FERC's Order On Rehearing And Stay On Bradwood Landing

Read Complete Order Here

The GRP Straw Poll Asking: How Would You Vote On A Recall Of Clatsop County Commissiners, Jeff Hazen And Ann Samuelson Has Ended - The Results Below

Ann Samuelson

Yes To Recall
131 (83%)

No To Recall
25 (16%)

Votes on this poll: 156

Jeff Hazen

Yes To Recall
126 (81%)

No To Recall
29 (18%)

Votes on this poll: 155



The Arguement For Recall
Proponents of the recall maintain that it provides a way for citizens to retain control over elected officials who are not representing the best interests of their constituents, or who are unresponsive or incompetent. This view holds that an elected representative is an agent, a servant and not a master.

The Arguement Against Recall
Opponents argue that it can lead to an excess of democracy, that the threat of a recall election lessens the independence of elected officials, that it undermines the principle of electing good officials and giving them a chance to govern until the next election, and that it can lead to abuses by well-financed special interest groups.

The Oregonian:A Gem Of A Teachable Moment In Jewell

By: Doug Bates - The Oregonian
Thursday September 10, 2009, 4:57 PM

Don Anderson is a hard-working high school teacher, devoted to his students and the subjects he teaches. From time to time, he has brought his journalism classes at tiny Jewell High School on visits to The Oregonian's editorial department, and his students have always been well-informed about current events.

Unfailingly, they've been highly prepared with good questions, and their paper, The Jay, is outstanding for a high school with an enrollment of only 60.

Read The Full Article

I'd Like To Introduce You To ........

Miss Isabella Rose Redding
Another Blessed Gift Bestowed On Our Family
September 8, 2009
Astoria, Oregon

The Daily Astorian: Samuelson, Hazen Recalls Move Forward

9/9/2009 4:27:00 PM

Recall takes next big step toward election

By JOE GAMM - The Daily Astorian

Local citizens groups have turned in signatures to place the recalls of two Clatsop County Commissioners on a ballot.................


Read Full Article

LNG:The Passamaquoddy Study Shows Impacts Of LNG Development Costly, With Limted Benefit

By: Edward French

A study of the potential impacts of liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals in Passamaquoddy Bay concludes that the economic stimulus provided to the region by one or more LNG import terminals would be limited. An LNG terminal would have significant economic consequences throughout the region, with costs for public safety, staffing and infrastructure running into the millions of dollars for host communities, while the loss in property values along the U.S. side is estimated at $3 million to $8 million. Benefits would be less than expected, as the study concludes that each LNG terminal would provide only 27 construction jobs and 8 operations jobs to local people........

Read The Full Overview

From AP: Obama Speech To School Students

Obama School Speech Transcript

From The Daily "A": "The Jay" Editorial From Jewell

Jewell student editorial causes backlash
* Dave Samuelson threatens to ‘come after’ editor
* KAST-AM radio reports(September 9, 2009) Dave Samuelson saying, upon contacting Clatsop County Sheriff's Department and I am paraphrasing..."Clatsop County Chief Deputy Paul Williams stated that the complaint from Jewell School on the implied threat was so silly no report was filed"

By DEEDA SCHROEDER - The Daily Astorian
September 7, 2009

When Jewell High students wrote an editorial for the school's newspaper, The Jay, condemning the Bradwood Landing liquid natural gas project and its political supporters, they had no idea the article would make such a splash when it was published last week.

Now, after former Jewell School Board member Dave Samuelson complained about the story, those same students are afraid to speak about why they wrote the piece...

Full Article

A need for a second look

The following editorial is reprinted from The Jay, the Jewell community newspaper

Don't be fooled by bureaucratic double-speak

The Palomar pipeline that most concerns residents of the Jewell area would transport imported regasified LNG from the Bradwood Landing LNG site, about 10 miles east of Astoria on the Columbia River.This would be 36 inches wide and would wind its way about 110 miles from the terminal to Molalla, Oregon and from there another 100 or so miles to Maupin in eastern Oregon.

From there it could connect to the massive interstate TransCanada pipeline to quench California's huge thirst for natual gas.

Much of the pipeline from the Bradwood facility would go through the Jewell area. Current standards have the pipeline only three feet under ground.

The Jay challenges readers to come up with one, just one concrete advantage of having the LNG pipeline go though the Jewell area.

Over the last several years now there has been a lot of hype and hot air given by company propaganda, local and state politicians, and government bureaucrats.The issue is mired in so much red tape that it may seem to some hard to decipher fact from fiction, but that is just the way Bradwood Landing (the LNG corporation) wants it.

The more they can confuse, obfuscate and bamboozle local residents, the more sway they will have over the (unfortunately few) politicians that have your back. Let's look at some of the myths that Bradwood is foisting upon us and the facts that lie behind them.

Myth No. 1: Bradwood Landing will provide much needed jobs in the area. FALSE. Although a few local excavating and construction companies might get temporary work, once the pipeline is in place, the Bradwood Landing facility on the Columbia River uses just a small crew to operate and inspect the pipeline. The net job growth from the pipeline is close to zero. In fact, the jobs that the LNG company does have (around 40 or so) will all be state jobs and won't (necessarily) involve local people at all.

Myth No. 2: Bradwood Landing will provide much needed tax dollars. FALSE. Because of the loss in property value over land the pipeline will run, the actual projection of tax dollars reaching local schools is revenue negative. Not only that, Oregonians will be forced to subsidize the gas companies through taxes on the gas we would use. Would you buy property that had a three-foot highly explosive pipeline running through it? Property values in the areas anywhere close to the pipelines would plummet even farther than they have during this recession.

Myth No. 3: An LNG pipeline is safe. FALSE. Not only are property values at risk, so are is the safety of our citizens, our families. The final destination for all the LNG going through the Jewell area is California.

We, the citizens, students, teachers, workers of this wonderful rural area are not even taken into consideration. Many of our local politicians think we are a bunch of country bumpkins in Clatsop County and don't know how to read. But we do.

We read the facts about LNG, how it imposes safety issues that include massive explosions like those that have occurred in New York and Maryland. If you are in doubt, look them up.

Finally, California, the state that is to benefit from this LNG, has already rejected five of these proposed LNG regasification plants.

Why should Oregon do California's dirty work?

Why should we tear up our precious soil to feed the insatiable state of California?

Write your newspaper.

Call your representative or senator.

Call Bradwood Landing.

Tell your parents or kids.

Let it be known that we don't want Bradwood Landing and its pipeline running through our land.

We Are Witnessing A Piece Of Our History Die Before Our Very Eyes!

Harry Flavel Dead At 82 On May 31, 2010Read Full Daily Astorian Report

This is the Flavel House. Although the nearby home of Captain Flavel is better known, this is a Flavel house too. It was built by the Captain George Flavel's son, George Conrad Flavel Jr. It is still owned by the Flavel family - Harry Sherman Flavel (born 1927) and Mary Louise Flavel (born 1925). They are the grandchildren of George Conrad Flavel Jr. and the great-grandchildren of Captain George Flavel. The house is currently unoccupied and neglected.

Yes, the Flavel House, the other one and it is very distressing to see it deteriorate daily, with no attempt at dialogue at all by those who care with Harry and Mary Louise Flavel in whose care it is now in.

Who, out there has the magic to get the ear of these two with a solution that benefits them as well as this home's place in history?

Its value, in my view, goes way beyond becoming just the private home of some "High Roller" with a pocket full of money to restore it but should belong to us all.

Astoria-Warrenton CofC! Are You A Member Business? Do You Support The Exec. Director Hauke's Position On your Behalf?

Though I am certain "Political Posturing" on any particular issue by this organization is not permitted in its "ByLaws", what is your view, if you are a member business, of the Executive Director speaking on your behalf regarding the recall petitoning in process of Clatsop County Commissioners Ann Samuelson, Jeff Hazen and Patricia Roberts?

From The Daily "A": Samuelson Wants To Debate The Recall Petitioners?

From "The Daily Astorian" - Friday, September 4, 2009

Samuelson Wants A Debate On The Issues
GRP: As if this "Circus " hasn't already spun out of control to the side of absurdity on the part of this one County Commissioner, in my view, now she wants to ramp it up to another extreme by challenging the recall pertitioners to a debate?

Should she not be, if as she says she has so much overwhelming support from her constuituents in District 5, leaving the decision in whose trust she presumbaly serves in the hands of those constituents to determine her fate?

If they truly do trust in her leadership, what has she got to worry about? Why challenge them to a wrestling match?

Clatsop County Commissioner Ann Samuelson has thrown down the gauntlet. But nobody's picking it back up.

She's challenging the chief petitioner in a recall against her, Cannon Beach resident Betsy Ayres, to a debate at the Seaside City Hall.

She has even set a time, at 6 p.m. Sept. 24, but her main challenger isn't taking her up on it.

"I'm finding, when people gather, we don't have to be mad about something," Samuelson said. "Let's get something done."

Ayres said she and Samuelson had spoken about a public debate before."There are a lot of things the commissioners are not willing to discuss with the public," Ayres said.

Samuelson said she believes the recall petition is based on misinformation, and that it's important for her district to hear the facts. She said she will be at the city hall at the scheduled time to discuss the flier that her opponents, a group calling itself Democracy in District 5, is circulating about her service to the community.

Ayres said she's not running for office."It's not about me. It's about Ann and her record," Ayres said. "I am not interested in having a debate."

Clatsop County: The North/South Divide

Somebody want to take a shot at explaining exactly what that, "The North/South County Divide", is?

The subject was brought up at a dinner party last night and when queried as to what she meant, the exclaimer had no clue "now that you ask it but, Commissioner Samuelson says it all the time about doing away with it."

I guess you can all guess where it went after that but, please, you got an answer?

Give it to us.

The Port: Introducing The I-5 Short Sea Shipping Marine Highway

This is a Slide Show on the prospective new relationship between Port of Astoria and Santa Maria Shipping LLC in Short Sea Shipping and quite possibly a bright future for many here should the deal not be "Queered" in some way or another.

Introducing The I-5 Marine Highway

Northern Star's Salem Based Talking Head, Deister, Speaks

8/28/2009 10:48:00 AM
From The Daily Astorian - Letters To The Editor

Letter: Another viewpoint by: Charles Deister, Northern Start Natural Gas, Salem. Oregon GRP: One can only imagine whose ears this guy is bending down at the seat of our State Government and with this message yet?

The Daily Astorian's editorial (Sen. Jeff Merkley exposes the dirty little secret about Bradwood LNG" (only exposed the editorial writer's misunderstanding of basic economics and how natural gas markets work.Regarding the idea of a ban on exporting natural gas from Bradwood Landing or any other Oregon LNG terminal, NorthernStar Natural Gas is not opposed to the idea. As we have previously told several state officials, the idea of exporting LNG from an Oregon terminal is so patently absurd that we would happily sign a contract with the state of Oregon or any requisite federal authority committing that our facility would never export gas. This offer still stands...You Gotta Read This!

Port Of Bellingham Contests NOAA Move To Newport

07:54 AM PDT

Monday, August 31, 2009

By KGW Staff

WASHINGTON -- Another group is challenging the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's decision to move a fleet of research ships from Seattle to Newport, Ore. More: NOAA move

Read Release

A Reminder About Shipbreaking: G.O.B. Or Tree Hugger, It Is A Dangerously Dirty Business

GRP: Listening this morning to one of our local businessmen bemoaning, in front of a sniggering and bemused Clatsop County Commission, the loss of a Shipbreaking opportunity in our community, I thought it might be prudent to update a few as to the dangers of this kind of business and no matter how one tries to twist this one, it just, in my view, is absolutely not for this part of the country.

Hazards In Ship Breaking Procedures
Article by Raunekk For "Bright Hub"

This article deals with the numerous dangers that the ship breaking industry imposes on its workers and the people living in the surrounding areas.
In a previous article we discussed the main factors for the deportation of the ships to developing countries from the rich countries. Breaking of obsolete vessels may involve number of challenges and also a high level of danger.

Read Full Article

"Pyrolysis" - Wood-To-Oil Technology May Hold Benefits In Thinning Our State Forests

By Jeff Barnard
The Associated Press
Appeared In: The Register-Guard, Sunday, Aug 30, 2009 ,

MERLIN — For the past decade that the U.S. Forest Service has been pressing to thin hundreds of millions of acres of trees in danger of burning up, it has had one nagging problem: how to come up with the billions of dollars to pay for it.
Young trees are too small for lumber. Transporting the bulky material to biomass power plants is too expensive. And cutting big trees to pay for thinning the small ones often runs afoul of environmental laws.

Read Full Article Here

GRP Straw Poll Ends: Would You Support An Initiative To Put LNG Siting And Development In Clatsop County To A Vote?

There were a total of 203 voters and of those 203 on the questions below they said:

Yes To An Initiative - 173(85%)
No To An Initiative - 22 (10%)
Yes To LNG - 33 (16%)
No To LNG -154 (75%)
Yes To Look At
Other Industry -155(76%)
No To Look At
Other Industry - 21(10%)

Split every hair, grasp every straw to spin this....uh...Straw Poll as you wish but the numbers are just as you see them.

The Port: An Exciting Prospect In "Short Sea Shipping"

"Short Sea Shipping"

Small, shallow draft coastal container ships and barges to blend with rail and road systems to move freight to waterborne transfer points way upriver?

That's a huge piece of the maritime commerce pie for us down here.

"Short Sea Shipping", that's what it's called and The Port of Astoria has just been presentented with another opportunity to pull its ass up out of "The Doldrums" it has put itself in and make a sound contribution to this community and its future in The Lower Columbia River's maritime commerce and I think we are perfectly suited to handle this well and we must not forget that these shippers, with ships getting massively bigger and with time of the essence, I believe, will threaten future upriver commerce because of time and will be more prone to patronize port systems that offer easy in and out and bypass us altogether without a solution.

A Lower Columbia Super Port? Well, it's a definite talking point and whether you know it or not, to my understanding, that think is already on paper and at one time slated for legislation.

My two questions...

* What's the deal with the lease-back and residual revenue of the vessels?

*How many Jobs?

The article below explains the overall scope and potential this opportunity offers us and hopefully we will seek the resources to ensure this deal isn't bungled

Read This Article From Professional Mariner On "Short Sea Shipping"

Columbia River Business Alliance Presents: Residential Basics Of Going Solar!

Columbia River Business Alliance is helping to sponsor this great (and free) solar workshop.
Please register early so you get a seat.
Peter Huhtala, Executive Director
Columbia River Business Alliance
PO Box 682
Astoria, Oregon 97103
Visit Columbia River Business Alliance
503 468-8038

"The future of the Columbia River estuary is our business."

Residential Basics of Going Solar - 10/1/09
AstoriaThurs, Oct 1 (6:00 - 7:00pm)

This free, one hour workshop covers the basics of why solar is a smart choice for Oregon homeowners.

We will show you:
* How well solar works in Oregon's climate
* Available solar technologies
* Financial incentives and tax credits
* How to choose a contractor

Residential tax credits and incentives often pay for up to 80% of the cost!

Participants will come away with basic knowledge about solar energy systems and will be prepared for any of our 3 hour workshops, or to do more focused research on their own and start working with a contractor.

Click Here For More Information And To Register