Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (July 5, 2016)
DailyAstorian.com // TUESDAY, JULY 5, 2016 144TH YEAR, NO. 3 ONE DOLLAR Coastal star-spangled Fourth Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian The new welcome pole carved by artist Guy Capoeman . Spirits of the past bid you greeting Welcoming pole recalls tribal heritage at NeCus’ Park Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian By R.J. MARX The Daily Astorian Isabella Churchill, 4, reacts to the parade during Warrenton’s Old-Fashioned Fourth of July Parade on Monday . ‘The colors, the music, the excitement, the sense of pride in our nation’ The Daily Astorian T he North Coast was alive with rousing music, fl amboyant colors and noisy festivities Monday. In Warrenton and Seaside, annual Fourth of July parades wound through the downtowns. ¶ As the day faded away, fi reworks regaled the skies in Astoria, Seaside and the Long Beach Peninsula. Seaside celebrates Hundreds of spectators lined the sidewalks from Holladay Drive, down Broadway, to Columbia Street and across First Avenue to watch the parade . Four drum and bugles corps — the Santa Clara Vanguard, Oregon Crusaders, Spokane Thunder and the Battalion from Salt Lake City — were spaced among other fl oats and vehicles to contribute a high-caliber musical performance to the tradi- tional event. Parades are a highlight of Fourth of July festivities, not only in Sea- side but in towns across America. James Maki, of Kirkland, Wash- ington, noted how parades are tinged in nostalgia because the concept of marching or proceeding through a city “started as a projection of mil- itary power.” Historically, parades were used after victorious mili- tary confl icts to celebrate the home- coming of troops. Today, they are a quintessential festivity reminiscent of earlier decades, a tradition passed down through generations. Maki was visiting Seaside along with his brother and sister-in-law and their three school-aged daugh- ters. Traveling to Seaside to com- memorate the Fourth of July and vacation over the holiday is, for them, a family tradition. The girls said they enjoy watching the parade because of the music, the distribu- tion of candy and the opportunity to “see the cool things,” which this year included children riding uni- cycles, pageant winners, singing pirates, roller derby skaters, Sas- quatch on wheels and a bevy of other colorful sights and sounds. For Seaside’s Jeremy Mills it is the pageantry — “the colors, the music, the excitement, the sense of pride in our nation” — that draws people to parades on the Fourth of July. His wife, Misty, agreed, add- ing she enjoys coming to Seaside’s parade and seeing the amount and diversity of people in attendance, both participants and spectators, and “the pride they’re taking in our town and our country.” Seaside’s parade stands out because “of the effort they put into their fl oats” or other parade entries, Misty Mills said. See FOURTH, Page 10A CANNON BEACH — NeCus’ Park wit- nessed a revival of a vanishing culture with the arrival of a welcoming pole designed by sculpture artist Guy Capoeman. “The spirits of the old ones are in the trees, waiting for the old ones to start sing- ing,” Richard Basch, the vice chairman of the Clatsop-Nehalem tribe, said at the cer- emony Friday. “I am sure they are here today.” As the sun draped over the scene by a tucked-in cove in Cannon Beach and vis- itors formed a circle around a campfi re, it wasn’t diffi cult to imagine the Native Americans who gathered at this site hun- dreds and even thousands of years ago. The area, bordering Ecola Creek, once was the location of a Clatsop-Nehalem village known as NeCus’. The sculpture was a col- laboration between the Clatsop-Nehalem tribe and the city . “There were permanent residents, but it was always a place of welcoming strang- ers and travelers,” Basch said. “So this wel- coming pole is here to welcome everyone now.” See POLE, Page 10A Jeff Ter Har/For EO Media Group This parade-goer had a cozy surrey seat in Gearhart. Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian Kids grab candy thrown from fire trucks Monday during Warrenton’s Old-Fashioned Fourth of July Parade . Ag groups gear up to fi ght corporate sales tax Supporters unmoved by claims of hardship By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau Oregon man considered ‘The Willy Wonka of Pot’ The Wizard of Weed stays low, waiting changes in federal law By KATHY ANEY East Oregonian PENDLETON — In the mari- juana world, cannabis breeder Dan- iel John “D.J.” Short gets rock star raves while simultaneously keeping to the shadows. The Pendleton marijuana man started tinkering with canna- bis genetics about 40 years ago in Eugene and has crafted some of the most creative and well-known strains, including one that smells of fresh blueberries. Short’s seeds and pot -breeding skills earned him a spot in the High Times Seed Bank Hall of Fame, which commemorates “brave pot pioneers and trailblazers.” He was spotlighted as “The Willy Wonka of Pot” in a 5,000-word tome for the website Grantland, and wrote the 2003 book “Cultivating Excep- tional Cannabis: An Expert Breeder Shares His Secrets.” See D.J. SHORT, Page 10A Image by Ralf Schuetz/Mushroom Dreams D.J. Short is an icon in the world of cannabis breeding stock, but he is still something of an enigma. SALEM — The Oregon agricultural industry is gearing up for battle against a campaign to pass a corporate sales tax measure on the November ballot by shed- ding light on how the tax will affect indi- vidual companies and farmers. Under Initiative Petition 28, the Mt. Angel-based Wilco farm supplies and fuel cooperative faces a 1,388-percent increase in its state corporate income tax bill, from $168,000 to $2.5 mil- Doug lion per year, CEO Hoffman Doug Hoffman said. The tax would apply only to the $100 million in sales at Wilco Farm Stores in Oregon; direct sales to the cooperative’s 3,000 members are exempt, Hoffman said. See AG GROUPS, Page 10A