4A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2016
Power outage,
internet disruption
cause headaches
The Daily Astorian
Power was knocked out to more than 1,000 custom-
ers early Thursday after a car crash in Miles Crossing.
A 2009 Toyota Corolla with two occupants hit a
power pole at about 1:30 a.m. near U.S. Highway 101
Business and Youngs River Road and Lewis and Clark
Road, according to authorities.
One or both occupants were taken to Columbia
Memorial Hospital for treatment.
The power outage affected 1,123 customers in the
area. Paciic Power was able to restore power to about
100 customers by 3:30 a.m. Power was restored to all
remaining customers by about 7:30 a.m.
Internet service, meanwhile, was down early Thurs-
day after a iber line was apparently cut.
Storms: No time
to get complacent
Continued from Page 1A
In a Tuesday blog post,
Washington meteorologist
Cliff Mass wrote, “Start-
ing Thursday, we will enter
a period of extraordinarily
active weather with the
potential for heavy rain,
looding, and a highly dan-
gerous windstorm with the
potential to be an historic
event.” Mass explained that
the coastal areas of north-
ern Oregon and southern
Washington could see hurri-
cane-force winds.
He described the Song-
da-fueled storm as “A true
monster storm, potentially
as strong as the most power-
ful storm in NW history (the
Columbus Day Storm of
1962).” Friday is the anni-
versary of this milestone
storm.
Plan for the worst,
hope for the best
Everyone knows that
much-hyped weather events
can turn out to be much ado
about nothing, but local
emergency experts say
this is not the time to get
complacent.
Paciic County Emer-
gency Management Agency
Deputy Director Scott
McDougall said Thursday
that many people are not
adequately prepared for a
natural disaster.
“It’s really basic stuff,
and yet is stuff that people
sometimes forget about,”
McDougall said.
In relatively remote
places, road damage, lood-
ing, power outages and
problems with communica-
tions systems can linger for
days after a severe weather
event, McDougall said, so
families should prepare for
the aftermath, as well as
the storm. He noted that
research about the Cascadia
earthquake has changed the
way emergency managers
think about preparedness
for other type of events.
“Three days (of supplies)
isn’t enough,” McDougall
said. “The messaging we
are going to put out now is
that people need to be pre-
pared for two weeks. Why
not prepare for a worst-case
scenario? If that scenario
doesn’t come to pass, you’re
still well-prepared.”
How to prepare
McDougall offered the
following tips for preparing
for — and getting through
— a major weather event:
•
Make sure you
have enough canned and
other nonperishable foods
to feed your family and your
pets for several days.
•
The power may
go out, so stock up on foods
that do not require refrigera-
tion or cooking.
•
Be sure you have
enough clean drinking water
to meet the needs of your
family members and pets.
•
If you expect to
have problems with your
water system, ill tubs and
sinks ahead of time, so you
will have water for dishes,
hygiene, etc.
•
Reill
prescrip-
tions, stock up on needed
medical supplies, and make
sure you have a backup-plan
for any medical equipment
that relies on electricity.
•
Reill your gas
tanks in your vehicles before
the storm. Check to see if
you need to stock up on bat-
teries, gas for your genera-
tor or propane tanks. Store
those items safely.
•
Keep
essential
electronic devices fully
charged, so they’ll keep
working if the power goes
out.
•
Round up can-
dles, matches, or lanterns
and lashlights. Make sure
they’re in working order.
•
Place
import-
ant documents and contact
information in a water-safe
container.
•
Make plans for
keeping your pets dry, safe
and warm during the storm.
Make a plan for how you
will move livestock in the
event of severe weather or
looding.
•
Be sure that you
have essential supplies in
all of the places where you
might be caught during a
bad storm — for example,
your workplace, your car.
•
Walk around your
property, looking for any
potential hazards. Take time
to secure loose items that
could cause damage during
a storm.
•
Make sure you
know where gas and water
hookups are located, and
how to turn them on and
off.
•
Check to be sure
that you have enough blan-
kets and warm clothing to
keep warm if the heat goes
out.
•
Remember
that
generators, propane stoves,
and charcoal barbecues can
all generate carbon monox-
ide. Never use these items
indoors. Use them only out-
doors, in well-ventilated
areas.
If things go wrong
•
For medical, ire,
rescue or other public safety
emergencies, call 911.
•
It is also appropri-
ate to call 911 if an essential
piece of medical equipment,
such as a dialysis machine or
ventilator fails.
•
For assistance with
nonurgent situations, call
these nonemergency lines:
Astoria: 503-325-4411
W a r r e n t o n :
503-861-2235
Cannon
Beach:
503-436-2811
Gearhart: 503-738-5501
Long Beach, Wash.:
503-642-2911
•
Oregon
State
Police: 503-325-2231
•
To report power
outages, call Paciic Power
at 877-508-5088. If you dis-
cover a fallen power line,
immediately call 911 and
then Paciic Power at the
same number.
The most valuable and
respected source of local news,
advertising and information for
our communities.
www.eomediagroup.com
Tax: Most expensive ballot
measure in state’s history
lic employee union-backed
group, wrote the mea-
sure with the intent to tar-
get large, out-of-state corpo-
rations such as Walmart and
Comcast. But the tax also
affects nearly 200 Oregon
corporations — including
the iconic Powell’s Books,
Nike, Columbia Sportswear
and Intel. Because the tax
applies to sales, rather than
proits, it would hit high-vol-
ume, low-proit outits partic-
ularly hard, said Sen. Ginny
Burdick, D-Portland.
Burdick, who is part of
a group of lawmakers look-
ing at potential Measure 97
changes, said she would pre-
fer to do away with the gross
receipts tax and replace it with
something else that would
raise equal or less revenue.
Burdick said she has no par-
ticular kind of tax in mind.
“I’m really trying to keep
an open mind at this point,”
she said.
Lawmakers also could try
to devise a law that would
prevent Measure 97 from tax-
ing the same item or service
more than once, another prob-
lem associated with a gross
receipts tax, Boquist said.
Brown recently has been
mum about what changes she
would make to the measure,
saying she is focused on get-
ting the measure passed.
She suggested Wednes-
day, Oct. 12, at a meeting of
the Pamplin Media Group and
EO Media Group editorial
boards that an exemption in
the measure for beneit com-
panies is problematic. Busi-
nesses can register as a beneit
company with the Secretary
of State’s Ofice to show cus-
Continued from Page 1A
law, such as repealing exemp-
tions for beneit companies, or
a complete overhaul such as
replacing the gross receipts tax
with a different corporate tax
scheme.
As long as none of those
proposals raise more money
than Measure 97, the Leg-
islature needs only a sim-
ple majority to approve any
changes, lawmakers said.
Bolster revenue
As written, the ballot mea-
sure would bolster state reve-
nue by nearly 30 percent, or
an estimated $3 billion annu-
ally, and avert a projected
$1.35 billion state budget
shortfall for 2017-19.
Proponents say the mea-
sure would help reverse a
trend in which Oregon resi-
dents pay an increasing share
of state revenue, while busi-
nesses pay less.
Opponents argue the tax
plan raises prices for consum-
ers and creates inequity in
what different kinds of corpo-
rations are required to pay in
taxes. The measure would tax
only “C” corporations with an
excess of $25 million in annual
sales, while leaving “S” corpo-
rations with the same amount
of sales untouched.
If the measure passes, law-
makers in 2017 can expect “a
cavalcade of 10,000 lobby-
ists from every industry with
valid stories about why their
rates should be lower,” Hass
said.
The legislation required
to redesign the tax measure
will likely “be the biggest
bill you’ve seen in your life”
Brian
Boquist
Ginny
Burdick
because of the complicated
ixes that might be needed,
said Sen. Brian Boquist,
R-Dallas.
Lawmakers will have to
decide whether they want
to consider each of those
requests and possibly design
different rates for different
industries.
Some lawmakers favor
overhauling the tax by reduc-
ing the rate and expanding the
base of businesses that would
have to pay.
Hass proposed an alter-
native to Measure 97 in the
2016 session that would have
raised $500 million annually
by lowering the tax rate and
applying it to a broader group
of businesses. However, busi-
ness and union groups refused
to negotiate on an alterna-
tive, and Hass said he did not
have the needed support in the
House of Representatives to
advance the proposal.
Other lawmakers are sug-
gesting eliminating the gross
receipts tax entirely and
replacing it with a different
corporate taxation scheme.
Other states
While ive other states have
gross receipts taxes, the one
proposed in Oregon imposes
the highest rate on the small-
est number of corporations.
Our Oregon, a pub-
tomers they have higher stan-
dards of transparency and
accountability.
The designation was not
meant to give businesses a tax
advantage, Brown said.
Pat McCormick, spokes-
man for the “No on Measure
97” campaign, said the prob-
lems with the measure has
“created a platform for a lot of
lobbying activity” in the 2017
session.
“People can’t really be
sure what they’re voting on if
the Legislature is planning on
changes,” McCormick said.
“We don’t know what the
changes will be.”
The Yes on Measure 97
campaign opposes “any
attempt to let big corporations
off the hook to pay their fair
share, especially if the busi-
ness lobby attempts to make
our small businesses and con-
sumers pay more,” said Kath-
erine Driessen, spokeswoman
for Our Oregon.
The controversial proposal
has fueled one of the most
expensive ballot measure bat-
tles in the state’s history. Busi-
nesses opposed to the major
have raised an arsenal of more
than $16 million and count-
ing, and both campaigns for
and against the measure have
bombarded voters with adver-
tising slots on social media
and airwaves.
If the measure doesn’t
pass, lawmakers will face the
prospect of either making cuts
in services or coming up with
their own tax package to boost
revenue, lawmakers said.
Without additional reve-
nue, those cuts could be 10-12
percent across the board,
Brown said.
Fair: ‘We made about 200 pies’
Continued from Page 1A
Cranberry cornucopia
In one corner, Janet Herring,
85, of Ocean Park, sat diligently
weaving cranberry vines, some-
thing she’s done for more than
20 years. She started weaving as
a way to curb a smoking habit.
“They said spend your
money on something you’ve
always wanted to do,” Herring
said. Herring has been a main-
stay at the fair ever since, sell-
ing small baskets, wreaths and
coasters. Across the room, a
line was forming for another
fair staple: cranberry peach pie.
“We made about 200 pies,”
Marci Bennett, owner of Sim-
pli Edibles, said in between
plating slices and pouring cof-
fee along with Karen Bobo.
Live, oral history
Indoor
demonstrations
Rental:
‘People are
trying to get
a free ride’
Continued from Page 1A
City and county oficials
suspect many homeowners
who are advertising proper-
ties online are not paying room
taxes.
“I think people are taking
advantage of us,” said Scott
Lee, the chairman of the Board
of Commissioners. “People are
trying to get a free ride. That’s
not fair.”
Property owners in the
county who rent out their
homes to visitors are supposed
to collect and pay room taxes
each quarter.
Storey, who used to own the
Dairy Queen outlets in Asto-
ria and Warrenton, admits she
ignored the county’s tax liens.
Informed of the foreclosure
action, Storey said she intends
to pay the back taxes as soon as
possible.
But she thinks Airbnb
should collect the room taxes
and pay the county, not home-
owners renting out their
property.
“I’m paying them,” she
said, “and it’s a lesson learned.”
including pottery, book mak-
ing, iber spinning and quilt
making kept the atmosphere
bustling. Meanwhile, smoke
swirled around blacksmith
Gary Lewis as he forged nails
next to the railcar Nahcotta.
The railcar, which operated
from 1889 until 1930, was
open for tours allowing attend-
ees an inside look into the past
on the Peninsula.
The live demonstrations
were complimented by oral
historical stories told by James
A. Tweedie, Michael Lemes-
hko and Sydney Stevens. On
Sunday, anthropologist Julia
Harrison capped the festi-
val with a presentation cov-
ering all the juicy details of
the Washington fruit indus-
try’s history from packaging
to pesticides.
“It went really well,” Mil-
lard said.
Luke Whittaker/EO Media Group
The “Cranberry Trolley” made routine trips between
the museum and the Pacific Coast Cranberry Research
Foundation giving attendees a firsthand experience in
the cranberry harvest.
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