Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 17, 2016)
COAST WEEKEND: NORTH COAST BREWERIES GIVE BACK INSIDE DailyAstorian.com // THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2016 144TH YEAR, NO. 100 ONE DOLLAR Port sues Smithart over inn deficits Suit claims hotelier did not pay rent By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian The Port of Astoria has filed suit against former hotelier Brad Smithart and his com- pany Hospitality Masters LLC for breach of contract, seeking more than $400,000. The Port claims Hospitality Masters, which operated the Astoria Riverwalk Inn from March 2012 to September 2015, failed to pay more than $130,000 in rent, along with $191,600 from the 10 percent of gross revenues the company was required to hand over to the Port. The Secretary of State’s Department of Corporations administratively dissolved Hospitality Masters in March 2015, after Smithart did not pay an annual fee. The Port claims Smithart then inappropriately contin- ued to operate the hotel by himself. See PORT, Page 7A Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian David Huynh, center, an actor and teaching artist with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, leads Seaside High School students in a workshop on Wednesday at Seaside High School. The thespians were there for the annual School Visit Program. Performances, workshops blend the Bard with modern topics Oregon job growth cooling off State’s revenue falls as employment slows By ANDREW SELSKY Associated Press EASIDE — In a nod to election-year tensions, the Oregon Shakespeare Fes- tival workshop at Seaside High School tackled a play with divisive political themes. During Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s annual School Visit Program, six teams of two teaching artists perform and lead interactive workshops in Oregon, Washington, California and Kansas. This year, the program combined Shakespeare’s work with modern scenes to mark the 400th anniversary of the Bard’s death. Gathered in the wrestling room Wednes- day morning, senior students in an honors English class delved into “Julius Caesar,” in which conspiring senators kill an increasingly powerful politician. Oregon Shakespeare Fes- tival professional actors David Huynh and Kristin Hammargren, returning to the school for a second year in a row, led the workshop. “Julius Caesar takes place during a very contentious and polarized time in ancient Rome,” Huynh said. Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian SALEM — Oregon’s job growth has cooled down, and as a consequence growth in personal income taxes the state collects has also slowed, the state said Wednesday in its economic and revenue forecast. Even if the job growth had continued at its former red-hot pace, Oregon would have faced a large budget shortfall. And that’s what Gov. Kate Brown focused on in her response to the reve- nue forecast. “On the positive side, job growth is higher and unemploy- ment is lower than the national average and Gov. Oregon’s economy Kate Brown remains stable over- all,” Brown said in a statement. “However, our obligations to fund important services such as public education and health care still exceed available reve- nues, and, looking ahead, there will be some very tough budget choices to make.” Brown’s communications director, Kristen Grainger, said the governor will See SHAKESPEARE, Page 7A Kristin Hammargren, right, and David Huynh, actors and teachers with the Oregon Shake- speare Festival, act out a sword fight in front of Seaside High School students Wednesday. See JOB GROWTH, Page 7A By LYRA FONTAINE The Daily Astorian S Oregon timber interests welcome Trump victory Environmentalists worry about policy shift By DYLAN DARLING The Register-Guard EUGENE — When he visited Eugene last spring, Donald Trump promised to revive Oregon’s timber industry, which for decades has been hamstrung by severe curbs against log- ging in federal forests west of the Cas- cades summit. “Timber jobs (in Oregon) have been cut in half since 1990,” he said during his May stump speech to a revved-up crowd at the Lane Events Center. “We are going to bring them up, folks, we are going to do it really right, we are going to bring them up, OK?” Trump didn’t offer specifics as to how — or how much — he would revive logging and milling, but he alluded to loosening federal restrictions. Now, Trump supporters and critics in Oregon will see if he can live up to his promise. Trump’s election as president brings optimism to the state timber industry and acute uneasiness to environmen- tal groups that have fought for decades to ensure that logging on federal lands complies with federal environmental law. Both sides now wonder if and how Trump’s administration and Republi- can lawmakers might seek to weaken AP Photo/Ted S. Warren See TIMBER, Page 5A Supporters of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump seek au- tographs during a campaign rally in Eugene last spring.
