Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 30, 2015)
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JANUARY 30, 2015 Life’s Super Bowl I was thinking about tell- ing people about God as a young Christian, and how when as a much younger man I was too intense and went overboard at times. Then a thought came to me, the Apostle Paul in the Bible said, “Some people preach Christ from the attitude of love and others out of con- tention, I rejoice that Christ is preached.” So I’m very sorry for any toes I stepped on, but this game ends in eternity. Most people are not only on the wrong team, they’re not in the right sport and are playing for the wrong coach. We’re not in danger of losing out on a ring or a trophy, but our souls. Please read and consid- er these words. Take this message to heart. I love you, Astoria, and Clatsop County, because life is not a game. ROBERT REGISTER Warrenton No to bullying T here are mean spirited people. The Nazis culti- vated a lot of them. Maybe they constitute 20 percent or less of a population. I bet that 70 to 80 percent of the population don’t like bullies, much less torturers, human experimenters, war crimi- nals, mass murderers, crimes against humanity, etc. — es- pecially religious Americans of all denominations and faiths. Americans were intim- idated into a war against a country that had no connec- tion to Sept. 11, 2001, by an oppressive, unconscionable Bush/Cheney regime, when fear dominated expression and the media. Lack of ex- pression at that time did not imply consent, though many were duped. The first and second elections of Cheney/Bush were rigged. The second was stolen electronically at the tabulation level by com- puter manipulation of the Ohio state election comput- er, and other states had sim- ilar computer manipulations in that election. So those elections did not imply con- sent. No to bullying. No to torture. No to human exper- imentation. No to, and trials for, war criminals and mass murderers, and no apologet- ics for crimes against hu- manity. MONICA TAYLOR Astoria Good question A s a citizen follow-up to the published editorial on Jan. 27 in The Daily Asto- rian (“At what cost?”): The position taken by the publi- cation is spot on. Good question: Who in the world is going to pay for the massive renovation of the Waldorf Hotel? The mere fact that the building has been an empty ghost for about 20 years speaks loudly to the lack of demand for such a building. If it is scrubbed up and offering comparatively expensive FRIDAY EXCHANGE 5A Don’t spoil what draws people here O pen letter to the Astoria Planning Commission: First of all we want to express our appreciation to the city of Astoria’s Planning Commission for providing for the public’s participation in this very important issue of water- front development, and thanks to all who are volunteering their time and expertise to add perspective to preserve Astoria’s heritage. With respect to the ongoing discus- sions regarding the city of Astoria’s options for development of the Astoria riverfront, we would like to strongly endorse the concept of doing as little as possible to negatively impact Asto- ULD¶VPDULWLPHKHULWDJHDQGPDJQL¿FHQW water views, not to mention the very LPSRUWDQW LQÀXHQFH RQ WKH DWWUDFWLRQ of wildlife in the marine shoreline en- vironment. These are the very aspects lease space, who or what will absorb that?? I get that the preser- vationists want to see the building saved. And, the ed- itor asked a good question. Are those people going to pick up the tab? Further, if the process takes 20 years or even 10 to raise the funds, what happens to the library during that prolonged peri- od? Look at the library. I have. It is well-utilized by the citizenry of Astoria. They like it and use it. It is worn out. It is soiled and needing a new life. While the preservationists or those of differing opinions argue, the poor library and the poor citizens who want and use it suffer with a substan- dard facility. Libraries are important to communities. A proper library is key to Astoria’s viability. Which is more critical? Trying to save an old hotel from ages past that is pres- ently a boat anchor, or pro- viding the citizens of this community a viable and ac- tive and clean library? As The Daily Astorian has al- ready pointed out, I thought this question has already been decided by our local government. HARRY GRASS Astoria Roots C urious as to the roots of the Arabic Islamic prob- lem that plagues our modern world? Try this on: “And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.” The name of the “wild man” who is fighting every- body and everybody is fight- ing is Ishmael. His mom- ma’s name was Hagar, as in “Hagar the Egyptian” which informs the wild man Ishma- el was of Arab decent. Ishmael was progenitor of Arab children with his Egyptian (read Arab) wife as in “And he (Ishmael) dwelt in the wilderness of Paran: and his mother (read Hagar) took him a wife out of the land of Egypt.” The foregoing written in the hopes your heart may be pricked by these words and you come to the knowledge that attract untold numbers of visitors and residents alike. It is important to consider the fact that there is already very little left of an unobstructed view of the river from U.S. Highway 30, being approximately from First Street to Seventh Street. Per- haps we should consider using what is left of the undeveloped areas between Highway 30 and the river for addition- DO SXEOLF SDUNLQJ WR HDVH WUDI¿F DQG parking congestion in the downtown area, especially during the tourist sea- son. This would improve ridership of the waterfront trolley, another major attraction. Riders that the trolley can- not handle could be accommodated by a free or low-cost shuttle service to the downtown area. While it may appear to be true from a short-term perspective that building of the truth, for now is just the “beginning of sorrows.” GARY MAURO Astoria Spraying danger W e urge thoughtful at- tention to Tom Bend- er’s guest column “It’s time for new forestry laws” (The Daily Astorian, Jan. 22), and particularly to his remarks concerning the danger from herbicide use on clearcuts. Anyone who has watched the death of a person from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or a similar neurolog- ical disease — afflictions currently suspected of be- ing related in some cases to pesticide and herbicide use — will share the sense of ur- gency that informs this part of Bender’s article. Please tell state represen- tatives that the application of herbicide to clearcuts, with the inevitable poisoning of water and of the wider envi- ronment that this involves, is not a matter of choosing something relatively right on the basis of cost-benefit analysis. Rather it involves an absolute — avoidable hu- man suffering. Please also tell members of the Astoria City Coun- cil that, until state laws are changed, the city’s water must be tested every year for herbicide, no matter how ex- pensive that is or how care- fully local spraying is or is not done. ROBERT AND KERSTIN ADAMS Astoria Keep Port vote T here is a current move afoot to reorganize the Port of Astoria Commission, whereupon candidates would be put forth by various may- ors and then ultimately se- lected by the governor. This scheme was devised by former commissioners whose tenure coincided with the financial low ebb of the 100-year Port history. Their slogan was, “Broke and proud of it.” This is also the group who rubber-stamped the back-door lease of the valuable Port of Astoria/Ski- panon property, for which the Port derives not one dime, yet saddles the Port with enormous liability. This is just the tip of the iceberg more hotels and other commercial in- terests would bring more jobs to Asto- ria, from a long-term perspective we should realize that building on top of historical artifacts like the old pilings, DQG REVWUXFWLQJ PDJQL¿FHQW YLHZV LQ the process, is like biting the hand that feeds us. We would literally be burying our maritime heritage and obstructing the views that attract countless visitors and residents. The trolley and Riverwalk, the views of the river and Astoria’s histor- ical maritime artifacts should not be compromised, as this would only be to the detriment of all concerned by de- grading the very aspects that make As- toria unique. ED WERNICKE RHONDA GEWIN Astoria on their past mismanage- ment, and speaks volumes on their capacity to advise on Port matters. At this juncture, every voter in Clatsop County has a vote on all Port Commis- sion seats — wonderfully democratic. But in the view of the malcontents, the voter is too apathetic, too ill-in- formed or just plain not smart enough to make good choices — how wonderfully arrogant and elitist. What is never mentioned in this debate is the underly- ing financial interest several individuals have in seeing a change of direction of Port management. Finally, if you, the voter, think the governor knows what is best for Clatsop County (the gillnet ban comes to mind for me), then by all means get on the band- wagon. If, however, you feel as I do, that we now have a solid commission, a great new executive director, and that the Port is like a phoenix rising from the ashes of hor- rible past mismanagement, then see this movement for what it is: a back-door at- tempt to co-opt the process by a vocal minority. Keep the Port Commis- sion an elected position, open to any candidate — not a political appointment — with you, the voter, having the final decision. CHRIS CONNAWAY Astoria Flag’s dark side N ow another year has passed, as have the many holidays on which we enjoy displaying our colorful na- WLRQDO ÀDJ ,W PLJKW EH WLPH to remember, however, that RXUÀDJKDVDOVRDGDUNVLGH DVKDYHPDQ\RWKHUÀDJV:H XVHRXUÀDJWRRRIWHQWRGUDSH WKHFRI¿QVRIRXU\RXQJSHR- ple, whom we have sent to ¿JKW DQG GLH LQ SDUWV RI WKH earth where our military forc- es cannot prevail. So why do we keep sending them there? Over years? In one of The Daily Asto- rian’s editorials last year, we were reminded of President Eisenhower’s warning about a developing military-indus- trial complex. It might be that we have ignored that warning for too long, and that this in- terdependency has already become a necessary part of our broken economic system. We should take note that even with millions of people engaged directly and indi- rectly in what we call our de- fense industry, we still have high levels of unemploy- ment. We should also note that there are no viable candi- GDWHVIRUSROLWLFDORI¿FHZKR campaign on a promise to end our military involvement in the Middle East, thereby increasing the number of our unemployed. I grow more concerned that we Americans seem to be no longer shocked by reports of our young people being killed or maimed in these wars, at least so long as the wars are kept small, and so long as it is a war against “terrorists.” My concern has caused me to search for some device more graphic than newspaper col- umns to reawaken us to the futility of continuing these wars to nowhere. I thought of an imaginary portrayal of our killed young people lying side by side in a URZLQÀDJGUDSHGFRI¿QVRF- cupying burial space of about 3 feet along one of our busy streets. Using the odometer of my car, and traveling east IURP WKH$VWRULD 3RVW 2I¿FH on the comer of Eighth and &RPPHUFLDO 6WUHHWVWKH ¿UVW half-mile mark would place us opposite the Maritime Museum. That distance on one side of the street would accommodate only 880 dead soldiers of the 4,493 recently reported by AntiWar.com An equal number would occupy another such distance as far as the Mill Pond devel- opment project. That land- mark is a full mile from the SRVW RI¿FH DQG \HW WKH WRWDO space could accommodate only about one-half of the dead soldiers from our un- successful Mideast wars. The reader could drive out the full distances required for the full casualty count. Mile posts would serve our subur- ban neighbors. Then what of those even greater casualty lists of the “terrorists” and their families? We need to develop an economic system which doesn’t require continu- ous small wars to keep un- employment levels down. Wouldn’t you rather have your taxes spent on mainte- nance of roads and bridges, parks, dikes, education, arts, HWF UDWKHU WKDQ VDFUL¿FLQJ our young and those of our “enemies” to no purpose? DON MATTHIES Rosburg, Wash. “Advertising in Coast River Business Journal really does work!” Est. 1980 ANDREW MARC 239 N . H em lock • C an n on B each • 503.436.0208 PUBLIC NOTICE CMH ENT/Cosmetic Surgery Clinic to close Feb. 20, 2015 After two years of dedicated service, Dr. Christopher Nyte will be leaving Astoria and the CMH ENT/Cosmetic Surgery Clinic will be closing. Dr. Nyte will continue to keep scheduled appointments until Feb. 20, 2015, and will ensure that his patients have alternative options if they have been under his care. Any patients who have seen Dr. Nyte in the CMH ENT/Cosmetic Surgery Clinic in the past 2 years will be able to access their records through the CMH Medical Records department; the phone number is 503-338-7528. My shop was featured in the December 2014 CRBJ and I also placed a display ad in that issue. Wow, did we have a great response to both! I’m very happy with the feedback and results and have decided to advertise monthly in CRBJ. Sandra Ward Owner, Cannon Beach Leather Ads that work. Contact Wendy Richardson or your sales representative today about all your advertising needs 503-791-6615