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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2017
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
Publisher
Founded in 1873
JIM VAN NOSTRAND
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
More than 340 million board feet of lumber were knocked
down in Clatsop County by the Dec. 2-3 storm. Of that, 100
million board feet is considered unmarketable because of
damage.
And estimates have reached 25 to 30 million board feet of
lumber down in the Clatsop State Forest alone. The December
2006 storm knocked down 20 million board feet.
The timber revenue is significant to local governments
because of the revenue derived from harvesting, as well as the
implications for jobs and local economy.
Devastated by the December storm, leaders
in Tillamook County are looking at options to dig
themselves out of a giant mess caused when the rail-
road line was ripped up by hurricane-force winds.
Several hundred jobs are tied to the line, which
hauls grain to Tillamook and lumber to Portland.
One solution could involve Astoria, although Ron
Larsen, executive director at the Port of Astoria,
considers it is a long shot.
Gov. Ted Kulongoski met last week with ship-
pers and others interested in the line. Kelly Taylor,
administrator of the Oregon Department of Trans-
portation’s rail division, said the governor asked for
a task force to consider the most reliable, affordable
options.
LONG BEACH, Wash. - The Nature Conservancy and the
Friends of the Willapa National Wildlife Refuge praised Con-
gress for including $990,000 for spartina eradication in the
federal spending bill that Congress passed last week.
“Spartina eradication is an important effort that has
involved the federal government, state agencies, local oys-
ter growers, as well as landowners around Willapa Bay, and
it’s been very successful,” said Kelly Rupp, a member of the
board of trustees for the Friends of the Willapa National Wild-
life Refuge. “Both the environmental and economic interests
of people who depend upon the bay are united in this effort.”
H&H Wood Recyclers works to clear away wood debris piled in Gearhart.
ing. The well-lighted structure is modern in every detail.
Washington Hall was first postmaster in Old Chinookville
near Fort Columbia before Washington became a state, then
Roger Ducheney and John McClure. The office was termi-
nated in 1860.
At the present site of Chinook, Matt Friedinberg was
appointed in 1892. Then Charles Davis operated the post
office in his home for six years.
During this time W.R. Williams delivered mail between
Ilwaco and Chinook by horse and buggy. Later Tony Gavin
added passenger service.
In those days postmasters were much like the old coun-
try doctors, performing many services beyond the line of
duty.
50 years ago — 1967
A storm front that brought snow and hazardous
driving to much of Oregon including Clatsop County
was moving into Nevada Monday after snarling traf-
fic on the Wilson River highway and causing numer-
ous autos to skid on the Sunset highway.
Chinook’s new post office is a big improvement over the
one vacated in November after completion of the new build-
75 years ago — 1942
Astoria stood on the threshold of a major hous-
ing crisis this week as plans were prepared to
obtain federal attention to a need for some tem-
porary housing facilities in accommodating an
immediately expected influx of construction labor.
It is estimated that within three months a min-
imum of 800 to 1000 workmen will be attracted
to the Astoria-Warrenton region from the out-
side. The demand is arriving from developments
at the Clatsop airport, the Columbia River Pack-
ers shipyard, the Astoria-Warrenton shipyard
and the Astoria Marina.
Launching of the first of a series of eight 136-foot mine-
sweepers now under construction at the Astoria Marine
Construction company plant is scheduled for Saturday
afternoon, December 26, at 4 o’clock.
A plea for typewriters was forwarded by
rationing headquarters here today for industrial
firms in this region faced with a shortage of the
machines and unable to buy new or used ones
during the period that typewriters are frozen.
A particular need has been expressed by ship-
yards in this territory. Rationing officials asked
that persons with a typewriter in reasonably good
condition or not too ancient make them avail-
able through the rationing office for private com-
panies — on loan, for rent or for sale. They said
there is a very great need and calling for immedi-
ate action.
It used to be coffee and doughnuts.
Then came the coffee shortage.
Now it’s no doughnuts.
Portland wholesalers who supply many sections of Ore-
gon said today they had notified customers they will stop
shipments outside the local area in an attempt to supply the
bulk of home needs.
The producers said the shortage of cottonseed oil, a
vital ingredient of ammunition, had left bakers with insuf-
ficient shortening to cook their product.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Don’t shoot songbirds
in my yard
ear Neighbors: I don’t feed all those
songbirds in my yard so that your three
young children can shoot them with a pellet
gun. I am hoping you didn’t give them more
guns for Christmas.
REBA OWEN
Warrenton
D
May the blessedness of
Christmas be with you
got to thinking about Christmas, and how
even the greatest minds couldn’t compre-
hend the greatness and the magnitude of our
creator. So what did our creator do? Send a
great, big massive king?
No, he sent a little child, the Lord Jesus
Christ, someone even the simplest mind could
grasp. An example of a living, loving, car-
ing lord whom we could make a part of our
everyday lives, enabling us to be more than
conquerors, even in the toughest of life situa-
tions we may be facing, or will be facing.
May the blessedness of Christmas be with
you.
JIM BERNARD
Warrenton
I
No benefit to wider
roads in Warrenton
he Warrenton City Commission recently
passed a new ordinance mandating that
roads to be built into new large development
projects will need to be 36 feet wide, curb
edge to curb edge, which is the maximum
width that the Warrenton city code allows.
The state of Oregon fire code requires
a minimum street width of 32 feet wide to
accommodate parking on both sides of the
street at the same time, plus enough extra
width to allow fire trucks to operate on these
streets. The extra 4 feet of width Warrenton
requires is approximately 11 percent more
than normally required to meet Oregon code
requirements.
The extra 4 feet extended over the full dis-
tance of all of the roads in a new development
T
would be contributing a very large amount of
hard road surface to accumulate rainfall run-
off, in addition to presenting drivers with a
temptation to drive faster than the normal
residential street speed limit because of the
much larger road width.
Speed bumps would have been a good
idea to help manage traffic speeds in residen-
tial areas. It’s very difficult to provide War-
renton Commission members with ideas
before they make final votes. I see no benefit
to the extra width now required in Warrenton
for future roads.
SCOTT WIDDICOMBE
Warrenton
Old Youngs Bay Bridge
is obsolete, hazardous
ooray! After years of inconvenience and
millions of dollars spent, the Old Youngs
Bay Bridge is once again open.
It’s obsolete. It’s inadequate. It’s hazard-
ous. But by gosh, it’s historic.
MICHAEL FRECH
Astoria
H
Without Jesus there
would be no Christmas
hristmas is a wonderful time of year.
Stores and streets and many homes are
decorated with beautiful lights, ornaments,
decorations and messages indicating this to
be a very special season. The air and airways
are filled with sweet sounds of carols and
hymns. Friends, neighbors, co-workers and
even strangers greet one another with smiles
and “Merry Christmas!”
Children line up to sit in the lap of Santa
and present pleas for bikes, dolls and what-
ever the latest toy might be. And of course,
they all confess to having been good the past
year.
We send cards and receive cards from
friends, family, loved ones, and sometimes
nearly forgotten acquaintances. The cards are
beautiful, often showing appropriate scenes
of snow, sleights, Santa, wise men, shepherds,
angels, and baby Jesus in manger, etc., with
wishes of peace, joy, and good will to all.
C
It is also a very enjoyable season for fam-
ilies to gather and share a feast of good food
and express and display love of one another.
Christmas is in many ways the most
enjoyable season of the year, but let us not
forget, it all points back to Jesus, the Son
of God. Without Jesus there would be no
Christmas.
Enjoy Christmas, but help someone less
fortunate, and pray for our military men and
women who are serving and protecting our
freedoms and way of life. Attend a church
service and give thanks for Jesus our Lord.
But resolve to let him be your Lord all the
time, not just during this brief season.
KEN TIPPS
Astoria Church of Christ
Oregon is governed
much better than Alabama
he Daily Astorian editorial on Dec. 15
— “Oregon, Alabama suffer from one-
party rule” — tried to compare a state that
is deeply scarred by poverty, crime and poor
education (Alabama), with a state that is one
of the most forward-looking, environmental
and yet business-friendly in the country (Ore-
gon). The editor erred when trying to make
an equal-but-opposite argument, stating that
T
Oregon’s Democratic majority is similar to
Alabama’s Republican majority, which led to
politicians like Roy Moore.
But to compare Oregon and Alabama’s
legislatures, you have to compare the results,
not just make generalizations. It would be
naïve to think that Oregon isn’t without its
problems, but the Democratically controlled
legislature in Oregon has done a lot over the
years to promote the rights, health, jobs and
living conditions of Oregonians.
Forward-thinking gun legislation and the
“Motor-voter” Act have helped make Ore-
gon a safer and fairer state. Conversely, the
one-sided conservatism of Alabama has made
it a state that is consistently on the bottom of
the heap in terms of poverty, livability and
education.
Using state Sen. Betsy Johnson to bolster
the argument didn’t help, either. She is hardly
a Democrat. In her last election, she was
listed as both Democrat and Republican in
the Voter Pamphlet, she often votes with the
Republicans, and her support of gun rights
(including machine guns) is legendary.
It is often tempting to make equivalencies
where none exist. While both Oregon and
Alabama are governed by one party, Oregon
is governed much better.
DON ANDERSON
Astoria