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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2018
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
Publisher
JIM VAN NOSTRAND
Editor
Founded in 1873
JEREMY FELDMAN
Circulation Manager
DEBRA BLOOM
Business Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN
Production Manager
CARL EARL
Systems Manager
The Norwegian freighter Amica, of 21,000 gross tons, is
due at the Astoria port docks to begin loading the largest sin-
gle log cargo ever loaded on the Columbia River — more than
8 million board feet for Japan. The Astoria longshoremen are
expected to load the huge cargo in eight days, with the Amica
scheduled to sail February 9.
Water
under
the bridge
Negotiations between Salem treasure hunter
Tony Mareno and the State Corporation
Commission probably will be settled by late this
week.
A state official said after talking with Mareno by
telephone that “both sides” appear near agreement.
Indications are that percentages offered by Mareno
to persons aiding in his search for the legendary
Neahkahnie treasure will be listed as a security sale
and the securities will have to be registered with the
corporation commissioner.
Mareno said he would resume his hunt on the
northern Oregon coast at Manzanita once the legal
issue is settled.
Compiled by Bob Duke
From the pages of Astoria’s daily newspapers
10 years ago
this week — 2008
A Gearhart man has been arrested in connection with the
theft of the bronze Sacagawea statue from Fort Clatsop last
weekend.
“It’s cut up into lots of little pieces,” Clatsop County Sher-
iff Tom Bergin said of the statue. “There’s nothing left of it.
It’s completely destroyed.”
On Sunday, Marcus D. Bologna, 42, joined three Bend res-
idents who were arrested after the statue turned up at a Central
Oregon scrap metal dealer.
Astoria’s biggest vulnerabilities in a major earth-
quake could be threefold: communications, fuel for
emergency vehicles and backup generators, and dis-
ruptions in water lines.
Those were the key issues that emerged during
a summit by a panel from the American society of
Civil Engineers. Members of the nonprofit group
toured the region over the weekend to investigate
the performance of critical infrastructure during
the early December storm, which toppled essential
systems throughout Clatsop County like dominoes,
severing access to communities outside the North
Coast.
Gov. Ted Kulongoski believes liquefied natural gas could
be one “bridge” that keeps Oregon energized until renewable
sources come on line.
At a meeting of the Associated Press News Executives of
Oregon in Salem, the governor clarified his position on LNG,
which has stirred debate as three terminal proposals and four
pipeline projects in the state make their way through the fed-
eral permitting process.
The 21,000-ton Norwegian freighter Amica.
Port of Astoria leaders have grown to fear the
month of February. And they’re not alone.
As Feb. 1 draws near, public agencies and private
companies alike are reminded that there’s only one
month left to complete maintenance and construc-
tion jobs in the Columbia River.
It’s the shortest month of the year, and for those
who are trying to finish dredging projects, it goes by
fast.
50 years ago — 1968
Fire flared through the main woodworking shop build-
ing of Astoria Marine Construction company, leveling it and
doing damage estimated at $100,000. The loss was about half
covered by insurance. Five fire departments managed to con-
fine flames to the one building, saving a machine shop about
15 yards to the northeast and the large buildings and shipways
built for Navy minesweepers production in World War II.
75 years ago — 1943
JUST TO KEEP THE RECORD STRAIGHT
The Astoria Marine Construction company was the first
going shipyard on the Lower Columbia River in World War II.
A going concern long before that the yard was quickly trans-
formed into a wartime operation for construction of Navy
minesweepers. An original contract for four ships was later
supplemented by a second contract for eight. Then came suc-
cessive contracts for many tugs and sub chasers. This expan-
sion just didn’t happen without cause. The reason is found in
performance, speed and reliability.
ASTORIA MARINE CONSTRUCTION CO.
A Coast Guard disbursing office for all personnel
among the myriad Coast Guard facilities between
the Columbia River and the California line will
open in new offices on the ground floor corner of
the Commodore hotel in Astoria February 1, under
direction of Lt. (j.g.) C.V. Rudolph, disbursing offi-
cer, it was announced.
The office will be a branch of the Coast Guard
headquarters financial office in Seattle. From Asto-
ria will go out all funds paid to Coast Guard per-
sonnel, including pay checks, travel mileage vouch-
ers, and some funds for clothing purchases as well
as clothing itself.
One of the greatest new pieces of equipment
in law enforcement is how Sheriff Carl Bondietti
described some television equipment his depart-
ment recently acquired.
Bondietti said the equipment, including a cam-
era, some recording tape, audio recorder and a
viewing screen, is useful primarily in recording evi-
dence and interrogations of suspects.
A basic use is for drunken driving suspects.
EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK
Love living here, thank you very much
M
any editors — myself included —
believe in being an open book to the
communities we serve. We are public
figures. Transparency is a good thing.
The hosts at Coast Community Radio
apparently believe
that too. Joan Herman
(“Perspectives”) and Donna
Quinn (“Talk of Our Towns”)
have interviewed me on the
air recently about journalism
and other topics. I was joined
on Quinn’s show by Kari
JIM VAN
NOSTRAND Borgen, who is my boss and
the new publisher at The
Daily Astorian.
They asked great questions. Here are some
of the answers.
Why Astoria?
Both hosts were very curious about why
Kari and I, who have decades of experience in
journalism, chose to move to a small commu-
nity like Astoria.
For me, it’s a homecoming of sorts. I was
born at Hanford (insert “glow in the dark”
jokes here), attended high school in Coulee
Dam, graduated from Eastern Washington
University and started my journalism career
at small weekly newspapers in Stevenson
and Lebanon. I served in the Oregon Army
National Guard and brought my troops to train
at Camp Rilea. My family frequently vaca-
tioned on the North Coast.
I left Oregon in 1990 and worked at news
organizations in Pennsylvania, California,
Washington, D.C., and Washington state.
When the opening presented itself at The Daily
Astorian last summer, I applied enthusiasti-
cally, without a moment’s hesitation. My name
had been under consideration for other jobs
back East, but my wife and I really wanted to
stay in the Northwest. I had often dreamed,
when I was a young reporter, that I’d like to
work here. Now I’m the editor. Funny how life
works out sometimes.
Kari has family roots in Eastern Oregon that
go back five generations. She grew up in Baker
City and after working at daily newspapers in
Montana, Idaho and California had the oppor-
tunity to serve as the group publisher of the
newspapers in her hometown and La Grande
for many years. Like me, she desired a small-
town lifestyle and always wanted to live on the
coast. This is a great place to live and work.
Both of us believe strongly in community
journalism. We enjoy the direct relationship
with our readers that you don’t get in bigger
cities.
The final factor for both of us was the
opportunity to work for a family-owned
company, the EO Media Group, which doesn’t
believe in cutting its way to profitability and
invests heavily in the 10 communities it serves
in Oregon and Washington state.
Lisa Van Nostrand
This curious critter is a regular visitor to
our front window in Astoria.
Jim Van Nostrand
Relaxing on an empty beach at Arch Cape is one of the perks of living here.
LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEWS
Perspectives podcast: bit.ly/perspectives-jim
Talk of Our Towns podcast: bit.ly/jim-kari
What’s changed at the newspaper?
Steve Forrester and his successor, David
Pero, both held the dual titles of editor and
publisher. At most newspapers, those are two
separate jobs. Now they are separate jobs at
The Daily Astorian, as well.
Kari is the publisher, meaning she is
responsible for all of the newspaper’s
operations. She’s focused on the business
side, growing revenue for the company and
driving success for our advertising partners.
We provide work for nearly 80 people when
you include employees, contractors and
freelancers.
As the editor, I report to Kari and lead the
newsroom. I also manage the editorial page.
Derrick DePledge has been promoted to man-
aging editor as part of the reorganization.
Two of my goals are to increase our digital
readership and to focus as much as we can
on enterprise journalism. The latter means
stepping back from the chaos of daily news
and digging deep into issues that are important
to our readers. Examples include the housing
crisis, jobs, tourism, homelessness, natural
resources and the environment.
We are open to your ideas about what’s
important to you. I’ve only been here since
August; Kari since December. Send us a note
anytime at editor@dailyastorian.com.
What is real news?
The newspaper’s core values haven’t
changed. First and foremost is that our news
stories are professionally curated and sourced
by talented reporters who care deeply about
the integrity of their work.
I believe in the old saying, “If your mother
says she loves you, check it out.” It may sound
trite, but it’s a truism in this line of work. We
are regularly harangued from all sides by peo-
ple whose jobs depend on spinning the truth.
I’ve mentored hundreds of young journal-
ism students over the years, and the first thing
I tell them is to be prepared to be lied to on a
daily basis. The second is that no matter what
you write, every word will be filtered through
the lens of a reader’s particular world view.
We can’t do anything about that. All we can do
is report as fairly and objectively as we can.
Even “objectively” seems to be a fungible
concept among many people nowadays. Some
major news organizations profess to practice
so-called “advocacy” journalism on behalf
of the left and the right. They believe that it’s
OK to report with a point of view, as long as
they’re transparent about what that point of
view is.
I don’t subscribe to that concept. I’ve
been a registered independent my entire life
and have voted for both Republicans and
Democrats. The Daily Astorian’s news report-
ing will be as impartial as it can possibly be in
an impossibly polarized world.
That doesn’t mean we don’t have opinions.
We have an editorial page, as most newspa-
pers do. We express those opinions there and
invite readers with different views to write
letters to the editor (up to 250 words) and
guest columns (up to 1,000 words). We ask
only that the discourse be civil, without insults
or name-calling. To pitch an idea for a guest
column, email editor@dailyastorian.com.