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About Seaside signal. (Seaside, Or.) 1905-current | View Entire Issue (May 29, 2015)
May 29, 2015 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com • 3A Ceremony keys on true meaning of Memorial Day of life,” he said. “And while giving back to the extent In Lounsbury’s opinion, they deserve is impossible, making it a national holiday, celebrating their memory and subsequently part of a and honoring their most self- three-day weekend, is “when less deeds offers a start.” some of the true meaning of He thanked the approxi- Memorial Day was lost.” mately 1.3 million members The holiday is about more of the nation’s military who than a chance for a miniature have fought to defend Amer- vacation, Lounsbury said. ican values and the daily “It’s a great day to re- freedoms citizens enjoy. member,” he added. “Every “God bless our fallen, day is a great day to remem- their families and those ber our veterans and their that live in uniforms in this families.” world,” said Miller, himself Mitch Miller, of Oregon’s a Vietnam War veteran who Veterans of Foreign Wars served several years in the department, also paid tribute 1960s. to “our American fallen,” In Vietnam, he said, he whom “humble Americans saw many good service have gathered” to honor members fall, memories that since the Civil War. still touch him. “Every American owes a “It was no picnic,” he great debt to the courageous said. The war was lost, he men and women who have added, but not by the sol- VHOÀHVVO\ JLYHQ WKHLU DOO WR diers. “We did our job. We defend and protect our way got ’er done.” Memorial from Page 1A JOSHUA BESSEX — THE DAILY ASTORIAN Will Batty, a volunteer with American Legion Riders, puts the finishing touches on a battlefield cross as a tribute to Sgt. James Treber during the Memorial Day ceremony at the American Legion in Seaside. Guest speaker Luke Thomas, the Clatsop Coun- W\ 9HWHUDQV¶ 6HUYLFH 2I¿FHU said he’s committed to help- ing veterans get the services DQGEHQH¿WVWKH\GHVHUYH+H told the veterans in the audi- ence to call him, even when they might believe another veteran needs his help more. “You’re a veteran, you’ve paid your due,” he said, add- ing the fallen soldiers who were being memorialized that day would want the living veterans to now receive what they deserve. Maureen Boggs, a mem- ber of the Seaside Ameri- can Legion Auxiliary, sang “The Star-Spangled Ban- ner,” “Amazing Grace” and “America, the Beautiful” for the ceremony. A member of Boy Scout Troop 642 led the crowd in the Pledge of Alle- giance. Kyrstin Crawford, a member of the legion’s Ju- nior Auxiliary, served as Miss Poppy and handed out red remembrance pop- pies, made by veterans, at the ceremony for donations. The Junior Auxiliary mem- bers also pass them out in front of grocery stores and in other locations, and the donations go to veterans, Crawford said. After leading the crowd in the closing prayer, Chaplain Jere Mattila read “Flanders Field,” a poem written by John McCrae in May 1915 during World War I. The poem, which is the inspira- tion behind the traditional remembrance poppies, reads: ³,Q )ODQGHUV ¿HOGV WKH SRS- pies blow, between the cross- es, row on row, that mark our place; and in the sky the larks, VWLOOEUDYHO\VLQJLQJÀ\VFDUFH heard amid the guns below.” “We are the dead. Short days ago we lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, loved and were loved, and now we lie LQ )ODQGHUV ¿HOG´ WKH SRHP reads. “Take up our quarrel with the foe: to you from fail- ing hands we throw the torch; be yours to hold it high. If you break faith with us who die we shall not sleep, though poppies grow in Flanders ¿HOGV´ Local police try to approach panhandling with wider perspective Dilemma from Page 1A Begging is listed as an offense against public peace and safety in the city’s Gen- eral Offenses Ordinance. “No person shall beg or solicit alms or other gratu- ities upon the streets or in any public place in the city,” the ordinance states. The offense can carry a SHQDOW\ RU D ¿QH QRW WR H[- ceed $700 or imprisonment not to exceed 180 days. Each day a violation occurs is chalked up as a differ- ent offense. The ordinance, however, is not enforced, especially if the offense is isolated from others, such as disorderly conduct. “The problem with it, is there are basically case laws out there that contradict” the city’s ordinance, Ham said. A person could claim cit- ing or arresting someone for panhandling is a suppression of their First Amendment rights, Ham said. And many people have done so. In at least Arizona, Utah, Mich- igan and California in the past four years, courts have struck down different types of panhandling laws, ruling they are unconstitutional since the First Amendment protects the right to free speech, according to the nonpartisan First Amend- ment Center. After being made aware of this situation and realizing “we might be setting our- selves up for some bad de- cisions,” Ham said, the de- partment as a whole backed off citing people for only panhandling based on advice from the city. Now police response is FRPSODLQWGULYHQ DQG RI¿- cers will not initiate contact with a panhandler unless he or she is aggressively pan- handling, using profanity to threaten another person, fol- lowing an individual, block- LQJVLGHZDONWUDI¿FRUXVLQJ some other kind of aggres- sive tactic to solicit, Ham said. When a person calls the department to report an incident of panhandling, the dispatcher often will ask if it only is panhandling or if there are other aggravating factors that would require an RI¿FHUWRUHVSRQGWRWKHVLW- uation. The same applies to street performers. (YHQ ZKHQ RI¿FHUV GR respond, they handle the in- cidents as informational or educational opportunities, Ham said. Besides the possibility of being sued for repressing people’s First Amendment rights, citing someone who claims to be in need could be seen as impractical, Ham said. “What’s the point of cit- ing someone to get a mone- WDU\¿QHIURPVRPHRQHZKR can’t afford it?” some may ask, Ham said, which has led the department to ques- tion, “Is it really worth the enforcement action in the manner of issuing a citation and having them appear into court?” They instead try to ap- proach the problem with a wider perspective that aims to treat it at its root. The de- partment would prefer to of- fer or suggest resources for people who claim to need as- sistance. Those could include referrals to Helping Hands, the South Clatsop County Food Bank, food programs at community churches, the Department of Human Ser- vices and others. The prob- lem, Ham said, is options for RI¿FHUV WR KHOS DUH OLPLWHG and the panhandlers they en- counter are living in a wide Sou’Wester Garden Club Green Thumb Sale May 30, 2015 • 9am-3pm Wide Variety of Plants & Planters Scholarship Raffle 3 Raffle Prizes Silent Auction FREE ADMISSION Seaside Civic & Convention Center 415 1st Avenue in Seaside QUESTIONS: 503-738-7200 pow ered b y m u s ic firs t range of situations. Some are transients, for whom beg- ging has become an integral part of their lifestyle as they travel from place to place; some are homeless and truly need assistance; and others may not need food or work as much as they just desire money. That is what some com- munity members are expe- riencing when they interact with panhandlers, as well. Residents have shared a number of stories about certain panhandlers quickly disposing of donated food PUBLISHER Steve Forrester EDITOR R.J. Marx REPORTER by tossing it into the nearby parking lot, or simply reject- ing it outright and insisting they only want money. But there also are stories of recipients who seem to truly be in need and respond with gratitude when offered food or help from passers by. One man, who did not want to be named for the ar- ticle, said he is not from Sea- side but more or less passing through. Panhandling isn’t something he always does, he said, but he’s “going through hard times” and is waiting for XQHPSOR\PHQW EHQH¿WV DQG Samantha McLaren SYSTEMS MANAGER Carl Earl CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Betty Smith PRODUCTION MANAGER ADVERTISING SALES Katherine Lacaze John D. Bruijn viduals information to Help- ing Hands or other resources when giving them food or money. For those who are frus- trated by the panhandling that often transpires in front of Safeway or elsewhere in town, Ham would suggest they don’t give to those peo- ple. “If it truly is a community livability problem, then the community as a whole is go- ing to have to not support the activity - whatever it is,” he said, adding if you don’t feed an issue, it might go away. CIRCULATION MANAGER Claire Lovell John Rahl Darren Gooch Esther Moberg ADVERTISING MANAGER other social services to get sorted out. He has a car for transportation and just uses the money he collects for gas and food, he said. Several people in an on- line discussion on the Sea- side Oregon Virtual Garage Sale page expressed frustra- tion about not being able to distinguish between those who truly are in need and those who aren’t and were concerned panhandling and solicitation from the lat- ter could be detrimental to serving the former. Some suggested giving the indi- Laura Kaim Wendy Richardson Seaside Signal The Seaside Signal is published every other week by EO Media Group, 1555 N. Roosevelt, Seaside Oregon 97138. 503-738-5561. www.seasidesignal.com Letter policy The Seaside Signal welcomes letters to the editor. The deadline is noon Monday prior to publication. Letters must be 400 words or less and must be signed by the author and include a SKRQHQXPEHUIRUYHUL¿FDWLRQ:HDOVR request that submissions be limited to one letter per month. Send to 1555 N. Roosevelt Drive, Seaside, OR 97138, drop them off at 1555 N. Roosevelt Drive or fax to 503-738-9285. Or email nmccarthy@seasidesignal.com SUBSCRIPTIONS Annually: $40.50 in county • $58.00 in and out of county • e-Edition: only $30.00 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Seaside Signal, P.O. Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103. Postage Paid at Seaside, OR 97138 and at additional PDLOLQJ RI¿FHV &RS\ULJKW E\ the Seaside Signal. 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