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
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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
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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
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