Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 27, 2015)
143rd YEAR, No. 85 TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2015 ONE DOLLAR Clatsop-Nehalem tribes seek federal OK, again Chinook Indian Nation says effort derails their attempts to regain status By NANCY McCARTHY For The Daily Astorian A resolution to restore federal recognition of the Clatsop-Nehalem Confederated Tribes is making its way through the U.S. Congress for a second time. U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore., intro- duced the legislation, known as House Resolu- tion 3736, or the Clatsop- Nehalem Restoration Act on Oct. 9. It was assigned to the House Natural Resources Committee and is expected to go to a subcommittee. Bonamici introduced a similar resolution last year, but it died in the subcommittee on Indian, Insular and Alaska Native Affairs. Diane Collier, chairwoman of the confeder- ated tribes, and Richard Basch, vice chairman, said they are optimistic that the resolution will go through the process this year. “We were pretty disappointed, but we thought we learned a lot,” Basch said of last year’s effort. “We’re more organized now. It just feels right. It just feels like the time is here.” Federal recognition of the Clatsop-Nehalem Tribes of Oregon was terminated in 1954 when Congress passed the Western Oregon Indian Termination Act. More than 100 tribes See TRIBES, Page 4A EO Media Group/File Photo Dick Basch, vice chairman of the Clat- sop-Nehalem tribal council, and Diane Collier, council chairwoman, stand in front of a picture of Chief Tostum, who was once chief of the Clatsops and was Collier’s great-great-grandfather. Foes pan license to beg Tart berries produce tasty memories on century-old bog Seaside tables fees to keep panhandlers off the city streets By R.J. MARX The Daily Astorian Story and photos SEASIDE — An amendment to a Seaside city ordinance designed to regulate panhandlers, musicians and itinerant merchants got no further Monday night than it had this sum- mer. “The intent of this is to deal with aggressive panhandling, and to put some controls on street entertainers so they’re not blocking traf¿ c or busi- ness,” Councilor Jay Barber said, but added “I think we can do better than we do here.” “I’m horri¿ ed that you would do this,” Seaside resident Sam Condron said. “Yes, there’s a homeless prob- lem, but it’s nationwide. Let’s look to the cities that are succeeding, not the ones who are failing.” By KATHERYN HOUGHTON EO Media Group L ONG BEACH, Wash. — The owner of the Johnson Bog still uses the beater his father de- signed to rake in cranberries on the land his great -grandmother purchased. Earlier this month, about 30 people from Iowa to California found their way back to Long Beach for the John- son Bog celebration of a century of cranberry picking. “This land has a little bit of every- one who’s worked it,” David Johnson said from the seat of his father’s beat- er. The Johnson family reunion has congealed around harvest time. At the gathering, an IT tech from Silicon Valley raked dirt out of a wa- ter pit. A Marine on leave ¿ shed out a third group of cranberries with his dad. A young girl sorted sticks from their collection. And a real estate agent captured it all on her Nikon. The surrounding woods are ¿ lled with aimless trails blazed by David Johnson and his siblings, when school vacations meant playing on their grandparents’ bog. Johnson’s childhood playground turned into his dream. “Somewhere along the way of growing up, I realized the practicality of this place,” he said. “It’s work that you actually see get done. You don’t see it as you fertilize, but down the road you see the spots you missed.” Josephine Johnson bought the bog in 1914, soon after she immigrated from Sweden. “She thought cranberry harvesting would be easy money while her hus- band ¿ shed at sea,” Johnson said. Vigorous debate TOP: David Johnson, near left, leads his friends and family in gathering cran- berries for the Johnson Bog’s 100th harvest. ABOVE: David Johnson took over the Johnson Bog 11 years ago after his father’s death. While he manages the property, Johnson believes his work is only a part of the bog’s history, which leads back to his great-grandmother. See BOG, Page 12A RIGHT: Stephanie Hall, 13, helps sort the day’s collection. Her father, Steve, grew up with the bog’s owner, David Johnson, and started helping during harvest time in 1986. The ordinance, in place since 1984, requires a license to solicit and applies to “a person occupying a temporary ¿ xed location, who promotes, solic- its or sells from stock or inventory on hand or displays samples and solicits orders for merchandise in stock.” The amendment seeks to expand the de¿ nition to include any person who provides a service “or solicits for any form of compensation or remu- neration.” License fees would start at $50 per day, with a maximum of $1,000 in a calendar year. Fines would also be in- creased, from $500 to $700. Mayor Don Larson said that pan- handlers with signs in dusk can pro- vide a traf¿ c hazard for drivers. He also mentioned musicians who blocked traf¿ c on the Prom. “I think they would be more responsive if they had to be licensed,” he said. “Sadly, the panhandlers I’m en- countering in Seaside are giving the homeless a bad rap,” Barber said. “They are not local people. They are on their way somewhere. They are not hanging around for groceries and food.” Members of the audience See SEASIDE, Page 12A Tsunami-vulnerable towns grapple with how to save lives By TERRENCE PETTY Associated Press PORTLAND — Brac- ing for a tsunami like the one that devastated Japanese communities during a 2011 mega-earthquake, coastal communities from British Columbia to California have been grappling with how to protect people from a similar catastrophe. One of those towns is constructing the nation¶s ¿ rst structure built as a vertical tsunami refuge. Two years ago, voters in Westport, Washington and other communities in the school district approved a $13.8 million bond to build a new elementary school that would be reinforced to with- stand a big earthquake and have a tsunami evacuation area on the gym’s rooftop. “We have no natural high ground,” said Paula Akerlund, superintendent of the Ocosta School District, located on a peninsula, noting that they have 20-30 minutes between a quake and a tsunami to get to higher ground. That’s “im- possible.” The new school is being built on a small ridge, which will put the reinforced roof of the gym above the highest tsunami surge expected by scientists. It is expected to be completed in March. The devastating 2011 Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian People walk on the West Broadway Bridge in Seaside. Up and down the coast of the Pacific Northwest, communities have been intensifying their efforts to protect lives when the region is hit by a killer quake and tsunami, which seis- mologists say is inevitable. earthquake and tsunami in Japan was a reminder of a mirror-image threat lurking Must off the Paci¿ c Northwest coast: a 600-mile-long fault that has not produced a major quake since 1700 but could do so any time. The fault is called the Cascadia Subduc- tion Zone. Progress has been incre- mental in the region as com- munities seek funding for expensive projects, examine the most effective means of protecting people and ponder how much they are willing to spend to prepare for a disaster. A study by the U.S. Geo- logical Survey and university researchers that was pub- lished this year shows that of the 94,870 people living in tsunami hazard zones in See TSUNAMI, Page 8A
