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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 6, 2022)
150TH YEAR, NO. 29 DailyAstorian.com // TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2022 A Q&A with the top candidates for governor A historic campaign on the November ballot By SIERRA DAWN McCLAIN Capital Press O n Nov. 8, Oregonians will elect a new governor. Several factors make this race unique and explain why it’s gar- nering national attention. First, many Oregonians are dis- enchanted with the state’s leader- ship. Gov. Kate Brown, a Democrat, is America’s least popular governor, according to a poll from the data firm Morning Consult. The race is also capturing national interest because it’s a tight contest. Saba- to’s Crystal Ball at the University of Vir- ginia Center for Politics, a nonpartisan newsletter with a high rate of accuracy in predicting election results, labeled Oregon’s outcome as a “toss-up.” Oregon is hosting an unusual three- way race among a trio of women who are all recent members of the state Leg- islature: former state House Speaker Tina Kotek, running as a Democrat; former House Minority Leader Chris- tine Drazan, running as a Republican; and former state Sen. Betsy Johnson, running as nonaffiliated, formerly a $1.50 Mass timber coalition scores funding A $41.4 million boost from the Biden administration By GEORGE PLAVEN Capital Press Tina Kotek Betsy Johnson moderate Democrat. If Kotek wins, she will be Ameri- ca’s first out lesbian governor. If Dra- zan wins, she will be the first Repub- lican to win an Oregon gubernatorial race since 1982. If Johnson wins, she will be the first independent governor to win since 1930. The Capital Press sat down with each of the candidates to talk about issues that matter to rural Oregonians. Each candidate answered the same set of questions. The candidates’ answers have been shortened for readability. Words in Christine Drazan parenthesis are written by the Cap- ital Press to add context and clarity. Follow-up questions are indicated in italics. Q: If you are elected, how do you plan to bridge the political divide between Oregon’s urban and rural communities? Johnson: Well, show up is the first one. We’ve just come back from a trip to Eastern Oregon. I think being there is important and understanding that whether you’re making silicon chips, PORTLAND — A coalition of uni- versity researchers and state agencies in Oregon is betting big on the potential of mass timber to help bridge the urban-rural divide. Not only can the budding industry revive long-lost timber jobs, but the build- ing material may also boost affordable housing in the Portland metro area — all while helping to thin Oregon’s forests, making them more resilient to wildfire. The concept has garnered support from the Biden administration, which awarded $41.4 million to the Oregon Mass Timber Coalition. Funding comes from the Build Back Better Regional Challenge, providing $1 billion in grants to assist local economies recovering from the coronavirus pandemic. See Timber, Page A3 See Governor, Page A6 Christine Drazan, the Republican candidate for governor, Betsy Johnson, the independent candidate, and Tina Kotek, the Democratic candidate, talked about issues that matter to rural Oregonians. Lydia Ely/The Astorian Dog spared from city euthanasia order Pit bull released to her owner By ETHAN MYERS The Astorian A pit bull that faced a city euthanasia order after killing a cat in Astoria in June has been released to her owner in Mult- nomah County. James Mayer had been fighting to save Layla, a dog he adopted this year, after she was designated a level five dangerous animal. Weeks after Mayer lost an appeal in Circuit Court, the city pivoted to allow Layla’s release to Mayer’s residence in Multnomah County, where the dangerous animal ordinance is more forgiving. City Attorney Blair Henningsgaard, Police Chief Stacy Kelly and Mult- nomah County agreed to the release with conditions. See Pit bull, Page A3 A fascination with sea glass Stein sees life with ocean-colored glasses By R.J. MARX The Astorian EARHART — When some people go to the beach, they see waves, sun and sky. When Peggy Stein visits the beach, she is looking into the rocks. She was living at the beach at Channel Islands Harbor in Ventura, California, when she first started collecting sea glass — ocean-pol- ished glass that can come from bot- G tles, household goods, car lights or insulators. It may have been left on the beach, left over from a glass fac- tory or dumped into the ocean. The glass is found throughout the world, but is predominantly found in areas with gravel piles and small rocks that can “wash” the glass to a smooth polish. “You won’t find it on sand beaches, which is why we don’t have it in Oregon,” she said. “It needs to be tumbling in with other pebbles to create and to get caught. It’s something that basi- cally was trash. It went in as a sharp shard, and came back as a really rounded beautiful piece of glass.” The tumbling process can usu- ally take 50 to 100 years, she said. Anything less would likely be thrown back. “Anything that you find that has still a shiny, glossy piece on or edge on it, we consider to be ‘uncooked,‘” she said. “It has to be cooked to keep it.” Born Peggy Hannon in Portland, she was brought up in a letterpress shop, she said, where she learned to handset type and operate a letter- press machine. “From the time my sister and I were young, we were hanging out in the shop, and then probably middle school, he started to teach me more R.J. Marx/The Astorian See Stein, Page A3 Peggy Stein displays a portion of her sea glass collection.