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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MAY 1, 2015
Veteran:+H¶VWKH¿UVW1DWLRQDO*XDUGVPDQ
to receive the Silver Star since World War II
Continued from Page 1A
QRQSUR¿W QRQSDUWLVDQ RUJD-
nization focused on helping
veterans speak out on national
issues, including environmen-
tal concerns.
Through Vet Voice, Matthew
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ans took a trip to Washington,
D.C., in mid-April to meet with
Oregon senators and discuss re-
authorizing the Land and Water
Conservation Fund.
The fund, signed by Pres-
ident Lyndon B. Johnson 50
years ago, expires in September.
Congress began considering re-
newing the fund on Earth Day,
April 22.
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uments across the country, in-
cluding in Clatsop County. The
Jewell Meadows Wildlife Area
was formed as part of the fund.
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Shirley Park in Cannon Beach,
city park restrooms and Broad-
way Park improvements in Sea-
VLGH EDOO¿HOGV LQ $VWRULD DQG
restroom developments at the
Hammond Mooring Basin.
The LWCF is funded by a
portion of revenues from off-
shore oil and gas royalties.
“The senators thought it
was incredible a veteran’s or-
ganization was in support of
the LWCF. That was really a
surprise to them,” Zedwick said.
“They really enjoyed having
the lands and parks as a part of
healing and taking care of our
troops.”
Submitted Photo — Matthew Zedwick
Sen. Jeff Merkley, signs a poster to support the Land and
Water Conservation Fund while Rick Hegdahl, the Pacific
Northwest director for Vet Voice Foundation, left, and Mat-
thew Zedwick watch.
JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian
Matthew Zedwick stands at Tapiola Park in Astoria. The park received a nearly $4,000
grant from the Land and Water Conservation Fund in 1972 for park improvements.
Voice Foundation, said his orga-
nization looks at environmental
issues such as the LWCF from a
veteran’s point of view.
Protecting the outdoors for
returning veterans is a new take
on supporting the troops, he said.
“Veterans return from war
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spending time outdoors,” Heg-
dahl said.
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wick did when he returned from
his deployment in Iraq, was take
an outdoor excursion with his
cousin to Smith Rock, where
they hiked and climbed together.
Being outdoors provid-
Healing in the outdoors ed Zedwick an opportunity to
5LFN +HJGDKO WKH 3DFL¿F re-establish and heal. Such ex-
Northwest director for the Vet periences are critical for veter-
ans, Zedwick said, especially for
those who suffer from post-trau-
matic stress disorder.
Sometimes, he said, what
soldiers need is to break away
from society, and get outdoors
where they can feel at peace
with themselves and share their
thoughts and experiences.
“It meant the world to me,”
Zedwick said.
‘Doing my job’
Zedwick joined the Oregon
Army National Guard in 1998
as a senior in high school in
Corvallis. His time in the Na-
tional Guard has taken him to
Germany, Mongolia and around
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On June 13, 2004, in Iraq,
Zedwick and other members
of the infantry were patrolling
a main supply route north of
Baghdad when they approached
a Land Rover SUV with a bomb
planted in it. The SUV explod-
ed and Zedwick threw himself
over his squad leader, saving the
man’s life.
“I injured myself and contin-
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dies, helped evacuate them and
went back to pulling security
and doing my job,” he said.
His actions that day
earned him the Silver Star, the
third-highest military medal for
YDORU +H EHFDPH WKH ¿UVW 1D-
tional Guardsman to receive the
Silver Star since World War II.
At the time, Zedwick re-
Cruise: 20 ships are scheduled to visit in 2016
Continued from Page 1A
Princess, used in the “Love
Boat” television series. Lawes
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as a cruise ship captain was on
the Sea Princess in the mid-
1990s.
He is supported on the bridge
by 11 other navigational staff
split up on a watch system, work-
ing four hours on, eight hours off.
On the 8 a.m. to noon shift
7KXUVGD\ZDVUG2I¿FHU'HQ-
nis Cernakovs, from Latvia,
keeping watch.
“Passengers are our priori-
ty, to keep them safe,” Cerna-
kovs said, keeping watch over
passengers going up and down
the gangway. About 50 to 60
able-bodied seaman work on the
decks of the vessel, he added,
JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian
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While it was moored at the Port of Astoria, a fishing vessel and carrier vessel pass by the
the bridge at all times.
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Built by Fincantieri-Cantieri
Navali Italiani in Monfalcone,
Italy, the Crown Princess is 952
feet long, 195 feet wide and cov-
ers 19 decks in total. It’s a most-
ly self-contained resort, with
more than 1,500 cabins between
Decks 8 and 14.
In the bottommost decks are
crew quarters, with a medical
center on the fourth.
Passengers enter the Crown
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into the Piazza, an opulent,
three-story lobby reminiscent of a
grand hotel, aside from sound of
an idling engine in background.
Spread across the ship are
nine restaurants, cafes and other
dining options, from steak and
seafood to pizza and ice cream.
For entertainment, it has four
pools; seven spas; age-specif-
952-foot-long Crown Princess.
“We will have two weeks
of dry dock in Victoria,” Hotel
General Manager Claudio Maz-
zoni said. Before its most recent
cruise, the Crown Princess, too
big for the Panama Canal, took
a 45-day trip from Fort Lauder-
dale, Fla., around Cape Horn on
the southern tip of the Americas
and north to Los Angeles.
There are 20 to 25 new cruise
Stopover
The Crown Princess, on its ships going into the Mediter-
transition between its central ranean and Caribbean, Cruise
American and Alaskan cruise Marketing Manager Bruce Con-
markets, started its most recent ner of Sundial Travel said April
tour in Los Angeles April 25, 21 during a cruise ship report
stopping in San Francisco be- to the Port of Astoria Commis-
fore cruising to Astoria Thurs- sion, which means other ships
day. It left Thursday night for DUHEHLQJSXVKHGLQWRWKH3DFL¿F
Canada, stopping in Victoria Ocean market.
In his formula for revenue
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off Saturday in Vancouver, Brit- from the cruise ships, taken from
Cruise Lines International Asso-
ish Columbia.
ic children’s areas for toddlers
to teens; eight showrooms and
clubs, including a wine bar and
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dios, jogging tracks and a mini
golf course; a movie theater;
art galleries; roaming photogra-
phers and a photo studio; and a
wedding chapel.
ciation, Conner assumes about 80
percent of passengers leave the
ship, each couple spending $125,
translated to about $150,000 for
the 3,000 passengers who visited
Astoria Thursday.
“With this season, they
should see, at the minimum,
1,500 cruise guests visiting Sea-
side and Cannon Beach,” Con-
nor said, adding the passengers
come for the entire region, not
just Astoria.
While only 17 more ships
are coming to Astoria this year,
he said, about 20 are already
scheduled for 2016. As of this
morning, the Crown Princess
was pulling into Victoria, while
the Seven Seas Navigator, op-
erated by Regent Seven Seas
Cruises, is scheduled to pull into
Astoria Sunday.
King: She describes herself as a ‘radio cowgirl’
Continued from Page 1A
And there is the late Leona
Woods Marshall Libby, a physi-
cist who worked on Hanford’s B
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clear reactor that was part of the
Manhattan Project to build the
atomic bomb. The only woman
at the B Reactor at the time, she
had her own tiny bathroom.
The “Daughters of Hanford”
project uses photography, a geo-
mapping application and art to
complement the women’s his-
tories.
King, 36, a jumble of de-
monstrative energy, described
herself as a “radio cowgirl”
who is comfortable “on a back
of a horse, or up a dirt road, or
in a pickup.” She said her back-
ground — she is from Roy,
Wash., a small, rural city near
Tacoma — has helped her con-
nect during interviews with ru-
ral people in the Mid-Columbia
King said, “that’s a problem.”
The cleanup at Hanford has
been contentious. On Tuesday,
for example, U.S. Sen. Ron
Wyden, D-Ore., said the Depart-
ment of Energy has been mis-
managing the cleanup for three
decades. In a letter to the depart-
ment’s inspector general, the
senator asked for an examina-
tion of what he called wasteful
contracting practices at a waste
treatment plant that is behind
schedule and over budget.
King believes Hanford is too
important to ignore.
JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian
“I think the big thing is, we
Anna King, a Richland, Wash.-based journalist who cov-
ers the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, speaks at the Co- can’t ignore it. We can’t hide
our head in the sand,” she said.
lumbia Forum Thursday.
“We have to face it. It’s hard. It’s
region who can be reluctant to — and information often must be tough. It’s not fun. It’s not sexy.
“Nuclear cleanup is kind of
extracted from layers of U.S. De-
speak with the news media.
Reporting on Hanford can partment of Energy bureaucracy. dirty, gross work. But we have
³,IZHFDQ¶W¿JXUHRXWZKDW¶V to do it. It was the legacy that we
be frustrating. Access to the
586-square mile site in the desert going on; if they won’t release were handed, and who knows
is restricted — she recently took documents; if we can’t ask good how our history would have
a public tour to gather material questions and get good answers,” been different without it.”
ceived recognition for the honor
by being featured in the “Amer-
ica’s Army” video game. His
likeness was also depicted on an
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paign for the video game.
In 2008, Zedwick and his
wife appeared on the TV show
“Deal or No Deal,” and won
$227,000.
Breaking the ice
While meeting with Sens.
Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Jeff Merk-
ley, D-Ore., Patty Murray,
D-Wash., and other lawmakers
in D.C., Zedwick broke the ice
by sharing another interesting
fact about his life.
He told the senators about
his 1-year-old pet bobcat, Elliot.
Zedwick and his wife, a vet-
erinarian, adopted the 35-pound,
female bobcat from outside of
Missoula, Mont., and raised
it from when it was 3 weeks
old. Bobcats are legally bred in
Montana and are allowed as pets
in Oregon.
“We would stop talking
about politics and talked about
the bobcat,” he said.
Zedwick went on the D.C.
trip with veterans from Califor-
nia, New Mexico, Colorado and
Washington.
All indications are the LWCF
will be reinstated with bipartisan
backing, but the veteran group
still wanted to add their voice
in support of the fund, and meet
with lawmakers face-to-face.
“The folks we took were
thrilled to be there and Matt was
a joy to be around,” Hegdahl said.
The LWCF is more than just
for conservation, Zedwick said,
it is also important for hunting
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Astoria, where the Zedwicks
plan to raise a family.
“This will always be our
home,” Zedwick, who moved to
Astoria in 2010, said. “We plan
on living in Astoria the rest of
our lives.”
Zedwick and his wife are ex-
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Sept. 10, a day before Patriot Day.
Taking his son camping and
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to protect is an encouraging
thought for Zedwick.
“I want to share those experi-
ences that I had with him. I want
him to be able to have some-
thing to pass on to his kids,”
Zedwick said
Race: Both candidates
have strong ties to
schools, community
Continued from Page 1A
“A vote for Jan Horning
will give the majority to the
progressive board mem-
bers,” the site reads. “A vote
for her opponent will block
any possibility of student
health services. Restore a
progressive majority to the
Astoria School Board.”
According to the Clatsop
County Clerk and Elections
Department, Rickenbach is a
registered Republican.
Rickenbach
Rickenbach, 41, a stay-at-
home mom who’s been liv-
ing in the district since 1997
and whose husband, Jared,
runs Rickenbach Construc-
tion, said she’s been involved
in the district ever since her
kids started school. She has
three children in the district
and a fourth starting kinder-
garten next year. She has a
degree in health science from
Ricks College (now Brigham
Young University — Idaho).
She administers a “Ricken-
bach for ASD School Board”
Facebook page.
She helps her husband’s
company and volunteers
with numerous entities, in-
cluding the Boy Scouts of
America, the School Dis-
trict’s budget committee, as
a teaching aide at her chil-
dren’s schools, mentoring
students at AHS, helping
coach the Astoria Middle
School track team, Astor
Parents Club and through
the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints.
Rickenbach said she has
no major issues or an agen-
da. She said she believes the
district has been addressing
issues, such as the achieve-
ment gap facing low-in-
come and Hispanic students
through efforts to bring math
tutors for Hispanic students
to Emerald Heights, and
through the health and well-
ness district and board goal
established after the health
center was voted down.
The goal has led to
counselors from Clatsop
Behavioral Healthcare meet-
ing with existing clients in
schools. Rickenbach said she
is excited by that, but would
like to see more access for
other mental health provid-
ers.
Horning
Horning, 56, has lived
in the Olney neighborhood
since 1991; has two sons
who graduated in 2005 and
2006 from AHS; and is
married to David Horning,
a project supervisor for the
Oregon Department of For-
estry. She provides on-call
clerical help for Clatsop
Community College, where
she attended school; regis-
tration services for patients
for the emergency room
and urgent care clinic at Co-
lumbia Memorial Hospital;
special education teaching
assistance for Northwest
Regional Education Service
District; and substitute teach-
ing. She previously taught
at Cannon Beach Preschool
and was secretary at AMS
from 2001 to 2012.
Horning said her involve-
ment with school groups
has waned since her chil-
dren graduated, but she’s
still involved with American
Association of University
Women. She served on the
Olney School Board in the
mid-1990s, the district’s
Parent Teacher Association,
the Boy Scouts and other
groups.
Horning, who also runs
a Facebook page for her
campaign, said she’d like
to see the return of librar-
ians and more community
involvement in schools,
such as literacy nights for
children and their parents
to share their writing. Her
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on improving the gradua-
tion rate, communication
with the community, pro-
moting science, technolo-
gy, engineering and math-
ematics education; starting
an anti-bullying campaign;
and resuming dialogue on a
school-based health center.
Horning said she ran for
Position 5 not to oppose
Rickenbach, but because it’s
only a two-year unexpired
term, allowing Horning to
gauge her effectiveness at
working with the school
board.
During her time on Ol-
ney’s School Board, Horning
said she clashed with parents
over her support of adding
a school counselor students
could meet with, because of
similar fears over loss of pa-
rental control.
“It just didn’t make sense
to me that they would deny
that right to a child,” Horn-
ing said. “I guess I’m more
about children’s rights than
about parent’s rights.”