of opera world premieres,
most recently last weekend in San
Francisco. Two Women is most
familiarly known as a movie for
which Sophia Loren won an Oscar.
It’s from that plot, based on a novel,
that San Francisco commissioned a
new work.
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of the traditional style to premiere in
America since 1910.
Marco Tutino’s new work is
compelling, and not just for the dra-
matic story of two imperiled women
during the Nazi occupation of Italy.
Tutino is rare among modern com-
posers for two things: his ability to
write melody and his mastery of
orchestration. He offers a full meal.
While The New York Times critic
dismissed Tutino’s score, the San
Francisco audience responded with
Photo courtesy of the San Francisco Opera
cheers.
The story captures the chilling A Trojan horse animates the opera.
essence of the Nazi culture of in-
forming on your neighbors and how
As a bitter comment on the
that demeaned everyone. Seeing a
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unending cycle of war and
new thing for opera. During the cur-
tain calls, that singer drew boos for
vengeance, ‘The Trojans’ excels.
his role and bravos for his booming
voice.
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źźź
responder.
As a comment on the unending
CIRCUS — SPECTACLE — IS cycle of war and vengeance, Les
part of opera’s appeal.
Troyens excels.
Troy falls! — Live! Onstage!
That was the headline I would
źźź
give a production of Hector Ber-
lioz’s Les Troyens (The Trojans),
AFTER SEEING A FIVE-
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hours, this work is seldom mount- predictability of a brand new work,
ed.
by Sunday I was ready for what
In this production, the Tro- Astoria’s Dave Bennett calls his
jan horse loomed high above the daily dose of Mozart. The familiar
performers and it moved. Then it tunes of The Marriage of Figaro
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— S.A.F.
Democratic Tea Party policy
made global warming, but it
Service-sector industries like
these are where America is
is close.
strongest, where the oppor-
That’s because free trade
tunities for innovation are
ast week, the Congressional is not a zero-sum game.
the most exciting and where
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Democrats defeated the un-
wages are already 20 percent
most, but most people in
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higher than in manufacturing.
Partnership trade agreement.
• Imperil world peace.
As Jason Furman, the chair-
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Let’s count up the things these man of President Barack
be organized by American
Democrats will have done if this pol- Obama’s Council of Eco-
rules or Chinese rules. By
nomic
Advisers,
pointed
out
David
icy stands.
voting against the trade deal,
in a speech at the Brookings
Brooks
• Impoverish the world’s poor. Institution, since World War
Democrats went a long way
There’s an argument over what trade II, reductions in U.S. tariffs have con- toward guaranteeing that Chinese rules
agreements do to workers in the na- tributed an additional 7.3 percent to will dominate.
As various people have noted, the
tion’s rich countries, but there is no American incomes.
question they have a positive impact on
7UDGHWUHDWLHVKDYHOHGWRVLJQL¿FDQW Democratic vote last week was a min-
people in the poorer ones.
growth in American manufacturing ex- iversion of the effort to destroy the
The North American Free Trade ports. According to Furman, export-in- League of Nations after World War I. It
Agreement, for example, probably tensive industries pay workers up to 18 damaged an institution that might head
didn’t affect the American economy percent more than nonexport-intensive RIIIXWXUHFRQÀLFW
The arguments Democrats use
too much. But the
ones. Rising imports
Mexican economy has
also give American against the deal are small and inade-
Rejecting consumers access to quate. Some Democrats are suspicious
taken off. With more
opportunities, Mexican
wider range of inex- because it was negotiated in secret.
the Trans- a pensive
workers feel less need
products, lead- (They seem to have no trouble with the
to sneak into the U.S.
ing
to
huge standard Iranian nuclear treaty, which is also ne-
Pacific
As Fareed Zakaria has
of living increases for gotiated in secret).
Others worry that the treaty would
pointed out, a regime Partnership those down the income
that was anti-American
scale. The authoritative allow corporations to sue governments.
will hurt
has turned into one that
VWXG\ RQ 3DFL¿F WUDGH But these procedures are already in
is pro-American.
deal, by Peter Petri, Mi- place, and as research from the Center
In Asia, the Ameri- economies chael Plummer and Fan for Strategic and Internatioanl Studies
can-led open trade era
Zhai, suggests it would has demonstrated, the concerns are vast-
from the
has created the greatest
raise U.S. incomes by ly overblown. They mostly protect com-
reduction in poverty in
0.4 percent per year by panies from authoritarian governments
U.S. to
who seek to expropriate their property.
human history. The Pa-
2025.
Japan to
In reality, the opposition to the trade
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lift the living standards
vation. Democrats point pact is part of a long tradition of pop-
Vietnam. out that some workers ulist reaction. When economic stress
of the poorest Asians,
especially the 90 mil-
have been hurt by trade rises, there is a strong temptation to pull
lion people of Vietnam.
deals. And that’s true. Most manufac- inward. The Republican Tea Partiers
As Tyler Cowen, an economist at turing job losses have been caused by are suspicious of all global diplomatic
arrangements. The Democrats’ version
George Mason University, wrote in his technological improvements.
Marginal Revolution blog: “Do you
But those manufacturing jobs aren’t of the Tea Partiers are suspicious of all
get that progressives? Poorest country coming back. The best way forward is to global economic arrangements.
It would be nice if Hillary Clinton
= biggest gainer. Isn’t that what we are increase the number of high-quality jobs
looking for?”
LQ WKH VHUYLFH VHFWRU 7KH 3DFL¿F WUDGH emerged and defended the treaty, which
• Damage the American economy. deal would help. The treaty is not most- she helped organize.
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According to a survey by the University ly about reducing tariffs on goods. That
of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, work has mostly been done. It’s mostly ship will hurt economies from the U.S.
83 percent of the nation’s leading econ- about establishing rules for a postindus- to Japan to Vietnam. It will send yet an-
omists believe that trade deals have trial global economy, rules having to do other signal that America can no longer
been good for most Americans. That’s with intellectual property, investment, be counted on as the world’s leading
not quite the level of consensus on man- antitrust and environmental protection. nation.
By DAVID BROOKS
New York Times News Service
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