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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 10, 2015)
OPINION 4A 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 New citizens remind us that it is YaluaEle W ‘This is your place now. This is your history.’ hen you hear the words “naturalization ceremony,” you picture a clinical, windowless setting in a federal of- ¿ ce Euilding 7hat¶s why it was inspired to moYe a ceremony for new citizens of Oregon and s outhwest Washington to Fort &latsop at the /ewis and &larN 1ational +istorical 3arN 86 5ep 6uzanne %onamici had this idea after of¿ ciating at a ceremony some months ago in a 3ortland federal Euilding 7he congresswoman suggested Fort &latsop 7he 1ational 3arN 6erYice is custodian of many sites that haYe special meaning in the history of this nation $s 6uperintendent 6cott 7ucNer noted, Fort &latsop¶s existence was essential to our re- gion¶s Eecoming part of $merica It is often said that immigrants who attain 86 citizenship Yalue it more than many of us who were Eorn into citizenship 7hey haYe to worN for it 6eeing a group of new $mericans, who came from a Eroad array of other places ranging from the Ukraine to Mexico, re- minds us that gaining U6 citizen- ship is widely regarded as a prize During an election season in which some presidential candidates will deYalue immigrants and others will tell us how Ead we haYe it, seeing a group of new citizens is a remind- er that in the world today, $merica is seen as a Yery attractiYe place, a golden opportunity 6ince , the 1ational 3ark 6erYice and the U6 Department of +omeland 6ecurity haYe had an agreement to moYe these ceremo- nies into national parks “1ational parks preserYe signi¿ cant natural resources and cultural heritage sites and are places where one can learn aEout and reÀ ect on the $merican identity and the respon- siEilities of citizenship,” says -on -arYis, director of the 1ational 3ark 6erYice 5eÀ ecting on 7hursday¶s cere- mony at Fort &latsop, 7ucker de- scriEed the meaning of the place and the ceremony “7his is your place now 7his is your history” THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, AUGUST 10, 2015 I covered Donald Trump and lived to tell about it F or reporters, Donald 7rump threw down the gauntlet 7hursday night at the 5epuElican presidential candi- date deEate “7hey¶re a Yery dishonest lot, generally speaking, in the world of politics” I can only hope that I was not among those to whom he was referring I kind of thought “7he Donald” liked me B Y I had Eeen coYering 7rump since R.J. , shortly after he purchased the M ARX -acre property he calls “6eYen 6prings” 7he property, located in New York¶s Westchester &ounty, ironically had Eeen owned Ey a newspaper fam- ily — Katharine Graham, the longtime puElisher of the Washington Post, and Digest founder Dewitt Wallace Eefore her, her father, Eugene Meyer, a 5eluctantly, 7rump gaYe up dreams ¿ nancier and puElisher who would haYe of the helicopters and the golf course, made 7rump himself proud, purchasing too, and why shouldn¶t he — he was the newspaper at a Eankruptcy Euilding an international golf empire, auction for , Woodward and highlighted Ey the 7rump National Golf %ernstein were to follow many years &luE in New York¶s nearEy %riarcliff, later with new courses in 6cotland, Palm When 7rump purchased the prop- %each, /os $ngeles and the United erty for million — a $raE Emirates consideraEle Eargain, eYen What followed was a It was decades-long years ago — he inherit- ¿ ght to Euild ed conserYation easements, luxury homes on the 6eYen as if land coYenants, along with 6prings property, one that, you woods and meadows home as a newspaperman man, to forest creatures, natiYe allowed us to gleefully were plants, eYen Eald eagles coYer his eYery utterance $s the new owner, Homes — now that made the 7rump promptly sought more sense, especially with to address the most crying the crying need for afford- only need for that afÀ uent West- aEle housing in the area chester community a golf person Each McMansion would course His intention was to Ee , to ,-square- in the Ering a world-class course feet, perfect for the aspiring that would host his Yersion 7he enYiron- world. Eillionaire of the Masters, replete with ment ¿ gured not at all in limos for oil sheiks and a he- 7rump¶s plans at a city licopter pad to proYide easy access for meeting he told Eoard memEers “If Yisiting golfers you want squirrels, moYe to 9ermont” 6tudies quickly determined that the 5ead Oregon, the W est & oast equiYa- pesticides and chemicals used on the lent of that green, anarchic state tucked course would haYe potentially contam- into northern New England and repre- inated the nearEy Mianus 5iYer, source sented Ey 6ocialist %ernie 6anders of drinking water for , nearEy 7here was one awkward moment as residents 7raf¿ c from limos would dis- a reporter during a 6eYen 6prings prop- rupt the town¶s miles of dirt roads and erty site walk conducted Ey the local equestrian traf¿ c $s for the helicopters, wetlands commission I decided to tag there was a Eat¶s chance for approYal, as along, ¿ guring it was a puElic meeting 7rump¶s new neighEor, corporate raider and what Eetter opportunity to gawk Nelson Peltz star of the s corpo- 7rump wasn¶t there, Eut his war caEi- rate exposp “%arEarians at the Gate”, net was, and they were disconcerted to had already Eeen shot down Ey the see a reporter with gasp notepad and town and courts in his Eid for a heliport camera Perhaps they were frightened on his tony property, known as “High we would report on the sharp-shinned Winds,” formerly owned Ey 5eaders¶ hawks or red-Eellied woodpeckers nest- CANNON SHOTS ing in the woods Freedom of the press Eeing what it was, I was told to take a hike Off the property While local Eoards and commis- sions kept whittling down the plan, and lawsuits from the Nature &onserYancy and nearEy homeowners slowed the process, 7rump ultimately won approY- als for 6eYen 6prings in , closing the loop on a -year process 7he most amusing recent encounter with “7 he Donald” came in , when the /iEyan dictator was still aliYe and committing atrocities Moammar Gad- ha¿ was at the United Nations to ad- dress the General $ssemEly and need- ed a place in New York to maintain his entourage, including his many wiYes and children 6tep up Donald 7rump 7rump offered the use of 6eYen 6prings estate on a short-term Easis for Gadha¿ ¶s tent city 7he /iEyan contin- gent eYen went as far to set up on the property with lawn chairs and %ed- ouin-style tents Only the resourceful thinking of a local town superYisor — the equiYalent of a local city man- ager — could Ering the dictator to his knees It is widely EelieYed that 6u- perYisor /ee 5oEerts¶ adroit interYen- tion in the affair preYented a possiEle international incident, as she shrewdly inYoked a local code forEidding tem- porary outdoor structures and sent the caraYan packing 7here was no comment from 7rump While 7rump often used underlings to do his dirty work, “7he Donald” would occasionally Ee surprisingly ac- cessiEle, especially when things were going his way 7here was always a frisson of ex- citement when our of¿ ce manager put her hand oYer the mouthpiece and whispered “Donald 7rump¶s on the phone for you!” $nd when he spoke it was as if you were the only person in the world “5-!” he exclaimed “-ust wanted to make sure you heard the news!” 7hat is the mark of a career politi- cian you can disagree with almost eY- erything he says and does, and still Ee charmed as heck Ey the sound of his Yoice on the phone R.J. Marx is The Daily Astorian’s South County reporter and editor of the Seaside Signal and Cannon Beach Gazette. Hot water ripples Just who is helping Iran’s hard-liners? through shell¿ sh industry S Crucial that regulators — and growers — get it right ide effects continue rippling through the coastal economy from this year¶s warm ocean tem- peratures, with the potential that Willapa oyster growers will Ee on the receiYing end of eYen more regulations $lready, Eased on an existing desire to enhance shell¿ sh safety, growers must ice their prod- uct much Tuicker than in the past $s reported in last Friday¶s edition of Coast River Business Journal, the Port of Peninsula in Nahcotta this summer Eegan sup- plying large quantities of ice to growers who haYe to comply with a rule that sharply cuts the length of time they haYe Eefore harYested oysters are Erought down to a safe degrees %acteria can grow in oysters that aren¶t kept suf¿ ciently cool, Must as is true for other perishaEle foods such as chicken and dairy products In shell¿ sh, this can lead to acute gastrointestinal distress, a phenomenon Mark 7wain famous- ly encountered in NeYada in , leading him to unleash a diatriEe aEout “scoofy” oysters that effec- tiYely killed the Mexican oyster industry In modern times, U6 oyster growers take great pains to sell only the safest products, since doing otherwise can result in cus- tomer dissatisfaction, Department of Health scrutiny and a torrent of Ead puElicity In effect since May , Washington state¶s new shell¿ sh-cooling rule impacts aEout of the state¶s license holders Notwithstanding a recent controYersy aEout how to control mud shrimp, Willapa %ay famously produces consistent- ly healthy oysters and clams, and thus is in the lowest-risk category for temperature-safety compliance 7his premium reputation results in YaluaEle export sales to places like Hong .ong (Yen so, ensuring the rules are followed will make aquaculture operations more challenging on Willapa, a water Eody square miles in size — the second larg- est on the West &oast after 6an Francisco %ay 5ule implementation and fol- low-up will Ee complicated this year due to the “%loE” — a pool of warm water in the Paci¿ c Must offshore — plus an El Nino temperature pattern in the equatorial Paci¿ c that scientists suspect may Eecome the strongest in recorded history 7his enormous patch of sun-heated water, concen- trated Ey cyclical wind and current conditions, could Ee a Muggernaut that throws conditions out of natural Ealance through the ocean, and per- haps worldwide It is, in other words, not an ideal year in which to haYe state regulators carefully weighing future steps on how to safely manage shell¿ sh temperatures Yet another complication is the Eloom of a type of marine organism that sometimes produces domoic acid, a suEstance distinct from the Vibrio parahaemolyticus Eacteria that causes scoofy oysters Domoic acid poisoning can resemEle sick- ness caused Ey YiErio, meaning it will Ee more dif¿ cult to identify the cause of shell¿ sh-related com- plaints, if any arise later this year $ study estimated more than million in economic Eene¿ ts from shell¿ sh farming in Paci¿ c &ounty, money that sus- tains other Eusinesses throughout the &olumEia-Paci¿ c region It is crucial that regulators get it right when it comes to shell¿ sh safety and that growers continue to ¿ nd effectiYe ways to adapt to a chang- ing ocean and climate By CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER Washington Post Writers Group W $6HING7ON — 7he latest Quinnipiac poll shows that the $merican puElic reMects the president¶s Iran deal Ey more than -to- 7his is astonishing 7he puElic generally giYes the president deference on major trea- ties -ust a few weeks ago, a majority supported the deal What happened? People learned what¶s in it $nd don¶t Ee fooled Ey polls that present, as fact, the administration¶s position in the very question 7he Washington Post$%& poll assures the respondent that, for example, “interna- tional inspectors would monitor Iran¶s facilities, and if Iran is caught Ereak- ing the agreement economic sanctions would Ee imposed again Do you sup- port or oppose this agreement?” Well, if you put it that way, sure %ut it is precisely Eecause these claims are so tendentious and misleading that puE- lic — and congressional — opinion is turning Inspections? EYeryone now knows that “anytime, anywhere” — indis- pensaEle for a clandestine program in a country twice the size of 7exas with a long history of hiding and cheating — has Eeen changed to “You¶Ye got days and then we¶re coming in for a surprise Yisit” New York restaurants, oEserYed -ackie Mason, get more intru- siYe inspections than the Iranian nuclear program 6napEack sanctions? EYeryone knows that once the international sanc- tions are lifted, they are neYer coming Eack MoreoYer, consider the illogic of President OEama¶s argument 7he theme of his $merican UniYersity speech Wednesday was that the only alternatiYe to what he Erought Eack from 9ienna is war Eecause sanctions — eYen the more seYere sanctions that &ongress has Eeen demanding — will neYer deter the Iranians %ut if sanctions don¶t work, how can you argue that the hands of Congress or, more Iranians will now Ee deterred accurately, of congressional from cheating Ey the threat Democrats It is only Ee- of sanctions? 6napEack cause so many Democrats sanctions, mind you, that are defecting that OEama will ineYitaEly Ee weaker gaYe the $U speech in the and more loophole-ridden ¿ rst place $nd why he than the existing ones tried so mightily to turn the $nd then came news of argument into a partisan the secret side agreements issue — those warmonger- Eetween Iran and the In- ing 5epuElicans attacking ternational $tomic Energy Charles a president offering peace $gency 7hese concern past Krauthammer in our time OEama stooped nuclear actiYity and inspec- low, accusing the 5epuEli- tions of the Parchin military facility where Iran is suspected of haY- can caucus of making “common cause” with the Iranian “hard-liners” who ing tested nuclear detonation deYices We don¶t know what¶s in these side shout “Death to $merica” Forget the gutter ad hominem 7his deals $nd we will neYer know, says the administration It¶s “standard practice,” is delusional Does OEama really Ee- you see, for such I$E$ agreements to lieYe the Death-to-$merica hard-liners are some kind of KKK fringe? 7hey remain secret are the goYernment, for God¶s sake — the entire state apparatus of the Is- Congress lamic 5epuElic from the 5eYolutionary Guards to the supreme leader $yatollah doesn’t know Khamenei who for decades haYe propa- gated, encouraged and applauded those what’s in Yery same “Death to $merica” chants Common cause with the Iranian these side hard-liners? Who more than OEama? agreements, For years, they conduct a rogue nu- clear weapons program in de¿ ance of but Iran does. multiple 6ecurity Council declarations of its illegality Eacked Ey sanctions Well, this treaty is not standard prac- and emEargoes OEama rewards them tice It¶s the most important treaty of our with a treaty that legitimates their en- time Yet, &ongress is asked to ratify tire nuclear program, lifts the emEargo this “historic diplomatic Ereakthrough” on conYentional weapons and Eallistic OEama while Eeing denied access to missiles, and reYiYes an economy -- de- scriEed Ey Iran¶s president as headed the heart of the inspection regime &ongress doesn¶t know what¶s in Eack to “the 6tone $ge” under sanc- these side agreements, Eut Iran does tions — with an injection of up to $nd just this past Monday, $li $kEar Eillion in unfrozen assets, permission 9elayati, a top adYiser to the supreme for the unlimited selling of oil, and full leader, declared that “entry into our mil- access to the international ¿ nancial sys- tem itary sites is aEsolutely forEidden” With this agreement, this repressiYe, One secret side deal could eYen al- low Iran to proYide its own soil samples intolerant, aggressiYe, supremely an- ! from Parchin $nd now satellite im- ti-$merican regime — the chief export- agery shows Iran Eulldozing and sani- er of terror in the world — is stronger tizing Parchin as we speak 7he Yeri¿ - and more entrenched than it has eYer Eeen cation regime has turned comic Common cause, indeed 7his tragicomedy is now in the Where to write • U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonami- ci (D) 5ayEurn HO%, Washington, DC, Phone - - Fax -- District office 6W Millikan Way, 6uite , %ea- Yerton, O5 Phone - - Fax -- WeE Eonamicihouse goY • U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D) Hart 6enate Of¿ ce %uilding, Washington, DC Phone -- WeE wwwmerkley senategoY • U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D): Dirksen 6enate Of¿ ce %uilding, Washington, DC, Phone -- WeE wwwwyden senategoY • State Rep. Brad Witt (D) 6tate Capitol, Court 6treet NE, H-, 6alem, O5 Phone -- WeE wwwlegstateoruswitt Email repEradwitt#stateorus