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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 20, 2015)
14 in other words/community august20 2015 Better Parenting: Good Parents of Teens Don’t Give Warnings By Cline/Fay Institute, Inc, presented by Sonia Spackman MA, MFT Picture yourself tooling down the freeway at 70 m.p.h. in a 55 m.p.h. zone. You see the multicolored lights in your rear-view- mirror, and you think one thing: “I’m going to get a ticket.” The cop calmly walks up to your car, nice as he can be, writes the ticket bids you adieu, and he is on his way. He offers no hysterics, no anger, and no threats. Just courtesy and a little slip of paper—the consequences of you breaking the law. As an adult, you would never think of telling him, “I’ll be good, officer. Honest, I won’t speed anymore,” and having him say, “Well, okay. If you promise to be good, I won’t write you a ticket.” That is the stuff of fantasy. But how often do we allow the fantasy world to become reality for our kids…..? Now let’s say your teen comes home late past the agreed curfew. As the parent, you think you are being consequential, when you say, “We will talk about this in the morning. Go to bed now. Your teen says, “I’m sorry I’m late. Time just got away from me. I promise it won’t happen again.” As a parent what do you say but, “Oh well, okay. Are you sure you will be in on time next time you go out?” Or are you going to keep me worrying until all hours of the morning?” I told you before what is going to happen if you don’t get home on time.” “I know. I won’t do it anymore.” Well, okay, you say, thinking your problems are over. The real world does not operate on the multiple warning system and neither should parents. Parents who give a lot of warnings raise kids who don’t behave until they have had a lot of warnings. The real world operates on consequences. If we do a lousy job at work, our boss doesn’t take away our VCR. He fires us. By allowing teens to feel the Two Issues Impact Oregon LNG Project Vernonia Dental e rm an Small and Large Animals we’ve ever seen proposed on the Colum- bia River.” Cheryl Johnson, a Clatsop Coun- ty resident and retired school librarian, stated, “Our community has spoken loud and clear in opposition to LNG. We are looking to Governor Brown to stand up for the best interests of Oregonians and deny state permits for this misguided project. FERC’s rubberstamp approach to LNG development demands bold leadership to protect what we value: safe communities, strong salmon runs, and clean water.” In addition to last week’s court ruling, FERC’s draft environmental re- view ignores detailed comments to the Corps from state, federal, and tribal agencies that highlight the project’s sig- nificant risks and inadequate mitigation. The Corps must decide whether Oregon LNG can build a new industrial dock for LNG tankers and dredge an area the size of 102 football fields in the Columbia River estuary. Oregon LNG cannot build the terminal and gas pipeline without permits from the Corps. “Putting a massive LNG termi- nal in the heart of the lower Columbia’s most popular commercial and recreation- al fishery undermines decades of work to protect fishing opportunities in the lower Columbia River,” said Dan Marvin, a longtime Columbia River commercial fisherman. “On top of this, our region has invested billions of dollars in restor- ing salmon habitat. FERC has its head in the sand when it concludes this project won’t have a significant impact on our D Vernonia Veterinary Clinic questionable lease; and Oregon LNG sued Clatsop County after the County rejected the LNG pipeline application. The groups opposing the proj- ect called on Oregon’s Governor Kate Brown to deny key state permits for the project in light of FERC’s failure to con- sider the best available science on LNG’s impacts to public health and safety, en- dangered salmon, and the economy. In the Draft Environmental Im- pact Statement, FERC concludes that the project would cause adverse impacts to the environment, which the company can reduce through mitigation and en- gineering. FERC’s conclusions contrast starkly with those reached by Clatsop County, Oregon, which denied key per- mits for Oregon LNG’s pipeline based on significant threats to public safety and local rivers. FERC’s draft environmental review also ignores the outcome of the court ruling in Oregon LNG’s lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engi- neers (Corps). According to the court’s ruling, the Corps has a valid legal right to use the proposed terminal property to deposit dredge spoils. Unless the Corps is willing to forfeit the right, Oregon LNG cannot build the proposed termi- nal. “The Corps vigorously defended this lawsuit to protect a valuable public property right and the court got it right,” stated Miles Johnson, Clean Water At- torney for Columbia Riverkeeper. “The court’s ruling could spell the end to Or- egon LNG’s ten-year effort to site one of the most destructive, dangerous projects continued from page 3 DM for the city and potential impacts on wa- ter quality. The city’s water intake is 5.4 miles downstream of the closest pipeline crossing. Because the pipeline would cross Rock Creek by HDD, no impacts on water quality would be expected.” (DEIS pages 4-58 & 4-59) “FERC doesn’t assess what would happen if the pipeline crossing failed, and the DEIS chronically un- derstates the impacts of Oregon LNG’s proposal,” said Dan Serres, Conserva- tion Director of Oregon Riverkeeper. “FERC made many of the same mistakes when it approved the Bradwood LNG project years ago. In response, the State of Oregon challenged FERC and denied Bradwood LNG under the Clean Water Act. We need the State of Oregon to do the same with Oregon LNG.” Serres and Oregon Riverkeeper have opposed Oregon LNG projects in Oregon and have helped local ac- tivists in the Vernonia area get orga- nized. Currently, there are two LNG facilities proposed in Oregon: the Jordan Cover project on the Oregon Coast and the Oregon LNG project on the Colum- bia River. Both projects require hundreds of miles of new gas pipelines through Oregon and Washington. Oregon LNG has faced a rocky path over the last ten years since first leasing the property in Warrenton, including: Oregon LNG was the subject of a criminal investigation into its illegal action to obtain the lease; Oregon LNG sued the Port of Astoria when the Port wanted to get out of the results of naturally occurring consequences, parents allow teens to learn about their responsibilities and their behavior. Consequences lead our kids to do some self- examination and asking themselves, “Will happen to me if I do this?” Mom or dad, after seeing your teen come home late, you can handle the situation in the following way, by calmly allowing the consequence to fall. After your teen gets home you can say, “I was really worried about you. I am glad your home. Go on to bed and we’ll talk about this in the morning when we are calm.” Then you don’t say any more about it, until the next time your teen wants to go out and then you drop the bomb, “Oh honey, I think you need to stay home tonight, I’m not up to worrying about when you get home tonight. The consequences will fall like a bolt out of the blue! Open Mon, Wed & Saturday 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Call for Appointments (503) 429-1612 Or 24 hr. Emergency Number (503) 397-6470 700 Weed Ave. Vernonia, OR D h . r C r h p o is t M er . h S c eu 622 Bridge Street Vernonia, OR 97064 phone (503) 429-0880 -- fax (503) 429-0881 livelihoods.” Oregon LNG’s dredging alone would destroy critical habitat for twelve stocks of endangered and threatened salmon and steelhead. The project also requires taking private property using eminent domain to build the gas pipeline from the U.S.-Canada border to Warren- ton. “This project flies in the face of good science and good public policy,” said Serres. “From the stand point of de- stroying salmon habitat, Oregon LNG’s project is at a scale unlike any other pri- vate project in the Columbia River estu- ary. So it is not surprising that biologists and other scientists looking at this proj- ect are raising red flags. And FERC— with its history of approving LNG—is ignoring and downplaying those valid objections.” Vernonia Health Center Adds New Testing Services The Vernonia Health Center is pleased to announce more services are now available at the Health Center. Through Pacific University’s generosity and persistence in supporting our rural health program, we have acquired INR and Spirometry equipment at the Vernonia Health Center. INR stands for “international normalized ratio” and is an impor- tant test for patients taking Warfarin (commonly called Coumadin after one of the primary brand names) to ensure a proper therapeutic dose. Previously, the Vernonia Health Clinic had to send blood samples to Quest Diagnostics for INR test- ing. INR results will now be almost instantaneous, allowing for more streamlined and efficient treatment. Spirometry is used to access lung functioning and can be used to diagnose asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and other lung issues. Now the Vernonia Health Center is able to test lung capacity and functioning locally. Both services will greatly increase speed for diagnoses while lessening the number of return visits. Watch this space for further developments!
