7A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2016
Port: There are now three active court cases regarding the inn
Continued from Page 1A
Because of that, the Port claims,
Smithart is no longer entitled to lim-
itations on personal liability from
his former limited liability com-
pany. The Port also claims that Smi-
thart distributed some or all of the
assets of Hospitality Masters to him-
self, making them fair game as the
agency seeks repayment. Smithart
owns the Arc Arcade downtown,
which he opened while operating the
hotel.
The Port seeks $322,981 from
Smithart for the breach of contract,
along with 9 percent annual interest
and a 5 percent fee on each overdue
payment. For Smithart’s operations
after Hospitality Masters’ dissolu-
tion, the Port seeks $73,999, along
with interest and late charges.
Smithart was not immediately
available for comment.
Hotel suits
The Port’s action now makes
three active court cases regarding the
Astoria Riverwalk Inn.
The city of Astoria filed for judg-
ment against Smithart last week,
seeking $118,331 in outstanding
room taxes. Smithart had agreed
in June to pay the city back or face
judgment.
The Port’s action against Smithart
comes while the agency is being
sued by Portland-based Param Hotel
Corp. The company had courted
Smithart since late 2014, offering to
pay off his debts in exchange for the
two remaining years and five-year
extension in his lease.
The Port Commission voted in
June 2015 to transfer Smithart’s
remaining lease to Param, but the
deal never materialized. The Port’s
attorney claims Param canceled con-
tract negotiations before they were
completed. Param’s lawyer claims
the Port wrongfully walked away
from a binding agreement.
In September 2015, the Port
Commission instead chose Astoria
Hospitality Ventures to run the Riv-
erwalk Inn temporarily while staff
prepared to advertise for long-term
operators. The company is run by
William Orr, an Astoria native and
Seattle businessman in the fishing
industry, and Chester Trabucco, the
former developer behind the Hotel
Elliott and the Nos. 1 and 10 Sixth
St. waterfront commercial complex.
Param sued the Port and Hospi-
tality Ventures a year ago, claiming
the agency showed local bias toward
Orr and Trabucco. Orr is the broth-
er-in-law of Port Commissioner Ste-
phen Fulton, and purported by Param
to be a friend of Commissioner Bill
Hunsinger.
The Port, Param and Hospitality
Ventures are scheduled for a week-
long trial in February.
Shakespeare: ‘The students surprise me with how astute and aware they are’
Continued from Page 1A
As an exercise to get in the
ancient Roman spirit, students
played “assassins,” in which
certain students slayed sena-
tors with a deadly wrist tap.
Huynh encouraged students to
“be big and bold.”
Students
dramatically
doubled over and fell onto
the padded floor after their
“assassination,” crying out as
they died gruesome “deaths”
during the otherwise nonver-
bal game.
Next, students in six
groups read and acted out
“freeze frames” from three
different takes on the same
event: a festival where a char-
acter offers the crown to Cae-
sar. To see how the point of
view can alter a story, students
performed the perspectives
of Greek biographer Plutarch
and Shakespeare characters
Mark Antony and Casca, who
have opposing opinions. Stu-
dents then analyzed how each
person felt about aspects of
the story.
“I learned about what the
people thought about Caesar,”
Mica Paranal said after the
workshop. “It was interesting
how we played the assassins
game.”
It was Paola Campuzano’s
first time participating in an
Oregon Shakespeare Festi-
val workshop. Certain classes,
primarily English and drama,
take part in the program.
“I liked it because it
summed up the play,” she
said. “I read it sophomore
year, but I don’t really remem-
ber it.”
ABOVE: Seaside High
School students and
faculty listen to actors
from the Oregon Shake-
speare Festival perform
during an assembly on
Wednesday at Seaside
High School.
RIGHT: Kristin Ham-
margren, left, and David
Huynh, with the Oregon
Shakespeare Festival,
perform in front of
the school during an
assembly Wednesday at
Seaside High School.
Meant to be seen
In a performance for all
students and staff, the actors
— playing multiple charac-
ters — performed scenes from
Shakespeare’s “Romeo and
Photos by Danny Miller
The Daily Astorian
Juliet,” “As You Like It,” and
more, alongside modern ref-
erences. Students said they
enjoyed a Star Wars-inspired
part and a humorously awk-
ward love scene.
In the afternoon, Hammar-
gren and Huynh led another
workshop and performed an
abridged “Julius Caesar.”
“The workshops are great
because you get a chance to
give them some hands-on
experience with the text,
which can sometimes be very
intimidating,” Hammargren
said. “We’ve got all these
great ways of breaking down
the text and making it physi-
cal. It ends up being fun and
rewarding for us to see the
students understanding it and
being able to discuss it.”
“Sometimes the students
surprise me with how astute
and aware they are,” Huynh
said. “Some of the best talks
that we’ve had on the three
perspectives involve sub-
conscious bias and how that
shapes our world view.”
English teacher Susan
Baertlein appreciates the
impact the program has.
“To see actual Shakespear-
ean actors at our school and
have all our students exposed
to that is huge,” she said. “It’s
enjoyable for the staff, and the
students get a lot out of it.”
Baertlein said it’s import-
ant for students to see Shake-
speare performed, as his
works are “meant to be seen,
not read.”
“The way they do their
workshops and performances,
there’s a focus on the big
ideas from the text and not all
of the little details that weigh
kids down,” Baertlein said.
“Focusing on the themes and
the point of the whole play,
what message they are trying
to convey, helps the students
understand it better.”
Job growth: Oregon still outpaces most other states in terms of employment growth
Continued from Page 1A
propose a balanced budget on
Dec. 1, and that it will accom-
modate the revenue shortfall.
That shortfall was approx-
imately $1.3 billion before
the election but with the fis-
cal impact of ballot measures
that passed, it is now closer to
$1.7 billion, Grainger said in
an email.
That budget shortfall comes
from increased health-care
costs, including the state’s share
of the cost to implement the
Affordable Care Act after fed-
eral funds for start-up vanish;
the fiscal impact of ballot mea-
sures that specify and redirect
state spending; and the Public
Employees Retirement System
unfunded liability, Grainger
said.
A remedy to the short-
fall that Brown had backed —
Measure 97, that would have
brought in billions in corporate
sales taxes — was rejected in
last week’s election.
The forecast said new
employment data and state
income tax withholdings from
paychecks of Oregonians show
the economic slowdown is
already here. While Oregon’s
REWARDING CAREER
Outside Sales
labor market growth is slow-
ing somewhat, the state is at or
near full employment. “Going
forward, slower, more sustain-
able growth rates are expected
to be the norm,” said the fore-
cast compiled by the Office
of Economic Analysis of the
Department of Administrative
Services.
Not sustainable
State economist Mark
McMullen said high growth
rates measured in previous
assessments of Oregon’s econ-
omy were not sustainable. Ore-
gon still outpaces most other
The Daily Astorian is seeking
an outside salesperson who
is passionate about helping
local businesses be successful.
Must demonstrate excellence
in person-to-person sales and
customer service, work well
with a support team and be
profi cient with technology
while managing time and
required paperwork effi ciently.
This is a full-time position,
working Monday through Friday
with evenings and weekends
off , plus paid holidays!
Base wage plus commission and
mileage reimbursement make this a
great opportunity for an aggressive
sales professional. Benefi ts include
paid time off (PTO), insurances and a
401(k)/ Roth 401(k) retirement plan.
Send resume & letter of interest to:
EO Media Group
P.O. Box 2048
Salem, OR 97308-2048,
by fax to 503-371-2935 or
e-mail to: hr@eomediagroup.com
states in terms of employment
growth.
As employment improves,
poverty rates may also start to
improve, and caseloads for state
services may also decrease,
though such changes are only
starting to take root.
State economists have
noted in the past that economic
improvements also take longer
to manifest in the state’s rural
communities.
Income for Oregonians
with the lowest 20 percent of
incomes and middle 20 per-
cent of incomes are improving,
although they’ve not reached
prerecession levels.
McMullen noted that last
week’s election of Donald
Trump as president presented a
“wild card”: the economist said
it is too early to tell how the
president-elect’s specific poli-
cies could impact the national
and state economies.
Trump promised tax cuts
as well as major infrastruc-
ture investments during the
campaign.
Currently, state revenues are
expected to land within $8 mil-
lion of the estimate from the
close of the last legislative ses-
sion. The slowdown had been
expected and was built into the
baseline forecast.
Brown said the 2017-19
budget that she will propose
“will reflect my top priority
— investing in kids and lift-
ing families out of poverty —
but will necessarily include
a level of program cuts I find
unacceptable.”
She said she has started dis-
cussions with legislative leaders
about how “to better align state
resources with our aspirations
for a stronger, better Oregon.”
Claire Withycombe of our
Capital Bureau contributed to
this report.
N e w
Full color,
scenic montage
postcards of Astoria
now available at the
Daily Astorian
office!
Tourists, visitors, family & friends will love sending these!
949 Exchange Street, Astoria • 503-325-3211