KNAPPA REACHES TITLE GAME; ASTORIA FALLS SPORTS • 7A
143RD YEAR, NO. 235
DailyAstorian.com // WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1, 2016
ONE DOLLAR
Developer
buys The
Ship Inn
Hollander plans bigger
investment in Astoria
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Astoria resident Bill Lind listens to speakers during the Community Emergency Preparedness Forum Tuesday at the Liberty
Theater.
A NUDGE TOWARD
PREPAREDNESS
Forum a reminder
of natural and
man-made risks
By ERICK BENGEL
The Daily Astorian
H
ow does a forum focused on the many
ways North Coast residents can lose
their lives, loved ones and property to
natural and man-made disasters strike a posi-
tive note without downplaying the dangers? By
making it about preparedness.
The city of Astoria’s Community Emer-
gency Preparedness Forum, held Tuesday eve-
ning at the Liberty Theater, ran the gamut of
hazards facing the region, from fl oods and
forest fi res to the Cascadia Subduction Zone
earthquake and tsunami. The event fulfi lled
this year’s City Council goal of increasing
emergency preparedness efforts.
And the discussion circled back, again and
again, to the theme of preparedness, both per-
sonal and communal.
In the case of the “big one” — the Cascadia
megaquake for which the Pacifi c Northwest is
overdue and under-prepared — that theme res-
onates for a special reason:
The city’s emergency responders, includ-
ing the police and fi re departments, may not be
able to help or rescue anyone immediately after
the event — a fact Police Chief Brad John-
ston and Fire Chief Ted Ames acknowledged
at a recent City Council meeting. The offi cials
organized the forum.
But there are steps individuals can take to
prepare , said Althea Rizzo, geologic hazards
program manager at Oregon Emergency Man-
agement. And it’s possible that many folks have
started preparing without even realizing it.
A Bellingham, Washington, developer
who hopes to bring a Marriott Hotel to Asto-
ria has purchased The Ship Inn, a popular
riverfront pub and fi sh and chips restaurant.
Mark Hollander bought the building off
Second Street from owner Jill Stokeld for
$545,000.
Stokeld, who has been trying to sell her
restaurant for more than a decade, is now
leasing the space from Hollander for at least
another year .
“She still wants to run the business, so
that’s great,” Hollander said. “I’m just kind
of gearing up to invest in Astoria.”
Hollander, who unsuccessfully bid
to operate the Astoria Riverwalk Inn, is
studying the feasibility of locating a Mar-
riott Hotel on a strip of land owned by
the Port of Astoria underneath the Asto-
ria Bridge. More than six months after it
was approved by the Port Commission, the
lease between Hollander and the Port has
still not been fi nalized.
See DEVELOPER, Page 10A
Lobbying,
campaign
money
open doors
Lack of disclosure
makes tracking
infl uence diffi cult
Second of two parts.
By HILLARY BORRUD
Capital Bureau
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Coastal Natural Hazards Specialist Patrick Corcoran, associate professor at Or-
egon State University, presents information about preparing for future natural
disasters during the Community Emergency Preparedness Forum Tuesday at the
Liberty Theater.
Anyone who goes camping, hunting and
fi shing, for example, may already have some
of the basic post-Cascadia supplies.
“If you have camping equipment, you prob-
ably have everything you need to survive for a
few weeks,” she said.
The same goes for people who tend a gar-
den and talk to their neighbors. When food
supply routes are cut off and survival demands
the pooling of resources, having a local food
source and a reliable support group will pay
off.
“All of these things build resilience, and
all of them make it much easier for you to
get prepared,” she said.
Water and fi re
Sometimes it’s easy to forget that Cascadia,
given how much attention it receives, is not the
only hazard confronting the North Coast.
“While that is the largest thing we face, it
is not the thing most likely to affect us,” said
Johnston, who emceed the event. “Next year,
we will have a winter storm issue. We know
that. We did last year, we will next year, we will
the year after that.”
SALEM — The day after the primary
election in May, Gov. Kate Brown stepped
up to the podium at the opening of a software
company’s new offi ce in
northwest Portland.
The company, Vitu,
operates an electronic
vehicle titling and reg-
istration system in Cali-
Lobbying fornia and last year won
our state
a state contract to expand
into Oregon. That was
officials
exciting news for Brown,
who joined executives
from Vitu’s parent company Motor Vehi-
cle Software Corp. to celebrate the offi ce
opening.
“I am so pleased to be here today to
help open Vitu here in the city of Portland,”
Brown said. “Their very innovative tools to
See FORUM, Page 10A
See LOBBYING, Page 10A
Holding students to high expectations
Every Wednesday and Fri-
day for the next couple of weeks,
The Daily Astorian features an
area teacher as we head toward
graduation and summer break.
Virginia Larsson
Astoria Middle and High
schools, mathematics, seventh
through 12th grade
Why did you become a
teacher and what was
your biggest surprise?
I became a teacher because
I believe education is one of the
most reliable ways to positively
change people’s lives. Being a
teacher is a complex job, you are
not just an instructor or conduit
for imparting knowledge, you
are a coach, a substitute parent,
a role model, a disciplinarian, a
nurturer , a counselor.
I have learned that teaching
focuses less on the content being
taught than the students being
taught. It helps to be an expert
in your subject area, but being
a teacher is much about build-
ing relationships. A good teacher
cares about her students, recog-
nizes when a student is having a
bad day or needs some encour-
agement and addresses the prob-
lem to help the student refocus on
the material. While holding stu-
dents to high expectations, I also
recognize that occasionally life
gets in the way of homework and
that studying sometimes takes a
back seat to family obligations.
Teachers Talk About Teaching
Therefore, I offer students sec-
ond chances when warranted and
take time out of my own sched-
ule to help students catch up.
What part of the job do
you enjoy most?
Every day is unique and dif-
ferent. Each school year brings
new people into your life. Each
unit and lesson brings new per-
spectives. Each failure, when
looked at formatively, can help
you solve new problems. Each
success, when used refl ectively,
can be even greater the next
time. By far the largest reward
is the interaction with students.
The joy I see in their eyes/faces
the instant when students have
an “aha” moment and the oppor-
tunity to tell parents how won-
derful their children are.
What is the most
challenging part
of your job?
Students do not all learn in
the same way or in the same
time frame. One of the greatest
challenges is developing cre-
ative lessons that motivate and
Virginia Larsson
reach the cognitive and motiva-
tional diversity in the classroom.
Some students get a concept
right away and may easily get
bored, while others need more
time to develop and nurture their
learning. Keeping the appropri-
ate balance is a challenge.
— Edward Stratton