A4
THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JUNE 25, 2019
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
Publisher
JIM VAN NOSTRAND
Editor
Founded in 1873
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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