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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (May 16, 2018)
4A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 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 Water under the bridge CARL EARL Systems Manager 75 years ago — 1943 Astoria will join Portland and the state of Oregon in celebration of “Africa Victory Day” to commemorate the allied blasting of the Germans and Italians out of north Africa, it was announced today. Walter Underwood is chairman of the events, which will start with the blowing of whistles and the ringing of bells at high noon. An official proclama- tion matching that of Governor Earl Snell will be announced by Mayor Orval Eaton. Compiled by Bob Duke From the pages of Astoria’s daily newspapers 10 years ago this week — 2008 On a visit to Astoria, Bill Clinton called on Oregon voters to cast their ballot for change. The former president spoke outdoors to a crowd of 700 or more outside the Columbia River Maritime Museum. The throng had been buzzing with anticipation at Clinton’s appear- ance in Astoria to promote his wife Hillary’s candidacy for the Democratic nomination. Clinton’s slightly late appearance only added to the anticipation. In his speech before hundreds gathered at the Columbia River Maritime Museum plaza, he presented his case for mak- ing Hillary Clinton the Democratic nominee for president. Chief among his arguments was her stance on liquefied natural gas. Hillary Clinton’s backers boast that she, unlike her Democratic rival Barack Obama and Republican nomi- nee John McCain, voted against the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which took the power to site LNG terminals away from states and gave it to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. “It stripped you of the right to approve the siting of your own LNG facilities, and that was wrong,” Clinton said. Astoria and the North Coast are still abuzz after President Bill Clinton’s visit. Carol Abraham, of Astoria, was pumped. “It’s the most exciting thing at this level of politics since JFK came to Tongue Point in 1963. It’s a moment in history.” Developer Chester Trabucco described it as “a very exciting day in Astoria.” 50 years ago — 1968 The new flagpole of the Astor library was dedicated in a ceremony conducted by the American Legion, Clatsop Post 12, with Harold Dahlgren master of ceremonies. The metal Alex Pajunas/The Daily Astorian Former President Bill Clinton is joined on stage by As- toria Mayor Willis Van Dusen and state Sen. Betsy John- son at the end of his 2008 speech endorsing his wife, Hillary, for the Democratic nomination for president. pole was dedicated to the memory of late commander James Wheatley of Post 12. Company H of the Oregon State guard at Astoria was fer- ried across the Columbia River last weekend by flotilla No. 57 here of the coast guard auxiliary, for maneuvers in the vicinity of Chinook, Wash., against a theoretical “Jap land- ing,” it was announced jointly today by Lt. Ben Coleman, of the guard, and Commander C.A. Reynolds, of the auxiliary flotilla. The problem proposed that 3,000 Japanese infantry completed a landing at Gray’s Harbor and immediately took command of Aberdeen, Hoquiam and roads to Portland and Seattle. Troops were rushed from Forts Colum- bia and Canby (again theoretically) to engage the Nips at South Bend, the Yanks to be reinforced from Portland and Stevens. The Oregon highway department has offered to sell the city of Astoria the former 14th Street ferry landing for $15,250, with a restriction that it be used for public purpose only. Dale Curry, city manager, said he is polling members of the city council to see what they want to do, but said he doubts the offer will be accepted as the city government has no apparent use for the property. The tract offered totals 0.64 acres, mostly under- water. It extends from 14th Street 255 feet eastward along the SP&S tracks and extends riverward to the pierhead line. The 50th anniversary of air mail, which is being observed nationally, almost coincides with the 30th anniversary of first air mail flight out of Astoria, which occurred May 19, 1938, Postmaster Dan Thiel has noted. The first air mail flight out of Astoria was one of a series of pick-up flights that carried air mail out of all corners of the state to Portland, according to old postal records dug up by Edward Aho of the Post Office staff and Andrew Olsen, retired postal officer here. W.J. Noll, who pioneered aviation in Clatsop County, flew that first air mail flight, leaving Astoria at 11:35 a.m. with stops in Tillamook, Sheridan and Hillsboro before delivering the mail to Portland at 1:30 p.m. Mrs. Leland Swanson of Warrenton has a ready answer for anyone who complains that Victory gar- dens do not pay. While weeding in her garden last week she sud- denly noticed a bright coin in the soil and thought it was a penny: Upon closer inspection however, it turned out to be a five dollar gold piece! The coin bore a 1900 date. Gold coins have not been in circulation since 1932 and even before that were rare. Mrs. Swanson cannot explain how the coin was overlooked before, because the garden plot has been cultivated regularly each year and she her- self gardened there last year. Having finished his post-graduate course at the Harvard school of business, receiving the Baker scholarship award, Robert Lovell, son of Mr. and Mrs. Sherman W. Lovell, is now enroute home with his bride, the former Mary Robinson. He was one of 11 out of 400 finishing the course to receive the scholarship award. When he entered Harvard he enlisted in the quartermaster corps, but last December was honorably discharged for lack of physical qualifications. The Baker award is one of a long series of scholastic achievements of young Lovell. At the Uni- versity of Oregon he received the Koyl cup and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa national honorary. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Thanks for support of Warrenton Community Center T he Warrenton Community Center Advi- sory Board recently held a “Break- fast with the Easter Bunny” at the Commu- nity Center on March 24. The breakfast was a great success, and we want to thank the com- munity for their awesome support. A special thanks to all our great volun- teers, Warrenton Starbucks, Pig ’N Pancake; the Veterans of Foreign Wars 10580 and Aux- iliary Detachment 1228, Lektro Inc., McCall Tire Center, Columbia Bar Pilots, Colum- bia Bank, Maddox Dance Studio, Warrenton Deep Sea, Warrenton Kia, Ocean Crest Chev- rolet Buick GMC Cadillac, Super Market and Uptown Cafe. “The Warrior Way” is alive and well, as 10 members of the Warrenton High School foot- ball team helped serve our breakfast. MEL JASMIN Chairman, Warrenton Community Center Advisory Board Warrenton What’s happening with federal justice system? W hether you’re anti-Trump or pro- Trump, everybody needs to ask: What the hell’s happening with our federal jus- tice system? As a lawyer most of my life, I’m aghast. For over 200 years, our country worked well when government investigated crimes and then prosecuted the perpetrators. The fed- eral government today (through the Washing- ton establishment’s “special counsel” charade) hopes to find crimes by investigating those with different political views. And it often produces crimes — like lying to the govern- ment. All those things are exactly what world dictatorships have done for centuries. Some say there’s an attempted “silent coup” by the Washington establishment to oust President Trump — the classic “out- sider.” Regardless of your views on that, what’s happening today are huge red flags. Career government lawyers who’ve led the FBI, and today’s top Department of Justice (DOJ) lawyers, act like they’re accountable to nobody, especially to Congress — even though Congress has constitutional oversight responsibility. As readily seen every day in media reports, those same top government lawyers act the same way toward the office of the president. And recent media reports those same government lawyers are now acting like that to federal judges. The power of our federal government is massive, indeed. The DOJ and its top career lawyers can easily destroy the life of any American they disagree with politically. Yet that’s exactly what happening today. No doubt it’s hard to focus beyond our daily lives and local politics. But what’s hap- pening today to the presidency is bad news for American democracy. DON HASKELL Astoria Storytelling key to a joy-filled lifestyle W e think in narratives all day long, and it doesn’t seem to matter if they’re about buying groceries or what we think about work, our spouse or anything else. We make up stories for just about every action and conversation. Twenty-five hundred years ago, Homer spun a mesmerizing tale about the Trojan horse. The Greek playwrights conjured great stories. Shakespeare’s renowned for his nar- ratives. And the Bible provides a plethora of memorable stories. Stories can put my whole brain to work in a wide variety of formats. “The Tale of Peter Rabbit,” “The Little Prince,” and Dr. Seuss’s “The Cat in the Hat” were an important part of my childhood. I later discovered some of the greatest sto- ries ever told: short stories like O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Maji,” Ambrose Bierce’s “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” Leo Tolstoy’s “The Death of Ivan Ilyich” and per- haps the very best of all, James Thurber’s “The Catbird Seat” and “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.” Comedians Jim Gaffigan, Dave Chapelle and Chris Rock spin good yarns. Movies like “Citizen Kane” captivate me with their compelling stories. And musicians like Harry Chapin (“Cat’s in the Cradle”) also offer good stories. I’ll always treasure the piercing wit of the most honored columnist in history, Chicagoan Mike Royko. And I value the many, well-re- garded Daily Astorian and Chinook Observer storytellers. I think we’re hard-wired for stories. For me, storytelling holds the key to a joy-filled lifestyle. ROBERT BRAKE Ocean Park, Washington Astoria is a wonderfully kind city O n Saturday evening, May 5, I attended a festival at the Liberty Theatre. I thor- oughly enjoyed it all. The one thing I want to mention is how kind so many people are. I am pushing 95, walk with a cane, and don’t move very quickly. I had to park behind the Wells Fargo Bank, and when I came up to cross to the theater, a man stepped up and said, “would you like help?” — and gave me his arm as we crossed the street. I proceeded inside, got my ticket, and was going in to take a seat, when a man said, “could I help you down the aisle?” I took his arm and he walked with me until I found an empty seat. When the show was over, and I got up to leave, here was the same man who came down to walk me out. How nice! Then I got out to cross Commercial Street again, and a young man asked me if I would like help crossing, and he walked me close to my car and didn’t leave until I was inside. Astoria is a wonderfully kind city. I was very grateful for the assistance. MARIE HAGLUND Astoria Thanks to Port officials for speaking to class A ll our presenters in Exploring New Concepts Of Retirement Education’s (ENCORE) classes on the U.S. Constitu- tion and local governments have enriched our knowledge of the entities they represent. The May 3 session featured Port Commission President Frank Spence and Port Executive Director Jim Knight. Both men provided the members of my class an excellent opportunity for direct contact. Most of us knew those gentlemen only through the newspapers; the opportunity to hear and observe them much improved our understanding of the Port’s situation and its leaders. In spite of their travails, both leaders answered our many questions with alacrity, and exuded an optimism that bodes well for an agency of vital importance to our city and the entire county. We thank and wish them well. ERHARD GROSS Astoria
