3A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, JULY 16, 2018
Astoria celebrates Ghadar Party
Event honors
Indian culture
By KATIE
FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
John Dudley
An elk dines on some Gearhart shrubbery.
Gearhart urged to
ban elk feeding
By R.J. MARX
The Daily Astorian
GEARHART — A resi-
dent wants Gearhart to pro-
hibit people from feeding
elk.
The animals, known to
block traffic, dine on gar-
dens and occasionally men-
ace dogs or visitors, have
become an increasing source
of concern.
Bebe Michel said she was
inspired after attending town
halls with Oregon Depart-
ment of Fish and Wildlife
officials this spring in Gear-
hart and Warrenton.
Warrenton has an ordi-
nance that prohibits elk
feeding.
“In the interest of pub-
lic safety and the elk herd,
I ask the city draft an ordi-
nance prohibiting the feed-
ing of elk,” Michel told
the City Council last week.
“From that Warrenton meet-
ing, it became clear that the
feeding of elk — for exam-
ple, hand-feeding apples —
habituated the elk to view
humans as a food source.”
In Warrenton, feeding
wildlife other than songbirds
or squirrels comes with pen-
alties as high as $250 per
offense.
“Please do both humans
and elk a favor — do not feed
the elk,” Michel said.
Mayor Matt Brown said
the city would “definitely
have those conversations,”
with a council goal-setting
session set for July 24 at City
Hall.
It might be hard to believe
the history of East Indian work-
ers in Astoria was nearly for-
gotten when an event celebrat-
ing the founding of an Indian
radical nationalist party here
in 1913 and the city’s efforts
to commemorate that history
drew several hundred people
Saturday.
State officials who attended
discussed plans to introduce the
Ghadar Party into school cur-
riculum. Members of Astoria’s
present-day Indian community
hope it is the first of many such
cultural celebrations to come.
Like others, Sameer Sharma,
who owns the Hampton Inn &
Suites in Astoria, didn’t know
about the East Indians who once
lived in Astoria when he moved
here. He said it is important to
celebrate this history and what
he sees as a history of accep-
tance by Astorians. He and oth-
ers also believe the celebrations
will be good for Astoria, bring-
ing in visitors and helping boost
the economy.
Most of the audience and
nearly all the performers and
speakers at Saturday’s event
were Indian. People traveled
from across the West Coast to
attend, and banners for Sikh
organizations in Oregon and
Washington state were on
display.
Historian Johanna Ogden
first published information
about how East Indians, many
of them Sikhs from India’s Pun-
jab region, came to Oregon to
work in the early 20th century
and settled in Astoria’s Alder-
brook neighborhood in a 2012
article. Ogden wrote about how
ABOVE Performers
en-
tertain the audience at an
event celebrating the Gha-
dar Party in Astoria.
RIGHT The audience at
an event put on by the Sikh
community in Astoria claps
during a performance.
Eric. B. Williams
the workers founded the Gha-
dar Party, a group that later
fought for Indian independence
from British rule.
After learning of this history,
Astoria leaders advocated for
a plaque at Maritime Memo-
rial Park in 2013. The plaque
was stolen in 2017. Oregon and
Astoria officials and members
of regional Sikh communities
rededicated a new plaque for
the Ghadar Party on a stormy
day this spring.
The event Saturday, held
at Maritime Memorial Park,
included singing, speeches, tra-
ditional food and dance and
martial arts demonstrations.
Oregon leaders, including state
Sen. Betsy Johnson, D-Scap-
poose, and Attorney Gen-
eral Ellen Rosenblum, were in
attendance, along with local
elected officials.
SUB-BIDS
REQUESTED
Seaside School
District
New Middle/High
Schools
Seaside, Oregon
Putin says he wanted Trump to win in 2016
Russian claims
no meddling to
help Trump
By JONATHAN
LEMIRE, JILL COLVIN
and VLADIMIR
ISACHENKOV
Associated Press
HELSINKI — Russia’s
Vladimir Putin said today he
did want Donald Trump to win
the 2016 U.S. presidential elec-
tion but took no action during
the campaign to make it hap-
pen. He said he favored the
celebrity businessman because
of his policies.
Trump and Putin “spent a
great deal of time” discussing
allegations of Russian election
meddling as they met for several
hours, the U.S. president said.
But Trump did not strongly con-
demn the interference efforts,
which U.S. intelligence agen-
cies insist did occur, including
hacking of Democratic emails,
the subject of last week’s indict-
ment of 12 Russians.
Trump said, as he has count-
less times, that there was “no
collusion” between his cam-
paign and the Russians. Putin,
as always, denied all. The two
leaders spoke at a joint news
conference.
Trump, in opening remarks,
said that U.S.-Russia relations
had been at their lowest point
until the two sat down face-
to-face in a highly-anticipated
summit.
“That changed,” Trump
said, “As of about four hours
ago.”
AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko
Russian President Vladimir Putin gives a soccer ball to Pres-
ident Donald Trump, left, during a press conference after
their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, Finland.
Trump also continued
to deny that there had been
any other collusion between
his campaign and Russians,
declaring: “We ran a brilliant
campaign and that’s why I’m
president.”
The summit began just
hours after Trump blamed
the United States — and not
Russian election meddling or
its annexation of Crimea —
for a low-point in U.S.-Rus-
sia relations. The drama was
playing out against a back-
drop of fraying Western alli-
ances, a new peak in the Rus-
sia investigation and fears that
Moscow’s aggression may go
unchallenged.
“Our relationship with
Russia has NEVER been
worse,” Trump tweeted this
morning, blaming “many
years of U.S. foolishness and
stupidity and now, the Rigged
Witch Hunt!”
WANTED
Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber
Northwest Hardwoods • Longview, WA
The Russian foreign min-
istry responded by liking
Trump’s tweet and then reply-
ing: “We agree.”
Asked about the tweet
and whether he held Rus-
sia responsible for anything,
Trump said he held “both
countries responsible,” thinks
the United States has been
“fooling” and that “we’re all
to blame.”
“The probe is a disaster for
our country. There was no col-
lusion at all.”
Putin, speaking through
an interpreter, once again
denied what he described as
“so-called interference of Rus-
sia.” He called it “nonsense”
and insisted the Russian state
had never interfered and
would never interfere in the
American electoral process.
The pair had opened their
long-awaited summit with a
wink and slouch, respectively,
then talked one on one behind
closed doors for two-plus
hours before the American
leader declared their meeting
was off to a “very, very good
start for everybody.”
“We have not been getting
along well for the last num-
ber of years,” Trump said after
arriving at the Presidential
Palace in Finland’s capital,
where the leaders are meet-
ing. “But I think we will end
up having an extraordinary
relationship. … I really think
the world wants to see us get
along.”
Putin, for his part, said he
and Trump have maintained
regular contact through phone
calls and meetings at interna-
tional events but “the time has
come to have a thorough dis-
cussion on various interna-
tional problems and sensitive
issues.” He added: “There are
quite a few of them for us to
pay attention to.”
Their opening one-on-one
session had been scheduled to
run 90 minutes. The Russians
said it lasted two hours and
10 minutes. The White House
wouldn’t immediately con-
firm the timing.
The summit, which is being
closely watched around the
world, was not the first time
Trump and Putin have held
Bid Package: #3
talks. They met on the side-
lines of world leader meet-
ings in Germany and Vietnam
last year. But today’s session
was condemned in advance
by members of Congress from
both parties after the U.S.
indictment last week of 12
Russian military intelligence
officers accused of hacking
Democrats in the 2016 elec-
tion to help Trump’s presiden-
tial campaign.
Trump said last week that
he would raise the meddling
issue again with Putin, but
questions have been swirl-
ing about whether Trump will
sharply and publicly rebuke
his Russian counterpart for
the interference that prompted
a special investigation probe
that Trump has repeatedly
labeled a “witch hunt.”
Facade and Roof
(Includes Metal Panels,
Roofing, Masonry, Curtainwall
& Storefront and Windows)
Pre-Bid Meeting:
July 20th 10:00am
(Portland & Seaside locations)
Bids Due:
July 31st 2:00pm
Bid Documents:
www.hoffmancorp.com/subcontractors
805 SW Broadway, Suite 2100
Portland, OR 97205
Phone (503) 221-8811
Bid Fax (503) 221-8888
BIDS@hoffmancorp.com
Hoffman is an equal opportunity employer
and requests sub-bids from all interested
firms including disadvantaged, minority,
women, disabled veterans and emerging
small-business enterprises
OR CCB#28417/LIC HOFFMCC164NC
Home Equity Loans
to Jump For
Up to 100% of your home’s
value for a home equity loan, less
what you owe. Pay little to no
fees, and no closing costs
except escrow and appraisal if
needed. Fantastic rates. Call
or visit us today!
Mark & Kerri Scroggins,
Fibre Family Members since 1992
Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500
Fre
e
Est Fast
ima
tes
Call me
ti
Any
Jeff Hale Painting
•
•
•
•
Residential
Commercial
Cedar Roof Treatments
Exterior Repaint Specialist
www.tlcfcu.org • 503.842.7523
85 W. Marine Dr. Astoria
2315 N. Roosevelt Dr. Seaside
Over 25 years local experience
503-440-2169
Jeff Hale,
Contractor
LICENSED
BONDED
INSURED
CCB#179131
A DIVISION OF
CREDIT UNION