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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JULY 5, 2016
Pole: Artist’s message
recalls a different time
Continued from Page 1A
A little over a year ago,
the Palette Group, a subcom-
mittee of the city parks com-
mittee, submitted a proposal
to the city’s public arts com-
mittee for a 10-foot tall cedar
welcoming pole to be erected
along the bank of Ecola
Creek at the edge of NeCus’
Park. Working with the parks
committee, the sculpture was
designed by master carver
Capoeman. The statue, which
can be seen from the Fir Street
Bridge, faces the ocean, as
tribal members once did when
they greeted their guests.
Friday’s dedication and
prayer was meant to be “fun
and light-hearted,” according
to Basch.
But the message of the
welcoming pole also recalls
a different time, when tribes
heading to the Columbia
River or Nehalem Bay would
gather for visits, celebrations
and potlatches — gift-giving
feasts to celebrate friendship
between members.
Capoeman, whose family
members extend to the Clat-
sop, Nehalem and Tillamook
tribes, carved the colorful
pole. The cedar used comes
from an old-growth preserve
in Quinault, Washington.
Barb Linnett, who serves
on the parks committee, cred-
ited the Cannon Beach Pub-
lic Works Department for the
base on which it stands.
Around the campire,
Cannon Beach oficials and
tribal representatives gath-
ered in the mid-afternoon
sun. Capoeman sang a tradi-
tional Quinault melody while
beating a drum to herald the
installation. He described
how travelers would arrive in
their canoes singing, voices
identifying their people to the
residents of NeCus’ village.
The Quinault Indian
Nation, which consists of the
Quinault and Queets tribes
and descendants of ive other
coastal tribes, were among
those visitors, according to
author and research professor
Doug Deur.
“People would stop here
as they were going on canoes
along the coast,” Deur said.
“It’s a place that is not easy to
get in and out of by canoe, but
it’s also an important place.”
Deur described the waters
past Tillamook Head as
unforgiving. Paddlers “would
build up the energy and get
prepared for going around
that big headland of rock,
and come in here,” he said.
“We had travelers going up
and along the coast and stop-
ping at this place. People
paddling here from all over,
to gather, to rest, harvest
resources together — often
not even speaking the same
language but able to ind
common interests, common
ground and common vision.
We know this place continued
to be important through time.
I’d like to think that provides
inspiration for what we’re
doing right now.”
Photos by Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Chuck Westerlund, right, adjusts an American flag on his bike with other members of the Astoria Clowns during War-
renton’s Old-Fashioned Fourth of July Parade on Monday. More photos online at DailyAstorian.com
Fourth: Fireworks on the coast capped the day
Continued from Page 1A
The parade was just the
start. The Seaside Museum
and Historical Society held its
old-fashioned social and silent
auction. The four drum and
bugle corps, featuring more
than 500 performers, par-
ticipated in a free concert at
Broadway Field. The North-
west SkyLiners put on a stunt
kite presentation at the Turn-
around in the afternoon.
The holiday was capped in
the late evening with Seaside’s
ireworks show, produced by
Kriegshauser Family Pyro-
technicians and sponsored by
community partners, such as
the city of Seaside, the Seaside
Chamber of Commerce and
multiple local businesses and
enterprises.
Katherine Lacaze/EO Media Group
Miss Oregon 2016 Alexis Mather participated in Seaside’s Fourth of July Parade.
The Warrenton way
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Carver Guy Capoeman speaks during a dedication for
the new piece of art.
Ag groups: Tax is estimated to
slow growth in private sector
Continued from Page 1A
The ballot measure tar-
gets C corporations, imposing
a 2.5 percent tax on their Ore-
gon gross sales exceeding $25
million. It’s expected to raise
about $3 billion a year in new
state revenue.
The nonpartisan Legisla-
tive Revenue Ofice says the
tax will act largely as a con-
sumption tax, raising prices
for consumers and businesses.
The union-backed cam-
paign A Better Oregon says
the state needs that revenue
to bolster support for educa-
tion, health care and senior
services. Proponents also note
that corporations’ income tax
contributions to state revenue
have declined as a percentage
from 18.5 in the mid-1970s to
6.7 now, according to a study
by the Oregon Public Policy
Center.
While the campaign says
the tax targets big out-of-state
corporations, it also affects
some Oregon businesses with
high sales receipts but rela-
tively low proit margins, said
Dave Dillon, executive vice
president of Oregon Farm
Bureau.
Wilco typically nets
income of 2.5 to 3.75 percent
of gross sales, Hoffman said.
In some years, such as 2009,
the company doesn’t make a
proit. One reason he opposes
IP 28 is that even companies
that lose money have to pay
the tax as long as their gross
sales exceed $25 million.
Backing the petition
Supporters are unmoved.
“A Better Oregon was spe-
ciically designed to protect
farm co-ops and it won’t raise
taxes on the supplies farmers
buy through their co-ops,” said
Katherine Driessen, a cam-
paign spokeswoman. “A Bet-
ter Oregon was also designed
to make large pesticide com-
panies like Wilco and Mon-
santo pay their fair share in
taxes. Based on the claims that
Wilco has made, it has to do at
least $100 million in non-farm
co-op sales. It can and should
pay more to support our
schools and critical services.”
Dillon said those extra
costs will be passed onto
farmers.
The impact of the tax could
be felt at every point of sale, as
suppliers and retailers increase
prices to cover their additional
costs.
The gas and diesel that
Wilco sells, for instance,
changes hands several times
before it gets to the end con-
sumer, Hoffman said. By that
time, the tax may push the cost
up 5 to 7 percent, he said.
That will impact farmers
who have to drive their prod-
ucts to market. The tax also
will drive up the cost of fertil-
izer, farming equipment and
other necessities for produc-
ing and selling a crop, Dillon
said.
“We are going to have folks
out of work, and there isn’t
going to be an economy to
pick them up,” said Katie Fast,
executive director of Orego-
nians for Food and Shelter.
The tax is estimated to
slow growth in private sector
jobs by 38,000 in the next ive
years years, but public sector
jobs would grow by 17,000
in the next ive years, accord-
ing to the Legislative Revenue
Ofice.
A recent study by Portland
State University, commis-
sioned by A Better Oregon,
found that the tax would boost
public sector jobs by 33,600
by 2027 and slow growth in
private sector jobs by 13,500.
“You don’t see Wilco take
a stand on many things,” Hoff-
man said. “We believe we have
the story that touches people
in a small way It will affect
us and our consumers. We
couldn’t let it stand and suck it
up and not get involved.”
The Capital Bureau is a
collaboration between EO
Media Group and Pamplin
Media Group.
Spectators staked out spots
along South Main Avenue in
Warrenton hours before the
annual Independence Day
parade began. Others like
Holly Scheel and Jeanne
Beckner procrastinated, put-
ting out their chairs at the very
start of the event.
“We’ve only been here
about 10 minutes, but we got
lucky,” Scheel said. The self
described “retired Coastie” has
been coming to the celebration
for the last 10 years. “I like
this parade. The Seaside one is
always crowded and it’s hard
to ind parking there.”
Before the parade began, the
crowd was fed by the Warren-
ton Fire Department’s annual
barbecue. “It’s our chance to
give back to the community,”
Capt. Chris Penno said. The
station expected to feed around
1,600 people with free burgers
and hot dogs. Right after the
food was served, the volun-
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
John Deruchia marches
with the color guard Mon-
day during the Old-Fash-
ioned Fourth of July Pa-
rade on Monday.
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Cub Scouts in Pack 509 listen to directions before march-
ing in Warrenton’s Old-Fashioned Fourth of July Parade
on Monday.
teer ireighters hopped in their
trucks and got in line for the
parade.
The parade featured a wide
range of loats, vehicles and
cyclists honking and throwing
candy to the crowd. The Asto-
ria Clowns passed out balloons
from tall bicycles.
The 2016 Regatta Court
and local politicians waved as
they rolled their way down the
main stretch.
Locals like Penno and
Scheel have seen the cele-
bration in Warrenton grow in
terms of spectators and loats,
but for Deryl and Vicki Cripps,
the parade was a brand-new
experience. The couple on
vacation from Spruce Grove,
Alberta, Canada, said it was
their irst Fourth of July cel-
ebration. “Canada’s indepen-
dence day is on the irst of July,
so we’re just a few days ahead
of you guys,” laughed Deryl.
Eli Stillman and Kather-
ine Lacaze contributed to this
article.
D.J. Short: Professor of pot began growing in ’70s
Continued from Page 1A
A year after legalization of
recreational marijuana in Ore-
gon, Short continues to keep a
low proile, awaiting changes
to federal law. In the few pho-
tos of him online, he inevita-
bly sports a fedora and sun-
glasses. During rare interviews,
he cagily avoids sharing much
personal information.
The professor of pot opened
up a bit recently while dining
on bagels and lox at the Great
Paciic Wine & Coffee Co. in
Pendleton. His sunglasses and
fedora were nowhere in sight,
revealing vivid blue eyes and
gray hair pulled into a pony tail.
He rose to his full 6-foot-3-inch
height, smiled and stretched out
his hand before sinking back
into his chair.
While sipping a micro-
brew, he disclosed why he lives
locally, rather than a more mari-
juana-friendly locale.
“I love Eastern Oregon,” said
Short. “It is my favorite place on
the planet to be. The environ-
ment, the climate, the people —
it’s special here.”
Started growing
in 1978
He said he started grow-
ing pot in 1978 under a luo-
rescent desk lamp at the foot
of his bed. Using knowledge of
phenotypes and genotypes gar-
nered from his college botany
classes, the 21-year-old exper-
imented with light, soils, fer-
tilizers, terpenes and cloning
techniques. Eventually, the lu-
orescent lamps became halide
lights and then sodium lights.
He succeeded in crossing
Sativa and Indica plants to cre-
ate fast-growing varieties with
various aromas and physical
effects. In 1979, he started sell-
ing clones. In 1988, he moved
to northeast Oregon.
The Michigan native said he
comes by his marijuana-whis-
pering skills naturally. His
Romanian great-grandmother, a
gypsy herbalist who grew can-
nabis and other herbs for medic-
inal reasons, passed her skills
down the line to her daughter.
According to family lore, his
grandmother’s cannabis cultiva-
tion landed her in jail.
“She got busted in 1938
for growing pot in the city of
Detroit shortly after it was made
illegal,” Short said.
His grandmother often
sewed with hemp, a variety of
cannabis used for its iber.
“Tablecloths, curtains and
my mom’s baptismal gown
were all made of hemp,” he said.
Short’s irst taste of pot
didn’t come from his grand-
mother’s pharmacy, but in a
more typical way when he and
friends purchased a bag. At the
time, Short said, he was a skinny
teenage boy who struggled with
depression sparked by his par-
ent’s divorce.
“I started with cannabis
when I was about 14,” he said.
“In essence, it saved my life. It
gave me an appetite I lacked and
set me on my path.”
Not dangerous
Short said he was shocked at
the gentleness of his irst expo-
sure to pot, calling it “a benign,
intimate, natural experience.”
This was in the early 1970s,
shortly after President Richard
Nixon had launched the War on
Drugs and declared them “pub-
lic enemy number one.” Short,
then and now, chafes that mari-
juana is considered a dangerous
drug. In truth, he said, shaking
his head, cannabis heals more
effectively than most pharma-
ceuticals and is “the safest sub-
stance known to human beings,”
except for maybe oxygen.
“Even water you can drink
enough to kill yourself,” Short
said. “Cannabis is a mild, non-
toxic inebriant that doesn’t
allow us to put enough in our-
selves to harm ourselves.”
In addition, cannabis heals,
he said. Marijuana soothed his
mother’s pain after a stroke. His
girlfriend, after undergoing che-
motherapy for her irst bout of
Stage 3 breast cancer, survived
a second bout by taking massive
doses of cannabis oil.
Like ine wine
Short often compares the
subtleties of pot to ine wines.
The olfaction chart used by can-
nabis connoisseurs is much like
the wine wheel. Tasters can
detect a diverse array of aro-
mas such as fruit and berries,
grasses, teas and even ozone,
funeral parlor lowers or chem-
ical astringents. The latter, much
like in wine, aren’t necessarily
bad, he said.
The breeder said he watched
with interest as recreational can-
nabis become legal in Colo-
rado, Washington state and, a
year ago, in Oregon. The legal-
ity gives people like Short some
elbow room, but he still operates
outside the state. Even wholly
in-state cannabis operations
face obstacles: zoning restric-
tions, problems getting bank
accounts, black market weed
and local bans on businesses.
The prices, he said, are out of
whack — cannabis is “grossly
overpriced” and hash (a byprod-
uct) is “grossly underpriced.”
It’s a gray market with all of the
outlines blurred to some extent,
but Short isn’t worried.
“I’ve been functioning
underground for so long,” he
said. “I’m going to do what I’m
going to do regardless.”
Short resists coming com-
pletely into the open. He avoids
cameras. He doesn’t invite
reporters and most others to his
home or workspace.
“I’m optimistically pessi-
mistic. Things will get better,
but for whatever reason, they
have to get worse irst,” he said.
“There’s no crystal ball for the
future of cannabis law.”