november27 2012
V E R N O N I A’ S
reflecting the spirit of our community
Cutright Receives Hero Award
Heroes come in all sizes and ages.
Hero describes Seth Cutright, the
12 year–old Vernonia boy, who carried his
burning grandmother out of their Vernonia
home after an explosion engulfed it in flames
on October 12, 2012.
On November 17th, Seth Cutright
was given the Life Saving Award from Met-
Roger and Julia Cutright and their family
and some friends, along with the EMTs,
Paramedics and Firefighters from Metro
West Ambulance and the Vernonia Rural
Fire Protection District who responded the
9-1-1 call.
For many of the rescuers it was the
first time they had seen Cutright since the
day he received
his injuries.
“Seth, it is
a very huge hon-
or and a privi-
lege to present
to you this Life
Saving Award,”
said
Metro
West’s Mathia
as he presented
the award to
Cutright. “Your
efforts and what
you did, espe-
cially for your
age, we don’t
see very often.
What you did
absolutely made
Dean Smith of VRFPD and Jeff Mathia of Metro West Ambulance present
Seth Cutright with the Life Saving Award at a ceremony on November 17th. a difference in
your grandmoth-
ro West Ambulance and the Vernonia Rural er’s life.”
Fire Protection District for his amazing act
Rose Cutright remains hospitalized
of bravery for saving the life of his grand- and is receiving treatment for her burns.
mother.
Seth Cutright is continuing to heal from in-
“It’s not very often that we get to see juries he received in the fire and continues to
such an act of heroism in someone that is wear a glove to protect his injured left hand.
so incredibly young,” said Jan Lee, Public
Cutright is also scheduled to receive
Information Officer for Metro West Ambu- a Life Saving Award from the Oregon State
lance on November 17th.
Sheriff’s Association at a banquet on De-
Metro West Ambulance-Vernonia cember 5th in Bend, OR.
Supervisor Jeff Mathia and Vernonia Rural
The Cutright family has found a
Fire Protection District Deputy Chief Dean home near Mist where they are currently liv-
Smith presented Cutright with the Life Sav- ing. An account at US Bank, “The Cutright
ing Award in a ceremony and reception at Family Relief Fund” is available to accept
the Vernonia Rural Fire Protection District donations to help the family replace every-
in Vernonia. Seth was joined by his parents thing they lost in the house fire.
inside
The Spirit of Christmas in
Vernonia
9
10
11
12
schudule of
events for
december 1st
local coupons
& holiday
shopping guide
free
volume6 issue22
VSD Prepared To Open
School Based Health Clinic
By Scott Laird
The Vernonia School Dis-
trict is taking the final steps to
open a School-Based Health Center
(SBHC) in their new school facility.
The new health clinic is
expected to open sometime in Jan-
uary of 2013 and will provide a
small scale doctor-type office on the
school campus to serve the needs
of children of families that partici-
pate in the Vernonia School district,
including families who are being
home schooled.
“We know that it is happen-
ing and will be here,” said Cici Bell,
the Chair of the Vernonia School
District (VSD) Wellness Team and
a member of the SBHC Planning
Committee.
The clinic will provide pri-
mary care visits for illness and in-
jury, prescriptions, sports physicals,
and immunizations as well as pro-
mote preventive care and wellness.
It will be staffed by a family nurse
practitioner and will have a recep-
tion area, private exam/ counseling
room, a lab area, bathroom, and
confidential and secure record keep-
ing area.
Students can be seen at the
clinic with the consent of an adult
guardian and according to state law
can be seen on their own if they are
old enough. The Self Consenting
Age in Oregon is fifteen.
Mental Health services
will also be provided at the clinic
through a contract the School Dis-
trict has arranged independently
with a professional mental health
councilor.
“What this mean to parents
continued on page 14
Comment Period
Extended for LNG Project
The Federal Energy Regu-
latory Commission (FERC) has an-
nounced the extension of the pub-
lic scoping process and comment
period for the Oregon LNG Export
Project proposed by Oregon LNG.
The scoping and comment period
will now end December 24, 2012.
The project proposal in-
cludes the construction of two liq-
uefied natural gas (LNG) terminals
in Oregon that require dredging and
over 80 miles of high-pressure pipe-
lines through Oregon rivers, farms,
and forests that would extend from
the Columbia River, cross through
Clatsop and Columbia counties, cut
under the Columbia River, and run
roughly 4 to 5 miles through south-
western Washington State. This new
pipeline route threatens landowners
in the Vernonia area.
On September 24, 2012 the
FERC issued a notice of intent to
prepare an Environmental Impact
Statement for the proposed project,
asked for comments from the pub-
lic concerning environmental issues
and announced the dates and times
for eight public meetings. Those
public meetings were held the week
of October 15, 2012, including a
meeting at the Vernonia School.
continued on page 17
This Holiday Season, Why Not Shop Local
Now that the holiday shopping season has “offi-
cially” arrived, it’s time to start checking those lists and
making sure you have everyone crossed off and covered.
In all the bustle of Thanksgiving Day and Black
Friday maybe you also heard about something a little dif-
ferent called “Small Business Saturday.”
Small Business Saturday encourages holiday
shoppers to patronize brick and
mortar businesses that are small
and local. First celebrated on No-
vember 27, 2010, it is designed to
counter Black Friday and Cyber
Monday, which encourage visits
to big box retail and e-commerce
stores.
Here is something to con-
sider: according to The 350 Proj-
ect, locally owned independent
merchants return 68% of their in-
come to their own local economy.
National chains return less than
43%. And even worse, online
retailers return nothing to a local
economy.
So as you get ready to
shop this year, why not look to
your own community business-
es—they’re close by, you probably know the owner of the
business and will be helping them and their family, and
more of your money will stay local, where it can circulate
and do more good for those you know.
Here are just a few ideas of some local businesses
with some great gift ideas for this season. Please remem-
ber, this is just a few examples and there are plenty of
other local businesses you can
support this holiday season and
throughout the year.
Clever Cricket features
toys, games and clothing for kids
mostly twelve and under and has
something for every child on
your list. You will find unique
toys you will have a hard time
finding anywhere else, along
with some locally made items.
What you won’t find are video
games or toys that need bat-
teries. These are gifts that are
ready to be opened and used!
Featured are items from Melissa
and Doug, with well-made and
sturdy learning toys that encour-
ages kids to use their brain, cre-
continued on page 7
