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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2018
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
Publisher
Founded in 1873
JIM VAN NOSTRAND
Editor
JEREMY FELDMAN
Circulation Manager
DEBRA BLOOM
Business Manager
Water
under
the bridge
JOHN D. BRUIJN
Production Manager
CARL EARL
Systems Manager
jeep route for hours awaiting their turn in the Army
vehicles and that between $3,000 and $4,000 worth
of war bonds were sold as a result of the attraction
in Astoria and other Clatsop County communities.
Compiled by Bob Duke
From the pages of Astoria’s daily newspapers
10 years ago
this week — 2008
The sale of the 423-acre DeLaura Beach property
to the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department is nearly
complete. The parcel will be added to Fort Stevens State
Park.
The on-again-off-again sale cleared one of its historically
biggest hurdles Tuesday when the city of Warrenton signed
off on it.
Wednesday night, the Clatsop County Board of Commis-
sioners unanimously approved selling the parcel to the state
for $1.32 million during its regular meeting at the Judge Guy
Boyington Building in Astoria.
But OPRD will also be paying $220,000 to Warrenton to
help pay for construction improvements to city trails adjacent
to the property.
“I’m obviously enthused for all the right reasons,” said
Mike Stein, OPRD North Coast manager. “We’ve got a long
working relationship with Warrenton Trails Association and
a much more focused relationship with Oregon Equestrian
Trails. If not for those relationships, I wouldn’t have started
this process.”
The December storm was not all bad news for the
North Coast.
At Sunset Beach, near the southern trailhead
of the Fort-to-Sea Trail, an effort to clean up the
downed shore pines is underway. Mike Stein, dis-
trict manager of Oregon Parks and Recreation
Department, said it was Mother Nature’s way of
taking care of a project he had hoped to do over sev-
eral years.
He described the shore pine as a transplanted
forest, meant to stabilize the dune, that had not been
properly thinned and thus was “well past maturity”
when the storm hit.
The Daily Astorian
Much of DeLaura Beach is made up of broad expanses
of beach grasses and sand. Clatsop County sold the
property to the Oregon Parks and Recreation Depart-
ment in 2008.
50 years ago — 1968
The once unwanted ferry M. R. Chessman will begin a jour-
ney into federal service Monday or Tuesday when Knappton
Towboat company tows it from the 14th Street ferry slip to a
Portland dry dock.
Elwyn Griffith, manager of Astoria Marine Construction
company, said his firm had received a signed contract from
the Northwest Procurement agency, Oakland, for overhaul of
the Chessman.
Clatsop College has already had more than 300
inquiries from prospective students for next fall
term, college officials reported Wednesday. This is
by far the greatest number of such inquiries the col-
lege has ever received so far ahead of school opening.
Oregon Seafoods Laboratory’s $180,000 plant at 36th and
Lief Erikson was opened officially to the public at 2 p.m. Tues-
day at a ribbon-cutting ceremony conducted by two represen-
tatives of the sponsoring agencies.
The ribbon cutting climaxed an all-day series of talks by
representatives of various agencies interested in the fishing
industry.
75 years ago — 1943
Expected home shortly is Charles Drury, Warrenton, skip-
per of a Portland-built Liberty freighter that was torpedoed
recently in the north Atlantic. The entire crew was saved when
the ship remained afloat 42 minutes after the torpedo hit,
according to Kenneth Leatherman, Coquille, ship’s carpenter
on the vessel.
It was thought possible that two twin brothers from Astoria,
Keith and Kermit Kinkade, 23, may also have been on the tor-
pedoed vessel. Both hold the rank of seamen first class in the
Navy and had been serving on Navy gun crews put on mer-
chant vessels. It was known that a while back they were serv-
ing on Capt. Drury’s ship, and a letter from the boys received
recently gave rise to beliefs they had been rescued recently
from a torpedoed vessel.
Both graduated from the Astoria High School and enlisted
together in the Navy in March, 1942. Their parents, Mr. and
Mrs. Guy Kinkade, reside at 427 14th St.
About 1,000 cases of food, stored for emergency
purposes at the county farm since last July, will be
released for general use shortly, according to orders
received Monday from the state public welfare com-
mission. The canned food was stored in Astoria as
well as 11 other places in the state to serve as emer-
gency rations, in the event of air raids, invasion or
other disaster.
Plans to mobilize teenage boys and girls for farm work in
Clatsop County during the summer were outlined today by
County Agent A. Zundel. Cooperating in the venture will be
various schools in the county and the U.S. employment service.
Out of 452 farmers who signed up in the food production
program in 1942, 167 indicated they would need additional
help, outside their own families, and told the time of year the
help would be needed. The results of this survey are tabulated
in the county agent’s office, thus furnishing a guide on the
amount of additional labor needed, and the time when needed.
A check is being made in all the schools of boys and girls,
from the seventh grade and up, who are willing to do farm
work and whose parents are willing that they should.
From far and near Astoria and Clatsop County,
youngsters were on hand Saturday for their jeep
rides at Gyro field. It is estimated that more than a
thousand boys and girls crowded the sidelines of the
Actual rebuilding of the Astoria-Warrenton ship-
yard plant, extensively damaged by fire two months
ago, began this morning and will be rushed to com-
pletion, according A.J. Roberts, manager of the
plant.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Vote Orr for
state representative
I
join respected supporters of John Orr to
represent the people of our district in the
Oregon House. I’ve known John for years in
his public life as an earnest man of vision,
principle, and persistence.
For decades at his local law practice, John
helped families, workers, and small busi-
ness owners, and took time and care for those
needing special help, like the Court Appointed
Special Advocates (CASA) foster kids he rep-
resented in court — while raising two loving
and competent daughters.
An observant person, he “gets” District 32
from living here, and also has the long view
of a student of history and the law. Trained in
environmental law, John champions our river,
ocean, forest, and land sustainability over
short-term financial gain. His current work
passion is recycling systems.
An independent thinker guided by fair-
ness, and a confident speaker, he is not buf-
feted by superficial arguments, special inter-
ests, endorsements or financial contributions.
Having been a courtroom judge, John listens
well, gathers information, considers, and takes
fitting action.
A long-term progressive Democrat, John
intends to jump right into work in Salem
on matters that concern us, like homeless-
ness, the shortage of low-income housing and
needed services, drug problems, health care
as a right, workplace fairness, getting schools
sufficiently funded, the arts encouraged, and
keeping Oregon green.
John is a personable, friendly, thoughtful,
knowledgeable, and talented man who will
keep in touch with his constituents and repre-
sent us capably in the House.
FLORENCE SAGE
Astoria
Vote ‘yes’ for
health district levy
lthough people are living longer and
healthier, families are still concerned
about health care for their loved ones, espe-
cially for the really elderly. Coming up in the
May 15 primary election, the Clatsop Care
Health District will ask voters to approve a
5-year operating levy. It will appear on your
ballot as Measure 4-192.
The health district oversees Clatsop Care
Center on 16th Street in Astoria, the Clatsop
Retirement Village on Olney Avenue in Asto-
ria, and the Clatsop Care Memory Commu-
nity in Warrenton. The levy will raise about
$600,000 each year for many projects:
• Providing costs for training new certified
nurses aides.
• Introducing a Montessori-type program
for dementia at the Memory Community
facility.
• Technology upgrades in recordkeeping
at all three facilities, and improved internet
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access for residents
• Adding a bus to improve resident trans-
portation to activities and appointments
• Undertaking deferred maintenance at
Clatsop Care and at the Retirement Center.
The levy will assess property at 23 cents
per $1,000, which amounts to $46 each of the
five years on a $200,000 property.
Because health care has become a priority
in American society, please vote in favor of
Measure 4-192 in the primary election.
JUANITA PRICE
Astoria
Vote Mitchell for
state representative
I
couldn’t be more excited that Tiffiny Mitch-
ell is running to be our state representative
in District 32. She’s smart, hardworking, and
passionate about our community. State fund-
ing for public education has not kept pace
with local needs and aspirational state man-
dates. Our board of directors recently, if reluc-
tantly, voted to raise tuition at Clatsop Com-
munity College.
Tiffiny has pledged to work tirelessly in
Salem to support education as a primary issue
of importance to all Oregonians, especially
those of us who live on the Oregon Coast.
She knows that affordable access to CCC is of
critical importance to us, because it offers our
students the best local opportunities to prepare
for rewarding future careers.
Tiffiny also advocates for affordable hous-
ing and access to health care for all, clean air
and water, and equal pay for equal work. Let’s
send this compassionate woman to the state
Legislature.
TESSA JAMES SCHELLER
Warrenton
ability, and is a good fit for the district. He
understands how things work in Salem.
His financial contributions come from
many sectors including health care, agricul-
ture, business, labor, housing, building trades,
forestry, small business, local residents, and
members of the current Legislature. He’s
endorsed by dozens of advocacy groups. He
is intelligent, ethical, and has the experience
necessary to get things done for House Dis-
trict 32.
DEBORAH BOONE
State representative, House District 32
Vote Josi for
state representative
Most aren’t
getting rich off PERS
W
I
hen I decided to finish my 32 years of
public service, I felt compelled to have
some input into my successor. I wanted to see
a local citizen who knew the district and its
people well win this seat.
The job is not easy. Whoever wins the seat
must understand how things work in Salem.
They must be able to set aside partisanship
and work collaboratively with both sides of
the aisle, and they must be an independent
thinker who represents all of the constituents
in this diverse district.
The candidate who is best prepared is
Tim Josi. I have known him for more than
30 years, and I trust him. He has served
four terms as state representative, and was
reelected several times, indicating his constit-
uents thought he was doing a good job.
When term limits ended his time in Salem,
he went home to Tillamook County and won a
seat on the county commission, which he has
held for five terms, again proving his elect-
n response to the letter “PERS sucking
communities dry” (The Daily Astorian,
April 19): We are lucky to have a transparent
Oregon Public Employees Retirement Sys-
tem system. Each member is online by name,
with their ending salary and present monthly
salary.
The true picture is that PERS members
making $100,000 comprise less than 1 per-
cent of the system’s retirees. There is a siz-
able chasm between the system’s top earn-
ers and the rank and file. About 68 percent
receive $3,000 or less a month — $36,000 or
less a year. Only 17.6 percent earn more than
$50,000 a year.
To someone who did not contribute their
maximum salary annually to a 401K in the
private sector, this might sound like a lot,
but remember that most of us had the maxi-
mum taken out of our paychecks whether we
wished to invest it differently or not — for
many of us, an average of 20-30 years.
Most PERS members agree that fair and
equitable changes need to be made. We are,
after all, also community members who worry
about the same things. But we aren’t strangers
who are getting rich. We are who you want to
see paid and treated fairly. We are the com-
munity members who fight your fires, police
neighborhoods, teach your kids, and more.
KITTY PAINO
Astoria
Vote Wev for
county commissioner
am Wev is running for Clatsop County
commissioner in District 3. I live out in
Lewis & Clark, which is her district, as is
downtown Astoria. Pam is the best candidate
for the office because she listens and will do
what is best for our community. Her previous
government experience helps her understand
how to get things accomplished.
Her opponents, on the other hand, are
big talkers but with little to show for it. They
will tell you how great they are and the won-
derful things they have done, but be wary.
Notice when they talk about their time on
City Council they will say that they alone
did great things … never using the word
“we.”
If you want a big talker, someone who
promises they will get the job done but, in the
end, won’t do the work, then vote for them. If
you want someone who will get the job done,
and not talk about how great she is, vote for
Pam Wev. I am. Remember, the ballots are
due May 15.
JAN COUGHLIN
Astoria
P