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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 11, 2015)
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2015 Watch out for walkers I would like to just take a minute to thank all those drivers who have the courtesy to stop for pedestrians wait- ing to cross the road. I walk across Eighth Street in Astoria every day, several times a day. This road is considered by many drivers to be the Eighth Street freeway. I was trying to cross re- cently, and two very consid- erate drivers, one each direc- tion, stopped for me. I stepped out with my two critters on leash, and coming downhill two drivers passed the car stopped for me on the right. Luckily I am observant, or it could have been very sad for me and/or my two critters. This is the only time I’ve had this happen, and it was an eye-opener. They weren’t even talking on their phones, so they must have seen us, but lacked the courtesy to obey the law and stop for a pedes- trian in the street. I never step out unless it is clear, or the car is stopped. Again, I do sincerely thank the numerous folks who stop for all us pedestrians in cross- walks. Those of you who are passing (on the right) a stopped car in the roadway might stop and take a second look before you run over a child, adult, or combination of the two and a pet, maybe. If I’d been a little more alert, I’d have taken down your license plate numbers. I will the next time. LANI WILLIAMSON Astoria Use contraception T he current war against Planned Parenthood is so deeply wrong-headed I guess the Republicans can’t resist running on it. Quite clearly it is unplanned parenthood that aggravates or even causes most of humanity’s problems. Those unbreakfasted, uncared-for children in our schools and on the streets, and clamoring at borders to Àee wars and starvation all over the earth, do not exist because contraception is evil, but be- cause it is not being practiced. And while unborn humans are considered sacred enough to commit murder for, the lives of the hordes of people already running around the planet are spent so cheaply and stupidly, we barely Àinch. Does God intend every one of the billions of seeds the dandelions on your lawn pro- duce to take root and Àourish" Every one of the millions of eggs each female salmon lays to reach maturity" Every mus- tard seed" Then why would he want that for the quadrillions of spermatozoa and egg cells humans produce" That is ego- tism on a cosmic scale. JOSEPH WEBB Astoria LNG a danger here L NG: Building in the tsu- nami inundation zone is not safe for the people of the city of Warrenton and Clatsop County, which is in a loca- tion that is at a high risk for earthquakes. This is due to the faults that are off the Oregon coast. Each small community has been preparing for a tsu- nami response. This has been heightened by the earthquake in 2011 in Tohoku, Japan. I am not dreaming this up; it is in the public record. So why build a terminal in a quake and tsunami zone" Of course, the terminal would be built on pilings deep in the sand, but the force of a quake and tsunami would endanger the proposed terminal and the lives of people of the commu- nities in the path of an explo- sion. Why store a bomb in a unsafe location" Tsunami inundation zone maps have been produced to identify areas vulnerable to the forces of a tsunami. The location of the proposed terminal is in such an area. I stand up for the lives of all who would be exposed to the dangers of the gas terminal. The terminal should not be built in a tsunami inundation zone. RON MAXTED Astoria Floating LNG idea H aving a lique¿ed natural gas terminal in an earth- FRIDAY EXCHANGE It’s time for deliberation, not haste O regon LNG seeks approval for permits from the city of Warrenton to construct a gigantic $6.5 billion in- dustrial natural gas import-export facil- ity on the Skipanon Peninsula. A public hearing was held over two nights, Sept. 2-3, for a total of 10 hours of testimony given by the city Planning Department, the project proponent (Oregon LNG), the Columbia Riverkeepers and the public — for and against. The proponent stressed the positive impacts to the region and the city — thousands of jobs for three-¿ve years, 150 permanent jobs, tens of millions of dollars in property taxes, and im- proving regional energy distribution. Riverkeepers poked holes in many of their arguments, and raised a host of concerns over the damage the project could inÀict on the environment, the quality of life, safety, and the local economy. Public testimony was pre- dominantly and strongly opposed to the project. quake/tsunami zone" It just sounds crazy. Building a LNG terminal with tall and wide tanks is a challenge even in a geologically stable area, but now imagine a large concrete tank, having a footprint hun- dreds of feet across sitting on a sandy ¿ll sitting on a fault line. You know, like Warren- ton. Think of a shallow wading pool ¿lled with water. Now go and try to move that pool — like an earthquake would. Even if it does not break, the liquid spills out. But notice the rubber duck. It hardly moves and is quite safe. Now consid- er an LNG ship for storage. Large strong ships, with mas- sive refrigerated spheres, cur- rently cross the wild oceans and safely maintain the LNG in liquid form. I propose we consider us- ing multiple large LNG tank- ers as the storage method for a LNG terminal. This would re- quire multiple docking boxes with gates that would buffer a tsunami surge of 80 feet. The holding boxes would Àow in water at a controlled rate, and empty out again as the tsuna- mi inrush subsided. The land would shake and settle, but the ships would Àoat in their isolated tubs, protected from the debris. The water levels inside and outside of the box would remain close, so the box would not become a dam holding back an 80 foot wall of water. Transport vessels would come in and be ¿lled from the stationary tankers or simply be exchanged. As LNG de- mand may change, the moor- ing piers could be repurposed or ¿lled with several LNG vessels. This allows for the dynamic adjustment of a cost- ly facility. In the changing world economy, our country may choose to be an exporter of LNG or a receiver of LNG, or both at the same time. If the world wants us to be an ex- porter of LNG now, we would design, fully permit and ap- prove, a bidirectional facil- ity, but only build the export side. This would lower the initial cost and would allow the pro¿t to offset an import build later. Our nation has to get prac- tical about LNG. We have it, it’s clean, and the world will pay for it. We should maxi- mize LNG for all of our own industries — leave occasional wind and solar power for the lobbyists and, unfortunately, government subsidy parasites. ROY HACKETT Seaside Please return bag T o the person who lifted the small camouÀage bag from the station wagon at Fred Meyer on Aug. 17: That was a gift from my kids in 2009 for my 84th birthday. This year, we were going to show all on a big TV and reminisce on my 90th birthday this month. Can you make it happier" There would be monetary nu- meration. Call 360-642-8099. HILBERT FENTON Long Beach, Wash. Save spruce trees I t has come to my attention that the U.S. Army has de- cided to remove all of the large spruce trees in the Fort Stevens Veterans’ Cemetery, The decision to issue permits allow- ing the project to be built is not deter- mined by a vote of local residents, but instead by whether the project is con- sistent with codes and land-use rules in effect for Warrenton at the time of application. The devil is in the details, and fuzziness of language leaves room for differing interpretations of the regu- lations. But ultimately the permit deci- sion will be decided by vote — that of the Warrenton City Commission. This is truly a monumental deci- sion, with consequences that could set a new course for our region for decades to come. This is a time for deliberation, not haste. This is a time to consult with the councils of neighboring cities and the Clatsop County Board of Commis- sioners. Clatsop County denied Oregon LNG a permit to build the natural gas pipeline, which is required to supply their project. Why not meet with them and learn why they oppose the LNG located in Hammond. This is a beautiful, tranquil resting place for veterans dating from 1868. The trees are at least as old, and add immeasurably to the serene beauty of the spot. As a veteran and someone who has spent many hours volunteering to keep this his- toric cemetery a ¿tting rest- ing place for those who have given their lives for ours, I am appalled that they would make this decision. The reason giv- en is that they are fearful that the trees may fall in a storm and damage the grave sites. Knowing that these trees have survived for nearly 200 years, I doubt that their concern is valid, and in this age of car- bon credits, I cannot believe that they would remove these ancient spruce trees because “they might fall someday.” If any of you care about the beautiful and historic Fort Stevens Veterans’ Cemetery, I urge you to contact your senators and representatives immediately and let them know that this is tantamount to desecration of sacred place, and a terrible waste of taxpay- er’s money. Please call and write them now. This must be stopped. Thank you, CDR. GREGORY J. RIEHL (Retired) Hammond Watch out, walkers W e have lived in Astoria just under a year and have noticed something quite disturbing. I just witnessed a major fender bender on U.S. Highway 30 near 29th Street. Lots of traf¿c as usual, how- ever the accident could and would have been prevented, had the pedestrians waited for the oncoming vehicles to re- act in a safer manner. But instead, they just sim- ply stepped out and walked across the street. Leaving the drivers to react suddenly and thereby causing a vehicle carrying a young mother and her three children to collide with the elderly lady in front of her. Why do pedestrians think or believe they are entitled simply because they are on foot and not in a car" Do they not realize that there are some folks who will not stop on a dime, simply because they have chosen to step off a curb and walk across the street" What is it about the hu- man condition that causes us to make decisions based on our own sel¿sh needs, wants and desires" I, for one, will never take on a 3,000- to 5,000-pound bullet, that may or may stop, just so I can get to the other side of the street. There are times, especially on Commercial Street, when I cannot see the reason for a larger vehicle’s brake lights, however, I have learned to slow down and wait to see if someone is tempting fate yet again. I would like to challenge everyone, including the tour- ists, who visit here, daily: Life is short enough. Take your time, don’t be in such a hur- ry. And do please try to be re- sponsible when out and about. We can’t change what we don’t acknowledge, and we certainly cannot change oth- ers, but we can change how we live our lives. LYNN KLOSS Astoria project" The mayor of Astoria and city councilors have spoken publicly in opposition to the project and (have approved) a resolution formally pro- claiming opposition. Why not meet with them and learn why they oppose the project" The city of Warrenton is part of Clatsop County, and one of several communities located on and near the Columbia River estuary. Warrenton is not alone or isolated, and its land- use decisions will impact neighboring communities. Many deliberative bod- ies have considered the project and most strongly oppose locating it in Clatsop County. The city of Warrenton can reach the best decision only by meeting with, and learning from Clatsop County, Astoria, and other neighboring com- munities their reasons for opposing the project. CHRIS FARRAR Astoria Loss of an icon W e would just like to let the local community know about the loss of a very valuable asset to the staff at Tongue Point Job Corps. Marcela Foece and her sis- ter’s journey started as actual residents at Tongue Point Job Corps as students. Several years after completing her residency, she decided that she wanted to work at Tongue Point and was successfully hired to a position with that entity. After holding many differ- ent positions, she was ¿nally placed in a position as a res- idential adviser at Tongue Point. It was during her tenure as a residential adviser that we came to know her. Our shop, PennyWise Thrift Store in Warrenton, was selected as a training site for students enrolled in Tongue Point Job Corps. She began bringing students to our shop on one Saturday each month to begin learning the process of how a thrift shop operates, from receipt of goods to the ¿nal sale of those goods. For the past ¿ve years, she has continued to bring students, whom she said she had no trouble recruiting, on a volunteer basis, almost every month to work in our shop. Now, it appears, she has de- cided that it is time to move on and has accepted a position with another company. We want Marcela Foece to know that we will miss her and her monthly visits, and hope and trust that Tongue Point Job Corps will continue her tradition of bringing stu- dents to our shop, and contin- ue our working relationship. PETER FESSLER Astoria Affordable housing T he article “Draft study shows Astoria housing gap” (The Daily Astorian, Aug. 26) reported on the need for affordable housing in As- toria. This problem deprives many among us of the essen- tial need for shelter, erodes human dignity, and inhibits able and willing people from fully contributing to our com- mon economic vitality and from sharing in our quality of life. Commendably, Asto- ria’s City Council undertook the goal of ameliorating this problem and scheduled an as- sociated work session at City Hall for the evening of Sept. 14. Challenges abound, of course. Council will need to: 1. Seek an equitable balance among competing interests; 2. Gauge potential rami¿- cations of decisions; and 3. Prioritize allocation of ¿nite resources among essentially in¿nite needs. The following are examples of each of these challenges. 1. The fundamental eco- nomic principle of supply and demand predicts that if the demand for housing remains roughly constant, any appre- ciable increase in the supply of housing units would reduce the rents/prices which owners of existing units would have otherwise obtained. How should we weigh the inter- ests of owners and landlords versus the interests of those priced out of our housing market" 2. If affordable housing is created via streamlining pro- cedures or waiving require- ments in order to foster more market-priced units of the housing types needed, then the increasing supply could attract additional residents (thereby increasing demand), which would drive those mar- ket-determined prices back up again. Meanwhile, if creating af- fordable housing, however it is achieved, results in As- toria’s population growing above the 10,000 resident threshold, expensive upgrades to our infrastructure would be mandated. How can we pro- vide affordable housing stably and avoid incurring undesir- able consequences" 3. If affordable housing is created via subsidizing price-controlled units, even if aided by state and federal incentive programs, trying to provide for everyone who might come to our doorstep could exceed available re- sources. But if it is deemed nec- essary to exclude some in need, on what criteria" For instance, should we concen- trate on providing housing for single individuals and couples, because housing units which can accommo- date one or two people can be created more densely and at lower cost per unit" Persistent problems like affordable housing call for evaluating a spectrum of ideas with an open mind. No one expected this would be easy. But ignoring the problem would be worse. SHEL CANTOR Astoria LNG traf¿c issue R egarding lique¿ed natu- ral gas: Has anyone even considered the danger to our school buses, and traf¿c in general, when 200-300 heavy trucks are added to the load on U.S. Highways 30 and 101" This same traf¿c issue stopped 215 trucks per day from traveling a two-lane road with river gravel in Jo- sephine County. The road served wineries and schools. Tourists and children were considered in stopping the operation. Does anyone want some years of this" RICHARD DARBY Astoria Navigation aid vital A s a retired Coast Guardsman, I enjoyed the special section “Safe- guarding Our Coast” in The Daily Astorian. It was well done overall, although the local cutters and aids to nav- igation units received some- what less attention than oth- er units. I would like to point out that the ¿rst entry in the time- line on pages 10 and 11 should have been the creation of the Lighthouse Establishment on Aug. 7, 1789, making it the oldest part of today’s Coast Guard. Since 1939, when the Lighthouse Service merged into the Coast Guard, aids to navigation has been a major part of what the service does. These men and women are a hard-working, unsung bunch who earn their salt. ERIC OLSON Astoria 5A Black Lives Matter A short time ago, Astorians and visitors were attempt- ing to indulge in the Sunday Market. During this particular market, a little nugget of en- tertainment emerged, when about 100 social justice war- riors decided to ¿ght the sys- tem and stand up to power, marching in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter move- ment. Participating in this move- ment was none other than City Councilor Drew Herzig, add- ing to the prominence of As- toria’s involvement. The BLM movement had the chance at being a very re- spectable cause, but shortly after this initiative formed, news reports from a multi- tude of agencies and outlets — and crossing the ideologi- cal spectrum — revealed this movement as being prone to corruption, and having the potential to morph into some- thing sinister. It should be noted that this information was acces- sible and out there for all to find, but this group of a 100 or so demonstrators, full of self-aggrandizement and an overembellished vi- sion of self-importance, chose to willfully ignore it. You can go to the following link http://bit.ly/1PQ4vVZ, where you will be able to view a 1-minute video of this march. I would like to thank Councilor Herzig and the other members of the perpet- ual victim class, for bringing this movement to the streets of Astoria — a movement that has now employed the Louis Farrakhan approach to social change, as opposed to the example of Dr. Martin Luther King. Across this country you can ¿nd this movement, vandalizing, defaming and assaulting. Now thanks to Councilor Herzig and the other perpetual victims, As- toria can be added to the list of cities that proclaimed this movement, which led to the anti-law enforcement scourge that is sweeping the nation. That’s a great image for Asto- ria, don’t you think" Now, as I prepare for the next City Council meeting, where I will have to listen to this councilor bloviate ad nauseam, state his horrible jokes and inform people who try to confront him that they are guilty of practicing “mi- cro aggression” — a term he more than likely learned from a copy of Mother Jones, which is used to intimidate people into silence — I will wonder, what’s next for As- toria" I support and thank all law enforcement for your service, both locally and nationally. JASON KOST Astoria Hellish sights await I f you’ve ever visited the San Francisco Bay Area, near the beautiful delta and water- ways which surround the cities of Benicia and Martinez, Ca- lif., you will witness the spec- tacle of gas Àares at oil re¿ner- ies transforming the night sky. The glaring towers of Àame, visible from great distances, brightly illuminate the dark- ness like a surreal carnival. It’s a scary sight to behold as you speed by on the freeway — one you’ll never forget. That very same scenario awaits our pristine Columbia River estuary if Oregon LNG is allowed to construct their mammoth export terminal. Their billion dollar project will have the ability to pro- duce heat and glare from large towers of open Àames, nec- essary to burn off corrosive gases. According to Oregon LNG’s own environmental impact statement, “the elevat- ed Àare height would be about 69 feet tall and the maximum Àame length, assuming no wind (yeah, right) would be about 150 feet.” And they’re not exaggerating. As evidenced by the pub- lic outcry at the LNG hearing, Warrenton doesn’t need, or want, Oregon LNG. We can’t allow them to rob us of our natural beauty and jeopardize our safety. MARY EKORN-JACKSON Astoria