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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 7, 2019)
A4 THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2019 OPINION editor@dailyastorian.com KARI BORGEN Publisher DERRICK DePLEDGE Editor Founded in 1873 JEREMY FELDMAN Circulation Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN Production Manager CARL EARL Systems Manager PUBLISHER’S NOTEBOOK Everyone’s life is a story L ast month, John Shepherd’s obit- uary was published in T he Asto- rian. Perhaps I wouldn’t have noticed it if it weren’t for an email from my neighbor, Bill Shaw, that read, “I would like to suggest that you do a fea- ture on John, who recently passed away. He was an outstanding public servant in the Warrenton-Hammond community for many years.” As I read the obitu- ary, I knew Bill was right. This was a person with a storied life. “John apprenticed with KARI his father-in-law, Con- BORGEN rad Petersen, and worked with both Conrad and Carolyn Petersen at Warrenton Electric starting in 1952, later becoming a partner in the business. Eventually, he owned and operated Shepherd Electric in Hammond, in partnership with his son, John Jr., for 14 years, retiring from electrical contracting in 2001. “John was a volunteer fi refi ghter in the Warrenton and Hammond fi re depart- ments for over 30 years, serving as Ham- mond’s chief for 13 of those years, and assistant chief for 10. For several years, he was a member of Warrenton Chamber of Commerce, serving as president in 1958. During the Cold War years he served as the civil defense director for the town of Hammond. “John served on the Hammond Town Council from 1962 until Warrenton annexed the city of Hammond in 1991. He was a member of the Warrenton-Ham- mond School District Budget Committee for 16 years.” n Lucy Kleiner/The Astoria Astoria Warming Ce nter LEFT: Meghann Hanour is a local artist who was recently featured in Everyday People. RIGHT: David Cornes, a former homeless veteran, has donated his pottery to a silent auction supporting the Astoria Warming Center. He was recently featured in Everyday People. I wished, as I have many times in my career, that the newspaper could have done a feature story while a remarkable individ- ual was alive. For someone who was a 30-year town councilor and civil defense director for Hammond, John lived a tremendous amount of local history. As a local electri- cian for nearly 50 years, how many busi- nesses, buildings, homes had he been a part of? What kind of stories could he tell about development? I’m sure he could have shared things that newcomers like me don’t know but would help put current events in context. We all have stories to tell. Every- one I meet has something interesting that they’ve been a part of, a place that they’ve been or people that they’ve met. Every- one’s life could be a story. The Astorian tells many of our local residents’ stories. In the Everyday People feature on Tuesdays, we strive to introduce you to neighbors you might not know. The Community section on Thursdays com- memorates the achievements of individ- uals and organizations. In One Ear offers quick bits of lore. Water Under the Bridge even re tells stories that have been told in the pages of the newspaper years ago. But there are more stories to be told. We like to tell stories about interesting local people in our pages, and we would like to do more. We’d like to do interviews and fi nd out about remarkable histories and events and about remarkable lives. It starts with people like my neighbor, Bill, who made a suggestion to write a fea- ture about someone interesting . We don’t know everyone on the North Coast , but we can get to know some of them through you. So I’d like to encourage you to send us your suggestions of stories that need to be told, people that need to be interviewed. Our aspiration is to never run out of inter- esting lives to profi le in our pages. Help us build our list. Send your story ideas to news@dailyastorian.com. Other questions or comments about the newspaper? Please let me know. I can be reached at kborgen@dailyastorian.com or at 541-325-4955. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Scientists at work his impeachment process by the left reminds me of scientists working to prove a theory in the laboratory. So far, they have manipulated the ele- ments in every way possible, without suc- cess. They can clearly see the outcome that they so desperately desire, but have been truly frustrated, because the result is not forthcoming — nor is it ever likely to be, with even more attempts. Fudging the numbers and increasing the heat (using the press corps and their allies in the Washington, D.C., swamp) to force a favorable result hasn’t worked, either. Actually, they are in danger that the experi- ment is going to blow up in their faces. Maybe they should take a deep breath, and consider the effort hopeless. How- ever, being the mad scientists that they are, they will undoubtedly declare their efforts a success, without the facts to back up their claim. CARL YATES Seaside T Waste ifty thousand dollars is a lot of money. It will cost taxpayers $50,000 for a spe- cial election to recall our state representa- tive in House District 32, Tiffi ny Mitch- ell. That’s $50,000 that could be used to fi x our roads, improve public safety and fund our local schools. And, it’s an abuse of the recall system. Recalls are intended to remove public offi cials who break laws or commit serious ethical violations, not because we disagree with the representative’s votes. Not only is this recall effort expensive, it’s a waste of time. If the recall succeeds, North Coast vot- ers won’t even get a vote — Oregon law requires that someone from the same polit- ical party as the state representative would be chosen by the county commissioners in District 32. Politicians, not voters, would choose her replacement. That’s why I ask you not to sign any petition to recall our representative. It’s a waste of taxpayer dollars at a time when our community has bigger problems, and priorities, that need resources and solutions. BEBE MICHEL Gearhart F Climate crisis n the recent guest column “We Orego- nians” (The Astorian, Oct. 26), Lianne Thompson and Tony DeBone stated their pleasure that HB 2020, the Clean Energy Jobs Bill, did not get approved in the last legislative session. They gave a long list of costs that would have gone up if it had passed. That is not true. Ten states have already successfully I implemented cap-and-invest programs, according to Alan Journet, a retired pro- fessor of environmental science. All of them have growing economies, reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, stable energy prices and thousand of jobs created. Since California implemented cap-and- trade in 2012, it has outperformed the rest of U.S. in manufacturing output, growing in real terms by 26%. Their greenhouse gas emission price has created good union jobs in the poorest part of the state. We will all have to make changes as a result of the climate crisis. Scientists around the globe are waving red fl ags, stating that we only have an 11-year win- dow to take actions to offset the most cat- astrophic impacts of the climate crisis, or else future generations will pay the price. We must avoid wishful thinking. Tell your legislators to support the cap-and-in- vest bill when they convene early next year. CAROLYN EADY Astoria Nasty mouthful ’m surprised to fi nd myself agreeing with those who’re saying that President Donald Trump’s words and behavior do not merit impeachment. But that’s what the Constitution prescribes, rather than public horsewhipping, tar and feathers. Darn it. In August 2016, in a letter to the edi- tor of this paper, “No Trump,” I opined that what was needed was for the citizenry to “chew Trump up and spit him out.” That’s what this slow process underway in the U.S. House of Representatives is, and I’m proud of the dignifi ed and by-the- I book manner in which they’re proceeding. They, and we, must just keep chewing. Such a nasty mouthful must never be swallowed. JOSEPH WEBB Astoria Deep trouble ouldn’t it be nice if we could choose not to obey the laws? We weren’t speeding. Our car simply accelerated on its own for some reason. The police offi cer misread the situation. We weren’t shoplifting. No one told us we had to buy the items. We thought the display meant they were free to take. How sad the Republicans are making the same absurd arguments about impeach- ment. President Donald Trump is guilty by his own admission. He broke laws. There is mounting factual evidence and truthful tes- timony detailing what occurred. The presi- dent is, and should be, in deep trouble. Yet every Republican is saying no big deal, this is just how Trump operates, the laws covering this should be ignored, no way our chosen leader should be ousted. How nice for them. Do we have a cult, or do we have a democracy? Memo to Republicans: This has nothing to do with how dismayed many of us were at the results of the 2016 election. Per- haps they can ask themselves why a major- ity of Americans so vehemently want this guy out of offi ce. Could it be because he is so un-American in the way he talks, thinks and acts? My go-to question for his supporters has always been: What kind of a man would ever utter the words, ‘John McCain is not a W war hero?’ I thought so. JIM SPURR Cannon Beach Principles ere’s the impeachment bottom line: For congressional members and, frankly, all those who accept public ser- vice, the bottom line is this — either you have principles, or you don’t have principles. If you have principles, you hold every- one to the same standard. DONNA LEE ROLLINS Astoria H Keep heritage alive read with interest the great article, “Rich history key to Warrenton’s future” (The Astorian, Oct. 17). Diane Collier is to be well commended for archiving Warren- ton and Hammond’s history. She has done a great job preserving all the pictures, arti- facts, papers, etc. All of Warrenton and Hammond’s his- tory should be kept in one place, and not in several buildings all over town, where they could eventually be misplaced, lost or destroyed.Wouldn’t it be nice if someday soon we could all go to a museum in War- renton or Hammond where we could enjoy seeing and reading about our heritage? So please, City Commission, work together to keep the heritage alive and Diane’s hard work. Thank you, Diane, for a job well done. NEVA JO FENTON-SUHADOLNIK Seaside I
