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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 25, 2012)
4 community bulletin board/letters to the editor september25 2012 Upcoming Events Prescription Drug Collection, September 29, 10:00 AM-2:00 PM at Vernonia City Hall. Turn in your unused or expired medications for safe disposal. Salmon Festival, October 6, 10 AM - 6 PM at Hawkins Park. Come on out and help welcome home our salmon friends and take part in an old time harvest festival. Pumpkin carving, scarecrow building, trout pond, salmon viewing, food, music, vendors and more. IMBA Take a Kid Mountain Biking and Youth TRI October 6th at Stub Stewart State Park. Northwest Trail Alliance, Westside Trail Federation, Hillsborobiking. org, and Bike Gallery activities all day (free bike rentals, riding clinic and competitions). Contact Interpretive Ranger Steve Kruger at 503-324-0606 ext 223. “Community Conversations,” October 8, 7-9 PM; October 13, 2-4 PM at the Vernonia Schools Library. Community members are invited to participate in structured discussions about topics of current interest and concern. The topic for the first two sessions is Community Livability and will include conversations about Utility Rates, Emergency Preparedness, Community Pride, Drug and Alcohol Abuse, and Safety and Security. These are the first of four sessions. Childcare will be provided. “Community Conversations” is organized by Vernonia Connects. School Fall Carnival, October 20, 5:00-9:00 PM at the new Vernonia Schools. Food, games, prizes and fun for the whole family. Correction In the September 11, 2012 issue of Vernonia’s Voice, in our article about the Mist-Birkenfeld Fire Suppression Reservoir, we misprinted information from Roslyn Gray, Engineer with NRCS. In our article we stated that the reservoir was 7 feet deep and would fill in thirty days. According to Gray the article would have been more accurate if it had stated the following: “Seasonal rain will fill the reservoir to an effective depth of 7.5 feet. During most of the year, excess flow will discharge to the natural channel downstream of the dam, and ultimately run into the Nehalem River. During critical periods, a bypass system will route stream flow around the pond to discharge directly to the Nehalem River for water quality and quantity purposes.” Vernonia’s Voice sincerely regrets this error. Vernonia Connects Invites You to Join Your Neighbors in “Community Conversations” “Community Conversations” is a series of gatherings where all community members are invited to participate in structured discussions about topics of current interest and concern. The intent of these events is to create change within the community and engage citizens through frank and open dialog. There are two opportunities to participate in each topic. All events will be held in the Vernonia Smhools Library. Community Livability Omt 8 at 7 PM & Omt 13 at 2 PM Childcare will be provided Youth and Edumation Omt 22 at 7 PM & Omt 27 at 2 PM Community Development Nov 10 at 2 PM & Nov 12 at 7 PM Business and Emonomim Development Dem 11 at 7 PM & Dem 15 at 2 PM Community Livability will feature conversations about: • Utility Rates • Emergency Preparedness • Community Pride • Drug and Alcohol Abuse • Safety and Security Columbia County Warns of Phone Scam The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office is reporting a number of fraudu- lent telephone scams being attempted on county residents in recent weeks. One common scam in recent weeks has been the “grandparent” telephone scam. In these types of scams, a perpe- trator calls a grandparent or other relative pretending to be their grandchild/niece/ nephew, etc. The caller sounds upset and says that he or she doesn’t have much time to talk. The caller might also say that they have a cold if you don’t quite recognize their voice, or they will at- tempt to solicit feedback from you to sound even more convincing (scam vic- tims often report being asked, “do you know which grandchild this is?”). Their story generally follows a familiar line: they were traveling in another country or another state with a friend, and after a car accident or legal infraction, they are in jail and need bail money wired to a West- ern Union account as soon as possible for their quick release. Sums can vary from several hun- dred to several thousand dollars, some- times over the course of two or three calls. In some instances a second scam- mer calls back later pretending to be a law enforcement official or attorney, to confirm the story or ask for additional money. They may even claim to be an employee of a U.S. embassy or consulate overseas! Should you be targeted in this type of scam, there are actions you can take to protect yourself. Although the supposed grandchild may plead with you not to tell their family, you should im- mediately reach out to parents or other relatives to verify the information you receive. In the vast majority of cases, the real relative is safely where they should be - at work, school or home. “This scam has been going around the United States in recent years, and we’ve had a number of calls in recent weeks right here in Columbia County,” said Sheriff Jeff Dickerson. “I want to re- mind everyone to be very cautious about giving any personal information out by phone, and to be very wary of anyone asking you to send them money for any reason whatever. “It is not typical for a law en- forcement agency to accept money in this fashion in order to bail people out of jail,” the sheriff added. CC Rider Makes Changes to Schedule In response to rider comments and requests, Columbia County Rider has revised the North and South Flex route transit schedules to address better con- nections and coordination with the fixed route service and allow new stops along the route. The new schedules will take effect October 1, 2012. Highlights of the changes in- clude new stops at the Scappoose and Saint Helens Senior Centers, Goodwill store, in addition to the regular stops that were on the old route schedule. The new schedule also looked at better coordina- tion and linkage with the St. Helens to Portland and PCC/Rock Creek/ Willow Creek Transit stops. Other changes in- clude flag stops through-out the system to allow riders to catch the bus at addi- tional sites that were not previously part of the route. Riders using flag stops can be picked up at the designated flag stop site by calling our dispatch so that the driver can be alerted that there is a rider at a particular flag stop that wants to be picked up. “Revising the schedule is the re- sult of a lot of hours of work from our Metro West drivers and the computer skills of Sharon Evinger, a dedicated vol- unteer who also has a lot of rider experi- ence in our system.” said Janet Wright, CCRider’s Transit Director. “We couldn’t have done it without their input and work.” Riders are encouraged to give comments on the new schedule so that improvements in service can continue. Riders will also see a new schedule for- mat that will be easier to read and under- stand, along with additional information about the public transit system. For information on the CCRider Transportation System, riders can go to www.columbiacountyrider.com for in- formation or call our dispatch at 503- 366-0159. To the Editor, Thank you to Coach Dee and the VHS Cheerleaders for painting the sta- dium - it looks great! Paint was provided by a grant from the True Value Hardware Foundation, supplies were donated by Vernonia Florist, painting provided by our new VHS cheerleaders! ticipated in the recent United Way Stuff the Bus campaign. Thanks to your dona- tions, over $1,700 worth of school sup- plies will be distributed to Vernonia stu- dents. Sponsors included Vernonia True Value Hardware, Wauna Federal Credit Union, Vernonia Sentry Market, Ver- nonia Community Lunch Program, and Costco. Thank you for allowing our stu- dents to start out with what they need for this school year! Readers Lend Their Voices... Betsy Miller Vernonia Schools volunteer To the Editor, The Vernonia Schools would like to thank everyone who donated and par- Betsy Miller Vernonia Schools volunteer HOW TO SEND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Vernonia Connects aims to strengthen community vitality by building communication, connectivity and collaboration among local leaders, organizations and community members. Vernonia’s Voice welcomes and requests your thoughts, opinions and ideas. Please include your name, address and phone number, limit your letters to 300 words or less. Vernonia’s Voice reserves the right to edit, omit, respond or ask for a response to letters submitted. We will print letters space permitting. Deadline is the 1st and 3rd Monday of each month. Email: scott@vernoniasvoice.com or mail to: Letters, PO Box 55, Vernonia, OR 97064.
