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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, APRIL 12, 2019
Studio: ‘It’s pretty cool for Astoria’s music scene’
Continued from Page A1
Community Radio, wired a post-pro-
duction station along the wall for both
digital and analog recordings . A cen-
tral impetus for starting a studio was a
24-track tape machine he brought back
from Nashville and rehabbed.
“I’m really excited to have the
1970s analog tape machine that’s just
known for having a classic sound and
is a big part of what you love about
some of those records from that era,”
he said. “And then we’ve got the full
modern digital capabilities as well, so
it’s kind of the best of both worlds.”
Caitlyn Faircloth, of the local
band Monica and the Shy Boys, was
recently in the Rope Room producing
the band’s crowdfunded debut album,
one of the fi rst productions coming
out of the studio .
“It’s pretty cool for Astoria’s
music scene,” Faircloth said. “This
is a really great space to be available
for all the artists here. I did not think
my album would be able to sound the
way it’s sounding.”
Helping her were fellow local
musicians Kati Claborn and Olaf
Ydstie. Everyone involved in the for-
mation of the Rope Room is a musi-
cian themselves, and many play in
each other’s bands, Ydstie said.
“It just kind of turns into a
pretty cool pile of a lot of folks
doing a lot of stuff together,” he
said.
Bovenizer estimates between 15
and 20 bands in his circle of Asto-
ria friends alone. Traveling to Port-
land for studio time can run a band
between $500 and $1,000 a day, with
no guarantee they’ll be happy with
the fi nished product when they get
home, he said.
“If you spend your whole budget
tracking and mixing, then you’ve got
nothing left for mastering and dupli-
cation and the artwork and stuff.
Hopefully this creates capacity for all
those other steps to get the treatment,
the resources that are required to take
it to the fi nish line.”
The Rope Room isn’t the fi rst
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
A retaining wall helps keep a section of Highway 202 from
sliding and causing more damage.
Sinkhole: Highway will
still be slumped until
permanent repair is possible
Continued from Page A1
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Kati Claborn monitors the recording equipment at the Rope Room.
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Caitlyn Faircloth, left, and Olaf Ydstie,
right, lay down a track in the Rope
Room recording studio in Astoria.
effort to provide a hub for regional
artists. Jim Dwyer and Greg Dun-
can in the 2000s opened the Sound
Bank, a recording studio and perfor-
mance venue inside the former Asto-
ria Bank building at Duane and 12th
streets.
The building was later sold
and turned into a wedding venue
and eventually the Museum of
Whimsy.
Vaping: ‘I encourage
you to simply say ‘no’’
Continued from Page A1
thousands of people quit
smoking.
“How many doctors can
say that?” he asked, add-
ing if the new tax passed he
would move to New Mexico
or Nevada.
Others had a differ-
ent take. On Wednesday,
three high school girls testi-
fi ed that vaping, specifi cally
using the popular electronic
cigarette product Juul, has
interrupted their education.
Students can vape in class,
in the bathroom or anywhere
else because the product is so
discrete, they testifi ed.
According to the non-
profi t Truth Initiative, Juul
sales increased 641 percent
from 2016 to 2017.
Tess Wright, of Beaverton
High School, said Juul is fol-
lowing Big Tobacco’s play-
book, even turning the use
of the product into a verb:
“juuling.”
The next day, Max
Behlke, a tax policy analyst
for Juul Labs, said the com-
pany’s goal is to rid the world
of cigarettes. However, in
December, Altria, one of the
largest cigarette-makers in
the world, announced a $13
billion investment in Juul.
Behlke also argued that
an increase in the cigarette
tax would just grow the
black market, saying such
an issue occurred in New
York.
Last month, Jon Hart,
an economist for the Ore-
gon Department of Reve-
nue, told the committee that
Washingtonians buy a signif-
icant amount of cigarettes in
Oregon and smuggle it back
because of the tax disparity.
The proposed tax increase
would put Oregon closer to
the taxing level of Wash-
ington state and California.
Idaho would still be signifi -
cantly lower, Hart said, but
the eastern part of the state
is so sparsely populated
that he didn’t think a signif-
icant number of Oregonians
would drive east to save a
couple of dollars per pack.
On Wednesday, several
witnesses said an increase
in cigarette taxes would hurt
small retailers like gas sta-
tions and convenience stores.
Kole Olinger, manager at
Jacksons Food Stores, testi-
fi ed that cigarettes made up
a third of the in-store sales at
their gas station convenience
stores. Cigarettes bring peo-
ple into the store and then
they buy other products, he
said.
The proposals, however,
have strong backing.
Brown testifi ed Wednes-
day that the tax increase
would generate $346 million
as part of a six-year revenue
package to stabilize funding
for the Oregon Health Plan.
It would also price smokers,
particularly younger ones,
out of the habit, she said.
Bud Pierce, an oncolo-
gist who ran against Brown
in 2016, agreed with Brown
that the tax would save lives.
“Cigarettes are a unique
product,” he said. “When
used as directed, they are
dangerous.”
Jonathan Polonsky, pres-
ident of Plaid Pantry conve-
nience stores, said increas-
ing the tax was unfair and
would lead to cigarette boot-
legging. He also denounced
the idea of putting the pro-
posed cigarette tax to the
voters, since a minority of
Oregonians smoke. He said
that would feed the “tyr-
anny of the majority” and be
undemocratic.
Several vape store own-
ers said a tax on their product
could put them out of busi-
ness. They also said a price
increase would drive people
back to cigarettes, though
that likely does not take
into account the proposed
increase of the tobacco tax.
Pierce warned lawmakers
of being swayed by lobbyists
and their “blood money.”
“I encourage you to sim-
ply say ‘no,’” he said.
The Oregon Capital
Bureau is a collaboration
between EO Media Group,
Pamplin Media Group and
Salem Reporter.
The Rope Room has started
smaller, taking up a small portion of
the building, a largely blank slate.
Throughout its history, the
building has hosted part of the
city’s former YMCA athletic
club, the New Beginnings Chris-
tian School and an antique auto
museum.
Building owner David Raf-
kind said he has been perform-
ing deferred maintenance but
hasn’t settled on a grand vision . A
self-described lover of music, he
wanted to provide his friends a
secluded space for professional
recording.
People shouldn’t expect any par-
ties, social gatherings or splashy
events at the Rope Room, which
is rentable through theroperoom@
gmail.com .
“It’s not a social thing,” Bovenizer
said. “It’s not just something you
can pop into. It’s an art studio.
That’s really what it comes down
to.”
Tax: Current plan is a blend of the two competing concepts
Continued from Page A1
makers to fi nd new rev-
enue for K-12 education
over the next biennium.
Hass said he is shooting
for at least $1 billion per
year.
Money from the new
tax would go into a new
state fund called the Fund
for Student Success, which
will support K-12 educa-
tion statewide.
Revenue from the cor-
porate activity tax will pay
for the $2 billion Student
Success Act that legisla-
tors unveiled last week.
The tax plan, which is still
subject to change, is a part
of that act.
Hass, Nathanson and
other key legislators have
been studying two closely
related models for several
months, trying to decide
how to craft their corpo-
rate activity tax plan.
Oregon Business &
Industry, a coalition of
some of the state’s larg-
est employers, suggested
that lawmakers look into a
value-added tax to ensure
businesses don’t have to
pay more for every step in
their production process.
At least some production
costs would be deducted
from the tax bill — an idea
that made it into the plan
posted Thursday on the
Legislature’s website.
A rival group called
Coalition for the Common
Good, made up primarily
of labor groups and Bea-
verton-based Nike Inc.,
put forward another option
modeled off of Ohio’s
commercial activity tax.
That proposal resembled
Measure 97, a proposed
gross-receipts tax that vot-
ers rejected in 2016.
The current plan is a
blend of the two compet-
ing concepts.
“I want to do the best
policy that is most fair to
most businesses,” Hass
said earlier this spring.
“I’m going to avoid a sit-
uation where this places
a greater burden on one
sector or one size of
business.”
Melissa Unger, exec-
utive director of Service
Employees International
Union 503, reacted posi-
tively to the plan.
“We are encouraged
about the direction the
Legislature is headed,
funding critical services
with a reasonable corpo-
rate tax,” Unger said.
In Oregon, raising
taxes or creating a new tax
requires the approval of
three-fi fths of senators and
three-fi fths of representa-
tives. That gives the Dem-
ocratic majority a narrow
path to passage, as the 18
Senate Democrats consti-
tute exactly three-fi fths of
the chamber.
Lawmakers also have
other major issues to sort
through.
The education pack-
age itself is complex, and
it has already faced push-
back from Brown, who
said last week she wants a
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share of the new tax rev-
enue to go toward public
colleges and universities.
As proposed by legisla-
tors, the Student Success
Act would invest $2 bil-
lion over a biennium into
K-12 education. Those
dollars would pay for more
teachers and support staff,
instructional days, elective
and extracurricular activi-
ties while also investing
in early childhood edu-
cation and preschool pro-
grams, mental and behav-
ioral health resources,
and recovery planning for
struggling school districts,
among other areas.
Both the business tax
and the lower personal
income tax rates would
take effect next year. Pro-
jections suggest the tax
plan would bring in just
shy of $1 billion for K-12
education in 2020.
However,
opponents
could force a statewide
vote on the tax changes if
they get through the Leg-
islature.
Controversial
bills are often referred to
the ballot, a process that a
senator and a representa-
tive can initiate.
“We’re ready for that,”
Hass said of a potential
referral. “If that’s the way
it goes, that’s the way it
goes.”
The last time a major
tax increase was on the
statewide ballot was Mea-
sure 97 in 2016. Voters
shot down the proposed $3
billion corporate sales tax,
with 59% voting “no” to
bury the measure.
Hass attempted to mar-
shal support for a more
modest tax package in
2017, but his plan died
without a vote.
Brown has proposed
$12.3 billion in spend-
ing for the Department of
Education, 11% more than
the current budget.
Oregon has the sec-
ond-lowest high school
graduation rate in the
country, according to U.S.
Department of Education
data. Only New Mexico
graduates fewer of its high
school students within
four years.
Funding levels for Ore-
gon schools have declined
since voters approved
Measure 5 in 1990, slash-
ing the amount of money
schools receive from local
property taxes. Instruc-
tional time has fallen in
many school districts, as
have staffi ng levels.
The Oregon Capital
Bureau is a collaboration
between EO Media Group,
Pamplin Media Group and
Salem Reporter.
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because of issues connected
to 4 inches of rain from Fri-
day evening through Sun-
day morning.
“If you have two days of
several inches of rain, you
can have your hands full,”
he said.
Jim Riekkola, a log truck
driver, has lived in a house
above the problem section
of Highway 202 since 2006.
“It’s been sinking the
whole time,” he said.
The constant repairs
haven’t been a major has-
sle, but his primary concern
has been with how people
choose to get around the
slump.
There’s a sharp corner
down from his driveway
entrance. It’s hard enough
to see the traffi c that is
coming around the corner,
but as problems with the
road persist, people driving
eastbound who are familiar
with the slump are some-
times already moving into
the westbound lane as they
shoot around the corner.
“You can’t see them,”
Riekkola said. “We have
to just creep out of the
driveway.”
He and others suspect the
source of the problem with
the road might be farther
down near the river. They
aren’t convinced the state’s
constant repairs are doing
much.
“I know,” Miller said of
the residents’ concerns. “That
particular spot has been frus-
trating me as well.”
He is optimistic about
the success of the reinforced
wall, though.
After another week of let-
ting the road settle, crews
plan to go out to smooth one
particularly large bump in the
road, Miller said.
The highway will still be
slumped until a more perma-
nent repair is possible. This
repair work, which involves
digging out the road and fi ll-
ing in the sunken area with
rock and then repaving with
asphalt, will likely occur
later in the summer, accord-
ing to Lou Torres, a spokes-
man for the Department of
Transportation.
“And then we’ll be done
with it,” Miller said. He
hopes.
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