THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2016
FRIDAY EXCHANGE
Spoiled joke
ell OK, you tea-baggers,
you got Trump elected.
Now let’s see you try to get rid
of him. I am not kidding. Can
you imagine him, and his crew,
turning power over constitu-
tionally to the next winner in
four years?
This is the way democra-
cies end, my friends. Remem-
ber when it used to be mildly
amusing to hear the Chi-coms
or the North Koreans or an
occasional Russian ranting that
the U.S. is run by a coterie of
gangsters and tycoons? Hmm.
You guys sure know how to
spoil a joke.
JOSEPH WEBB
Astoria
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Vets say thanks
grateful thank you to Asto-
ria High School Princi-
pal Lynn Jackson, veterans’
event organizer Jessica Preston
and her father, Patrick (the fea-
tured speaker), Missy Johnson,
Gulf War veteran and mentor
to Ms. Preston, and all of the
faculty, staff and student body
who worked together to recog-
nize our military veterans on
Nov. 11.
We all felt honored by the
collective effort on the part of
so many. We few veterans in
attendance that day wish only
that more men and women who
have worn the uniform could
have attended. Again, we hum-
bly thank you for your recog-
nition of us on Veterans Day
2016.
MAURIE
HENDRICKSON
Astoria
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Where’s the light at intersection?
ecently at the intersection by Safe-
way, at 33rd Street and Marine
Drive, a pedestrian was struck by a
vehicle. As per my previous letters dat-
ing back over a year ago, this was an
accident waiting to happen. The city
emailed me about their plans to install
lighting, and then failed to do so.
I do not understand how the Safe-
way development was approved without
requiring street lights at this intersection.
It is a very busy intersection. There are
bus stops on both sides of the intersec-
tion. The intersection is the only cross-
walk in the city without a streetlight.
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the education system as well
as the culture under which our
children are being brought up.
Americans have become so
litigious, and afraid to praise
those who excel, for fear of
offending those who have
failed, that we can no longer
even hold an election because
there may be individuals who
do not like the decision that the
majority of voters made and
they, therefore, reject that deci-
sion and take to the streets to
express their displeasure.
For hundreds of years in
this country, the voters speak,
the successful candidates are
elected and control the gov-
ernment for their duly elected
terms; winners and losers alike
work together to make the
country prosper. But that was
yesterday, and apparently, yes-
terday is gone.
DAVID GRAVES
Astoria
Yesterday’s gone
Time for decision
o, it occurs to me that Amer-
icans have lost the plot. I am
only glad that Donald Trump
has become the president as he
is possibly the only politician,
or pseudo-politician who has
the strength and conviction to
possibly right the democratic
ship of state.
It has become evident, due
to the recent reaction to the
national elections, that Amer-
ica and her citizens are no lon-
ger equipped mentally or emo-
tionally to survive as a republic
with a democratic system
of government. This, to me,
demonstrates a total failure of
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S
he Clatsop County Com-
missioners will decide
within the next 60 days whether
to join in a multicounty law-
suit that could end up cost-
ing local taxpayers. Earlier
this week, the commissioners
received instructions from the
Linn County Circuit Court as
one of the potential members
in the Linn County class action
lawsuit.
Now they must decide
whether they want to be part of
that lawsuit.
Basically, the 15 coun-
ties along the western coastal
region and their taxing districts
I have had numerous occasions
where vehicles failed to yield when I
was crossing this intersection. This is
what prompted me to write a letter to
the editor, write my councilman Russ
Warr, and correspond with the city. The
city had approval to install lighting, and
at one point the funding, to put lights
on the existing poles. The poles were
designed for lights, and are simply an
additional element.
How was this intersection approved
without street lights? The Hampton Inn
was required to have extensive light-
ing for their parking lot, but this busy
are suing the state for $1.4 bil-
lion for violating the terms of
their original agreements when
the counties turned over their
logged and burned acreage in
the 1930s and 1940s to the state
to manage.
Rather than just maximizing
timber revenue, they claim the
state added other goals, such
as environmental and recre-
ational goals, without the coun-
ties’ approval. As it was pointed
out in a recent letter “Ditch the
lawsuit” (The Daily Astorian,
Nov. 11), all the legal fees and
other fees up to this point in
this lawsuit have been paid for
by three large industrial timber
companies and a industry inter-
est groups.
The counties claim that
they have lost $620,000 in tim-
ber revenue since 2000, and
will lose $880,000 going for-
ward. This amounts to approx-
imately $35 million a year set
aside to guarantee payments to
the counties and taxing districts
in perpetuity. Clatsop County,
as the largest producer of tim-
ber in this class, is projected to
receive 37 percent of the total
or $13 million a year.
Think this seems like a good
deal? Should Clatsop County
opt in and take the money and
run? The problem with this
strategy is if the counties win at
the Circuit Court level, the state
loses. I think given the state’s
current financial situation, the
state would have no choice but
to pick the “lesser evil,” and
potentially spend only a few
million dollars and years of
effort to pursue an appeal. Oth-
erwise, the cost for any settle-
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intersection, both with pedestrians and
vehicular traffic, was approved and
constructed without typical, standard
street lights. Who is responsible for this
accident?
Anyone who crosses this intersec-
tion at night during the winter is advised
by me to use a very bright flashlight, if
you want to avoid being crushed by a
vehicle. Even with a 1,000 lumen-plus
flashlight, I have learned to not trust this
intersection, it is inherently dangerous
by design.
ROGER LINDSLEY
Astoria
ment would have to ultimately
come from you and me — the
average taxpayers.
The plaintiff’s attorney has
been quoted as saying he didn’t
think any of the counties will
opt out of this class action law-
suit: “Why would they turn
down all that money?” I think
the Clatsop County Board of
Commissioners should call his
bluff and say we will not play
this cynical game. This is not
“free money”: it is either a hid-
den tax, or wasted time and
money spent appealing the
decision.
I would urge all citizens
to ask the Board of Commis-
sioners to opt out of this frivo-
lous and potentially damaging
lawsuit.
CAROLYN EADY
Astoria
What’s it worth?
ecently there have been
two letters in The Daily
Astorian, “Ditch the law-
suit” (Nov. 11) and “Sued for
our trees” (Nov. 25) advocat-
ing that Clatsop County not
join the Linn County lawsuit
against the Oregon Department
of Forestry.
Maybe I’m missing some-
thing — I have been accused
of “missing the mark” in the
past — but I fail to see how
Clatsop County opting out of
the lawsuit would change any-
thing. The suit will be decided
based on the merits of the case;
whether or not Clatsop County
joins is irrelevant.
If the trust land counties win
the case, a cash payment would
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most likely have to be made to
the counties that participate. It
is probably true that the current
forest management plan would
be revised to something similar
to the plan that existed prior to
2001. Recreation, environmen-
tal protection and other values
would still be in place, but not
at the expense of generating
revenue.
Perhaps the writers of the
above mentioned letters feel
that Clatsop County should
“make a statement” regard-
ing state forest management,
but one would have to ask, in
the unlikely event that the trust
counties won the suit, how
many millions of dollars is
making a statement worth?
BUD HENDERSON
Knappa
Deep division
he front page headline
“Partisanship rises in Ore-
gon” (The Daily Astorian, Nov.
16) is certainly the case.
But this is not unprece-
dented in U.S. history. In the
1850s, bitter partisanship arose
between citizens who thought
it wrong to own their fellow
human beings and citizens who
did not think it wrong. The
crux of the matter was a differ-
ence of opinion about whether
a certain race of people were
entirely human, and there-
fore entitled to protection of
their rights under our Constitu-
tion. Ultimately, the issue was
resolved in favor of the victim-
ized race.
Our current difference of
opinion, rarely discussed hon-
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estly in the mainstream media,
is this: Does “place of resi-
dence” determine whether a
certain class of human beings is
entitled to protection under our
Constitution? What if you are
living in your mother’s womb?
Over a million of these tiny
people are done away with
every year in the land of the
free and the home of the brave.
This causes a very deep divi-
sion of opinion on social policy,
expressed in a rising partisan-
ship. It will not go away until
the issue is resolved in favor of
the victims.
Note: In 1973, our Supreme
Court ruled (Roe v. Wade) that
unborn humans are not “per-
sons.” The court said the same
thing about Negroes in 1857
(Dred Scott vs. Sanford). Nei-
ther decision put an end to ris-
ing partisanship. Quite the
contrary.
JEAN M. HERMAN
Astoria
A good thing?
n my opinion, The Daily
Astorian editorial, “Be pro-
active in competing with
Walmart, others” (Nov. 22),
was way off the mark. In an
area whose population den-
sity could only justify a Panda
Express, to think for a second
a Walmart Supercenter would
only make smaller businesses
stronger through completion is
right up there with the opinion
that the Electoral College is the
best way to elect a president.
In the beginning, shopping
is great, bargains galore, end-
less selections. In the long term,
well, just look online and see
what happens in rural Amer-
ica when a supercenter comes
to town. We’re not a Seattle or
a Portland, or even a Longview,
Washington. We are rural
America.
Walmart is only interested
in Walmart. Supercenter equals
closed storefronts. That’s a fact.
Supercenters close when prof-
its aren’t realized. Where will
we shop then, after Freddie’s,
Petco, Staples, Costco, Les
Schwab (will this supercenter
have an auto center?) close. It’s
happened time and time again
across America. It could very
well happen here. That’s a sad
fact.
KEN MARSHALL
Warrenton
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