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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 7, 2016)
OREGON SET TO HIRE USF’S TAGGART AS NEW COACH SPORTS • PAGE 10A DailyAstorian.com // WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2016 144TH YEAR, NO. 114 ONE DOLLAR 75 YEARS LATER PEARL HARBOR VETERANS HONORED AND REMEMBERED Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian Pearl Harbor survivor Spurgeon D. Keeth tosses a remembrance wreath into the Necanicum River during a Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony today in Seaside. Seaside commemorates 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbor attack Children who lived through attack remember By LYRA FONTAINE The Daily Astorian Friends in their 80s stay in touch S EASIDE — V eterans, dignitaries, residents and Pearl Harbor survivor Spurgeon D. Keeth gathered this morning at the Seaside Civic and Convention Center to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Jap- anese attack on Pearl Harbor . The Dec. 7, 1941 attack in Hawaii marked the entry of the United States into World War II. Seaside residents have gathered each year for more than 10 years to honor and remember victims. This year, Seaside resident and Pearl Harbor survivor Bill Thomas was unable to make the ceremony, but was honored in a written statement from state Sen. Betsy Johnson. “Bill was only 20 when the world turned upside down,” Johnson wrote. “He was tested in ways many of us never are. These young men and women understand that war is not a video game … It’s a pleasure and honor to say thank you to Bill Thomas.” Keeth, who was stationed at the U.S. Army’s Schof- ield Barracks on Oahu during the attack, was in the audi- ence. The Seaside American Legion Auxiliary presented Keeth with an afghan. At the end of the ceremony, he threw a wreath into the Necanicum River from the Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge. Seaside High School student Kayla Vowels led the crowd in singing the national anthem and “God Bless America” at the ceremony, sponsored by the Seaside American Legion. Seaside City Councilor Randy Frank See SEASIDE, Page 7A By AUDREY MCAVOY Associated Press Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian Color Guard from Camp Rilea prepare to present the col- ors during a Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony today in Seaside. HONOLULU — In some ways, it could be any class photo from the 1940s. The sepia-toned image shows 30 fi fth-graders — 26 girls and four boys — at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School in Waikiki. Most are smiling, some look stern. A few have no shoes. Yet this picture is different in one striking way: Each child is holding a bag containing a gas mask, a sign of how war had suddenly broke apart the routines of their adolescence on Dec. 7, 1941. Three of the students, now in their mid-80s and all friends who have kept in touch over the years, refl ected recently on the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor 75 years ago and the mark it left on their childhoods. Joan Martin Rodby remembered the carefree walks to school, and her family building an air raid shelter in their yard. Florence Seto, who is Japanese-American, recalled sharing ice cream with Rodby, and being wor- ried that her family would be taken away. Emma Veary reminisced about her days singing, and her family covering the windows at night so Jap- anese pilots couldn’t use the light of homes to guide them. See CHILDREN, Page 7A From brownfi eld State agency’s shortcomings put affordable housing inventory at risk to city’s benefi t Leadership lacking, state audit fi nds By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau SALEM — Oregon Housing and Community Services has failed to pro- vide adequate leadership in addressing the state’s housing crisis, according to an audit released Tuesday by the Secre- tary of State’s Offi ce. The agency’s role is to preserve affordable housing by administering an IRS tax credit program that provides one of the largest sources of funding for affordable housing in the state. The agency also provides loans and grants Community seeks grant to help reuse properties to private and nonprofi t housing devel- opers who can use the money to main- tain affordable housing. The audit found that the agency has placed existing afford- able housing inventory at risk as a result of inadequate data tracking, poor communication with employees and housing partners and a lack of stra- tegic planning. “We can’t help address Oregon’s housing crisis if we lose existing afford- able housing,” Secretary of State Jeanne Atkins said in a statement . “The loss of even a single rental unit could mean one or more Oregon families may not be able to fi nd a home.” See HOUSING, Page 5A By LUKE WHITTAKER EO Media Group LONG BEACH, Wash. — The rusty remnants of a former gas station leading into downtown Long Beach, a burnt building in the center of Raymond, a historic commercial building crumbling on the main corner of Ilwaco. Community eyesores across Pacifi c County could eventually become sites of reuse and revital- ization, pending the approval of a $600,000 grant that would fund initial phases of cleanup for sev- eral sites across the county. Pacifi c County — along Jeanne Atkins See BROWNFIELDS, Page 5A
