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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JULY 29, 2016
Clinton promises steady
hand in dangerous world
Clinton: For Trump
supporters, Clinton’s
gender doesn’t matter
Continued from Page 1A
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton reacts
to confetti and balloons as she stands on stage during the
final day of the Democratic National Convention in Phila-
delphia, Thursday.
edly leaping to his feet.
Clinton was joined on stage
at the end of the night by her
running mate, Virginia Sen.
Tim Kaine, who addressed the
convention Wednesday. Fire-
works exploded inside the
arena and red, white and blue
balloons plunged from the
arena rafters.
Clinton and Kaine head into
the general election seeking
support from the same coalition
of voters that propelled Obama
into the White House: blacks,
Hispanics, women and young
people. The diverse parade of
speakers who took the stage in
Philadelphia this week under-
scored that goal.
lary Clinton as president of the
United States of America.”
American lags waved in the
stands of the packed conven-
tion hall. There were persistent
but scattered calls of “No more
war,” but the crowd drowned
them out with chants of “Hill-
a-ry” and “U-S-A!”
The Democratic nomination
now oficially hers, Clinton has
just over three months to per-
suade Americans that Trump
is unit for the Oval Ofice and
overcome the visceral connec-
tion he has with some voters in
a way the Democratic nominee
does not.
She embraced her reputa-
tion as a studious wonk, a pol-
itician more comfortable with
policy proposals than rhetorical
lourishes. “I sweat the details
of policy,” she said.
Clinton’s proposals are an
extension of President Barack
Obama’s two terms in ofice:
tackling climate change, over-
hauling the nation’s fractured
immigration laws, and restrict-
ing access to guns. She dis-
puted Trump’s assertion that
she wants to repeal the Second
Amendment, saying “I’m not
here to take away your guns. I
just don’t want you to be shot
by someone who shouldn’t
have a gun in the irst place.”
Campaigning in Iowa
Thursday, Trump said there
were “a lot of lies being told”
at Clinton’s convention. Later,
On the convention’s clos-
ing night, Khizr Khan, an
American Muslim whose son
was killed in military service,
emotionally implored voters
to stop Trump, who has called
for a temporary ban on Muslim
immigration.
“Donald Trump, you are
asking Americans to trust you
with their future,” Khan said.
“Let me ask you, have you even
read the United States Constitu-
tion? I will gladly lend you my
copy.”
The program paid tribute
to law enforcement oficers
killed on duty, including ive
who died in Dallas earlier this
month in retaliation for ofi-
cer-involved shootings in Min-
nesota and Louisiana.
“Violence is not the answer,”
Dallas Sheriff Lupe Valdez
said. “Yelling, screaming and
calling each other names is not
going to do it.”
Clinton sought to reach
beyond the Democratic base,
particularly to moderate Repub-
licans worried about Trump’s
experience and temperament.
Former Reagan adminis-
tration oficial Doug Elmets
announced he was casting his
irst vote for a Democrat in
November, and urged other
Republicans who “believe loy-
alty to our country is more
important than loyalty to party”
to do the same.
By JULIE PACE
and ROBERT FURLOW
Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA — Prom-
ising Americans a steady hand,
Hillary Clinton cast herself
Thursday night as a uniier
for divided times, an experi-
enced leader steeled for a vol-
atile world. She aggressively
challenged Republican Donald
Trump’s ability to do the same.
“Imagine him in the Oval
Ofice facing a real crisis,”
Clinton said as she accepted
the Democratic nomination for
president. “A man you can bait
with a tweet is not a man we can
trust with nuclear weapons.”
Clinton took the stage
to roaring applause from
lag-waving delegates on the
inal night of the Democratic
convention, relishing her nom-
ination as the irst woman to
lead a major U.S. political
party. But her real audience was
the millions of voters watching
at home, many of whom may
welcome her experience as sec-
retary of state, senator and irst
lady, but question her character.
She acknowledged those
concerns briely, saying “I get
it that some people just don’t
know what to make of me.” But
her primary focus was persuad-
ing Americans to not be seduced
by Trump’s vague promises to
restore economic security and
fend off threats from abroad.
Backing Bernie
Clinton’s four-day conven-
tion began with efforts to shore
up liberals who backed Bernie
Sanders in the Democratic pri-
mary and it ended with an out-
stretched hand to Republicans
and independents unnerved
by Trump. A parade of mili-
tary leaders, law enforcement
oficials and Republicans took
the stage ahead of Clinton to
endorse her in the general elec-
tion contest with Trump.
“This is the moment, this is
the opportunity for our future,”
said retired Marine Gen. John
R. Allen, a former commander
in Afghanistan. “We must
seize this moment to elect Hil-
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
he tweeted that Clinton’s vision
is “a borderless world where
working people have no power,
no jobs, no safety.”
Concerns with honesty
Clinton came into the con-
vention facing deep voter con-
cerns with her honesty and
trustworthiness, stemming in
part from her controversial use
of a private internet server at
the State Department. A sep-
arate pre-convention contro-
versy over hacked Democratic
Party emails showing favorit-
ism for Clinton in the primary
threatens to deepen the percep-
tion that Clinton prefers to play
by her own rules.
Through four nights of pol-
ished convention pageantry,
Democratic heavyweights told
a different story about Clinton.
The most powerful validation
came Wednesday night from
Obama, her victorious primary
rival in 2008. Obama declared
Clinton not only can defeat
Trump’s “deeply pessimis-
tic vision” but also realize the
“promise of this great nation.”
Clinton was introduced by
her daughter, Chelsea, who
spoke warmly of her mother
as a woman “driven by com-
passion, by faith, by kindness,
a ierce sense of justice, and a
heart full of love.” President
Bill Clinton watched from a
seat on the convention loor,
beaming with pride and repeat-
Muslim dad
Astoria Downtown Historic District
Association, said issues like rights for
women and the LGBT community are
the most important for her, and under
threat by Donald Trump, the Republi-
can nominee.
“If Trump is elected, we’re going to
suffer the worst economic downtown
ever,” she said. “We’ll have no respect
around the world.”
One of Clinton’s challenges is draw-
ing support from those who preferred her
primary rival, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sand-
ers of Vermont, who won all but Gilliam
cCounty in Oregon during the primary.
Clatsop County sent two delegates
pledged to Sanders to Philadelphia for
the Democratic National Convention.
Both feel conident support is coalesc-
ing around Clinton.
“It’s turned out the way we
expected, and it will be ine,” said
Larry Taylor, chairman of the Clat-
sop County Democrats, adding he felt
the tide at the convention changing by
Wednesday night.
Tessa James Scheller, another
pledged delegate for Sanders and a
Clatsop Community College board
member, said she is a pragmatic per-
son representing a school in a non-
partisan role who doesn’t want to be
stuck in one candidate’s camp or the
other. She called Trump an embarrass-
ment, and said that as a decorated Viet-
nam War veteran, she takes particular
offense to his insults to former POWs
and calls for Russia to interfere with
U.S. elections.
For supporters of Trump, Clinton’s
gender doesn’t matter.
“I do not see that the gender of the
nominee has any bearing on the qual-
ity of their candidacy,” said local con-
servative Christine Bridgens. She said
Clinton exaggerates the economic,
defense, immigration and educational
policies of Democrats that have been
destroying the U.S.
“My feeling is that like many
Republicans, she’s very corrupt,” said
conservative Jeff Jacques, criticiz-
ing the media for not calling out Clin-
ton more. Jacques said that as a iscal
conservative, he is most worried about
reining in the government spending
and regulation.
“If you’re having a contest between
the worst of two evils, it’s deinitely
Hillary,” he said. “I didn’t vote for
Trump in the primaries, but we can’t let
Hillary get into the White House.”
Christine
Bridgens
Jeff
Jacques
Tessa James
Scheller
Dulcye
Taylor
Larry
Taylor
Tours: Newenhof dismisses the idea that the house is haunted
Continued from Page 1A
basement will be closed to
visitors.
“We’ve had people talking
about: ‘We used to dare each
other as kids to go up and touch
the front door and run away,’”
he said. “We knew the inter-
est factor was huge here. And
for (Newenhof) to basically
give us this gift, and allow us
to have a signiicant fundraiser
because of this house — that’s
incredibly generous.”
Built in 1901 for Capt.
George Conrad Flavel, the
house straddles the Victorian
and Colonial Revival periods
and was added to the National
Register of Historic Places in
1986.
In the early 1990s, Mary
Louise Flavel, the cap-
tain’s granddaughter, and her
now-deceased mother and
brother, Florence and Harry,
abandoned Astoria and the
family home.
Boarded up and neglected,
the house became a commu-
nity curiosity, and the prop-
erty a neighborhood blight.
Finally,
Newenhof,
co-owner of City Lumber Co.,
purchased the property for
$221,901 in cash six months
after Mary Louise’s conserva-
tor put it on the market to help
end a conlict with the city
over code violations.
Time warp
Newenhof dismisses the
idea that the house is haunted.
But, with a dumbwaiter
in the kitchen, sinks in every
bedroom, pastel paints and
loral wallpaper, old-fash-
ioned cabinetry, small col-
lections of antique books and
household items dating from
the 19th century through the
1980s, it’s hard not to feel the
presence of the past.
Though the attic has been
largely cleared out, there are
still artifacts of the Flavel life-
style: a vintage bureau, a pile
of rusty box springs, moth-
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Greg Newenhof sorts through forgotten items that remain
in the attic of the Flavel house.
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Greg Newenhof, owner of the Flavel home located on 15th Street and Franklin Avenue,
stands in front of the house for a portrait. More photos online at DailyAstorian.com
eaten clothes hanging in the
closet, and a broken bassi-
net that cradled the Flavel
children.
The class distinctions
of turn-of-the-20th-century
America appear in the archi-
tecture: The woodwork in the
family area tends to be rather
ornate, whereas, in the ser-
vants’ quarters, the door cas-
ings and staircase are lat and
ordinary.
“Servants had just the
basic stuff,” Newenhof said.
“The family had the fancier
stuff.”
The tours offer a chance
to see the progress Newenhof
has made toward ixing up the
long-unkempt but structurally
sturdy house.
Inside, he has, up to the
second loor, restored the
electricity and installed new
plumbing. He drywalled the
bedroom ceilings, rewired
the original light ixtures,
replaced window glass and
frames and set up a new gas
furnace in the basement. He is
refurbishing the stair railings
and balusters.
Outside, he put new cedar
shingles on the roof, rebuilt
the chimneys, replaced a sec-
tion of the porch railing and,
more recently, built a fresh set
of steps leading to the portico.
Newenhof said he works
on the project a couple of
hours most nights, and often
all day on the weekends. He
thinks he may be at it the rest
of his life.
“People ask me when I’m
moving in, I say next week,”
Newenhof said. “And also:
I’m 6-foot-2 and have a full
head of hair.”
‘Bringing it back’
Across the street lives
former City Planner Rose-
mary Johnson and her hus-
band, Curt. The couple moved
into their 15th Street home in
1992, shortly after the Flavels
skipped town, but remem-
bers the family returning on
occasion.
“They would come back
periodically and go through
the house,” Johnson said.
“In fact, they would call my
kids and ask if there were
any police hanging out in the
neighborhood before they
came. It was really weird.
But they would just go in and
check; they wouldn’t stay
long.”
Johnson, who has toured
the house with her husband,
reckons that the last time a
signiicant segment of the
public was allowed into the
mansion was probably when
Mary Louise or her mother
threw a dinner party there.
Newenhof, she said,
“instead of just saying, ‘This
is my private house, I’ll do
what I want’ — I mean, he
could; he could just say, ‘This
is my home’ — but instead,
he’s opening it up,” she said.
“I think it’s a fabulous idea,
and just exactly what I would
expect out of Greg.”
The irst tour — a private
event that has already sold out
— runs 6 to 8 p.m. Aug. 13
and will feature a special pre-
sentation by Goodenberger.
The second, 10 a.m. to 4
p.m. Aug. 14, will be a self-
guided public tour and costs
$25 per person, or $10 for his-
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Afternoon light hits the Flavel house.
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Forgotten items remain in the attic of the Flavel house.
torical society members.
Burns said that, as an Asto-
rian and a lover of its history,
he’s grateful that it’s Newen-
hof who bought the house.
“Greg has respected the
house,” he said. “(He’s)
bringing it back to life, and
that takes a very special per-
son to accept that challenge.”