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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 8, 2017)
OPINION 6A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, AUGUST 8, 2017 SOUTHERN EXPOSURE Founded in 1873 DAVID F. PERO, Publisher & Editor JEREMY FELDMAN, Circulation Manager DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager CARL EARL, Systems Manager OUR VIEW Health authority’s smear plans should outrage taxpayers lthough the plan went nowhere, Oregonians should be outraged that a state agency even considered planting negative news stories about a health care nonprofit. The Portland Tribune broke the story last week about an Oregon Health Authority proposal to promote negative news coverage and undermine the credibility of FamilyCare Health, one of the state’s coordinated care organizations. The draft communications plan included looking for an HIV patient who would complain about FamilyCare and try- ing to get a journalist to write about that patient’s experience. Journalists often work off such tips, but it’s beyond callous for a state agency — especially the state health agency — to consider exploiting a patient in such a way. The plan never was implemented. Lynne Saxton, director of the Oregon Health Authority, said it was part of an initial draft that was soon squelched. “If something bad happens (at OHA), I take full responsibility for it, as I am doing here,” she told us on Monday. Saxton said she encourages her staff to be creative. But the fact that anyone in a state agency would even suggest planting negative news stories raises questions about the culture at the Oregon Health Authority and the leadership of Democratic Gov. Kate Brown. “This is outrageous. I’ve never heard or seen anything like this,” said state Sen. Jackie Winters, R-Salem, whose roots in state government reach back to the Tom McCall administration. “This is not the Oregon way. Our way is to work collabora- tively and hammer out compromises, not to throw people under the bus just because you disagree with them.” The health authority already had raised eyebrows this year for its aggressive press releases about its dispute with FamilyCare, with which the health authority has been in litigation and media- tion for 2 1/2 years. It’s been a tough year for the state health department. This spring, Republican legislators criticized the health authority and the state Department of Environmental Quality for attempting “to push a misleading story line” regarding health and environ- mental concerns at Entek International in Lebanon. Legislators also were upset that the health authority may have been authoriz- ing state-paid health care to substantial numbers of Oregonians who were ineligible, despite assurances to the Legislature that everything was under control. Against that backdrop, it’s troubling that the state was slow to respond to last week’s Tribune article. Saxton told us that she would be sending a letter of apol- ogy to Oregon’s coordinating care organizations, assuring them that the health author- ity would treat them ‘Our way is to work fairly and would not tolerate negative pub- collaboratively lic-relations efforts. and hammer out She also will ask the compromises, not state Department of Justice to train her to throw people staff on attorney-client under the bus privilege. Those may be just because you worthwhile steps, disagree with them.’ assuming they pro- mote transparency and Sen. Jackie Winters, R-Salem openness instead of finding ways to hide “creative” ideas under the veil of attorney-client privilege. Still, it is disconcerting that the Governor’s Office did not immedi- ately respond to the Tribune’s revelations. One leading Republican candidate for governor, Bend Rep. Knute Buehler, said the Oregon Health Authority’s negative-pub- licity plan – even though it never was implemented – demon- strates arrogance and a lack of accountability by a state agency. The state’s CEO, Gov. Brown, should recognize that as well. A LETTERS WELCOME Letters should be exclusive to The Daily Astorian. Letters should be fewer than 350 words and must include the writer’s name, address and phone numbers. You will be contacted to confirm authorship. All letters are subject to edit- ing for space, grammar and, on occasion, factual accuracy. Only two letters per writer are printed each month. Letters written in response to other letter writers should address the issue at hand and, rather than mentioning the writer by name, should refer to the headline and date the letter was published. Discourse should be civil and people should be referred to in a respectful manner. Submissions may be sent in any of these ways: E-mail to editor@dailyasto- rian.com; online at www.dailyas- torian.com; delivered to the Asto- rian offices at 949 Exchange St. and 1555 N. Roosevelt in Seaside or by mail to Letters to the Editor, P.O. Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103. Submitted Photo Seaside lifeguards were assisted by a St. Bernard in the 1930s. Swimmers braved the waters of Terrible Tilly By R.J. MARX The Daily Astorian regon surfing began in 1962,” states a recent book on the topic. Family members of brothers James and Chuck Reed want to let it be known that their relatives staked out Seaside long before legends like Dana Williams and Dick Wald surfed the Point in the 1960s. “Jim supervised the construction of the first real Hawaiian surfboard ever used in Oregon,” Melinda Mas- ters, his niece, said. “He introduced surfing to Seaside and explained to the public how the surfboard is con- siderable value to lifesaving work. “These were the original ‘Beach Boys,’” Masters’ brother, also named Jim Reed, said. “People here did not know what a surfboard was.” All this may not even match Jim Reed’s greatest ath- letic achievement: a 9-mile swim from Seaside to Tillamook Light- house in July 1934 — Terrible Tilly, aka “The Killer Lighthouse.” Masters and Reed came to Sea- side this summer to celebrate the lives of two men, largely forgotten, for their incredible string of achieve- ments: as swimmers, surfers, life- guards and ultimately, in the case of James Reed, in service to their country. ‘O Webfoots Charles W. Reed Jr. and James Reed grew up in Hawaii in the early 20th century after Charles Reed Sr., an accountant, and the family moved from the Northwest. The boys grew up on Waikiki Beach, where the sport of he’e nalu — “wave sliding” — was integrated into the culture. While in Hawaii, the Reeds “surfed at the knee” of Duke Kah- anamoku, the famous competition swimmer and founder of modern surfing. The Reeds were younger, but “they were on the same beach,” Mas- ters said. “I’m sure they met up.” Their early experience riding longboards stayed with them after their return to the mainland to study at the University of Oregon, where both were recruited for the swim team, known as the Webfoots. Jim Reed was a individual med- ley and freestyle specialist who helped lead the team to the 1936 Pacific Coast championship. Chuck was 200-yard backstroke champion and several times bettered the record mark in the 100- and 220- yard backstroke. Together the brothers would help forge a program that remained unbeaten in dual-meet competitions during their Oregon tenure under head coach Mike Hoyman, winning three straight Pacific Coast Confer- ence Northern Division champion- ships from 1935 through 1937. Along with other University of Oregon swimmers, the Reeds life- guarded in Seaside over summers. The Reed brothers first consid- ered bringing boards to the coast as a way to aid people in distress, Reed said. If they had longboards like they grew up with in Hawaii, the broth- ers reasoned, they could reach strug- gling swimmers more quickly. And once they reached the victims, they could use the board to hold onto for the return to shore. “Surf board riding introduced here by beach life guards,” a Seaside Signal headline announced. “Reed supervised the construction of the first real Hawaiian surf board ever used here … When the tide and surf are right, Reed can ride the board for several hundred yards to the beach.” R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian Jim Reed and Melinda Masters, whose father was Chuck Reed, at the Signal office. Jim was named after his uncle, James Reed, who died during World War II. Swim to the lighthouse Aftermath Swimmer Julie Havelka of Jim Reed died as he lived, Mas- Eugene made headlines in July ters said, as a hero protecting others, when she swam the mouth of the and giving of himself. Columbia. A test pilot, Jim’s plane went She was following in a long down in 1942. Even in death he was tradition. a hero, she said. Before the crash, he Long-distance swims were pop- ordered his crew to bail out. Once ularized in the 1920s by English his crew had safely left the air- Channel swims and silent star craft, Jim remained with his craft in Johnny Weissmuller, better known an unsuccessful attempt to land the as the actor who played “Tarzan.” plane. Jim Reed undertook the crossing “My dad and my uncle were when he entered the first Columbia only a year apart,” Masters said. River swim as a contestant, a fea- “When we lost him in the war, it ture of the 1934 Astoria Regatta. was very traumatic for my father. It The swim was a 4 1/2-mile stretch was hard for him to talk about. My from Megler, Washington, grandmother was never the on the north bank to Astoria same.” on the south. Chuck Reed began a Jim won the race in a career with the phone com- time of 2 hours, 34 min- pany in 1940, but “kept utes. His performance won coming back” to Seaside, so much approval, wrote Masters said. the Astorian’s Vera Gault in As a lifeguard in 1942, 2011, that the race was pub- Chuck Reed fought a riptide Jim licized as a race called the that carried seven swim- Reed “trans-Columbia amateur mers to sea. Reed, with marathon swim.” three of the distressed swimmers on That feat was only surpassed by his shoulders, battled the current and Jim Reed’s 9-mile swim from Sea- the breakers “for better than a half an side to the Tillamook Lighthouse hour,” the Oregon Journal reported. rock in the Pacific Ocean on July Reed managed to get the three to 20, 1934, what the Signal’s Ful- a buoy, “then, almost exhausted,” he ton H. Travis described as “9 miles swam to the shore for help. of cold ocean and treacherous cur- Two of the seven swimmers rents,” battling the sea all the way. caught in the undertow died as hun- Accompanied by U of O free- dreds watched the dramatic rescue at style swimmer Wally Hug, Jim the Turnaround. Reed and Hug lubricated them- selves with axle grease at 5:30 a.m., American heroes launched by a small pilot boat cap- Surfing on the North Coast lan- tained by one Bill Hoops. guished for many years after the By 8 a.m., “the stroke of the Reeds first brought the Hawaiian swimmers has slowed percepti- longboard, the younger Jim Reed bly,” wrote Travis, who accompa- said. nied Hoops in the skiff. “The strain It wasn’t until the popularization is terrific. Their faces have gone of the wetsuit — developed by Jack dead white beneath their tans and O’Neill in the 1950s — that the sport the lines of their faces have drawn came northward and modern surfing tense. Their lips are black with took hold in Seaside. cold.” Chuck Reed died in 1989 and his Hug complained of seasickness wife, Georgette, died in 2002. and leaned against the boat for a sip In 2015, James Reed was named of beef broth before resuming his into the University of Oregon sports swim. Hall of Fame. Reed “helped attract The pilot boat rocked “drunk- national acclaim on Oregon’s swim- enly,” according to the report, as ming program unlike any other,” the Hoops called out “Riptide!” athletic department wrote at the time Panting and nearly exhausted, of presentation. the swimmers rolled onto their What inspired this retelling was a backs when the riptide crossed. box received by Masters by the war As the lighthouse grew in size, widow of Jim Reed. She had remar- the waves “grow bigger with every ried, but the impact of her first hus- passing minute,” finally close band was so powerful she and her enough for Reed and Hug to board second husband named their daugh- the skiff and tumble into a swing- ter Reed in his honor. The contents ing basket and hauled to the beacon. of the box proved so compelling “Perfect manipulation of the oars is Masters later sought to revive the necessary to keep from shipping a memories of her father and uncle. wave,” reported the Signal. “I’m the one that went through At 9:25 a.m., the swimmers this box that was sent to me by the reached their destination. widow of Jim Reed,” Masters said. Their final time was registered The American flag that draped his in the lighthouse log dated July 20, coffin was in the personal collection. 1934: “The first men to make the “I almost didn’t want to touch it, swim from Seaside to the Tillamook because it was so emotional,” she Lighthouse: 3 hours, 45 minutes.” said. “It was just amazing to find out They were treated to a hot bath who he was.” and a breakfast of “fried eggs, slabs R.J. Marx is The Daily Astori- of ham, seagoing coffee, fresh bread an’s South County reporter and edi- baked by one of the crew,” and tor of the Seaside Signal and Cannon canned fruit for dessert. Beach Gazette.