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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JUNE 15, 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
OUR VIEWS
J.C. Penney
project part of
Astoria’s comeback
bsentee landlords are the bane
Restoration Inc., a local nonprofit,
of small towns. When they
took ownership of the derelict Liberty
lack pride in the city, it shows
Theatre. The building was owned by
in their buildings. Sometimes these
a Los Angeles man who was a lawyer
property owners are slumlords. But not
and accountant. Recognizing the impor-
always. They also can be large corpora-
tance of taking the building’s ownership
tions whose strategies no longer include
local, the Astoria City Council made a
large buildings on main streets.
$1.3 million grant to assist the purchase
The latter describes the
and begin the theater’s
empty J.C. Penney building
restoration.
on Astoria’s Commercial
When you see improve-
‘Repurposing ment
Street. In a move that only
in Astoria’s built envi-
the J.C.
makes sense in the higher
ronment, it is often because
stratosphere of finance, the
an owner who lives here is
Penney
company abandoned the
investing in the town. That
building
will
Astoria store, even though
is what’s happened with the
it was highly and consis-
be a new and derelict Flavel properties.
tently profitable over a long
And this upward momen-
significant
period.
tum will be repeated with
chapter in
The decision to close
the Waldorf Hotel, if its
the store — announced
would-be developer gains
Astoria’s
early last year — was an
financing.
rebirth.’
earthquake.
A small town’s comeback
News that Sean
begins when it gains new
Fitzpatrick has purchased
blood. That happened in
the J.C. Penney property is significant
2010 when Sean Fitzpatrick and Anne
for at least two reasons. First of all, it
Carpenter moved here. They began pur-
takes the building away from an absen-
chasing Astoria apartment properties in
tee landlord and puts it in local hands.
2003. Fitzpatrick and Carpenter have
Secondly, Fitzpatrick’s collaboration
contributed to many aspects of Astoria’s
with chef Chris Holen of Baked Alaska
culture while maintaining a significant
promises to make the building a new
amount of its housing stock.
draw on Commercial Street.
Repurposing the J.C. Penney build-
This pattern of redemption began
ing will be a new and significant chapter
some 18 years ago when Liberty
in Astoria’s rebirth.
A
Brenna Visser/The Daily Astorian
Jonathan Jessop works on a windmill structure during the Cannon Beach Sandcastle
Contest last Saturday.
Festivals define our
region for the visitor
W
e have entered the season
of the festival, bringing a
bundle of arts and culture to
our region.
The Astoria Musical Festival opens
today and runs through July 1, packing
the town with musicians and concert-
goers. It has become one of summer’s
delights, as its events occupy the histori-
cal Liberty Theatre, the Performing Arts
Center and the acoustically resonant
Grace Episcopal Church.
The Cannon Beach Sandcastle
Contest last weekend will be fol-
lowed by the Astoria Scandinavian
Midsummer Festival and the Cannon
Beach Comedy Festival this weekend.
The Water Music Festival on the Long
Beach Peninsula appears in three install-
ments, beginning in July and ending
in December. And August features the
Astoria Regatta and Washington State
International Kite Festival.
Some of these events — such as
the Hood to Coast Run that finishes on
Seaside’s beach just before Labor Day
— test the carrying capacity of our com-
munities. But many others are a com-
fortable boost for our shops, restaurants
and museums.
For many visitors, these festivals
define our region. Of course, that’s not
everything we are. But it’s not a bad
way to be described.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Trump’s foreign policy
strategy is different
shake my head whenever media pundits
ridicule President Trump for doing for-
eign relations wrong. Trump’s strategy is
just profoundly different. His latest North
Korea initiative is a good example. Presi-
dent Trump acted like a 72-year-old father
with Kim Jong Un as the 34-year-old errant
son.
Remember the letter President Trump
sent to Kim Jong Un when he canceled their
proposed meeting two weeks before it was
to have been held? The letter followed clas-
sic strategy of a father to a son, with the
father having appreciation and optimism
but strongly disapproving of unacceptable
behavior by the son.
That different strategy of one head of
state to another resulted in Trump’s having
a face-to-face meeting with North Korea.
That’s something Washington establish-
ment’s career politicians haven’t been able
to do since the end of the Korean war 70
years ago.
President Trump’s foreign relations strat-
egy is also different regarding foreign trade.
For many years, Washington’s career poli-
ticians have allowed other countries to take
jobs away from American workers. High
foreign tariffs make it impossible for Amer-
ican companies to manufacture many things
for sale abroad. Yet Washington imposes
few, if any, tariffs on goods made by for-
eigners and sold here. That situation is very
unfair to American workers.
The Democratic Party’s opposition, high-
lighted by Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep.
Nancy Pelosi, to correct unfair foreign trade
imbalance is an astonishing development.
Democrats have moved so far left that their
party no longer advocates for working folks.
I never expected that to happen.
DON HASKELL
Astoria
cially when no laws were broken, smacks
of antebellum South and Nazi concentration
camps. There is a small comfort knowing
that American World War II Japanese intern-
ment camps kept families together.
How did our beloved U.S. come to this?
Why are we so afraid of … everything?
RD SMITH
Gearhart
Don’t separate immigrant
children from parents
Good luck to this year’s
high school graduates
nly an un-human, inhumane, sick per-
son would separate children from their
healthy, caring parents.
MONICA TAYLOR
Astoria
I
I
O
Why are we so
afraid of everything?
ur government’s practice of separat-
ing children from their parents at the
border, then hiding those kids away, espe-
O
couldn’t be more proud of all the 2018
graduates. To those who know where you
are going next, and/or what you want to
do with your lives, and to those who don’t
have a clue. I was a member of the second
group when I graduated in 1969. I loved art
and science, skiing and psychology. I didn’t
know what I wanted to be when I grew up.
I know that some of the graduates are in
this pickle, too. Let the pickle be your guide.
Take classes in subjects in which you know
nothing. Think about going to community
college for your basics — save money, and
stay close to home. Write to people you
would like to meet, or whom you would like
to be your mentors. Get a summer job in
sectors that interest you . You will get first-
hand experience that will help you land a
job later, when you finish your degree.
If you are not going the academic route,
think about a trade. The world will always
need technicians in all sectors, and some of
these degrees can be earned in two years.
Travel the world. Keep in close touch with
your family, wherever you find yourself.
Good luck, and have fun, whatever you do.
REP. DEBORAH BOONE
Cannon Beach
How will we look
at this in the future?
hy did we inter Japanese families here
in the U.S. during World War II? How
did good people stand by and let equally
good families be subjected to such cruel
treatment? Why was this permitted? These
people were not a threat.
What were we thinking? Fear? I have
W
wondered about this, about a very shameful
chapter in our history. I know, we were pre-
occupied. And the past is the past. Nothing
we can do to change what happened then.
In the last five weeks alone, over 1,000
families crossing the border from Mex-
ico, many running from great dangers, have
been torn apart, with the children whisked
away to foster homes, or “somewhere else.”
Our Sen. Jeff Merkley went to one of these
“somewhere else” places, a vacant Walmart
with the windows all blacked out, (no play
yard here) for a tour.
Did he, a U.S. senator on a fact-finding
mission, get to see how many children were
there? And under what conditions these chil-
dren were being held? No. He was not only
turned away without a tour, but they called
the cops on him. You can see this on Face-
book at bit.ly/2HhWDhy
So I ask, what is going on in that build-
ing? Where is the accountability? How can
this be happening? How will we look back
on this in the future, and say we stood by
and did nothing?
CAROL LUCAS
Gearhart