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About Cannon Beach gazette. (Cannon Beach, Or.) 1977-current | View Entire Issue (April 5, 2019)
A4 • Friday, April 5, 2019 | Cannon Beach Gazette | CannonBeachGazette.com Views from the Rock Move on, nothing to fear here er’s fi eld support based in Portland, is the guy whose job is to shake people like us out of paranoia. Smart meters are a more effi cient way of gathering home energy usage details. “Instead of having a meter reader come out once a month, data is reported on a real- time basis. This is the fi rst time we’ve been able to give you insight into what you’re actually using.” Smart meters have been in existence for almost 20 years, Estlund said. They’re all manufactured by Aclara Technologies, which bought out the meter business from General Electric. Today, there are more than 70 million smart meters throughout the country. Est- lund has had a smart meter in his own Port- land home since he moved in 15 years ago. CANNON SHOTS R.J. MARX I f you Google “smart meter dangers,” you may soon fear for your mitochon- dial functions like insomnia, tinnitus, fatigue, nausea, dizziness, irritability, list- lessness, heart palpitations, and changes in cognitive behavior. In the monograph “Smart Meters: Count- down to a National Crisis of Illness and Death,” John P. Thomas suggests millions will experience chronic disability and fatal illness from exposure. Our cell proteins will become “per- manently altered” and we may suffer for decades “with chronic fatigue, unex- plained anxiety, and attention defi cits until a life-threatening illness makes its ugly appearance.” Unlikely? Every power company and most scientists would say the levels of radi- ation are lower than the cellphones pressed against our thighs. In a Feb. 12 City Council work session, Pacifi c Power’s Alisa Dunlap came to Can- non Beach to introduce councilors to smart meters at a work session. Residents questioned the safety of smart meters, and lamented the lack of public information available. Resident Bob Thom said smart meters are not “entirely safe.” He was concerned about the lack of information presented by the city and Pacifi c Power, and the lack of press coverage given to the topic. He asked that the changeover be delayed to educate the public. Former Seaside High School science teacher Ed Johnson called smart meters a “big money venture.” “There’s been so little background infor- mation put out to the general public that’s not being provided by the corporations that are responsible for the technology,” John- son said after the Cannon Beach work ses- sion. “They didn’t even vote on it, It was just coming. I wasn’t very happy.” The 5G network may adversely affect humans and wildlife, he said. “You won’t be able to go any place on this planet with- out being impacted.” In a similar presentation at Seaside City Hall, Frank Erickson, a retired radiologist with an impressive list of medical creden- tials, told city councilors he had “seesawed” whether to opt in or opt out for smart meter installation at his own home. “I’m still rethinking,” Erickson said. Meet and greet No wonder that the fi rst package received at the Pacifi c Power meet and greet March 5 at Seaside Brewing Co. was a handout from the Utilities Telecom Coun- Future shock? R.J. Marx/Cannon Beach Gazette Pacifi c Power customers in Clatsop County will be able to opt out of smart meters, but it will come with a price. R.J. Marx/Cannon Beach Gazette Pacifi c Power General Manager Scott Morris and energy analyst Jason Turner at the Pacifi c Power presentation in Seaside. cil, “No Health Threat from Smart Meters.” The same binder included the fact sheet, “Electromagnetic Fields and Public Health: Mobile Phones”; the monograph “Radiof- requency Safety and Utility Smart Meters,” Sept. 25, 2013; and “Aclara’s response highlighting inaccuracies in ‘Evaluation of the Aclaral-210+C AMI Meter,’” by Wil- liam Bathgate. Heavy titles, designed to counteract the mountain of conspiracy theories, junk sci- ence and speculation regarding higher fre- quency radio waves. Cory Estlund, manager of Pacifi c Pow- After watching Robert Redford and Jane Fonda in “The China Syndrome” almost 50 years ago, I learned never take any- thing with radioactive material for granted. The movie was released to nuclear indus- try denials — and the timing couldn’t have been worse, followed 12 days after its opening by a meltdown at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Offi cial denials and industry cover-ups, in not just the nuclear industry but in many aspects of our lives, followed through the decades: Love Canal; the Hanford site; the Flint, Michigan, water crisis; and the Boe- ing 737 MAX 8. In the 1990s and early 2000s, I remem- ber covering many meetings on the topic of cell towers. Towers were ugly, for one thing, sprouting up on mountains, hills and then farms and backyards. And maybe unhealthy — but one of the provisions of the 1996 Telecommunications Act was to ban challenges to cell tower sitings based on potential health impacts. Now smart meters join the great caval- cade of American fears: fl uoride, cathode-ray tubes, microwave ovens, pacemakers to our ubiquitous cellphones, all of which have the capacity to poison, radiate, fry or otherwise contaminate us in one way or another. One of the documents presented at the Seaside Brewing information session Included a white paper analysis of radio fre- quency associated with “advanced metering devices.” While I didn’t understand a word of it, I do like the word “advanced” better than “smart” to describe these contraptions. “Smart” gives it a human quality that you don’t necessarily want in an electronic device, especially when it is monitoring your electric orange-juice squeezer. It’s a little too close to another famously intrusive device, the HAL 9000 com- puter in Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey.” “Good morning, Dave … How are you this morning?” PUBLIC MEETINGS What’s a man to wear in Cannon Beach? Tuesday, April 9 Cannon Beach City Council, 5:30 p.m., work ses- sion, City Hall, 163 E. Gower St. VIEW FROM THE PORCH Thursday, April 11 Cannon Beach Academy, board meeting, 5:30 p.m., 3781 S. Hemlock, Cannon Beach. EVE MARX Monday, April 15 Cannon Beach Rural Fire Protection District Board of Directors, 6 p.m., 188 E. Sunset Blvd. Y ears ago, my husband and I were at an event. It was one of those end-of-week things where you steal away for a half hour from whatever you were doing to run in, kiss people on both cheeks, make small talk, congratu- late. If you get a chance to swig down a quick drink and eat enough hors d’oeuvres to confuse your stomach into believing you’ve had dinner, so much the better. Or that was the plan. Not long after our arrival, a man approached my husband to critique his outfi t, or, more accurately, the lack of it. It appeared what my husband was miss- ing at this event was a sports coat. The fact he had just come from his offi ce where he never wore a sports coat did not com- pute. In fact, it didn’t matter. The critic was annoyed by what seemed to him to be a slight, or a sign of disrespect at the infor- mality of my husband’s outfi t. Not long after, we were at another event. This time he wore a sports coat. He also wore a pressed white shirt, a tie, real trousers and leather shoes. A woman who had helped to organize the event approached. She took a good look at what my husband was wearing and told him he needed a new outfi t. Her recommen- dation was for him to lose the white shirt and tie and his boxy, light colored coat and replace it with a good quality black tee shirt and a more fi tted black jacket. I looked around the room and that is exactly what all the other men in the room were Publisher Kari Borgen Editor R.J. Marx Circulation Advertising Manager Sales Jeremy Feldman Holly Larkins Production Manager John D. Bruijn Tuesday, April 16 Cannon Beach Public Works Committee, 9 a.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St. Seaside School District Board of Directors, 6 p.m., 1801 S. Franklin. Seaside. Thursday, April 18 Parks and Community Services Committee, 9 a.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St. Cannon Beach Design Review Board Meeting, 6 p.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St. Stylish stuff for men and women at Ter Har’s in Cannon Beach. wearing. Should I mention this was an art I kind of miss men dressing up. event? I haven’t talked to too many guys You may have noticed the dress code about this, but my impression is men are in Cannon Beach is beach casual. This super happy with the dress code in Can- holds true for dining at any restaurant or non Beach. I think a lot of guys if given attending any social their druthers would or business func- never wear long ‘PRETTY MUCH THE tion. Ever since pants again. ONLY THING A MAN we’ve moved to the Or a sports Left Edge, my hus- jacket. CAN’T WEAR OUT TO band has given up And feel safe on fancy clothes. knowing a shirt from DINNER IN CANNON There isn’t a single Tommy Bahama is BEACH IS A WET SUIT.’ really dressing up. restaurant in Cannon Beach where a man Pretty much the is required to wear a only thing a man sports jacket, let alone a tie. Shorts, even can’t wear out to dinner in Cannon Beach board shorts, are acceptable everywhere. If is a wet suit. you’re wearing a shirt with a collar, you’re Which is not to say that men’s fashion already overdressed. here is dead. All a guy really needs to rock Truth be told, I’m not sure how I feel a look is a great pair of Birkenstocks and a about this. killer pair of sunglasses. Contributing writers Joseph Bernt Eve Marx Dave Fisher Nancy McCarthy Rita Goldfarb Cara Mico Rain Jordan CANNON BEACH GAZETTE The Cannon Beach Gazette is published every other week by EO Media Group. 1555 N. Roosevelt, Seaside, Oregon 97138 503-738-5561 • Fax 503-738- 9285 CannonBeachgazette.com • email: editor@cannonbeachgazette.com SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Annually: $40.50 in county, $58.00 in and out of county. Postage Paid at: Cannon Beach, OR 97110 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Cannon Beach Gazette, P.O. Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103 Copyright 2019 © Cannon Beach Gazette. Nothing can be reprinted or copied without consent of the owners. Thursday, April 25 Cannon Beach Planning Commission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St. Friday, April 26 Emergency Preparedness Committee, 9 a.m., 163 E. Gower St. Tuesday, May 7 Cannon Beach City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St. Thursday, May 9 Cannon Beach Academy, board meeting, 5:30 p.m., 3781 S. Hemlock, Cannon Beach. Monday, May 13 Cannon Beach Rural Fire Protection District Board of Directors, 6 p.m., 188 E. Sunset Blvd. Tuesday, May 14 Cannon Beach City Council, 5:30 p.m., work ses- sion, City Hall, 163 E. Gower St. THE NATIONAL AWARD-WINNING
