A4
THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 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
PUBLISHER’S NOTEBOOK
$1.50
9
AY, JULY 25, 201
.com // THURSD
147TH YEAR, NO.
DailyAstorian
11
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NEW MUSICAL
County
sheriff
aims to
retire
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Mail delivery
is working well
I
t’s been almost three months since The
in print or online from us was on Portland tele-
Daily Astorian became The Astorian,
vision, it’s because it was fi rst reported in
delivered three days a week by mail.
The Astorian and picked up from us through
So how’s that working for us?
a news-sharing agreement. That’s how news
Thanks to our readers, advertisers and
published here can impact the rest of the state,
employees, most of the time it’s working
Northwest, even the nation.
d in 2004
well.
really
Those reporters and pages, print and online,
cte
ele
s
wa
n
Bergi
As of last week, we had 22 less
are paid for with advertising and sub-
print subscriptions than when we
scriptions. Your subscription dollars
changed delivery the fi rst of May.
help pay for local journalism to be deliv-
That’s not what we like, but it is
ered to you. The bulk of our revenue,
what we expected. What we didn’t
however, comes from advertising. Local
expect is that we are selling an
businesses reach you, our readers, with
average of 98 more copies a day in
their information by buying ads in print,
stores and racks than we did three
online, social media and email from The
KARI
months ago. Plus we have 29
Astorian. Advertising helps our local
BORGEN
more digital subscriptions than we
businesses prosper by growing their
l responds
did
on
May
7.
sales and customer base, and that helps
Trucking schoo and
to industry dem
Our advertising is up over the same
keep locals employed producing the newspaper.
time last year. And our expenses are sig-
The other revenue for our business comes
nifi cantly reduced with the changed
from printing other regional news. The Astorian
delivery and schedule. Three days a
serves as the regional printing facility for news-
week, mail delivery has proven to be a
papers in the Lower Columbia region, includ-
good business model for The Astorian.
ing the Columbia Press in Warrenton, Hip-
So what does that mean? Why
fi sh, Tillamook Headlight Herald, North Coast
should you care?
Times in Manzanita, Cannon Beach Gazette,
IVERS
,000 TRUCK DR
The
Astorian
did
not
cut
staff
or
50
News Guard in Lincoln City, Clatskanie Chief,
OF
GE
TA
E.’
ABLY A SHOR
BS OUT THER
THERE’S PROB
reduce
local
news
content.
The
news
E TONS OF JO
St. Helens Chronicle and most recently added,
AR
‘RIGHT NOW,
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TH
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IN AMERIC
we were publishing in fi ve days is all
the Wahkiakum Eagle.
still there in three weekly issues.
Of course we print EO Media Group owned
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n
n
la
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a
Is
it
important
for
you
to
know
newspapers
too — The Astorian, Chinook
ri
o
st
A
d
o
n
p
o
rt
e
a
rs
c
how
your
public
offi
cials
are
dealing
u
Observer,
Seaside
Signal and Coast River Busi-
d
co
o
se
fo
t
er
rev
affles a
with
building
heights,
traffi
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issues,
ness
Journal.
As
other
printing facilities in
ts
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Coffee, h w
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g
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and
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homelessness
and
vacation
rent-
and
Tacoma,
Olympia,
Centralia
and Longview
exp
Menu
r City Hall
Restrictions on
Duane streets nea
t
als?
You
bet
it
is.
That’s
why
we
pay
have
closed,
we’ve
made
a
commitment
to pro-
ron
erf
riv
the
our reporters to go to public meet-
vide small newspapers a high-quality printing
ings, research the documents and
facility by investing in a new press tower and
interview affected people on local
upgraded distribution equipment.
issues, so you can learn the facts to
That’s a long way of saying that’s why we
make decisions on voting, shop-
think it’s important to make good business
ping and living here.
decisions like three-day-a-week mail delivery
What about the latest entertain-
at The Astorian. Our mission remains the same
ment, your kids’ school activities,
as it has since 1873 — a commitment to rele-
the score of the Warrenton base-
vant, credible local news and information for
ball game? We pay reporters to cover those
our readers, and the belief that a well-informed
things too.
public keeps our community strong. We plan to
OUR MISSION REMAINS THE SAME AS
Our team works daily, and posts news online
continue to employ local journalists, customer
daily.
In
fact,
our
traffi
c
to
dailyastorian.com
service and production staff for many years to
IT HAS SINCE 1873 — A COMMITMENT TO last month was more than 134,000 users and
come.
Please contact me with questions or com-
RELEVANT, CREDIBLE LOCAL NEWS AND nearly half a million page views. Because we
are members of news-sharing organizations
ments at kborgen@dailyastorian.com, or mail
INFORMATION FOR OUR READERS, AND Associated Press, Tribune Regional News Ser-
to 949 Exchange Street, Astoria.
and EO Media’s other newspapers, the
I look forward to hearing from you.
THE BELIEF THAT A WELL-INFORMED vice
news we offer goes far beyond just our county.
Kari Borgen is publisher of The Astorian.
PUBLIC KEEPS OUR COMMUNITY STRONG. If you’ve ever wondered why a story you read
By NICOLE BAL
The Astorian
ents to prac
$10,000 for stud
ge program for
k Creamery.
sold to the colle
semitruck was
by the Tillamoo
The Peterbilt
er was donated
igerated trail
The 48-foot refr
Astorian
y Hoffman/The
Photos by Haile
vehicles.
e commercial
tice driving larg
STRATTON
By EDWARD
The Astorian
behind Aus -
ars lined up idled just off
tin Rieck as he 101 Busi-
y
U.S. Highwa
r
waiting for a clea
ness on Monday, pull out in his Peter-
to
stretch of road pulling a refrigerated
k,
itruc
sem
bilt
rode
trailer.
James Crowe, the
His instructor,
in
ched patience
shotgun and prea rig.
big
slower-moving pt you can’t just pull
“Once you acce makes everything
it
out and go fast, .
easier,” Rieck said er meter reader for
Rieck, a form the second class of
is in
Pacific Power,
e A6
See Drivers, Pag
C
l driver
retired long-hau
supervision of
community
itruck under the
Tillamook Bay
left, drives a sem
license.
by Clatsop and
Austin Rieck,
k course is run
mercial driver’s
-wee
com
a
four
get
The
to
James Crowe.
the opportunity
iding students
colleges, prov
l truck
retired long-hau
| instructor and
James Crowe
s and 4 million
er with 34 year
, but
native to Subway
wich cart alter to waffles after visit -
switched his idea shops.
ing other regional t what I could offer
“I thought abou was a little differ-
that
other than coffee
STRATTON
Sas-
ent,” he said.
By EDWARD
cart in between d-
He parked his
The Astorian
uti’s Woo
dwich and Pizz ing offer-
San
ch
quat
ee to the menu fired Pizzeria, part of the grow tacos,
coff
and
fles
Add waf
now include
food cart pod.
at the pod that sushi.
at the 11th Street a worker in the local ings
, ramen and
Joshua Jensen, industries, recently soul food mixes his waffle batter from
na
Jensen
with syrups,
coffee and marijua business, Coffee OR
them
tops
tch and
r spreads. He will
opened his new yellow cart in the pod scra
ll
ms, fruit and othe
ons,
Waffle, in a sma hael Bruhn at 11th and crea add vegan and gluten-free opti
soon
starting with
fles,
developed by Mic ss from City Hall.
waf
as savory
a
Duane streets acro time between coffee as well i pizza this weekend and
Jensen has split stores over the past pepperon feta with balsamic glaze soon
na
ach
shops and marijua thought of starting spin
-
The
r.
waf
s.
afte
his
year
le
whi
nts with
several
first came to him ria. In
Jensen experime imagines grilling
a cart or truck
,
aker at home and
ch Bros. in Asto
working at Dut ght a cart that came fle-m i, grilled cheese, mash potatoes r
aron
bou
othe
mac
and countless
November, he machine.
nies, cake mix
a sand - brow nts.
with an espresso
ing
mak
of
-
ingredie
He first thought
, the menu’s end
“After that … gosh
less,” he said.
s from 7 a.m.
open
fle
Waf
Coffee OR
day.
to 2 p.m. every
miles under his
belt
rd Stratton/The
Astorian
Edwa
Coffee
recently opened 11th
Joshua Jensen
pod at
the food cart
OR Waffle in
ets.
stre
ne
Dua
and
ES
gin-
Sheriff Tom Ber
Clatsop County end of the year.
the
in
plans to retire at
was first elected he
who
iff,
sher
that
The
ounced last year
2004, had ann another
seek
would not
four-year term.
would
Bergin said he Board
ask the county ers to
of Commission Phillips,
t
appoint Lt. Mat der, as
the jail comman elec -
The
interim sheriff. iff will
Tom Bergin
tion for a new sher ell the
informa -
be held in 2020.“W
to provide the ors and
e
com
has
time
arture so the rum
tion as to my dep resolved,” Bergin, 61,
be
can
Monday
unknown
il to his staff on
wrote in an ema be leaving at the end of
afternoon. ”I will .”
year
December this came after a trying time
His decision
. Bergin
personal matters
of dealing with with kidney cancer last
was diagnosed became more reliant on
year and said he
lives,
his staff.
was living two
“It feels like I all my personal life
of
trying to take care of this place and it’s not
all
care
, ‘OK,
and take
so it’s kind of like
fair to either side in an interview. The
said
it’s time,’” he edged he has received
owl
, but said
sheriff ackn
for his absences
some criticism
involved.
he has always been through cancer, dou -
“After going divorce and several
ery,
ble knee surg e last two years I know
other issues thes on this office but I am
it has been hard you have held this place
of
all
how
d
email to
prou
gin said in his
together,” Ber
staff.
the interview that
in
ed
lain
exp
myself
Bergin
e extra time for
he has “taken som e to the realization, it’s
because you com e to life than being a cop.
like, there’s mor re and raised my right
swo
Even though I but it’s come to the point
hand to this job, to move on and people
where it’s time want, that’s OK.”
can say what they
e A6
See Sheriff, Pag
t, com -
On Tuesday nigh 6-1 in
d
missioners vote ndment
ame
favor of an
w for taller
that would allo to 35 feet
buildings — up Vista, but
ge
Brid
By KATIE
ss
acro
—
ratio pro-
FRANKOWICZ
with a floor area that means
The Astorian
posal from staff ding goes,
the higher a buil t be to
ning
Plan
mus
ria
it
r
narrowe
The Asto
reversed the
Commission has buildings maintain views. Commis-
The Planning
course on how tall section of
s
a
recommendation
can get along
sion’s
City
likely go to the ing
the riverfront.
mission will
hear
In June, the com — but Council for a public
s
reached consensu cap build- in August.
also
to
The commission district
did not vote —
feet with
ing heights at 28 feet for approved plan of Asto -
35
to
ns
for the Port
ptio
exce
projects options Astoria Warehous-
ent
pend
and
water-de
providing
a section of ria
in Bridge Vista, nt Vision ing, potentially
the city’s Riverfro Portway
e A6
See Planners, Pag
Plan between Street.
nd
Street and Seco
OTHER VIEWS
Selected editorials from
Oregon newspapers
Register-Guard,
on U.S.-Mexico border
Springfi eld physician and an Ore-
gon politician have given hope to an
expectant mother and her family.
Dr. Lauren Herbert, a pediatrician and
infectious diseases specialist in Spring-
fi eld, joined Sen. Ron Wyden and other
Oregonians in visiting the U.S.-Mexico
border this past weekend to get a fi rsthand
look at the conditions facing migrants.
They came away deeply disturbed by the
conditions under which migrants were
housed at facilities in El Paso, Texas, and
Otero County, New Mexico.
Then, traveling across the border to
Ciudad Juárez, the Oregonians met a Mex-
ican woman who was suffering complica-
tions late in her pregnancy, needed medical
care but faced a months-long wait before
U.S. border offi cials would even consider
the family’s request for asylum.
Her situation changed when Wyden
intervened with the assistance of Her-
bert and others. The U.S. border offi cers
soon began processing the family’s asy-
lum request and promised that the woman
would be taken to a hospital for evaluation.
Meanwhile, countless other families
remain huddled across the border, waiting
to apply for asylum in the U.S., and thou-
sands more children and adults already are
held in U.S. facilities.
The Trump administration claims the
conditions at the detention centers are
fi ne and appropriate. That is not what was
found by the Oregon delegation of Wyden;
Herbert; Rabbi Michael Cahana, senior
rabbi of Congregation Beth Israel, Port-
land; and Stephen Manning and Ian Phila-
baum of the Portland-based Innovation
Law Lab.
A humanitarian crisis exists on both
sides of the border. The violence and pov-
erty that pervade much of Mexico and
Central America has caused thousands to
fl ee northward. Yet the U.S. greets them
with a bureaucratic morass that offers nei-
ther hope nor dignity, housing them in
A
deplorable conditions until their future is
determined.
It is unconscionable that the U.S. gov-
ernment would treat anyone this way —
crowded together, unable to sleep, and
without adequate medical care or hygiene
— regardless of their citizenship or immi-
gration status. Children will face life-
long consequences from this traumatic
treatment.
We have criticized Oregon’s congres-
sional delegation for not doing more to
keep the border crisis in the public eye and
to achieve improvements. Wyden acted.
His border visit this past weekend gained
national attention, underscoring why con-
gressional delegations should have unim-
peded access to these facilities.
Sen. Jeff Merkley and Reps. Peter
DeFazio, Earl Blumenauer and Suzanne
Bonamici also were bringing the issue
home to Oregonians, touring Portland
shelters for migrant teens who crossed
the border without parents or legal guard-
ians. Their oversight tour on Sunday left
the lawmakers impressed with how Mor-
rison Child & Family Services provides
the youth with decent hygiene, health care
and education. That was is in sharp con-
trast with what Wyden, Merkley and others
have witnessed down south.
As for the pregnant woman whom
Wyden assisted at the border, the sena-
tor’s staff on Tuesday said, “The mother
was examined by a medical professional
and cleared to travel to her sponsor’s (her
father’s) home where she can receive fur-
ther care.”
That is welcome news.
Wyden said U.S. offi cials illegally had
blocked the family’s opportunity to apply
for asylum. Without Wyden and without
Herbert, who knows what would have hap-
pened to the family.
Bend Bulletin,
on funding killed for
disaster detection systems
ov. Kate Brown told reporters that the
Legislature’s decision not to extend
the state’s disaster detection systems was
G
one of the “biggest disappointments” of
this year’s session.
Brown wanted $12 million for early
warning systems for wildfi res and earth-
quakes. She put the money in her budget.
The money was there in House Bill 5005.
And then on June 25 it was zapped.
What happened?
Some sort of deal was hashed out in
secret. The amendment that zeroed out the
funding was anonymous. It passed out of
a Ways and Means subcommittee without
debate to explain why the funding was cut.
You shouldn’t be shocked. That’s the
way a lot of Oregon government is done.
Sure, many legislators say all the right
things about transparency and accountabil-
ity in government. But they don’t always
walk the talk.
What’s interesting about this episode is
that two of the state’s leading Democrats
were on the subcommittee that killed the
money — House Speaker Tina Kotek and
Senate President Peter Courtney. In other
words, one of Brown’s biggest disappoint-
ments of the session happened right under
the nose of the fellow leaders of her party.
Maybe they don’t talk to Brown about
her priorities. Maybe they disagree. Maybe
they made tough choices among several
programs. Shouldn’t that debate be in the
open so Oregonians can understand not
only what their government is doing but
how the decisions are made?
The wildfi re detection system that got
cut is called ALERTWildfi re. It is a sys-
tem of cameras operated in remote areas
that enable fi refi ghters and fi rst respond-
ers to discover and monitor wildfi res. It’s
run by a consortium of universities, includ-
ing the University of Oregon. The devas-
tating Camp Fire of 2018 that killed more
than 80 people in California provided more
urgency to expand the system in Oregon.
Some of the fi rst cameras in Oregon were
installed on Blue Mountain and Steens
Mountain. But the program needs money
to create a larger network. The anonymous
person or persons behind the amendment
killed the funding for this session.
ShakeAlert is a similar system of sen-
sors designed to enable advance warn-
ing of earthquakes. It could give a pub-
lic warning from just several seconds to a
few minutes. That’s not ideal, but it’s bet-
ter than nothing. Oregon doesn’t have
enough sensors for it to work. California
and Washington have made more progress.
As for the funding, the anonymous person
or persons behind the amendment killed it,
at least for the time being.
Oregon’s laws underscore that the pub-
lic is entitled to know what the govern-
ment is doing and how decisions are made.
Instead, what the public gets is episode
after episode of secret deals in Salem.