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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (June 25, 2019)
A4 THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JUNE 25, 2019 OPINION editor@dailyastorian.com KARI BORGEN Publisher JIM VAN NOSTRAND Editor Founded in 1873 JEREMY FELDMAN Circulation Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN Production Manager CARL EARL Systems Manager EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK How to get your news in The Astorian H ave you ever cut out a newspaper arti- cle to clip to your refrigerator with a magnet? You might want to do that with this column. The Astorian and the Seaside Signal have a new telephone system that allows callers to bypass the switchboard and contact our staff- ers directly. Our friendly front desk folks are still happy to take your call at 503-325-3211. But they sometimes get busy, and if you know who you’re trying to reach, the direct number can be very handy. We also have some new faces here. Jonathan Williams has succeeded longtime Coast Weekend editor Erick Ben- JIM VAN gel, and Nicole Bales replaces NOSTRAND Jack Heffernan and Brenna Visser as the police, courts and county government reporter. If you have news that needs to get in the newspaper, and you don’t know who to con- tact, just remember news@dailyastorian.com. That goes to myself and managing editor Der- rick DePledge. We’ll make sure it gets to the appropriate person. Our goal is that no local event goes unmen- tioned. Thank you for your help in making that happen. News tips and feedback: Email news@ dailyastorian.com. Include as much informa- tion as you know and include your contact information. All tips are treated confi dentially. We won’t publish your name, unless you want us to. News press releases and photos: Email news@dailyastorian.com. For upcoming events, send two weeks in advance. Please double-check names, titles, dates and times to ensure they are correct. Include your contact information. Entertainment news: Email press releases, photos and calendar listings to Coast Week- end editor Jonathan Williams at jwilliams@ dailyastorian.com. We suggest a month in advance, particularly if you’re pitching a story. Include your contact information. Obituaries and death notices: Send to Elleda Wilson at ewilson@dailyastorian.com. Community news: Send community events, awards, honors, religion items, self- help groups and other news to Elleda Wilson at ewilson@dailyastorian.com. She also writes the popular In One Ear column — if you see offbeat, quirky items that might be interesting to the community, send those to Elleda as well. Letters to the editor: We prefer to receive these electronically using our form at dailyas- torian.com/letters. Alternatively, email to edi- tor@dailyastorian.com. Letters should be exclusive to The Astorian, should be fewer than 250 words and must include the writ- er’s name, address and phone number. You will be contacted to confi rm authorship. All letters are subject to editing for space, gram- mar and factual accuracy. Only two letters per writer are allowed each month. Letters writ- ten in response to other letter writers should address the issue at hand and, rather than men- tioning the writer by name, should refer to the headline and date the letter was published. Discourse should be civil and people should be referred to in a respectful manner. Letters in poor taste will not be printed. Guest columns: We welcome guest col- umns up to 1,000 words on topics of local interest. We hold these to a higher standard than letters, and they are subject to editing. We look for good writing, persuasive arguments, factual accuracy and expertise in the topic you’re writing about. If you have an idea, con- tact us at editor@dailyastorian.com, preferably before you start writing. WEEKEND EDITION // SATURDAY, JUNE 22, 2019 146TH YEAR, NO. 240 Trade war boosts food bank Publisher: Kari Borgen, 503-325-4955, kborgen@dailyastorian.com Editor: Jim Van Nostrand, 971-704-1721, jimvan@dailyastorian.com Managing editor: Derrick DePledge, 503- 791-7885, ddepledge@dailyastorian.com Coast Weekend editor: Jonathan Wil- liams, 971-704-1720, jwilliams@dailyasto- rian.com Seaside Signal editor: R.J. Marx, 971-320- 4557, rmarx@seasidesignal.com Reporter: Katie Frankowicz, 971-704- 1723, kfrankowicz@dailyastorian.com (city of Astoria, city of Warrenton, natural resources) Reporter: Edward Stratton, 971-704-1719, estratton@dailyastorian.com (business, educa- tion, Port of Astoria) Reporter: Nicole Bales, 971-704-1724, nbales@dailyastorian.com (police, courts, county government) Newsroom assistant: Elleda Wilson, 971- 704-1718, ewilson@dailyastorian.com Advertising contact By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Astorian As a man dressed as a mountain troll waylays the unsuspecting in a time-hon- ored tradition at the 52nd Astoria Scan- dinavian Midsummer Festival this week- end, a park celebrating the region’s Nordic heritage is about halfway to its funding goal. The committee behind the downtown project has raised a little over half a mil- lion dollars in grants and donations so far and needs to raise around $700,000 more to cover construction costs. Some of the money paid for the archi- tectural design and engineering plans completed last year and approved by the city this year. “I really truly do think it’s a doable amount,” said Judi Lampi, the commit- tee’s chairwoman. “We’ve raised half a million in, what, six months? And now that we have that amount of money raised we can start applying for the large grants.” See Park, Page A9 Katie Frankowicz/The Astorian A volunteer at the Clatsop Community Action Regional Food Bank in Warrenton hands out sacks of oranges and apples, items the food bank has on hand in bulk thanks to a federal food aid program and the trade war with China. Products arrive from federal aid package Holiday Inn sold to Idaho group Price was nearly $17.5M By EDWARD STRATTON The Astorian pallet of canned pork sat in the Clatsop Community Action Regional Food Bank’s ware- house in Warrenton on Thursday morning waiting for volunteers to clear shelf space. “It’s been around for a while as a product,” said Grace Taylor, the food bank’s inventory specialist, who over- sees warehouse operations. She tapped the top of the cans. “But we haven’t seen it for a while.” In fact, shelves at the food bank have been filling up with all kinds of food the facility rarely sees — all thanks to the trade war with China. A See Food bank, Page A10 Members of the Astoria Regatta Court help hand out walnuts and squash during food pantry hours at the Clatsop Community Action Regional Food Bank in Warrenton. Blue Heron Hotel Properties, the owner of the Holiday Inn Express & Suites below the Astoria Bridge, has sold the hotel and surrounding land to Ida- ho-based Braintree Hospitality for nearly $17.5 million, according to county prop- erty records. David Weber, owner of Blue Heron Hotel Properties with his wife, Linda, said it felt like a good time to retire. The hotel had two or three offers, but Brain- tree felt like the best fit for his staff and the property, he said. Weber, who previously managed the Best Western branch in Seaside, has See Holiday Inn, Page A7 Getting ready for another wildfire season Pacific Power adopts wildfire prevention policies in wake of California tragedies Above-normal risk on coast By ERIN ROSS Oregon Public Broadcasting National Interagency Fire Center Mark Moore is ready for another busy wildfire season on southwest Idaho’s rangeland. As chief of the Mountain Home Fire Department, his crews must not only be pre- pared to fight structure fires within the city limits, but also battle wildfires that can roar across the countryside. The volunteer Moun- tain Home Rural Fire Protection District con- tracts with his department to assist with wild- fire suppression. “We anticipate every year being a big sea- son in terms of wildland fires, even more so because of the type of vegetation we have — carpet fuel, so to speak,” Moore said. Though the wildfire outlook for the North- west is mixed — some of this year’s hot spots for wildfire are, ironically, along the usually damp Pacific coast — the idea is to train for any possibility. The June-September regional forecast from the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise predicts that western wildfire activity won’t start to increase until late June. The coastal area of Washington state and Oregon will have an above-normal fire risk. That means the number of acres burned are predicted to exceed the 10-year median for significant large fires because of fuel loading and drier-than-normal conditions. Some of Northern California will also have an above-normal risk of significant large fires through October because of an abundance of grasses, down and dead fuels and heavy brush growth. An engine crew watches an air tanker drop water on the 2015 Chelan fires in Washington’s Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. See Wildfires, Page A8 By BRAD CARLSON Capital Press As Oregon braces for another hot and dry summer, one of its biggest utility companies has announced a new wildfire policy aimed at reducing wildfire risks across their service area. “We want to make sure, going forward, that we’re keeping communities safe during those high-wind and dry conditions,” said Scott Bolton, the senior vice president of external affairs and customer solutions at Pacific Power. The new policies include clearing vegeta- tion around power lines and poles, increasing inspections at facilities, training field crews in wildfire suppression and installing local weather stations to help identify high fire risk days. They also plan to implement power shut-offs if dangerous weather is expected in high fire risk areas. If the power is cut before the wind blows down lines, there’s less risk of fire. Electricity providers have been under increased scrutiny since a number of wild- fires in California were linked to downed power lines during windstorms, improp- erly maintained power stations, and areas where brush had grown too close to electrical See Pacific Power, Page A7 Advertising sales manager: Sarah Silver, 971-704-1555, ssilver@dailyastorian.com Nordic park halfway to funding goal Project planned for Peoples Park By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Astorian Newsroom contacts $1.50 Commercial printing contact Production director: John D. Bruijn, 971- 704-1711, jbruijn@dailyastorian.com LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Food supply I ’m glad we are all acknowledging cli- mate change as a real threat at this point, but can we now acknowledge the solution that these same scientists are offering? Getting animals out of our food sup- ply is pivotal if we expect to curb the most drastic effects of climate change. The same scientists that tell us climate change is real are telling us what we need to do as con- sumers, and we are largely ignoring it. Is it too much to ask to (at the very least) require plant-based options on every public sector menu? We should be incen- tivizing these changes on a global scale. If we are truly a progressive town, this is now a part of that progression. JARED MITCHELL Astoria Improve forests by supporting family planning A t times, letters to The Astorian com- plain about Northwest forest manage- ment, and how it is driven by corporate greed; giving us ugly clear cuts, herbicides and younger harvest ages. Some people demand stricter forest practice rules and local control. In 1950, the population of the U.S. was 150 million, and it is now 340 million; the world was 2.5 billion, and is now 7.4 bil- lion. Imagine how the demand for forest products has changed with that growth. Could it be that we voted for industrial for- estry by the number of children we chose to have, and the size of our houses? Forest geneticists, by cross-breeding trees of superior height, growth rates and quality, have produced better, faster-grow- ing trees — non-GMO (genetically mod- ifi ed organism). Economic maturity ages drop because of that improved growth rate; we can now grow a 55-year-old tree in 40 years. Douglas fi r and hemlock are shade intolerant, and cannot grow underneath other trees. Beyond aesthetics, clear cuts are unde- sirable more for the sterile lack of struc- ture that does not produce habitat for a wider, more variable animal and plant community. Herbicides are necessary to get a young plantation started, but we must still hold the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Mon- santo and Dow accountable for rushed product approval. Herbicides are not designed to be “poisonous” to plants, but to deprive the plant of an enzyme needed in photosynthesis, thus starving the weeds selectively. We can improve population-responsive forest management by supporting fam- ily planning and birth control technology around the world. DAVID FITCH Astoria Concentration camps T he news reports about conditions in the migrant detention camps are hor- rifying. Let’s call them what they are — concentration camps. Too strong a term? Here’s the Merriam-Webster dictionary defi nition of concentration camp: “A place where large numbers of people (such as prisoners of war, political prisoners, refugees, or the members of an ethnic or religious minority) are detained or con- fi ned under armed guard — used espe- cially in reference to camps created by the Nazis in World War II for the intern- ment and persecution of Jews and other prisoners.” When you put 900 people in a space that should hold 100 people, that is a con- centration camp. When you deny human beings the basics of hygiene — soap and toothbrushes — that is a concentration camp. When you leave small children to try to take care of each other, because the uni- formed offi cials running the camps will not — that is a concentration camp. When you deny medical care, or create condi- tions that allow illness to fl ourish — that is a concentration camp. When you put human beings back into Japanese internment camps — that is a concentration camp. We, the people, are running concentration camps. This is who we are, and nothing systemically is being done to stop this humanitarian crisis. This overcrowding and inhumanity is a feature, not a bug, of the Trump admin- istration. Where is our decency? Where is our humanity? Congress must act. Call Sen. Ron Wyden, Sen. Jeff Merkley and U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici today. Not in our name; not on our watch. BEBE MICHEL Gearhart In support of Jack Harris and HB 2020 I n the June 20 edition of The Astorian, I read two articles about Jack Harris and the Fort George Brewery. One was about the negative response to his support of HB 2020, which has angered some local busi- nesses and clients (“Fort George Brewery faces backlash over cap-and-trade bill”). Another was his recognition for support that he and the brewery have given to the Astoria School District (“Astoria School District recognizes Fort George”). I have known Jack for more than 20 years, and well before he and co-owner Chris Nemlowill started the Fort George Brewery together. His M.O. has always been to support the community by giv- ing back to it. If you are part of a volun- teer organization in Clatsop County, you very likely have received donations from Jack of his time, money and product. His generosity has benefi ted many of us in the Columbia-Pacifi c region, and I am very grateful to both he and Fort George for all they have done in this community. Concerning HB 2020, this may not be an ideal bill, but it is a plan for fi ghting the climate change that is going to over- whelm all of us, if we don’t make changes soon. Thanks to state Rep. Tiffi ny Mitchell for supporting it, and no shout out to state Sen. Betsy Johnson for belittling it. Waiting for the federal government, under the current president, to do any- thing about climate change, as our senator implies, is a fool’s errand. NED HEAVENRICH Astoria Discover the new Liberty Theatre I f you think you know the Liberty The- atre from past programs, you need to discover the new Liberty Theatre. The new Liberty Theatre, under the direction of Jennifer Crockett, is bringing exciting and cutting-edge performances for music lov- ers of all ages and all genres. In the past week, Astorians have been treated to performances by Blind Pilot, the Pyxis Quartet and the Hermitage Piano Trio. Those who went to these shows saw one of the best indie rock bands in the country, an experimental music experience in total darkness and world-renowned clas- sical performers. What isn’t different at the Liberty are the great acoustics and beautiful, com- fortable environment. Chances are good that you’ll meet friends or neighbors at intermission, while having some wine or locally made beer. Don’t miss the next event. DAN and SUE STEIN Astoria
