THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, APRIL 19, 2016
Founded in 1873
STEPHEN A. FORRESTER, Editor & Publisher
LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor
BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager
CARL EARL, Systems Manager
OPINION
5A
Big dig lets spirits loose,
or is it a Hood-to-Ghost?
SOUTHERN
EXPOSURE
JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager
DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager
HEATHER RAMSDELL, Circulation Manager
B Y
R.J.
M ARX
Floodplains are key
for people, salmon S
)E0A ÀRRG LQVXUDQFH DSSURDFK
PRYHV LQ WKH ULJKW GLUHFWLRQ
A
look around the Columbia River estuary’s edges
reveals thousands of acres of land that were, are or
will be floodplains. After a century in which dams, dik-
ing and a mostly stable climate allowed people to hold
back floodwaters, local floodplains are back in the news.
We have gotten used severe flood risk is and
to the idea of floodplains thus from implementing
being usable for many eco- restrictive zoning and land
nomic purposes, from agri- use regulations and com-
culture and industry to prehensive planning.”
Restrictive zoning and
residential development.
Stabilized land that might rules are seldom popular.
have one been underwa- As we reported last week,
ter for weeks or months the cities of Warrenton and
at a time in the presettle- Astoria, Clatsop County,
ment era is now a long-es- the Port of Astoria and
tablished part of the private Diking District No. 9 on
the west side of Youngs
property inventory.
We seldom stop to think River are collectively
that federally subsidized employing an engineer-
flood insurance is a sig- ing firm in hopes of con-
nificant factor in making vincing FEMA to redo and
waterside property devel- relax some of its local flood
opable. So it was big news maps. This additional anal-
last week when the Federal ysis is bound to be helpful
Emergency Management and may help avoid some
Agency said it is chang- instances when FEMA’s
ing how it implements the broad-brush approach may
National Flood Insurance unfairly impinge on current
Program in Oregon to plans.
There is, however, no
avoid further destruction of
doubt that most floodplains
fish habitat.
Among Oregon coun- in our region once served
ties
with
endangered as vital salmon habitat and
salmon and steelhead spe- could do so again. There
cies, Clatsop has among also is no doubt that the
the state’s greatest amount sea level will continue to
of mapped floodplains — rise worldwide in coming
more than 225 acres of decades, hiking the flood
floodplain per linear mile risk to low-lying coastal
of stream. The county has areas. In our region, the
49.9 square miles of land Cascadia Subduction Zone
classified as Special Flood is raising the land surface,
Hazard Area, subject to counteracting the rising
floods, mudslides and ocean for now. But when
the zone fractures, as it
flood-related erosion.
In tandem with FEMA, inevitably will, our coast
the
National
Marine will drop by 6.5 to 13 feet.
Floodplains are inher-
Fisheries Service has
decided “that incomplete, ently risky. Like it or not,
out of date, and/or inaccu- we and the federal agen-
rate mapping of flood haz- cies that serve us are smart
ard prone areas prevents to take a thorough look at
local government officials what we allow to be con-
from understanding how structed there.
FYI:
Clippings from the press of the
3DFL¿F1RUWKZHVWDQGWKHQDWLRQ
TUXPS, APHULFDQ PUHDFKHU
W
hen I ask Trump supporters
what they love most about
his rallies, they’re at a loss; all of
it, they say, “just, just” — the way
it makes them feel. How much it
makes them feel. American poli-
tics tends to produce a limited emo-
tional range, mostly positive, pep-
pered with indignation. But Trump
scrawls across the spectrum: not
just anger but rage; love and, yes,
hate; fear, a political commonplace,
and also vengeance. It doesn’t feel
political. Politicians have long bor-
rowed from religion the passion and
the righteousness, but no other major
PRGHUQ¿JXUHKDVFKDQQHOHGWKHWHQ-
sion that makes Scripture endure, the
desire, the wanting that gives rise to
the closest analogue to Trumpism:
the prosperity gospel, the American
religion of winning.
— Jeff Sharlet in TKH NHZ YRUN
TLPHV 0DJD]LQH
TKH 9LUWXRXV SXSHUVWDU
B
ut this isn’t just about love, it’s
about faith. Almost everyone
seems to believe in Stephen Curry,
which is a very different thing
from just rooting for him, or being
amazed by his skills. “He could
run for mayor in any city in Amer-
ica,” says Sacramento Kings coach
George Karl, “and he’d get every-
body’s vote.”
— Phil Taylor in TKH &KULVWLDQ
SFLHQFH 0RQLWRU
EASIDE — To the guy who
slapped the Trump bumper
sticker on the back of my 2004
Audi A4: Ha, ha, ha.
Who is outside of Sunset Family
Fitness in Seaside at 7 a.m. with an
inclination to do such a thing?
I came out of my half-hour work-
RXW WR ¿QG ³7UXPS 0DNH $PHU-
LFD*UHDW$JDLQ´DI¿[HGWRP\UHDU
bumper.
Maybe he got confused and
thought it was his car.
If you want to talk to me more
about Trump, please contact me at
the SHDVLGH SLJQDO RI¿FH DV ZH¶YH
been looking for the Trump sup-
porter in Clatsop County. Or you
may want to consider Clatsop Com-
Photos by R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian
munity Health Care.
Rocky Smith at the recent Oregon Ghost Conference. He says places like
By the way, knowing Donald as Seaside near great bodies of water tend to have more ghostly activity.
I do, he could well have a team of
campaign workers placing guerrilla
Is there more
bumper stickers on people’s cars.
or less ghostly
activity in
Seaside than
other places.
Lucky coins
That was a lousy way to start the
day Thursday, but things got bet-
ter fast. First of all it was beautiful
in Seaside, the kind of day like those
spring days when I arrived here a lit-
tle less than a year ago, all sun and
blue sky and clean air and temps
near 70.
Then I won the pot — that’s the
UDIÀH ZLQQLQJV ² DW WKH 6HDVLGH
Downtown Development Associa-
tion breakfast — and heard some fun
stuff about the big dig that is Holl-
aday Drive. Everybody’s getting
pretty sick of the delays and incon-
venience, sure, but City Manager
Mark Winstanley assured us that
the project is still on schedule to be
completed prior to Memorial Day
weekend.
This week they’re working on the
curbs, the last step prior to asphalt
going on.
The big dig has exposed roadway
hidden beneath the surface, “like it
must have been in the early days,”
Winstanley said.
The original road was put down
90 years ago and exposed a vast
infrastructure beneath the surface.
“We think we know where every-
thing is,” Winstanley said. “We
don’t.”
My friend Ryan Wolslagel was
the big winner: He found a pre-
Civil War gold coin underneath the
surface.
He told late-night ghost tour
attendees the aquarium “has mixed
stories.”
— enough so that he was able to lead
“Though the owners don’t think
tours through town showing visitors it’s haunted, there are myths asso-
spots of interest.
ciated with the history of the build-
The group trawled around the ing,” Smith said.
city, including two late-night tours,
Ghosts and spirits may linger in
one from the convention center to the region from some of the ship-
the Ebb Tide and a second along the wrecks associated with the light-
Promenade.
house, Terrible Tilly, Smith said. A
“The Grimes Hotel was one of the shipwreck took 16 lives only a week
original hotels,” he said. “There’s a before Tilly was completed in Janu-
whole section north of Broadway, an ary 1881.
area referred to as ‘Grimes Grove,’
Is there more or less ghostly
Seventh, Eighth Street near Down- activity in Seaside than other places,
ing,” Smith said.
we asked?
Smith isn’t sure yet, but he thinks
it is ripe for psychic exploration.
Seaside ghosts?
“I’m kind of new to Seaside,”
The area remains haunted, so
much so that author Dave Oes- Smith said. “Part of Oregon City that
ter and his wife, Sharon Gill, were makes it so active is its connection
inspired to write a best-seller about with its history, both Native Ameri-
their experiences after moving into can and pioneer history.
a haunted house on 12th Avenue in
³6HDVLGH GH¿QLWHO\ VKDUHV WKDW´
Seaside.
he added. “You have this theory that
“The spirits that haunted the Sea- places that are connected with water
side cottage on 12th Avenue were — Oregon City has the falls, creeks
friendly spirits,” Oester said in a and falls; here you have the river,
1999 interview. “The most com- the ocean — there’s some geologi-
mon prank they pulled was to take cal things that can cause a place to
an object, be it a book or something be more active.”
else, and not return it for several
Wait a minute. It’s becom-
Hood to ‘ghost’
ing clear now. The Donald Trump
Also looking for treasures of a days.”
7KH ¿UVW QLJKW LQ WKHLU 6HDVLGH bumper sticker.
different kind recently were attend-
Who would be up at 7 a.m. and
ees of the Oregon Ghost Conference. home, they discovered their short-
Rocky Smith brought the Confer- wave radio unplugged and playing do such a thing — slap a bumper a
sticker on an innocent bystander’s
ence here from Oregon City for its “Waltzing Matilda” over and over.
Oester, who died in November, car? That is right out of the “Waltz-
¿UVW \HDU DW WKH 6HDVLGH &LYLF DQG
Convention Center. He and other told the interviewer the experiences ing Matilda” playbook.
occultists were poking around Sea- of living in a haunted house moti-
Just the type of mischief you’d
side’s mystical past, present and vated him to begin collecting ghost expect from a disembodied spirit
future in a fair that presented astrolo- stories from people, which he turned released from beneath the pavement
gers, spirit communication, haunted into his book TZLOLJKW 9LVLWRUV during the construction on North
history and a panel of paranormal *KRVW TDOHV 9RO 1
Holladay Drive. I wish I’d found the
More on Dave’s story — and gold coin instead!
investigations. At times it felt more
tragic end — can be found on ghost-
like Sedona than Seaside.
R- 0DU[ LV TKH DDLO\ AVWRUL-
Smith embraced Seaside his- web.com.
DQ¶V SRXWK &RXQW\ UHSRUWHU DQG HGL-
Other ghosts may roam our com- WRU RI WKH SHDVLGH SLJQDO DQG &DQQRQ
tory prior to his arrival and quickly
learned of the city’s ghostly lore munity, Smith suggested.
%HDFK *D]HWWH
I’d like to know who affixed this to
my rear bumper.
Open forum
A little stale
RZ YHU\ ¿WWLQJ WKDW
both TKH DDLO\ AVWR-
ULDQ (“No sense”) and TKH
OUHJRQLDQ chose to print,
in the April 15 editions, a
letter to the editor penned
by Lars Larson, in which
he lists some of the issues
KH¿QGVWURXEOLQJZLWKWKH
3DFL¿F 1RUWKZHVW DQG WKH
comic strip “Non Sequi-
tur,” which accurately por-
trays his reason for doing
so.
Now, I understand that
Larson is in the entertain-
ment business, and has to
occasionally stir the crazy
pot to keep his numbers
up and advertisers happy,
but his talking points hav-
en’t changed in years.
Makes me wonder if his
steady “fact-free” diet may
H
Click on the green “Voter
Registration” box, and then
the “Check or Update Your
Registration” box.
Having
temporarily
become a Democrat, you
Feel the Bern
now get to choose between
f, like me, you chose not Clinton and Sanders. I
WR EH DI¿OLDWHG ZLWK DQ\ looked at their candidacies
political party when you through my lawyer/priest
registered to vote, you will lens. Former lawyer Clin-
not receive a ballot for the ton rightfully states we need
primary election set for May to empower women. Many
17. In Oregon, unlike many women both young and old
other states, this will be a agree; they just don’t want
closed primary. Republi- to empower this woman.
cans and Democrats here do They lament that Republi-
not appreciate free thinkers; cans will decimate her.
Sanders is a secular Jew
you have no say in selecting
and longtime veteran of
presidential nominees.
Here’s an easy quick legislative battles. In Con-
workaround to this prohibi- gress, with bills or amend-
tion. You must take action no ments, he has crossed the
later than Tuesday. Go online aisle to get the job done.
to www.oregonvotes.gov. With Republican Sen. John
be a little stale, and ratings
slipping.
FRANK STRICKER
Ocean Park, Wash.
I
McCain, he negotiated a
comprehensive
biparti-
san agreement for veter-
DQV¶ KHDOWK EHQH¿WV *RR-
gle “what sanders got done
in washington”).
Sanders is on the same
page as Pope Francis with
regard to catastrophic
environmental
change,
socio-economic inequal-
ity and immigration. Even
the opposition recognizes
Bernie’s honesty and integ-
rity. According to consis-
tent national polls, Sanders
is the candidate more likely
to defeat Trump.
Good people of Clat-
sop County, let’s follow
the example of our Sen.
Jeff Merkley. Let’s feel the
Bern.
GEORGE McCARTIN
Astoria