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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (May 12, 2017)
OPINION 4A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MAY 12, 2017 Founded in 1873 DAVID F. PERO, Publisher & Editor LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager JEREMY FELDMAN, Circulation Manager DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager CARL EARL, Systems Manager OUR VIEW E ach week we recognize those people and organizations in the community deserving of public praise for the good things they do to make the North Coast a better place to live, and also those who should be called out for their actions. SHOUTOUTS This week’s Shoutouts go to: • The Cannon Beach Gallery Group and supporters of the 17th annual Spring Unveiling Arts Festival last weekend in Cannon Beach. Eleven art galleries, including two that are cel- ebrating their 30th anniversaries this year, spotlighted the work of more than 50 artists in just about every medium, from water- colors to oils, bronze to marble and metal sculpture and blown glass to ceramics. The highly successful, three-day event also featured receptions, artist demonstrations and for the sixth year included “Art from the Chef’s Table” with more than two dozen local chefs selecting artwork from galleries as the theme for spe- cial menu items that were offered only during the weekend. Festival organizers said the various events drew an estimated 2,000 attendees. • Planners and participants of last weekend’s 67th annual Loyalty Days in Ilwaco, Washington, that featured a full slate of patriotic events with the theme “I Pledge Allegiance.” The events included a children’s parade, a “Blessing of the Fleet,” U.S. Coast Guard displays and an Honors Banquet on Saturday; and on Sunday a “Cowboy Breakfast,” firetruck rides for chil- dren and the Grand Parade with nearly 100 entires showcas- ing marching bands, drill teams, clowns and floats. The Sunday parade also featured a flyover of two U.S. Air Force A-10 attack airplanes, one piloted by 1983 Ilwaco High School graduate Brig. Gen. Randolph Staudenraus who returned to his hometown for the weekend. Staudenraus is commander of the Maryland Air National Guard 175th Wing. • Seaside School Superintendent Sheila Roley, who was honored by the American Association of University Women with the Breaking Barriers Award for Women and Girls at the orga- nization’s second annual Spring Into Fashion Show last month. The fashion show served as a fundraiser for scholarships for women returning to school and for girls who are the first in their family to attend college. Roley was recognized for her accom- plishments for promoting education for girls and women not only in Clatsop County, but throughout the state as a mentor for aspiring school leaders. • The 400 runners and walk- ers who turned out for the first- ever 5K Color Run in Gearhart recently to raise money for Broadway Middle School and Gearhart and Seaside Heights elementary schools. Throughout the race, participants were sprayed with colorful chalk and given a chalk packet to throw at the finish line. The event Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian was organized by the Gearhart A participant in the Color Run Parent Teacher Association and in Gearhart gets doused with colored dust as he crosses raised $18,000, nearly all from individual registration fees. The the finish line. proceeds will be distributed to the three schools proportionally based on how many participants were registered from each school. • Jan Jackson, treasurer of Seaside Elks Lodge 1748, who was recognized as the Oregon State Elks Association’s Officer of the Year at the group’s 100th summer session in Seaside last month. Jackson was also co-chairwoman of the three-day con- vention, which was attended by about 750 Elks, guests and dignitaries. CALLOUTS This week’s Callouts go to: • State bureaucracy that has resulted in millions of dol- lars earmarked for distribution to cities, counties, schools and state agencies sitting stagnant in a state account. Since 2016, tax money collected from Oregon’s legal marijuana sales has brought in almost $75 million in tax revenue, according to KGW-TV and the Associated Press. But none of that money has been distributed because of a quirk in a state law that governs legal marijuana. According to the reports, the law requires that before any distribution can be made to its intended recipients, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission must be reimbursed for its administrative and startup costs for the marijuana program’s oversight. That hasn’t happened, and the money will remain in the state account until it does. The Legislature is in the process of taking action on a bill to fix the law. Suggestions? Do you have a Shoutout or Callout you think we should know about? Let us know at news@dailyastorian.com and we’ll make sure to take a look. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Thank you, Steve have had the pleasure of work- ing with Steve Fulton for the past 10 years while working together on Federal Emergency Management Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issues for the city of War- renton. Steve provided the energy and determination that was needed to work within the federal bureaucra- cies, while also working extremely well with our elected officials. Very quickly, Steve showed me the meaning of pragmatism. Steve resolved contentious issues easily by being honest, transparent and pro- fessional; always handling situations in a sensible manner, while work- ing with individuals that were open to dialogue. Steve was capable of becoming knowledgeable on a vari- ety of topics, discussing the subject matter with technical experts, and helping the city decide how to move forward based on his understanding of the issues. I support Steve because he is eager to use his energy and knowl- edge to be fully involved as a Port of Astoria commissioner. Steve has not hesitated to ask the tough questions, making it clear that an issue needs to be discussed for the public good, while not pushing his own agenda. I have great admiration for Steve. Steve is standing up for what he believes is right for our community, no matter what the consequences. RICHARD “COLLIN” STELZIG Astoria I Columbia River healing attended the cleanest, most peace- ful, demonstration on April 29. It was held at the Port of Kalama, Washington, where people of all ages, from very different walks of life united and resolved to protect Columbia River salmon. A video from the event is available at http:// bit.ly/2q0RHJ8. I’m old enough to remember the early days of dwindling salmon runs, when there was friction between our fisherman and tribal members. On April 29, representatives of both groups stood as one, determined to stop the world’s largest methanol plant from being built on the Colum- bia River. Healing between two cul- tures is underway. I wish I could write the same for our salmon and our mighty Columbia. The first thing we can do to restore health to our river, and our fishing industry, is to make it no worse. Northwest Innovation Works LLC, a Chinese government backed company, seeks to build the world’s largest fracked gas to liquid metha- nol refinery on a flood plane, at the Port of Kalama. It’s to be supplied by a pipeline, built over earthquake prone land. Liquid methanol would be stored at Kalama until large tanker ships transport it to China, over the Columbia River bar (one of the most dangerous river entries in the world). There are many unanswered questions. Will fish be sucked into the plant with the 5 million gal- lons of water? Will workers and res- idents suffer health problems from the diesel particulates emitted into the air? Are local emergency services equipped to handle a disaster, should one occur? Big fossil fuel industries need West Coast locations. When Cal- ifornia says no, they turn to Ore- gon and Washington. Such propos- als offer jobs, but Oregon’s U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley has co-sponsored a bill to make the U.S. run on renewable energy by 2050. We need to hook our job-wagons to the future (wind and solar), not to fossil industries that pollute our rivers and risk cata- strophic accidents. ROZANNE FAULKNER Seaside I Vote for Goldberg, Davis or those of you living in the boundaries of the Astoria School F District, and who have yet to turn in your ballots, I would like to urge you to mark your ballots for school board for Andy Davis and Bob Goldberg. I taught for a number of years in the Astoria School District (I now am a substitute teacher) and hold the dis- trict dear to my heart. Both of these candidates are progressives who will work to keep our students moving toward being productive citizens as they move out into the world. I have had the recent privilege to meet Andy Davis and speak with him on his opinions regarding public edu- cation and have been very impressed with his friendly and articulate man- ner in dealing with issues. He has been a teacher, which I feel is so important in understanding the oper- ation of a school district. He respects both educators and students and will work hard to make our district a more sound institution. Over the years, I’ve had the good fortune to work with Bob Goldberg, as we both volunteer for our local Victory Over Child Abuse (VOCA) camps and our Community Radio Station, KMUN. Bob is not one to shirk from a controversial issue and would always put the needs of stu- dents first in dealing with the opera- tion of a school district. He has also spent time as a teacher, and under- stands what students need to reach their highest potentials. He is a very intelligent person and can view an issue from every side. I must mention, that I will not be able to vote in this election, as I live out of town, but I continue to care deeply for the school district and its students and staff. Voting to keep our district healthy and updated will make our community a better place and having Bob Goldberg and Andy Davis on our school board will ben- efit us all. DEBBIE TWOMBLY Brownsmead Same old photos ince last year I’ve grown increas- ingly annoyed by The Daily Asto- rian’s new editorial tactic, where twice in one week the same photo- graph is printed. Typically it’s first seen Monday or Tuesday, then again Thursday or Friday if a topic gets revisited. To me this is plain lazy, given the thousands of pictures avail- able in-house, both current plus on file. So what moved me to publicly complain now? An aerial view of the Astoria Regional Airport was shown May Day Monday; then a duplicate was run the very next issue. Their only difference was the typo inside Monday’s caption had been corrected by Tuesday. Mercifully Wednesday’s s-l-i-g-h-t-l-y different depiction was plucked out of The Daily Astorian’s extensive library, meaning it was shot at an earlier date from a differ- ent aircraft. Regrettably, nobody currently holding an editorial position has the gumption to ask, “Is this trip nec- essary? Do our readers need to see three times in a row (and counting) the almost exact same ho-hum scene illustrating the same story line? Are they that dense?” No we aren’t. “Are they being treated disre- spectfully?” Indeed. If, however, some higher-up deems such waste of precious space a necessity … please spoon-feed us an inventive mix, rather than milk- ing the same old show. Stop allowing EO Media Group’s flagship to sink to lackadaisical levels never ventured near when Steve Forrester was at its helm. LARRY ZIAK Astoria S Glad I’m not them he other day I was spending my favorite three minutes of my day reading The Daily Astorian. When I turned to Page 5, which seems to T have become the Democratic outcry page, I was amazed. In the not so distant past, I was a Democrat. I voted along party lines, unless a candidate from another party swung my cherry. I even voted for Hillary to beat Obama … then voted for Obama, who decided on the pol- icy of “if I ignore them, they’ll go away,” allowing Muslim and Islamic terrorists to freely play with fire- works that have killed thousands, and Obamacare … on a fixed income, I was paying $1,000 per month. I could go on, but I would prob- ably get edited. The Democrats had taken control of my mind. Then I started watching “the real news,” and the brainwashing became appar- ent. I realized I was to become a snobby, self-righteous, hypocriti- cal, sore loser, sniveling baby. Anar- chy was just around the corner. That is not me. So, when someone came forward who really wanted to do the job of president, be totally transparent and build up and better all of us, I pon- dered. Do I want four to eight years of the same old same old, or some- thing new, with changes. No, working illegally in my basement, turning my back and lying about Benghazi, tak- ing my guns away and using the same old outdated policies of presidents past, getting paid to do nothing, five months a year vacations on our dime, and, oh yes, the daily afternoon nap. I saw the light. So, to all of the Trump bashers out there, get over it. Let the man do his job, or attempt to, as you have for presidents past. Quit whining and sniveling about a rigged election, put your big kid pants on and realize — you lost to the better candidate, who is now my president and yours. Let the man do his job. And that’s all I have to say about that. May we all live long and prosper. DOUG MASSOTH Seaside Alternate facts ven with all the talk lately of politicians using and the media reporting of “alternate facts,” I thought we would be spared such behavior from our local news sources. That is, until I read the interview in the May issue of the Coast River Business Journal with H.J. Norris of Mr. Doobees, and discovered that marijuana now cures cancer (“Q&A: Mr. Doobees owner H.J. Norris is a marijuana believer now”): “I’ve had people walk in with cancer who were told they wouldn’t be here in six months, and they’re now clear and in remission from taking high CBH, low THC cannabis on a regular disci- plined basis.” Really? Could you please cite the scientific research to back that up? WILLIAM BELL Astoria E Mother’s Day oday is the fourth of May The National Day of Prayer I’m writing this 10 days early ’Cause I wish that you were here. Christians came together For breakfast and to pray, I came with a heart in earnest To celebrate this day. We prayed for children and schools, The media and first responders, For our government officials, Families, mothers and fathers; Which made me ever so conscious How thankful that I had both A rare commodity nowadays … A necessity for a child’s growth. Oh, What we took for granted I’m thankful for the “Good Ol’ Days” Dad went to work and you stayed home … Mom! Happy Mothers’ Day! KAREN FLORES Seaside T
