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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (July 15, 2016)
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JULY 15, 2016 FRIDAY EXCHANGE Cemetery campaign M y family has 16 relatives interred in Ocean View Cemetery, including my grand- parents, Tom and Annie Nel- son, along with three of their six children and my parents. Tom was a young Norwegian mar- iner when he irst entered the Columbia River in August 1881 on the sailing bark Palmyra, 150 days out of New York City. My grandfather was afiliated with the Point Adams Packing Co. for many years. I am certain that Tom Nel- son would be appalled at the demise of the Columbia River ishing industry, along with the elimination of multiple canner- ies. This economic upheaval has resulted in changes of city mon- etary priorities with the move- ment of vital funding to the revi- talization of the downtown area and the tourist industry, far away from Ocean View Cemetery. Tom passed away in 1948 during a period of time when cemetery perpetual care car- ried an entirely different mean- ing from today. Astoria Parks and Recreation apparently deine perpetual care as a one- time cemetery visit on Memo- rial Day — my son and I have photographic evidence to sup- port our opinion. It is quite obvious that the Astoria city government has no respect for pioneer city found- ers. My son and I live in Van- couver, Washington. We have to load a truck with landscaping tools and equipment in order to clean our family gravesites. We devoted almost an entire day to this endeavor in September, and by Memorial Day, Astoria Parks and Recreation had managed to cover our family grave mark- ers with grass from the annual Memorial Day mowing. Evidently an Ocean View Cemetery problem solution must be found outside the city government of Astoria. My family advocates the formation of a Clatsop County Campaign to Save Ocean View Cemetery. Does Clatsop County have an attorney who is willing to sup- port this campaign by providing pro bono legal services? The volunteer attorney should seek action to separate the cemetery from the city of Astoria and establish an Ocean View Cemetery Trust. An inde- pendent CPA irm should audit It will happen again, and we conveniently forget the vio- lent event that happened seven months or 16 months ago. Police are here to serve and protect. Let’s make their incred- ibly tough jobs easier by leav- ing your guns locked safely at home. PAT WILSON Astoria Thank you I would like to give a huge thank you to Donny Van Gundy our Daily Astorian newspaper delivery man. Perhaps you’ve seen him around town delivering his papers on crutches and a motorized scooter. I’m not sure what happened to him, but our family so appreciates the extra mile he goes to deliver his papers. He goes out of his way to put the newspapers on residents’ front porches, and always does this with a smile. He’s very conscientious. He really deserves the award for best customer service. Thank you Donny and The Daily Astorian. KIM SUPPLE Astoria Astoria Parks and Recreation accounts, with the goal of iden- tifying and separating assets and funds which are the sole prop- erty the cemetery. The trust should be admin- istered by a board of governors. Funding will be a crucial prior- ity in the initial restoration of the cemetery, and much of this funding will depend on recov- ery of cemetery funds from the city of Astoria. The Save Ocean View Cem- etery Campaign will have to depend on voluntary contribu- tions in order to build up the per- petual care fund, and monetary funds will have to be invested wisely. The board will be responsible for the employment of a cemetery superintendent, who will establish a mainte- nance presence at the cemetery. Ocean View Cemetery is located within the boundaries of the city of Warrenton, and the trust should determine if some monetary maintenance support could be provided by the War- renton city government. THOMAS E. DENT SR. Vancouver, Washington Too many shootings T here have been too many recent shootings. The com- mon response by the media is that we need more gun control and/or more police in the streets. It’s time to wake up, Amer- ica. What we need is more fam- ily values, more people who know the difference between right and wrong and more peo- ple taking responsibility for their own actions. We have become so politically correct that we have banished God from our classrooms and have driven patriotism from our schools and public places. Many of our young people are totally adrift, with no direc- tion in their lives. We need to put parents back in charge, and allow them to teach right and wrong, respect for other peo- ple and other peoples’ rights and property. CLEVE ROLFE Seaside Let’s make it stop T he recent tragic events in many cities and towns have affected many people beyond the circle of victims and their family and friends, and are a cat- alyst for me to pen this opinion in the newspaper. I ask: Where are we headed as a nation? Is gun violence the new norm? It seems most are the result of assault rile owner- ship, and the ability to purchase them very quickly, along with large amounts of ammunition. Of course, smaller handguns are just as deadly. Please explain why people feel the need to leave the house with a gun and a concealed carry permit in their wallet or purse. Are all armed citizens expect- ing to be that “good guy with a gun” when another incident happens? Is it a protection-ori- ented thought process that per- sonal safety now has blanket coverage for you, when armed in public? 5A Right to bear arms I Donny Van Gundy I know very few folks I would trust to pull out a Glock in a public area to stop an active shooter. I would ask our law enforcement oficers to weigh in on gun violence, and provide some ideas on how to stem the tide of such horrible events. Guns do have a place in the hunting community, no question there, because few have armed themselves to go out elk hunting with a sharp rock tied to a stick for a few centuries now. But I don’t think many “hunt” with an assault rile or a weapon with automatic iring capability. We as a society need to start somewhere in breaking the silence. Every time another of these horrible violent events happens, it’s another moment of silence in our country’s halls of Congress. Instead, you hear crickets from those same people we have elected to govern our system. Are they not outraged? Yes, the silence is noticed by the public, but for some reason we are handcuffed to act in the vot- ing booth. OK, then let’s start in a smaller way by acting locally in our towns. A simple sign in the window, “No irearms allowed inside” or “Not in here.” I ask our City Council to help in any way they can. Take the irst step — many will support you, more than you might think. Start with something almost everyone can agree on, a local gun-free zone, maybe. This will take a groundswell of citizens who have inally become fed up with the direction these events have taken us as a nation. am not well educated and not too smart. I learned two things reading Mr. Murray E. Stanley Jr’s. letter in The Daily Astorian (“In the dark,” July 1). First, I learned that democracy is a system by which the major- ity can tell the minority what to do, and to make their lives mis- erable. Second, I learned that the Second Amendment is a lie. I know that irearm own- ers are a vast minority. There are reasons for that. Firearms are dangerous. Legal irearms are expensive to buy and keep. There is a lot of responsibil- ity demanded of irearm own- ers, and a lot of red tape to get through if one wishes to buy, sell, keep or carry them around. In fact, a irearm owner may have his or her irearm taken away for no reason by the authorities … without compen- sation, or adequate explanation. Isn’t it funny that nice safe places like “gun free” schools are the places where these sad massacres — committed by little, cowardly, psychologi- cal basket-cases — commonly occur? Many more folks than ever before are arming themselves. They perceive that the world today is a dangerous place, even here in the U.S. Because the world is what it is, it is bound to be more dangerous in the future. More and more people are going to have to buy and keep irearms if they want to remain safe. If you haven’t noticed, it is the poorer people who are exposed to the gravest dan- gers. They are the people who need irearms the most. Laws and such that try to restrict ire- arm ownership always have the greatest impact on the poor and needy. Meanwhile, crooks, malcon- tents, professional killers and psychopaths can buy irearms on the black market, and in some cases from certain police departments. Or, for that matter, they can make their own, for a fraction of the price charged by legitimate outlets. In some cases, it seems that those who supposedly are there to guard our safety— from the local police to a certain U.S. attorney general — have been anxious to arm crimi- nals in order to give the Sec- ond Amendment a bad name. They have even armed crimi- nals outside the borders of the U.S., where there is no Second Amendment. BENJAMIN A. GREAVES Seaside Re-elect Rogers A fter a successful profes- sional career as a teacher and administrator, Steve Rogers entered public service in local government. He is running for re-election as a county commis- sioner, and I would encourage Paciic County, Washington, voters to support him. Mr. Rogers encourages job growth in the area by work with canneries, mills and ports. An important aspect of the work is also coordinating with regional agencies to provide services to Paciic County residents. We should also be grateful that we have three commission- ers who work well together, and are dedicated to providing the best for our county. BETTY L. JOHNSON Seaview, Washington Retirement news I am writing because I have news for Clatsop County energy residents, and I want to share the good/bad news. After almost 12 years of completing energy assistance applications for residents of Clatsop County through the Community Action Team, and for the past ive years through Clatsop Community Action, I am retired as of Thurs- day, July 14. No more Cheryl to assist clients. I have met some wonderful people, and 99 percent of them have been wonderful. I will cer- tainly miss all of them, and want to thank everyone for mak- ing my daily job so thoroughly enjoyable. CHERYL WAITE Astoria People-Centered, Quality Driven & Service Focused. 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Services: Adhesion treatment Biopsies Breast surgery Endocscopy Gall bladder removal Hemorrhoid removal Laparotomy Laparoscopic/minimally invasive surgery Lump and bump removal Port-a-Cath placement Varicose vein surgery Call 503-338-4075 to schedule a consultation with General Surgeon Dr. Camilo Rosales, Dr. Richard Crass, or Dr. Rachel Van Dusen. 2111 Exchange St., Astoria, Oregon 503-325-4321 • www.columbiamemorial.org