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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (April 10, 2017)
4A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, APRIL 10, 2017 Gorsuch prepares to join the Supreme Court By SAM HANANEL Associated Press WASHINGTON — Sur- rounded by family and his soon-to-be Supreme Court col- leagues, Neil Gorsuch took the fi rst of two oaths today as he prepared to take his seat on the court and restore its conserva- tive majority. The 49-year-old appeals court judge from Colorado is being sworn in after a bruis- ing fi ght that saw Republicans change the rules for approving high court picks — over the fi erce objection of Democrats. The fi rst ceremony took place privately in the Justices’ Conference Room, with Chief Justice John Roberts adminis- tering the oath required by the Constitution. Gorsuch placed his hand on the family Bible held by his wife, Louise. His two daughters watched, along with all eight of the current jus- tices and most of their spouses. Also in attendance was Maureen Scalia, widow of the late Justice Antonin Sca- lia, and her eldest son Eugene, said court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg. Later, Gorsuch will appear at a public White House cere- mony, where Justice Anthony Kennedy is to administer a second oath in which Gor- such will pledge to adminis- ter justice impartially and “do equal right to the poor and to the rich.” Gorsuch, who once clerked for Kennedy, will be the fi rst member of the court to serve alongside his former boss. Gorsuch will fi ll the nearly 14-month-old vacancy created after the death of Scalia, who anchored the court’s conser- vative wing for nearly three decades before he died unex- pectedly in February 2016. In nominating Gorsuch, Pres- ident Donald Trump said he fulfi lled a campaign pledge to pick someone in the mold of Scalia. During 11 years on the federal appeals court in Den- ver, Gorsuch mirrored Scal- ia’s originalist approach to the law, interpreting the Consti- tution according to the mean- ing understood by those who drafted it. Like Scalia, he is a gifted writer with a fl air for turning legal jargon into plain language people can understand. Gorsuch will be seated just in time to hear one of the big- gest cases of the term: a reli- gious rights dispute over a Mis- souri law that bars churches from receiving public funds for general aid programs. His 66-day confi rmation process was swift, but bit- terly divisive. It saw Sen- ate Republicans trigger the “nuclear option” to eliminate the 60-vote fi libuster threshold for all future high court nomi- nees. The change allowed the Senate to hold a fi nal vote with a simple majority. Most Democrats refused to support Gorsuch because they were still seething over the Republican blockade last year of President Barack Obama’s pick for the same seat, Mer- rick Garland. Senate Repub- licans refused to even hold a hearing for Garland, saying a high court replacement should be up to the next president. The White House swear- ing-in ceremony is a departure from recent history. Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan were both sworn in publicly at the Supreme Court. Former Justice John Paul Ste- vens has argued that holding the public ceremony at the court helps drive home the jus- tice’s independence from the White House. IN THE KNOW Some interesting facts about Gorsuch and the court: • He is the youngest nominee since Clarence Thomas, who was 43 when confirmed in 1991. • The Colorado native went to high school in Washington, D.C., while his mother served as EPA administrator in the Reagan administration. • He’s the sixth member of the court who attended Harvard Law School; the other three got their law degrees from Yale. • Gorsuch credits a nun with teaching him how to write. He and his family attend an Episcopal church in Boulder, though he was raised Catholic and attended Catholic schools as a child. He joins a court that has five Catholics and three Jews. • As an associate justice, Gorsuch will earn $251,800 a year — more than 15 percent higher than his $217,600 salary as an appellate judge. • Gorsuch joins the ranks of justices who are million- aires. He reported financial assets in 2015 worth at least $3.2 million, according to his latest financial disclosure report. Then-Supreme Court Justice nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington in February. AP Photo/Andrew Harnik OREGON CAPITAL INSIDER We’re investing in Salem coverage when other news organizations are cutting back. Get the inside scoop on state government and politics! R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian Opponents aaid visitors have RV options at nearby parks and campgrounds, including Bud’s on U.S. Highway 101 in Gearhart. Gearhart: Sewage, waste from trailers was another concern Continued from Page 1A “My preference is not to have 20 trailers or 40 or 50 hotel units for 96 hours or whatever, if we go visiting we stay in a hotel, and people can do that as well,” resident Jeanne Mark said at the hear- ing. “They can go to an RV park and set up camp and visit their friends,” R esident Lisa Cerveny said she came from a “fam- ily of RV ers ” but opposed the amendment to maintain the city’s low population density and protect the town’s “quiet ambiance.” Sewage and waste from trailers was another concern of opponents . City Councilors Dan Jesse, Sue Lorain and Kerry Smith supported the measure. “I don’t see a problem with occasionally grandpa going out and sleeping in the RV with his kids, and I don’t see an enforcement issue if the permit is posted on the RV on the person’s property,” Lorain said. “I think it’s happening more than many of us know or imagine,” Jesse said. “I’d rather have people do it legally rather than illegally, so I’d like to give people the opportunity to do the right thing and get the permit.” Lone vote Mayor Matt Brown was the lone vote against the revision . “I’ve got some problems with it,” Brown said. “I just feel it doesn’t go within the residential nature of Gearhart and the comprehensive plan, and it’s hard to prove there’s a public need for it.” Brown said he liked the ordinance “how it is” and saw a potential downside as a result of the code change. “I don’t know how wide- spread, but there could be neg- ative impact,” he said. A separate ordinance lim- iting RV public areas will be presented to the City C ouncil at a future session, driven by a suggestion by Chief Bowman, who said at a winter coun- cil meeting he hopes to make the “no sleeping” portion of the city’s ordinance enforceable. Bowman proposed lan- guage prohibiting RVs “parked or standing on blocks, leveling supports, pop-outs displayed or open,” to enable enforcement. Armory: Friends are holding off on a loan to purchase the building until after cleanup Continued from Page 1A from former shooting ranges at armories statewide. The upstairs, where most events are held, was not affected by the basement, because there is no forced-air circulation sys- tem to distribute lead dust. Davies said the Friends have made contact with a lead-certifi ed painting com- pany to use abrasion machines to remove the existing coat on the basement fl oor, which he added was likely dating back to a former shooting range. “It appears that’s where the lead dust is coming from,” he said of the fl oor. Davies said the Armory hopes to get a bid on the removal in the coming week, and to have the work done and the area cleaned this month. The Friends are holding off on a $500,000 loan to pur- chase the building from cur- rent owner Craft3 until after the cleanup. The loan will also help modernize the Armory, which used to hold events with several thousand people but currently has an occupancy of 750. Davies said the volunteers fi xing up the Armory some- times have to laugh at all the issues and surprises they’ve had to deal with in the build- ing, whether it was cleaning buried oil tanks and removing asbestos or cleaning lead con- tamination and repairing storm damage. “We’re hoping that once we get the lead done, we don’t get a swarm of locusts,” he said. EASTER BRUNCH Sunday, April 16 th • 11 AM - 3 PM Lemon Pepper Salmon with Poached Prawns Roasted Pork Loin with Mushroom Gravy Honey Glazed Ham Garlic Mashed Potatoes & Glazed Baby Carrots Scrambled Eggs & Fried Potatoes Bacon & Sausage Links Waffl es Biscuits & Gravy Assorted Salads & Rolls Homemade Desserts Adults $ 25 95 • Seniors $ 23 95 Children $ 12 95 (Five & under: Free) Milepost 18, Hwy 26, Elsie RESERVATIONS ACCEPTED 503-755-1818 • 800-874-1810 www.camp18restaurant.com Find us on Facebook
