The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current, August 08, 2018, Page 4A, Image 4

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    4A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 8, 2018
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
Publisher
JIM VAN NOSTRAND
Editor
Founded in 1873
JEREMY FELDMAN
Circulation Manager
DEBRA BLOOM
Business Manager
Water
under
the bridge
CARL EARL
Systems Manager
A locked room in the basement of the Clatsop
courthouse bulged, piled high with gambling devices
and other paraphernalia seized by more than 30 law
enforcement officers in raids of taverns and private
clubs throughout the county.
Officers, in two-man teams under the direction
of District Attorney Frank J. Coumont, raided 15
establishments from 9:30 a.m. until noon. The Clat-
sop County raid was in concert with others in Mult-
nomah, Marion, Clackamas, Columbia and Wash-
ington counties. Target of the gambling crackdown
was a tab-pull gaming board that constitutes a lot-
tery, according to Coumont.
Thirteen slot machines, two electrically operated
pinball machines, one crap table and numerous tab-
pull boards were netted in the county, largest of any
county raid.
Compiled by Bob Duke
From the pages of Astoria’s daily newspapers
10 years ago
this week — 2008
The newest Coast Guard rescue boat debuted at Station
Cape Disappointment, where crews plan to push her to the
limits in the Graveyard of the Pacific.
A large audience including Coast Guard personnel from
Kent, Washington, Yorktown, Virginia, Astoria and Cape “D”
gathered at the docks for the grand arrival of the new response
boat, Medium, making sure the prototype — the second deliv-
ered so far and the only one on the West Coast — was settled
in at her new home.
JOHN D. BRUIJN
Production Manager
2008: The Coast Guard response boat Medium leaves
the docks of Station Cape Disappointment carrying 17
personnel on a test drive. The new boat was brought
to Cape D for testing in some of the challenging
conditions around the mouth of the Columbia River.
50 years ago — 1968
Kris Daehler had set the wheels in motion for a
new form of transit in Astoria.
With a city permit in hand, a new shop down-
town and three pedal-powered taxis in his garage,
Daehler planned to launch Astoria Pedal Cab ser-
vice this month.
But don’t expect a ride too soon.
Five insurance agents produced one quote, and
the cost was higher than what Daehler plans to
make off his business this year. A similar business
sputtered in Seaside as it battled for a place on the
road.
Even with a national move toward alterna-
tive modes of transportation, starting up an eco-
friendly business like Astoria Pedal Cam remains
an uphill battle.
When the trial of the Astoria bridge suit started
April 2, it was estimated it would last about four
weeks.
Four months and four days later, Marion County
circuit court observers are saying it might not be fin-
ished until late September.
Attorneys and judges say it probably is Oregon’s
longest trial in history.
The State Highway Commission is suing the
DeLong Corp. of Brooklyn, N.Y., for $5.3 million. It
claims that DeLong abandoned its contract to con-
struct 32 piers to carry the bridge across the mouth
of the Columbia River from Astoria to Megler,
Washington.
After a meeting with city of Newport leaders and two air-
lines, Port of Astoria Executive Director Jack Crider said
Cape Air of Massachusetts was the obvious choice to provide
passenger service between the coast and Portland.
“Certainly as far as experience and their aircraft they were
definitely ahead,” he said.
But the selection may be clouded by complaints about the
process from a third airline.
An attorney for Portland-based SeaPort Airlines attended
the meeting. SeaPort, which flies between Portland and Seat-
tle, was included in the request for proposals but never sub-
mitted a proposal. .
The idea of including Highway 30 from Portland to Asto-
ria in the federal interstate-defense highway system has been
pushed by local interests almost from the start of the interstate
system, but with no luck so far.
The idea is far from dead, however.
Last year Sens. Wayne Morse and Mark Hatfield intro-
duced legislation to include this 95-mile segment in the big
federal system. Now Sen. Hatfield has informed the Astoria
chamber of commerce that a conference committee in con-
gress has approved a $21 billion measure to continue the inter-
state-defense system and add 1,500 miles to its present 41,00
authorized miles.
75 years ago — 1943
A proclamation by Gov. Earl Snell closed Oregon beaches
to the public during the hours of darkness.
The regulation was in conformance with a request by the
western defense command. The army and coast guard main-
tain constant patrol of the coast, and the unrestricted use of
beaches has made their work difficult, it was explained.
Gov. Snell’s regulation declared that, “In an area in the
state of Oregon on the Pacific coast, between the mouth of the
Columbia River and Oregon-California boarder and extend-
ing 10 miles inland during the hours between sunset and sun-
rise the building of outdoor fires, the use or manipulation of
flashlights, flares, or other devices in a way that might assist or
guide enemy forces, loitering or moving about on the beaches
shall be a misdemeanor and punishable for same as provided
by statute.”
Washington beaches have been closed to public use since
March 7, 1942.
Walney Wallace, Astoria boy home on furlough
from training for overseas duty, told a tale to warm
the hearts of all baseball fans. He attended a double-
header in Philadelphia on Sunday, Aug. 2. The Phil-
adelphia Athletics were pitted against the Chicago
Cubs.
Young Wallace left the field early and as he
walked along the outside of the field fence he was
arrested by shouting. Before he could look out as the
shouts told him to, he was hit with a hard whack on
the back.
Then before he had recovered from the daze of
the shock, he was seized by policemen, a baseball
was thrust in his hand and he was escorted to Phil-
adelphia’s dugout. There the ball was autographed
by the players and by Connie Mack, manager for
the Athletics, and given to the Astorian.
OTHER VIEWS
Excerpts from newspaper editorials around
the state.
The (Roseburg) News-Review,
on transgender students
and bathrooms
t’s hard being an adolescent. We all remem-
ber the insecurity, the embarrassment of bod-
ies run amok, the struggle for identity, the jock-
eying for status.
Using the bathrooms and locker rooms at
school is just one more reminder how awkward
it is. It would be nice if adequate stalls without
gaps were available to shield everyone, male
or female, going to the toilet, or changing or
showering.
But dudes have been managing with the uri-
nals for quite awhile now, and there are usually
stalls available for the extra-modest student.
So we couldn’t help but raise our eye-
brows when we read in his attorney’s letter that
a young man called “T.B.” was feeling “tre-
mendous anxiety” because a transgender stu-
dent who identifies as male was using the same
bathroom he was. T.B.’s mom is suing the
Sutherlin School District, calling out the trans-
gender student, Tyler, and seeking to bar him
from using the boys’ bathroom.
Poor Tyler. He has found himself on the cut-
ting edge of the culture war in a small town
where the battles can get vicious. He was born
with female genitalia but identifies as a boy.
He’s a member of a small minority, and one
that has a much more credible claim to anxiety,
not to mention depression and other ailments,
largely as a result of the discrimination, bigotry
and hatred they face on a daily basis.
Because let’s be crystal clear. The victim in
this situation isn’t T.B. It’s Tyler.
The director of Basic Rights Oregon called
this case an example of “bullying by lawsuit.”
We agree.
There was a time when white people
didn’t want to share bathrooms with African
Americans.
There was a time when it wasn’t legal in
most of the country for two members of the
same sex to marry each other.
Then, most people just got over it. ... Until
they found somebody else to pick on.
I
The Yamhill Valley News-Register,
on RV dwellers
cMinnville is in the process of learning
something every parent discovers: It’s
easier to issue orders than force compliance.
So it is with the number of homeless RV
dwellers the city is trying to evict from Marsh
Lane and Dustin Court.
The city can assess all the fines it wants.
But if it isn’t prepared to evict RV occupants
by force or tow an occupied RV — which most
would agree is out of reasonable proportion —
M
it could well face a protracted stalemate.
As Police Chief Matt Scales acknowledged,
“The city would not be towing RVs with peo-
ple still inside of them. That goes without
saying.”
Understandably, residents of the two
affected neighborhoods long ago passed the
point of frustration. They won’t be satisfied
until the offending encampments have been
cleared and can’t understand why the city is
having such a tough time with the task.
Do Waco, Ruby Ridge and the Malheur
National Wildlife Refuge ring any bells? How
about the more recent protest encampment at
ICE headquarters in Portland?
The fact is, people resistant to moving on
are hard to force out. Escalation to the use of
force can quickly produce disastrous results.
The RV dwellers are in desperate straits.
Barely scraping by, they don’t regard pulling
up stakes and moving on as a viable option.
We see no advantage to anyone in mov-
ing them downtown to church parking lots, as
some have suggested. That simply promises to
inflame a different neighborhood, one that has
already borne more than its share of the home-
less burden, because of earlier olive branches
extended by downtown churches.
If they can’t gain access to alternative hous-
ing, the RV dwellers want a hassle-free place to
park their rigs. That’s the bottom line for them,
and by extension then, for the city.
The (Medford) Mail Tribune, on
guns and dementia
eople with dementia who own guns pose a
threat to themselves or others, but remov-
ing their access to firearms can be easier said
than done. As is often the case with guns, there
is no simple answer, no piece of legislation that
will remove every risk. Instead, family members
must be prepared to take responsibility.
A recent report from Kaiser Health News laid
out the problem in detail, including accounts of
a retired police chief in Oregon who acciden-
tally shot his wife while handling his guns, and
an Idaho man who shot his son-in-law in a fit of
rage.
Those are anecdotes. The available data sug-
gest there will be more.
While the rate of dementia is decreasing, the
number of people over 65 is soaring. And a 2017
survey found that 45 percent of those have guns
in their household.
What the NRA and other gun-rights advo-
cates routinely argue is that existing laws should
be fully enforced before new ones are adopted.
Federal law already says people declared not
competent to manage their own affairs may not
P
purchase or own guns. But merely being diag-
nosed with dementia does not count.
Oregon is one of a handful of states that has
adopted so-called red flag laws, which allow law
enforcement or family members to seek a court
order to temporarily seize guns from people
who pose a threat to themselves or others. That
requires family members to take legal action
against a loved one who may resist their efforts.
That’s not an easy thing to do.
A better approach would be to address the
issue early, when the person’s dementia is first
diagnosed. Families can draw up a “gun trust”
that spells out how firearms will be transferred
to family members as the affected person’s
dementia progresses — essentially an advance
directive for guns. If the discussion happens
soon after the diagnosis, and the gun owner
cooperates, that can make the process easier.
Doctors, too, should routinely ask about guns
in the home when they discuss a diagnosis of
dementia with patients and their families. But
violence prevention researchers say doctors are
more likely to discuss driving than guns. That’s
not acceptable.
Yes, we know: Driving is a privilege, and
gun ownership is a constitutional right. But both
can become deadly in the wrong hands, and peo-
ple with advanced dementia should not have
access to either.