community
july21
2016
3
Columbia County Sheriff’s Newsletter
help us verify criminal activity, the more High Profile Arrests
Deputies have made a num-
we will be able to accomplish.
ber of high profile arrests already this
City of Clatskanie and Sheriff’s Office summer. On June 25, CCSO Deputies
arrested Kodiack Stone, 26, of Beaver-
Discuss Contract Service
The Sheriff’s Office and the ton on attempted murder charges after
City of Clatskanie are still in discussions an investigation into reported gunfire
regarding the possibility of the City con- on Highway 47 outside of Vernonia on
tracting police services to the Sheriff’s June 23. Soon after, a 79-year-old Clats-
Office. The City is looking for a way kanie man was behind bars and charged
to maximize scarce public safety dollars with two counts of Sodomy First De-
through partnering with the Sheriff and gree, seven counts of Sexual Abuse First
leveraging economies of scale. We are Degree and one count of Attempted
pleased to offer our assistance to the City Sexual Abuse First Degree after indict-
in whatever way makes the most sense to ments on those charges by the Columbia
the mayor and city council. We believe County grand jury. Two victims testified
this partnership can provide opportuni- before the grand jury on Thursday, June
ties for the City to maintain an adequate 23.
policing presence, even with reductions
in their budget, while at the same time Newest Deputy
Our newest Enforcement Dep-
expanding the Sheriff’s Office presence
in North County. While talks continue uty graduated from the Public Safety
with the City, it is not expected that ser- Academy in Salem on Friday, July 15.
vices could begin before fall. The City Michelle Vandenburg began work as
needs time to work out the contract and a Corrections Deputy with us in 2014,
budget issues with the County, and once and was reassigned to the Patrol Unit
that is settled, the County will need a when an opening was created with the
few weeks to make the transition be- addition of a fifth patrol position in our
fore operations can begin full scale. In new budget. Adding another deputy in-
the meantime, the Sheriff’s Office has creases by another 25 percent our abil-
an augmentation agreement to respond ity to cover the 688 square miles of our
to calls inside the City as our staffing is County!
Jail Levy Renewal Discussions
capable of responding. During the July
The Sheriff and Board of Coun- 4 holiday, CCSO deputies and reserves Columbia County Sheriff’s Office
ty Commissioners have begun discus- added extra staffing for the City’s Heri- 901 Port Ave.
sions on a path forward for renewing the tage Days celebration.
St. Helens, OR 97051
jail levy for another four years. After re-
Phone: (503) 366-4611
viewing budget numbers and including
Fax: (503) 366-4644
projections for continued US Marshal
bed rentals, it appears no increase in the
rate will be needed. In fact, it appears
that if the rate stays the same at $0.58
per thousand dollars in assessed value,
and as long as US Marshal use of the fa-
cility continues to drive the overall cost
Jamboree Weekend
to taxpayers down, we will be able to
Friday, August 5 - Freedom Street Band - 9 pm
keep the jail in business for the next four
Saturday, August 6 - The Basinbillies - 9 pm
years.
Karaoke
This is good news for county
Every
2nd
& Last Friday
taxpayers and especially good news,
Taco Tuesday
considering that in 2018, the County
from opening until 9pm
will have paid off the cost of building
the new jail and will be able to reduce
3 hardshell or 1 softshell $4.25
the tax burden by $0.38 per thousand
Ladies’ Night
once the building is paid off.
every Thursday 6pm-close
Two Canine Teams Now Working for
Sheriff’s Office
With the addition of another
canine deputy donated to Columbia
County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO), we
are now glad to have two canine teams
working to keep our county safer! A
narcotics detection dog and his handler
have been added to the Sheriff’s Office
canine teams. The new canine unit will
be assigned to the jail and the newly
revitalized Columbia Enforcement
Narcotics Team (CENT).
The newest addition is a German
shepherd donated to the Sheriff’s Office
by the Clatskanie Foundation. “Odin”
was previously assigned to duties with
the Clatskanie Police Department, but
will now ply his trade helping keep
drugs out of the jail and assisting the
CENT team with criminal cases.
Odin and his handler Jacob An-
derson give the Sheriff’s Office a 1-2
punch in taking a bite out of crime in
Columbia County. Our tracking Canine
“Lars” with his handler Deputy Ryan
Dews has already made a big impres-
sion with a high rate of captures in his
first six months of work. Odin will bring
additional detection capabilities with his
training in narcotics detection.
Cedar Side Inn
Posse Being Reconstituted
The Sheriff’s Posse is being re-
constituted, and is inviting interested
individuals 21 and older who love be-
ing around horses to consider joining the
Posse. Questions can be emailed direct-
ly to CCMS.Posse@gmail.com
CENT Team Reinvigorated Under
Sheriff’s Office
The St. Helens Police Depart-
ment had for many years been the host
agency for the Columbia Enforcement
Narcotics Team (CENT). Budget cuts
in recent years forced many agencies to
withdraw from the team, and the team
became inactive. Now, with renewed
interest in developing the team, the
Sheriff’s Office is taking a leadership
role in re-establishing CENT as a nar-
cotics investigative unit with a focus on
street crimes investigations.
To reach the CENT team, call
(503) 397-1167. If there is no answer,
leave a message. Anonymous tips are
also welcomed, but the more informa-
tion we can get from callers that will
• Free Pool • Free WiFi • Specialty Pizzas
iheck our Facebook page for daily specials and upcoming events
756 Bridge Street, Vernonia
503-429-5841
FULL
SPORTS
PACKAGE!
Happy Hour Mon-Fri 4-7
LIVE MUSIC
• Specialty hamburgers
• 8 Draft beers & mixed drinks
• 5 Craft beers on tap
• Pool tables & satelite TV
• Free Wi-fi
• Beer & Kegs to go
Sun - Thurs 11 AM - Midnight •
733 Bridge St, Vernonia
Jamboree Weekend
Fri & Sat, Aug. 5-6
Triple Edge Band
“BIKER FRIENDLY”
Fri - Sat 11 AM - 2:30 AM
• 503-429-9999
Publisher and Managing Editor
Scott Laird
503-367-0098
scott@vernoniasvoice.com
Contributors
Chip Bubl
Tobie Finzel
Karen Kain
Dr. Carol McIntyre
Karen Miller
Aaron Miller
Leanne Murray
P.J. O’Leary
Shannon Romtvedt
Robert Schattschneider
Photography
Karen Kain
Scott Laird
Want to advertise?
Have an article?
Contact: scott@vernoniasvoice.com
One year subscriptions
(24 issues) $35
Vernonia’s Voice is published
on the 1st and 3rd Thursday
of each month.
Vernonia’s Voice, LLC
PO Box 55
Vernonia, OR 97064
503-367-0098
www.VernoniasVoice.com
