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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 26, 2015)
Hood to Coast hits the beach Teams ready to (jam)boree NORTH COAST • 3A SPORTS • 4A 143rd YEAR, No. 41 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2015 ONE DOLLAR A place Dismal, but documented to call home Low inventory, high rents pose big obstacles By DERRICK DePLEDGE The Daily Astorian Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian Historian Gary Moulton has spent the last 20 years editing and publishing the 13-volume set of the Journals of the Lewis and Clark Ex- pedition for the 200th anniversary of the expedition. Historian turns Lewis and Clark journals into a narrative account By KYLE SPURR The Daily Astorian See STUDY, Page 10A Step into the fray? F ew people know more about the day-to-day of the Lewis and Clark Expedition than historical scholar Gary Moulton. The former University of Ne- braska professor is the editor of the latest, full edition of Lewis and Clark’s journals. The original journals are kept in Philadelphia and St. Louis. Moulton spent two decades compiling the journals into 13 volumes. He wrapped the work into an abridged version in 1999, the same year he spent six weeks at Fort Clatsop in Astoria. Moulton returned this month to Fort Clatsop as a scholar-in-resi- dence at Lewis and Clark National Historical Park. “His willingness to share his expertise with the staff and public both in the park and in the commu- nity provides opportunities for ev- eryone to make a renewed connec- tion with the story we are tasked with protecting,” Scott Tucker, Lewis and Clark National Histori- cal Park superintendent, said. This time around, Moulton is working on a new project. He is revisiting the edited volumes to write a narrative account of each day of the expedition. He will summarize the activity on each of the 863 days. Some days may only describe the weather, while other days may detail a dramatic expe- rience. Anyone who has tried to rent an apartment or buy a house in Astoria since the recession knows the story: few choices, relatively high cost. A draft affordable housing study prepared by city planners provides context that might help the City &RXQFLO¿QGVROXWLRQV The study concluded there is a shortage of both affordable rental housing and affordable housing for sale. Rents and sales prices, while reasonable for Portland or Seattle, are too high for most middle-income families in Astoria. Remodeling permits — in a city that celebrates historic restoration — KDYHVLJQL¿FDQWO\RXWQXPEHUHGSHU- mits for new units. The study’s math, while striking, may have understated the challenge. The vacancy rate for the city’s 4,887 housing units in 2013 was 14.3 per- cent, according to the U.S. Census Port has options to run rundown waterfront hotel By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian Lewis and Clark historian Gary Moulton talks about the explorers during a presentation at the Seaside Public Library on Aug. 18. He is calling the work, “Lewis and Clark Day by Day.” “A person could sit there and say ‘I want to see everything that hap- pened on this day,’” Moulton said. “I am simply giving an account of each day of the expedition.” Documentary history Moulton calls his work doc- umentary history, which differs from the work of historians such as Stephen Ambrose, who wrote the popular book “Undaunted Courage.” Historians like Ambrose read the journals, interpret it and write their own account. They follow a theme or thesis to ask what does this mean? Why is this important? “That is what a historian usu- ally does,” Moulton said. “They want to prove something or want to disprove something. That is not what I’m doing.” Moulton updates the journals with footnotes to explain new in- formation on native tribes, maps and plants. He does not take the next step by following a thesis. See HISTORIAN, Page 10A A merry-go-round of suitors for the Astoria Riverwalk Inn — or their lawyer or real estate broker — showed up at Tuesday’s Port of As- toria Commission meeting to make their pitches. Port Executive Director Jim Knight had called the meeting last week to hear one more presentation from the well-connected Washing- ton hotelier Mark Hollander, who has said he wants to bring a Marriott franchise to Astoria but isn’t interest- ed in an open bidding process. Hollander, who operates Holland- er Hospitality out of Bellingham, Wash., proposed leasing the River- walk Inn and a vacant land parcel owned by the Port near the Maritime Memorial, operating the 50-year-old hotel and constructing a new build- ing on the vacant land. Knight has said Hollander is interested in mul- tiple hotels. See PORT, Page 4A OLCC rolls out plans for recreational marijuana ‘All marijuana, all the time’ for licensing agency By ERICK BENGEL The Daily Astorian North Coast communities have been scrambling to deal with the fallout, both real and imagined, of Measure 91, which was passed in Novem- ber 2014 and legalizes the use and possession of recre- ational marijuana for Oregon adults. Meanwhile, it has been “all marijuana, all the time,” for the Oregon Liquor Con- trol Commission, according Steven Marks, the agency’s executive director, at a lunch in Astoria Tuesday. Of the 2.9 mil- With a looming lion Oregonians deadline of Jan. 4 over the age of 21, to begin accepting roughly 20 percent applications for have reported using licenses to set up marijuana within marijuana opera- the last year. Of tions, the agency those users, about has much to ac- 30 percent — med- complish in a short ical patients and amount of time. “super users” — ac- Steven It’s job is pret- counts for 70 per- Marks ty simple: Oregon cent of marijuana statute gives them a mandate consumption in the state. That to know what’s going into a leaves about 70 percent of us- product, to track the product ers — probably recreational along the supply chain and to users, Marks said — respon- make the product available to sible for the remaining 30 per- Oregon residents in a system cent of consumption. that the agency licenses and Unlike Colorado and regulates. :DVKLQJWRQ ² WKH ¿UVW WZR When it comes to marijua- states to legalize recreation- na, Marks knows the num- al pot — “we have a high- bers: ly evolved marijuana grow while the bulk are responsible for licensing and inspections. The agency hopes to have HDFKVSRW¿OOHGE\HDUO\2FWR- ber and the personnel trained on the new rules and sys- tem-to-be-developed before November, Marks said. Then there’s the “seed to sale” system for keeping tabs In the pipeline on the marijuana itself. On the policy side, the “Seed to sale” will require DJHQF\ QHHGV WR ¿QDOL]H WKH the barcoding of viable seed- rules for licensing marijuana lings. The agency can then businesses and tracking prod- track a batch’s location, includ- uct from grower to market. ing who grew it and where. These rules must be in place This is, in fact, a standard held before the agency can set up to all legal consumables for the the online licensing applica- sake of consumer protection, one that allows for product re- tion and fee system. The agency recently an- calls and the ability to trace the nounced 30 new full-time product back to its source. positions. A handful of these See OLCC, Page 10A positions are policy-based community,” in part, because the plant is easier to grow outdoors in Oregon, Marks said. “In Oregon, we’re trans- ferring an industry in from an illegal to a legal system.” Sounds simple enough. But “simple” doesn’t mean “easy.”
