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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 20, 2017)
OPINION 4A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2017 Founded in 1873 DAVID F. PERO, Publisher & Editor JIM VAN NOSTRAND, Managing Editor JEREMY FELDMAN, Circulation Manager DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager CARL EARL, Systems Manager Water under the bridge Compiled by Bob Duke From the pages of Astoria’s daily newspapers 10 years ago this week — 2007 Officials from both sides of the Columbia River gathered near the South Jetty Friday to celebrate the completion of the U.S. Army Corps of Engi- neers’ interim repairs to both jetties at the mouth of the river. The $30 million in repairs to the two jetties were needed to halt exten- sive erosion of the rock structures and preserve the river’s navigability. However, the repairs, which began in 2005, are only designed to last eight to 10 years. The project completion event also marked the beginning of an effort to rehabilitate the aging North and South jetties. The structures were built in the late 1880s and extended in the early 1910s and experts at the Corps say they’re in need of a total overhaul, a project that is estimated to cost between $150 million to $200 million and is being compared in scope with the channel deepening project. Without the overhaul, a very large storm — the kind the North Coast only sees once every 100 years — could breach the jetties and quash a $14 billion segment of the regional economy. There’s no guarantee of a liquefied natural gas terminal being sited on the Columbia River’s banks. And while the Coast Guard has kept secret many of the security issues associated with LNG shipments up the Colum- bia River, local residents need to “trust their Coast Guard” and understand those resource gaps will be filled before any LNG facility is built, said Capt. Patrick Gerrity, Coast Guard Sector Portland’s captain of the port. “The bottom line, folks: The Coast Guard will make an unbi- ased recommendation regarding the suitability of this proposed project on the Skipanon Peninsula,” Gerrity told about 75 peo- ple at a Tuesday night meeting. 50 years ago — 1967 Things are progressing well on Northwest Aluminum Co.’s $142 mil- lion aluminum plant project at Warrenton, executive Vice President Rich- ard Peck, New York, reported on a visit here Tuesday. Peck had also visited in Portland with Glenn Jackson, Medford, board chairman of PP&L Co., which owns the 880-acre site where the company hopes to build, and in Salem with members of the Oregon State Sanitary Authority. Peck said it will be several months yet before plans are well enough along to submit to the Sanitary Authority for detailed study. The controversial relocation of U.S. Highway 101 over the Nestucca sand spit may not be dead after all. Gov. Tom McCall announced today three relocation propos- als are being considered for the highway – including one over the spit. Clatsop County communities don’t want the state government to take control of the beaches completely away from cities and counties in any future amendments to the Beach Bill, it was generally agreed at a meeting of the Clatsop Inter-Governmental committee Wednesday evening in Can- non Beach’s Driftwood Inn. Consensus Wednesday evening was that such matters as permission or refusal to permit motor traffic on a beach should be left to the local commu- nity; it was felt that setting speed limits should be a state function however. Zoning of the coast area should be left to local government, speakers said. 75 years ago — 1942 Astoria was a deserted city for an hour and fifteen minutes Tuesday night as rules went into effect for the test air raid that gave civilian defense officials a chance to mobilize their equip- ment and manpower for emergencies that might arise during a real air raid. The streets were silent and empty except for block wardens wearing official bands on their sleeves who strolled their beats and ordered off the streets the few people or from the curb the few cars that were caught out when the police sirens started to blow at 7 p.m. A few times ambulances sped through the streets, heading for scenes of disaster reported by the wardens, or fire engines or police cars to spots where incendiary bombs were supposed to have fallen where help was needed. Dr. Edward Harvey, superintendent of the Food Industries Laboratory in this city, proved very conclusively Thurs- day evening that it is possible to fool the palate of the best of epicures when at a dinner at the laboratory he served as the piece de resistance roast sea turtle which some of his guests ate as beef, others as bear meat. The turtle, served with dressing, was a part of the thousand pound “Tom Tur- tle” recently shot off the Oregon Coast and brought into Astoria. The dinner was in honor of Dean William Schoenfeld of Oregon State col- lege, Prof. George Hystop of the same The Daily Astorian/File college and Dr. Willis H. Rich of Stan- Above is the 1,000-pound ford, director of research for the Oregon turtle taken recently by the fish commission. They not only ate turtle drag boat Sunset near Tilla- and liked it but they also ate fried salmon milt as a hors d’oeuvre with a good mook Head. deal of relish and they had a lot of other strange dishes, including shredded porpoise meat and crab paste. This was Dr. Harvey’s way of proving that there is a lot of palatable food in the sea which has never been considered as edible. McCain faces a new test of his principles By DAVID LEONHARDT New York Times News Service I t looks as if John McCain’s U.S. Senate colleagues are going to test him once again. And the health insurance of millions of Americans depends on the outcome. This summer, when his party was trying to force a health bill with unprecedented haste — no hearings, no support from medical experts — McCain, R-Ariz., stood up for the idea of the Senate. By now, you’ve probably heard a line or two from his July 25 speech, shortly after learning he had aggressive brain cancer. But the full speech is worth reading. It’s McCain at his best, a defense of the imperfect but noble pursuit of democratic politics. “Our arcane rules and customs are deliberately intended to require broad cooperation to function well at all,” he said from the Senate floor. “Incremental progress, compro- mises that each side criticize but also accept, just plain muddling through to chip away at problems and keep our enemies from doing their worst isn’t glamorous or excit- ing. It doesn’t feel like a political triumph. But it’s usually the most we can expect from our system of government, operating in a country as diverse and quarrelsome and free as ours.” When his colleagues ignored him, McCain cast the vote that defeated their health bill two days later, with a dramatic 1:30 a.m. thumbs-down. The vote was remarkable because McCain is a conservative, reluctant to tax people for social programs, as the Affordable Care Act does. But he believed in a higher principle: the Senate’s credibility. The latest Trumpcare, known as Graham-Cassidy, risks the Senate’s credibility again. There has been none of the regular process that McCain demanded, not even a Congressional Budget Office analy- sis. No major medical group — not doctors, nurses, hospitals or advo- cates for the treatment of cancer, diabetes or birth defects — supports the bill. Passing it would violate every standard that McCain laid down. Yet Republican leaders are rush- ing toward a vote. Their proposals have always depended on distrac- tion, because they are so unpopular. And the country has been distracted lately, largely ignoring Graham- Cassidy until now, despite its effect AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., center, walks with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., left, as they head to weekly policy luncheons at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., Tuesday. if enacted. The bill would sharply cut fed- eral health funding in 2020 — and even more in 2027. Millions of people would lose coverage. The bill’s proponents are trying to sell it as flexibility for states. But “flex- ibility” alone won’t pay anybody’s medical bills. It would be a tragedy for him if he went back on his word so blatantly. Consider the “Jimmy Kimmel test.” That’s what U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said in May that he would use to judge any proposal, in honor of the talk-show host whose newborn son needed heart surgery. Cassidy said he wanted to ensure “a child born with a congenital heart disease be able to get everything she or he would need in that first year of life.” Cassidy, though, has now put his name on a bill that would harm such a child (because insurers could hike the family’s rates after the diagnosis). He has recanted, without acknowledging it. For the bill to pass, McCain would probably also need to reverse himself. Any three Republicans can stop the bill, and he — along with Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Rand Paul, Jerry Moran, Lamar Alexander and a few others — is one of the swing votes. There is reason to believe McCain will stand firm, starting with his sense of personal honor. It’s hard to imagine him violating it to help a president who personally demeaned him. But McCain showed worrisome signs of wobbling Monday, saying he may “reluc- tantly” support the bill. He also listens to Arizona’s governor, Doug Ducey, who endorsed the bill even though it could nearly double the state’s uninsured population. No doubt, the White House and other senators are concocting rationales — like a single hearing next Tuesday — for why a “yes” vote by McCain would not violate his principles. But that’s laughable. Graham-Cassidy has followed the hasty, secretive, partisan process that McCain so eloquently decried. The good news is that McCain has leverage. The compromise that he wants — that both sides “criticize but also accept” — is entirely feasible. Democrats want to fix Obamacare’s problems, both for substantive reasons and to avoid a civil war over a single-payer system. The outlines of a deal, with more state flexibility but without coverage losses, are obvious. John McCain is a complicated figure. One of his own aides recently described him as “nine parts hero, one part troll.” He has strengths and weaknesses, as the rest of us do, and I won’t pretend to agree with all of his opinions. But he has, undeniably, made greater sacrifice for this country than most of us ever will. It would be a tragedy for the country if he were now willing to take away decent health care from millions of people. It would be a tragedy for him if he went back on his word so blatantly. I remain hope- ful that he will stay true to it. WHERE TO WRITE • U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D): 439 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, D.C., 20515. Phone: 202- 225-0855. Fax 202-225- 9497. District office: 12725 SW Mil- likan Way, Suite 220, Beaverton, OR 97005. Phone: 503-469-6010. Fax 503-326-5066. Web: bonamici.house. gov/ • U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D): 313 Hart Senate Office Building, Wash- ington, D.C. 20510. Phone: 202-224- 3753. Web: www.merkley.senate.gov • U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D): 221 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C., 20510. Phone: 202-224-5244. Web: www.wyden. senate.gov • State Rep. Brad Witt (D): State Capitol, 900 Court Street N.E., H-373, Salem, OR 97301. Phone: 503-986- 1431. Web: www.leg.state.or.us/witt/ Email: rep.bradwitt@state.or.us • State Rep. Deborah Boone (D): 900 Court St. N.E., H-481, Salem, OR 97301. Phone: 503-986-1432. Email: rep.deborah boone@state. or.us District office: P.O. Box 928, Cannon Beach, OR 97110. Phone: 503-986-1432. Web: www.leg.state. or.us/ boone/ • State Sen. Betsy Johnson (D): State Capitol, 900 Court St. N.E., S-314, Salem, OR 97301. Telephone: 503-986-1716. Email: sen.betsy john- son@state.or.us Web: www.betsy- johnson.com District Office: P.O. Box R, Scappoose, OR 97056. Phone: 503-543-4046. Fax: 503-543-5296. Astoria office phone: 503-338-1280. • Port of Astoria: Executive Director, 10 Pier 1 Suite 308, Asto- ria, OR 97103. Phone: 503-741-3300. Email: admin@portofastoria.com • Clatsop County Board of Com- missioners: c/o County Manager, 800 Exchange St., Suite 410, Astoria, OR 97103. Phone: 503-325-1000.