HONORING OUR LOCAL FIREFIGHTERS INSIDE »
146TH YEAR, NO. 71
DailyAstorian.com // MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2018
Local kiln impact
spans Pacific Rim
ONE DOLLAR
Mitchell,
Lower
compete
for House
Democrat has the
edge in fundraising
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
Photos by Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian
Richard Rowland, a local ceramicist and college instructor, spent two days loading his new anagama kiln.
A contingent
of Maori helps
christen new kiln
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
See ELECTION, Page 4A
R
ichard Rowland’s Astoria Dragon
Kiln, built in 1981, has impacted
thousands of people, from local
friends and his students at Clatsop
Community College to visiting artists from
around the world, including indigenous
Maori clay workers from New Zealand.
When it came time to name and christen
the kiln’s new-and-improved successor, built
over the past several years, Rowland, who is
Native Hawaiian, reached out to his Polyne-
sian brethren from across the Pacific Ocean.
A contingent of visiting Maori art-
ists from the country’s national clay work-
ing collective on Sunday named the kiln
Ahikaaroa, or long-burning fire, in honor of
two of their late founders, before starting the
inaugural firing.
Anagama, translated to cave kiln, is an
ancient method of clay-firing brought to
Japan in the fifth century from Korea and
China that involves building a kiln cham-
ber into a sloping tunnel. A friend origi-
nally brought the idea of an anagama kiln to
Rowland from Asia, feeling it would fit with
the abundance and topography of the North
Coast.
“We had a lot of wood,” said Rowland,
a ceramicist. “The slope was right. It fit the
ecological situation.”
See KILN, Page 7A
With the November election a month
away, Democrat Tiffiny Mitchell has the
edge over Republican Vineeta Lower in
fundraising and name recognition in the state
House District 32 race to replace Rep. Deb-
orah Boone.
Mitchell, a first-time candidate who
moved to Oregon several years ago from
Utah, scored an upset victory in the Dem-
ocratic primary in
May over Tim Josi,
a Tillamook County
commissioner and
former state law-
maker
heavily
backed by industry
and political incumbents. As of Friday,
Mitchell had raised nearly $177,000 in cash,
along with more than $95,000 worth of
in-kind contributions.
Aside from environmental and women’s
groups, some of Mitchell’s biggest backers
have been public-sector labor unions.
“The reason I’ve accepted support from
those types of organizations is because they
represent values that I already have, and hon-
estly I think values that many people in our
district have,” she said. “And that is to pro-
tect working people and to make sure that
people have a voice at the table in terms of
what’s fair for their working conditions.”
Mitchell, a social worker for the state
Department of Human Services, is a mem-
ber of the Service Employees Interna-
tional Union and a participant in the Pub-
Ruri, a Japanese clay artist from Sheridan, helped stick wadding to the
bottom of pieces being fired in the anagama kiln.
Minimall
melds around
auto glass shop
An eclectic pod
emerges in Warrenton
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
Wi Taepa, an indigenous artist from New Zealand, carved a dome into a
support beam to implant a river rock as part of the kawe mate, a traditional
mourning ceremony.
WARRENTON — An organically grown
minimall with coffee, beer, pastries, Mex-
ican food, a bike mechanic and auto glass
repair is forming along Marlin Avenue in
Warrenton.
Don Bacon, who owns Atlantis Auto
Glass, has built out a central lounge for peo-
ple to hang out in and nicknamed the busi-
nesses around it Building 1140 after the
address. He has populated the building with
Bike Envy; Bohdan’s cafe; and Guadalajara
Combo, a food truck parked outside.
“It doesn’t seem like it goes together, but
people just accept it, like, ‘Aw; that’s cool,’”
he said.
See BUILDING, Page 7A
From Pelican Brewing to prime time
Manzanita woman
breaks through on
TV with her music
By BRENNA VISSER
The Daily Astorian
M
ANZANITA — Music was
never supposed to be Anica
Stemper’s career.
Whenever she had a free moment
growing up, she was most likely singing,
playing around on the piano or pluck-
ing at her guitar. She has always loved
music, but figured her songwriting would
always stay a hobby.
So it’s surreal for the Manzanita resi-
dent to hear her own music on television
shows.
“It’s really cool, honestly,” Stemper
said. “There’s a sense of accomplish-
ment, for sure, knowing I’ve gotten this
far.”
But before entering the entertainment
industry, the Southern California native
was set to follow her other passion at San
Diego State University: writing.
“I thought I’d get sick of (music) if I
pursued it as a career,” she said.
Brenna Visser/The Daily Astorian
See EDP, Page 4A
Anica Stemper works at Pelican Brewing in Cannon Beach and is a
musician.