OPINION
4A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 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
Even on blustery days, Astoria’s River Trail has a charm that draws
bicycle riders, dog walkers, joggers and strollers. On sunny days, the paved
path along the Columbia River is a magnet for locals and visitors alike, a
link between the city and its waterfront. And all summer long and into the
fall, the Astoria Riverfront Trolley adds color and excitement.
Envisioned as early as 1989 by then-community development direc-
tor Paul Benoit and the late urban planner Robert Murase, the River Trail,
known as the Riverwalk in the downtown area, has grown in phases over
the years, starting with two blocks between 15th and 17th streets. It now
extends from the Port of Astoria on the west, all the way to 44th Street on
the east side of town. The city’s goal is for the River Trail to extend from
Smith Point on the Astoria side of the New Youngs Bay Bridge, eastward to
Tongue Point, a distance of 5.1 miles.
The trail will edge closer to that goal thanks to a $78,384 grant awarded
by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department’s Recreational Trails Pro-
gram to extend the River Trail to 49th Street. On Monday, the Astoria City
Council accepted the grant. And agreeing with Benoit, who is now Asto-
ria’s city manager, that the Riverwalk is one of the city’s “premier tour-
ist-related facilities,” the council agreed to tap into Promote Astoria Funds
to come up with its required $19,597 match.
50 years ago — 1967
The Daily Astorian/File
Here is an overall view of the main reading room of the new Astor
Library, showing for the most part students at study.
The new Astor Library with its component Flag Room in the
Veterans Memorial section of the building will be dedicated in a
public ceremony Sunday at 2 p.m.
Arriving Saturday for the event will be Gavin and Lady Irene
Astor, representing the family of Lord John Jacob Astor in the
United Kingdom, whose original donation of $100,000 in 1964
was the start of the construction fund for the new library, the
first civic building erected in Astoria for a specific nation. Join-
ing them from England for the occasion will be British Consul
Sir James McDonald and his wife Lady McDonald.
Arriving Sunday will be Gov. Tom McCall. His party, includ-
ing Mrs. McCall, will be met at the Youngs Bay bridge by an
escort provided by the Astoria Fire Department. The governor
will give the dedication address at the ceremonies.
RAYMOND, Wash. — A young housewife escaped with her life and lit-
tle else Tuesday when an F-106 jet fighter crashed next to her home, show-
ering it with burning material which ignited it and burned it to the ground.
Mrs. Jim Lebreck, 30, was alone in the house, 7 miles northeast of here,
when the crash occurred about noon.
The Lebrecks’ three children were away at school and Lebreck was at
work.
Astoria’s one and only member of Oregon’s meter maid corps
said Wednesday afternoon she would not wear “one of those silly
helmets,” as state Attorney General Robert Y. Thornton ruled
earlier in the day.
Thornton ruled that meter maid carts used by most parking
ticket dealers in the state are motorcycles and as such are bound
by all laws pertaining to them.
The 1967 session of the Oregon Legislature passed a law
requiring motorcycle riders to wear protective helmets at all
times.
Marlyss Parker, Astoria’s meter maid, said she would object
to the crushing effect of a helmet on her hairdo.
She wears her blonde hair in a bouffant style that could easily
fall victim to the headgear.
What would she do if ordered to wear a helmet? Well, she left
that possibility up in the (h)air!
75 years ago — 1942
The old German war cannon, which rested in solemn dignity on the
Clatsop County Courthouse lawn for more than a decade, today became a
public curiosity as a happy hunk of scrap worth at least $65,000 worth of
war bonds.
The big cannon was moved to a downtown corner by the Clatsop Post
of the American Legion Friday night, with appropriate ceremonies. On it
are inscribed more than a hundred names of persons who have purchased
bonds during the last week.
Some Seasiders were certain that an air raid was in prospect
Friday evening when lights all over the city went out, but they
were quickly reassured.
The power failure was caused when a tire on a car driven
by Robert Lee Mastin of Tillamook blew out and the machine
careened into an electric light pole on Third Avenue just east of
Holladay Street. The pole fell on Mastin’s car but he was not
injured and the car was only slightly damaged
Lights were out from 7:30 p.m., the time of the accident, until
about 10:30.
If only Paddock were a Muslim
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
New York Times News Service
I
f only Stephen Paddock had
been a Muslim … If only he had
shouted “Allahu akbar” before he
opened fire on all
those concertgoers
in Las Vegas …
If only he were a
member of ISIS
… If only we had
a picture of him
posing with a Quran
in one hand and his semiautomatic
rifle in another …
If all of that had happened,
no one would be telling us not to
dishonor the victims and “politicize”
Paddock’s mass murder by talking
about preventive remedies.
No, no, no. Then we know what
we’d be doing. We’d be scheduling
immediate hearings in Congress
about the worst domestic terrorism
event since 9/11. Then Donald Trump
would be tweeting every hour “I
told you so,” as he does minutes
after every terror attack in Europe,
precisely to immediately politicize
them. Then there would be immediate
calls for a commission of inquiry to
see what new laws we need to put in
place to make sure this doesn’t hap-
pen again. Then we’d be “weighing
all options” against the country of
origin.
But what happens when the coun-
try of origin is us?
What happens when the killer was
only a disturbed American armed to
the teeth with military-style weapons
that he bought legally or acquired
easily because of us and our crazy lax
gun laws?
Then we know what happens:
The president and the Republican
Party go into overdrive to ensure that
nothing happens. Then they insist —
unlike with every ISIS-related terror
attack — that the event must not
be “politicized” by asking anyone,
particularly themselves, to look in the
mirror and rethink their opposition to
common-sense gun laws.
So let’s review: We will turn the
world upside down to track down
the last Islamic State fighter in Syria
— deploying B-52s, cruise missiles,
F-15s, F-22s, F-35s and U2s. We will
ask our best young men and women
to make the ultimate sacrifice to kill
or capture every last terrorist. And
how many Americans has the Islamic
State killed in the Middle East? I
forget. Is it 15 or 20? And our presi-
dent never stops telling us that when
it comes to the Islamic State, defeat
is not an option, mercy is not on the
menu and that he is so tough he even
has a defense secretary nicknamed
“Mad Dog.”
But when fighting the NRA
— the National Rifle Association,
which more than any other group
has prevented the imposition of
common-sense gun-control laws —
victory is not an option, moderation is
not on the menu and the president and
AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez
An investigator works in the room at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Ca-
sino where a gunman opened fire on a music festival in Las Vegas.
If you are as fed up as I am, then
register someone to vote or run
for office yourself or donate
money to someone running
to replace these cowardly
legislators with a majority for
common-sense gun laws.
the Republican Party have no mad
dogs, only pussy cats.
And they will not ask themselves
to make even the smallest sacrifice
— one that might risk their seats in
Congress — to stand up for legis-
lation that might make it just a little
harder for an American to stockpile
an arsenal like Paddock did, including
42 guns, some of them assault rifles
— 23 in his hotel room and 19 at his
home — as well as several thousand
rounds of ammunition and “electronic
devices.” Just another deer hunter, I
guess.
On crushing ISIS, our president
and his party are all in. On asking the
NRA for even the tiniest moderation,
they are AWOL. No matter how
many innocents are killed — no
matter even that one of their own
congressional leaders was shot
playing baseball — it’s never time to
discuss any serious policy measures
to mitigate gun violence.
And in the wake of last month’s
unprecedented hurricanes in the
Atlantic — that wrought over $200
billion of damage on Houston and
Puerto Rico, not to mention smaller
cities — Scott Pruitt, Trump’s head of
the Environmental Protection Agency,
also told us that it was not the time to
discuss “the cause and effect” of these
superstorms and how to mitigate their
damaging impacts. We need to focus
on helping the victims, he said. But
for Pruitt, we know, it’s never time to
take climate change seriously.
To take the Islamic State seriously
abroad, but then to do nothing to
mitigate these other real threats to our
backyards, concert venues and coastal
cities, is utter madness.
It’s also corrupt. Because it’s
driven by money and greed — by
gunmakers and gun-sellers and oil
and coal companies, and all the legis-
lators and regulators they’ve bought
and paid to keep silent. They know
full well most Americans don’t want
to take away peoples’ rights to hunt
or defend themselves. All we want to
take away is the right of someone to
amass a military arsenal in their home
and hotel room and use it on innocent
Americans when some crazy rage
wells up inside them. But the NRA
has these cowardly legislators in a
choke hold.
What to do?
Forget about persuading these
legislators. They are not confused
or under-informed. They are either
bought or intimidated. Because
no honest and decent American
lawmaker would look at Las Vegas
and Puerto Rico today and say, “I
think the smartest and most prudent
thing to do for our kids is to just do
nothing.”
So there is only one remedy: Get
power. If you are as fed up as I am,
then register someone to vote or run
for office yourself or donate money
to someone running to replace these
cowardly legislators with a majority
for common-sense gun laws. This is
about raw power, not persuasion. And
the first chance we have to change the
balance of power is the 2018 midterm
elections. Forget about trying to get
anything done before then. Don’t
waste your breath.
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.