September 1, 2017 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com • 3A
Wyden blasts Trump’s response
Scott Pruitt hasn’t said much
regarding oil trains.
“Under normal circum-
stances, I’d say, ‘Well, may-
be that isn’t all bad,’” Wyden
said. “But … when I hear
about all the stuff his staff is
working on behind the scenes,
I think we got to get him on
the record on his plans. That
is what I intend to do in Sep-
tember.”
Oregon Dem
holds town hall
in Seaside
By Edward Stratton
EO Media Group
When immigration or
white supremacy comes up at
his town halls, U.S. Sen. Ron
Wyden sometimes recounts
the story of how his parents
fled Nazi Germany and how
his father joined the U.S.
Army to produce propaganda
for the war effort.
In his 844th town hall, and
the first since the deadly vi-
olence at a white nationalist
rally this month in Charlottes-
ville, Virginia, Wyden on Fri-
day, Aug. 25, called President
Donald Trump’s response
horrifying.
“All the people I know
believe that when you see a
swastika, this is not something
where there are two sides of
the debate,” the Oregon Dem-
ocrat said to applause from
a full crowd in the Seaside
City Council chambers. “It’s
wrong.”
Wyden took questions on a
variety of national issues and
promised to continue fighting
for the values of his constitu-
ents.
Russia
EDWARD STRATTON/EO MEDIA GROUP
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, was in Seaside for his 844th
town hall since joining the U.S. Senate in 1996.
helps produce more jobs.
Asked about Trump’s
recent threat at an Arizona
rally to shut down the gov-
ernment this fall unless sig-
nificant money for a wall on
the U.S.-Mexico border is in-
cluded in the federal budget,
Wyden said Trump will find
bipartisan resistance.
“Republicans do not want
to have anything to do with
paying for this wall,” Wyden
said, adding the U.S. instead
needs infrastructure invest-
ment.
Taxes and spending Health care
Wyden, the ranking mem-
ber on the Senate Finance
Committee, blasted the Trump
administration’s one-page tax
reform proposal, which would
lower top-tier rates on indi-
viduals and businesses and
reorder much of the federal
tax code.
In the guise of helping
small businesses, he said,
there is a disturbing proposal
to reclassify ordinary income
as capital gains, taxed at a
lower rate. “On my watch,
I’m going to fight that every
single step of the way,” he
said, promising to advocate
for bipartisan tax reform that
benefits the middle class and
Amid widespread oppo-
sition, Republicans narrowly
failed to repeal and replace
the federal Affordable Care
Act. Wyden said the efforts
made a mockery of Trump’s
campaign promises to expand
insurance coverage and lower
costs, with federal analyses
concluding the two iterations
of Trumpcare would have
increased premiums and cut
coverage for millions of peo-
ple. The senator said Con-
gress needs to pass bipartisan
legislation to stabilize the pri-
vate insurance market, clamp
down on prescription drug
prices and give states more
flexibility to set up public and
single-payer health care op-
tions.
Wyden highlighted bipar-
tisan efforts with U.S. Sen.
Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, to pass
legislation on chronic care,
which would use telemed-
icine, coordinated care and
value-based payment to de-
crease costs and expand ac-
cess. The bill, forecasted by
the Congressional Budget Of-
fice to reduce direct spending
on Medicare and Medicaid by
more than $215 million over
the next four fiscal years, was
recently approved by the Sen-
ate Finance Committee.
Environment
Astoria recently joined
a number of cities formally
opposing a proposed oil ter-
minal in Vancouver, Washing-
ton. Wyden was asked what
he will do to protect the Co-
lumbia River from becoming
a fossil fuel highway to Asia.
Wyden said the federal
government can’t play Rus-
sian roulette with people’s
safety and needs to support
initiatives that create incen-
tives to improve tracks, re-
place aging trains and support
first responders. So far, he
said, U.S. Environmental Pro-
tection Agency Administrator
Astorian names new managing editor
EO Media Group
Jim Van Nostrand has
joined The Daily Astorian as
managing editor.
He is a veteran journalist
with more than 30 years of
experience as a reporter and
editor. Most recently, he was
the digital editor at the Tri-
City Herald in Kennewick,
Washington.
He replaces Laura Sell-
ers-Earl, who is retiring from
full-time work after 25 years
with the Astorian and its
parent company, EO Media
Group, including the Seaside
Signal. She plans to remain
in the community.
“Jim Van Nostrand brings
a great depth of journalistic
experience and leadership to
our newsroom along with a
strong commitment to excel-
lence,” said David Pero, the
Astorian’s editor and pub-
lisher. “His career has been
filled with achievements in
print and on a wide variety of
digital platforms, and those
qualities help position The
Daily Astorian to serve our
readers far into the future.”
Van Nostrand is a na-
tive of Washington state and
spent part of his early career
in Oregon. He returned to
the Northwest five years ago
from Washington, D.C., to be
closer to family and friends.
“It’s not often that you
get to come home in this
business,” he said. “I look
forward to leading a great
newsroom in one of the most
beautiful places in the world
to live.”
At the Washington Bu-
reau for Knight Ridder and
then McClatchy newspapers,
he worked with journalists
covering the White House,
Congress and the federal
government, as well as for-
eign correspondents in Bagh-
dad, Beijing, Mexico City
and other countries. He also
taught digital storytelling to
graduate journalism students
as an adjunct professor at
American University and
worked with students from
Penn State and Northwestern
universities.
He for-
m e r l y
served as
a
senior
editor
at
Knight Rid-
der Digital,
where he
managed
Jim Van
nation-
Nostrand
al,
world
and politics coverage on 28
Knight Ridder newspaper
websites across the country.
He led Knight Ridder’s
online coverage of the Iraq
war, the 2000, 2002, 2004
and 2006 Olympics, and the
2000 and 2004 presidential
campaigns.
He was part of a team that
won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize
for Public Service for the Bi-
loxi Sun Herald’s coverage
of Hurricane Katrina.
Van Nostrand is a former
U.S. Army infantry captain.
He served in the First Infan-
try Division in Germany and
in the National Guard in Ore-
gon and Pennsylvania.
He is an avid historian and
an active member of the On-
line News Association.
Speaking of federal in-
vestigations into interference
by Russia in U.S. elections,
Wyden, who serves on the
Senate Select Committee on
Intelligence, said both Con-
gress and special counsel Rob-
ert Mueller are both trying to
follow the money.
“What I said on the (in-
telligence) committee is that
our job is to tell all of you,
the American people, what
happened, how our democra-
cy was hacked and do it in a
way that doesn’t compromise
classified information,” the
senator said.
Wyden talked about his leg-
islation, the Presidential Tax
Transparency Act, to require
all presidential candidates to
release their tax returns, while
lauding the new sanctions
against Russia overwhelming-
ly passed by the Senate.
Pushing back
Faced with a woman who
said Trump was causing
people mental health issues,
Wyden reminded the audience
that despite all the dramatic
rhetoric, President Trump has
not been able to pass major
legislation and faces mounting
opposition from both Demo-
crats and Republicans.
“I do think the last few
days have seen a lot of push-
ing back,” Wyden said about
Trump’s arguments with even
conservative Republicans. “I
don’t know how he expects
to get his legislation passed.
And that’s probably a good
thing, because most of it is so
flawed.”
OBITUARIES
Barbara (Wascher) Lund
June 17, 1934 — Aug. 8, 2017
Barbara Lund will be re-
membered as a loving, car-
ing wife and mother. She
leaves behind her sister,
Betty; husband, high school
sweetheart and true love,
Larry; three daughters, Lau-
rie, Linda and Jamie, along
with their husbands; and six
grandchildren.
We will miss her smile,
hand-written letters, and
positive, inquisitive spin on
life. She was a sweet wom-
an who loved the simple life,
playing games, taking long
car rides, coffee and spend-
ing time in Seaside Oregon,
her birthplace. What she en-
joyed most was being with
her family and friends, trav-
eling and laughing. Her last
years were happily spent in
Eugene, where she had many
Barbara Lund
friends at Willamette Oaks
Retirement Community.
Barbara’s celebration of
life will be held at Willa-
mette Oaks, 455 Alexander
Loop in Eugene, on Sunday,
Oct. 1 at 1:30 p.m. All are
welcome.
Governor defends state’s
cannabis regulations
By Paris Achen
Capital Bureau
SALEM — Gov. Kate
Brown is pushing back
against accusations by U.S.
Attorney General Jeff Ses-
sions that Oregon’s marijua-
na regulations have failed
to adequately protect public
health and prevent leakage
into the illicit market.
In a letter to Sessions
Aug. 22, Brown detailed
protections and improve-
ments Oregon has made to
its cannabis regulation and
enforcement systems and
challenged the accuracy of
information Sessions cit-
ed in his questioning of the
state’s compliance with the
Cole Memorandum.
The memo by the U.S.
Department of Justice during
the Obama administration in
2013 allowed states to op-
erate legal marijuana pro-
grams without federal inter-
ference on the condition that
states protect the public and
keep cannabis from leaking
out of the regulated market.
In the letter, the governor
addressed concerns outlined
in a letter from Sessions last
month.
She noted she has signed
into law several new regu-
lations this year to prevent
illegal sales and transport
of cannabis products. For
example, one law expands
strict tracking requirements
to medical marijuana, re-
quiring all products to be
tracked with radio frequency
identification tags. Another
law increases criminal pen-
alties for marijuana crimes,
such as illegal extraction and
import and export.
Brown and several other
governors have encouraged
Sessions to keep the Cole
memo in place.
Shirley Sopko
Celebration of Life
Saturday
September 16, 2017
at 11:00am
Our Lady of Victory
Catholic Church
Seaside, OR
NOW RECRUITING!
Shirley Sopko entered rest, at the age of 96,
on Easter Eve, April 15, 2017, in Seaside,
Oregon.
Shirley married Joe Sopko on May 3, 1941
in Ohio. The couple moved to Seaside in
1946. They purchased property on North
Shirley loved and was loved... Wahanna Rd., home to their 5 children:
Rance, Ron, Mike, Joe, and Susan. Because of Joe’s dental lab business, the Sopko’s home
became known as “Tooth Acres”. Shortly after celebrating their 25th Wedding Anniversary,
Shirley’s life was turned upside down by the sudden death of her husband Joe in 1968.
The devastating loss of her beloved Joe brought an outpouring of support from the local
community, in particular Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church and from family members from
Ohio. With this loving support Shirley raised her children as a single mother with courage and
confi dence.
After her children were raised Shirley embarked on a journey of her own. She began
working at Seaside Heights Elementary School in the cafeteria, where she delighted in
serving and nurturing children and staff with her kind words and warm smile. She also worked
at the Seaside Convention Center for Oregon Fine Foods.
She sold “Tooth Acres” in 1989, moved into an apartment on the Necanicum waterfront.
Here her personable and trustworthy nature led her to another role –manager of apartments.
She was 70 when she began and continued until she was 87.
Her favorite activities included water aerobics at the Seaside pool, going to the Seaside
Library, playing bingo, having lunch with friends at the Bob Chisholm Community Center, and
taking walks on the Seaside Prom. She also loved scouting out local “tag” sales.
Shirley loved deeply and gave back through volunteer work at her church Altar Society,
Sunday Supper, Meals on Wheels, and Bingo. She also volunteered at the Providence
Seaside Hospital’s gift shop. She spread joy wherever she went. “It’s good to get out, but
it’s good to come back” was one of her favorite expressions. And whenever she came back
to her apartment on the river, she loved opening the deck door to enjoy the “fresh, breezy
air” and to “watch the trees swaying in the wind” along the river bank. She loved the simple
pleasures of sunny days and gorgeous sunsets and the cozy rainy days were experiences
she was grateful for.
Shirley was lovingly called “Oma” by her family. She had a gentle touch. As a mother,
she was a woman who listened with her heart, loved without condition, and affi rmed with
encouraging words. When required, she spoke truth when correction was necessary. Shirley
saw the good in everything and accepted what was. Her actions and words aligned, which
cultivated trust.
She was kind, thoughtful and dependable. She enjoyed meeting new people and learning
about their life stories. Her generous heart and easy-going temperament gave Shirley a
remarkable ability to make those around her feel comfortable and also created a welcoming
haven. At home, she delighted in baking homemade bread, setting a beautiful table, and
serving a wonderful meal made with love.
Shirley’s faith, hope and perseverance were a constant throughout her life. She thanked
God daily for the blessings in her life and this led to a heart of gratitude and contentment
that she maintained until her last breath. In addition to her husband, Shirley was preceded
in death by two of her sons, Rance and Mike. She is survived by her children, Ron (wife
Melissa), Joe (wife Sherry), Susan (husband Jeff), and two daughters-in-law: Rance’s wife
Gretchen and Mike’s wife Cheryl. She had eight grandchildren: Derek (wife Karen), Kirsten
(husband Greg), Kara (husband Chris), Tim (wife Lauren), Matt (wife Trisha), Allison, Nikki,
Peter, and ten great-grandchildren: Carlee, Mason, Bode, Graham, Hayden, Grace, Cadence,
Cohen, Tyler and Grayson.
VISIT ONLINE AT NWCWC.NET
In Lieu of fl owers, please contribute to the Bob Chisholm Community Center.
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REENACTMENT
SEPTEMBER 2-4, 2017
FORT STEVENS STATE PARK
GATES OPEN AT 9:00 A.M.
BATTLES 11 A.M. & 3 P.M. SAT & SUN. - NOON MONDAY
LIVING HISTORY ALL DAY
ADMISSION: ADULTS $12, SENIORS & MILITARY $8, KIDS 6-12 $8
KIDS 5 & UNDER FREE. TICKETS AVAILABLE AT GATE OR ONLINE