Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (April 10, 2012)
in other words april10 2012 Natural Path to Health: Clinical Update By Dr. Carol McIntyre Hello All~ I hope you are getting ready for Spring! I know I am looking forward to nicer weather, gardening and bike riding! There are a few new things ‘springing’ into action at my office as well, so I’d like to fill you in. First, I am now an “In-network” provider with some insurance companies. To date, I am in-network with ASH (American Specialty Health), BCBS (Blue Cross Blue Shield) and DHS. This means that if you already have coverage for Naturopathic doctors and/or licensed acupuncturists, the percentage of what your insurance company pays toward visits may be greater, ultimately leaving you with a lesser expense. Please understand however, that even though I am in-network, coverage is dependent on your individual policy. Yes, it is confusing… but Kim and I are happy to call your insurance company to verify coverage details for you. (Ok, it’s really Kim who calls! Thank her!) I am also awaiting in-network status for ODS and CHP (Complimentary Health Plan through Kaiser). Once I am accepted into Kaisers’ network, most people with Kaiser insurance will be able to see me as a Naturopath and/or acupuncturist. There are also others I will be contracting with such as Lifewise, so if there is a company that you would like me to be contracted with please call the office to let me know. I am willing to become contracted with as many different providers I can to better serve the community at large. Secondly, through a collaborative effort between my office and the people at the Verdura clinic, there will soon be a new mental health counselor here in Vernonia! I am so very excited to announce this news. The counselor’s name is Andrew Lundgren. He is in private practice for himself and associated with Christian counseling services. His focus is on marriage counseling, individual counseling for adults and youth, as well as play therapy. Andrew will be in Vernonia beginning in May. Exact days and location of service are to be determined and once established I will be sure to let you know! This is going to be such a wonderful service added to our community. Please take advantage of it once he begins practicing. Learn more about him at his website: motifcounseling.com. Last but not least… I would like to thank all of those who have been supporting my monthly health talks at the Vernonia Community Grange. These are being held every first Monday of the month at 7:00 PM and usually last about 1 hour (just as a reminder). This past Monday I had a wonderful guest speaker, 15 Dr. Scheuerman, our local dentist. He did a wonderful demonstration measuring out the amount of sugar that is contained in a ‘typical’ breakfast of cereal and milk. It was astonishing to see how much sugar is added into our everyday foods. Thank you to Dr. Scheuerman for the wonderful information! If you’re interested, start calculating out how much sugar you’re eating… 4g of sugar is equal to 1tsp. Go ahead! See how it adds up! Next lecture will be Monday May 7th at 7:00 PM ~ ‘The skinny on fats’... spread the word and bring a friend. The lecture is always free and I provide hot tea. Donations are greatly accepted. Many thanks again to the good doctor for his participation. Thanks for joining me and as always~ Be Well. The Gun Doctor: Legal Considerations Of Self-Defense By Wolfgang Rotbart Disclaimer: This article not intended to be con- strued as legal advice of any kind, but merely reflects my understanding of the legal principles discussed. You may have heard about the case in Florida involving the shooting of an unarmed man by a neigh- borhood watch volunteer. In this case, only the most basic details are known at this time. However, it seems clear that the shooter initiated the contact. In general, the law does not permit using self-defense as an argument when the shooter initiates a conflict. This means you can’t start a fight and then shoot your opponent when you start losing. This has also started a related controversy of the “Stand Your Ground” law that is in effect in Florida and a number of other states. Basically, this law means that you do not have a “duty to retreat” if attacked. “Duty to retreat” means that if attacked, you must re- treat as far as possible, if safe to do so, before using deadly force to halt an attack. In some states, the duty to retreat additionally requires one to call the police be- fore using deadly force. The problems with duty to retreat are how far is far enough, and the “safe to do so” and are further complicated by the fact that it is very difficult to make such snap judgments in an extremely stressful life-or- death situation. The duty to retreat doctrine has been used by overzealous, ambitious district attorneys and police to prosecute people who apparently were only defending themselves against unwarranted attack. On the other hand, opponents of the “stand your ground” laws contend it promotes a Wild West society of shoot first and ask questions later, using fire- arms to settle disputes, fostering vigilantes, and allow- ing drug dealers and gang-bangers to literally get away with murder. These are valid concerns; however they are not covered by stand your ground laws. Stand your ground laws are pertinent only when a person is attacked without provocation, there is a reasonable belief that the attack will produce death or grave bodily injury and the person is not involved in criminal activity at the time. The vigilante question could perhaps be clarified better, but in general, stand your ground laws are not intended to be used in the de- fense of others except in special circumstances. Also, in this case, since the shooter was armed and the other man was not, it brings up the principle of “disparity of force”. Generally, one is not permitted to use a firearm in self-defense against an unarmed oppo- nent. There are exceptions to this such as when an op- ponent is much stronger, more aggressive, much more physically fit, and younger or when there are multiple Senior Stars: Ken Smejkal and then display them along his fence, selling them for 50 cents apiece. He also had another sideline business, picking up beer bottles and selling them at the Safeway Store in Vernonia (now the Blue House Cafe) for a penny apiece. The butcher there took note of Ken’s financial savvy and asked Ken to work for him, but Ken lived too far away to take the job and left the box boy duties to his pal Dick Gwin. In grade school Ken began logging...yes logging. He had a little toy wagon he used to haul dead trees his father would give him from their property. Innovator Ken extended the wagon with disc wheels and 2 x 4 framing and hauled the logs across the county road to a small sawmill owned by Joe Johnson. Ken has memories of joy riding as a teen—one day squirreling around during noon hour and nice guy police chief Ace Lolly (father of previous Senior Star Kathleen Tiffney) stopping him and reading him the riot act then letting him go. Apparently that’s all it took because Ken recalls never repeating that performance again. “Ace was a opponents. This is a complicated subject and a specif- ic case is analyzed in a free booklet available from: http://www.armedcitizensnetwork.org/images/stories/ Hickey%20Booklet.pdf These are but two of the many legal topics a person should know regarding armed self-defense. There is a great website that has a very informative brochure written in an easy to understand format on the legalities of self-defense. It is free and can be down- loaded from: http://www.armedcitizensnetwork.org/ images/stories/Hayes-SDLaw.pdf I also have these brochures available in printed form free of charge. I welcome ideas for topics for these articles. Please email them to: Wolfgang@WolfgangTheGun- Doctor.com. Call me at 503-429-7342 10:00 – 5:00 M – F Wolfgang Rotbart is an AGI-certified Master Gunsmith and a NRA-certified Basic Pistol Course Instructor. He works as a gunsmith and as an Oregon Concealed Handgun Safety Course Instructor. You may visit The Gun Doctor website for more information at: http:// www.wolfgangthegundoctor.com/. continued from page 10 beloved Chief, caring for his town and the kids,” says Ken. Ken had a 1931 Model A Ford Coupe he bought for $50 from his cousin John Ohler at the age of fifteen. Gas was 20 cents a gallon then. When he was sixteen he bought a blue ‘36 Chevy Coupe for $50. Ken was married in 1961 to local girl Penny Plummer at the Christian Church by Robert Sargent. Ken and Penny worked together, driving truck and hauling water for natural gas exploration around Mist, mainly for ARCO. He drove their Mack and Penny drove their Peterbuilt. Ken had a nose for buying, selling and trading, including steel bridges he seemed to find around here and there. He once purchased a bridge for $100 in Timber and resold it plank by wooden plank. Penny recalls that “...life was different in the country—we drove into town maybe once every three or four weeks.” Ken and Penny have three girls, six grandkids and two greatgrandkids. First daughter Susan has Ryan and Ben; daughter number two, Cindy, has Becky and Erica; and headlights, and daughter three, starting with four new Sharon has Travis tires and waking up and Tony. Becky has with four flats! Hayden and Erica has Ken retired Haley. last year leaving his Ken and operation to others. Penny have made Ken and many trips down Penny’s dreams and to sunny and warm plans for the future: Mexico, wintering in they own a lot at Long Baja and Matzalan for Beach Ocean Park a month or more. They with a cute little 10 have also traveled x 12 cabin and are to Alaska in their building an additional twenty foot SeaRay cabin on wheels— Big brother Jim Smejkal with Ken. and have taken their talented daughter twenty-five foot Bayliner to Glacier Bay Cindy is designing it for them. When for ten years or so. Ken proudly shares it’s done it will be hauled up around bragging rights with Penny for the forty- Oysterville—you can guess by that six pound King Salmon she reeled in in name what they will spend their time British Columbia. Ken says that was the doing when there! ultimate time of their lives—sleeping on Ken, after learning of all you and a boat and catching fresh fish every five Penny have accomplished over the years to six minutes. we hope you enjoy your retirement— In 1963 Ken and Penny took the you deserve it! gravel roads through B.C. all the way to Thanks for sharing your stories the Alaska border. Penny recalls that and memories with our Vernonia’s Voice trip with “fondness,” broken windshields readers near and far.
