september1 2016
VERNONIA’S
volume10  issue17
www.vernoniasvoice.com
Where Are They Now?
Kahli Anderson
From the U.S. Navy
to nursing, Kahli
Anderson is dedicating
her life to service.
reflecting the spirit of our community
Mr. Brookins and Mr. Brown and classmates were fun,
were my favorites,” says Anderson always carried
Anderson. “I really loved a sense of service along
school and going to my with her. She remembers a
classes. I remember, when major snowstorm in 2006
we were bussing back and that knocked out power to
By Scott Laird
forth, our teachers trying to some residents for almost
make do when it was all so two weeks providing another
As a 2009 graduate
disjointed.”
opportunity to volunteer and
of Vernonia High School,
help her community.
Kahli Anderson’s high
After
graduation
school days were rudely
Anderson headed to
interrupted by the 2007
Pacific
University
flood. While the flood
where she began her
was an enormous
studies with an eye on
disruption, it also gave
a career in the medical
an early glimpse into the
field. “I was considering
power of volunteerism
Physical Therapy or
and helping others,
Physician Assistant,”
something Anderson
she says. “I always
would carry into her life
wanted to take care of
following high school.
people.” Unfortunately

“We
lived
Anderson chose to
on O-A Hill near the
leave school early after
fire station and my
just three semesters in
mom was a volunteer
order to help her family
with the Ambulance
with her stepfather’s
A s s o c i a t i o n , ”
serious illness.
remembers Anderson
In 2011 Anderson
about the December 3,
Kahli Anderson joined the U.S. Navy
continued her quest to
2007 disaster. “When
in 2012 where she is a corpsman.
serve when she signed
the Smith family

Anderson was an up and joined the United
(Ernie, Robin and children)
active student at VHS who States Navy, heading to basic
were finally rescued after
participated in the student training in February of 2012
being trapped in their home
Leadership Class. “I enjoyed to become a corpsman, an
all night, we took them in,
the majority of my time at enlisted medical specialist.
and there were a ton of other
Vernonia High School,”
“Becoming a Navy
people at our house trying to
says Anderson. “I played corpsman provided me with
stay warm and get through
volleyball, ran track and a huge opportunity to do
the night.”
played softball. I feel like my so many different things in

Being bussed to
class was pretty close because so many different areas,”
Scappoose High School for
a lot of us had known each explains Anderson. “Our
several weeks following the
other from kindergarten all scope of practice is much
flood, and then finishing
the way through high school. larger than any other enlisted
her last two years in
We all got along pretty well medical branch.”
modular classrooms, was an
so we had a lot of fun and did
Anderson
ended
inconvenience, but didn’t
a lot of things together.”
up being stationed in Japan
get in the way of Anderson’s

While her high which had been her first
generally sunny disposition.
school days with friends
continued on page 9
“We had some good teachers;
inside
6
what’s happening
at the library
7
woec annual
meeting report
8
new future for
banks sawmill
11
your horoscope
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Text to 9-1-1 Available
in Columbia County

The Columbia 9-1-1
Communication District has an-
nounced that they can now accept
text messages to request emer-
gency services from 9-1-1.

Columbia 9-1-1 is part of
a regional partnership and joins
seven other 9-1-1 agencies in
Clatsop, Washington, Clackamas,
and Multnomah counties, the
cities of Astoria and Woodburn,
and Clark County, Washington to
deliver this service to the region.

The official announce-
ment was made on August 23,
2016 at a major press conference
and demonstration at the Clark
Regional Emergency Services
agency in Vancouver, Washing-
ton.

Texting is intended to
benefit people that may not be
able to speak due to an emer-
gency such as a home invasion
or abusive partner, as well as in-
dividuals who are deaf, hard of
hearing, or have limited speech
capabilities.

According to officials,
Columbia 9-1-1 will always
prefer that citizens make a voice
call when possible. Texting
should ONLY be used when you
are unable to make a voice call
to 9-1-1. If you are able to place
a voice call, 9-1-1 dispatchers
are able to gather information
more quickly from you about the
emergency, your location and
what hazards responders may
encounter. If, however, you are
unable to place a voice call, Text-
to-9-1-1 is an option you can use
to share this same information.
The key thing to remember is Call
if You Can, Text if You Can’t.

9-1-1 also asks that
anytime you make a request to
9-1-1, either by voice or text,
please make sure of your location
so they can send appropriate help
in a timely manner.

There are several chal-
lenges to sending and accepting
9-1-1 texts. The 9-1-1 Call Cen-
ter cannot identify the person’s
exact location. In fact, location
accuracy is worse with text mes-
sages than when you call into
9-1-1. Additionally, it can take
more time for a call taker to re-
spond to a written text messages
or they may receive gaps if mes-
sages don’t come through.

Anywhere 9-1-1 text ser-
vices are not available, callers
should receive a “bounceback”
message that says text-to-9-1-1 is
NOT available in that area.

Currently 9-1-1 can only
accept written words. Accepting
pictures and video will be com-
ing in the future; however, many
of the carriers cannot transmit
multi-media messaging (MMS)
at this time.

If your phone is in roam-
ing mode or you add 9-1-1 to a
group text, they will not receive
your message.

There is no cost to the
person texting 9-1-1. There is an
increased cost to the 9-1-1 cen-
ters that is partially offset by the
9-1-1 tax. Data regarding the full
impact to agency operations and
personnel costs will not be avail-
able for some time.

The FCC required the
wireless carriers to offer Text-
to-9-1-1 service. However it has
been up to each 9-1-1 center to
determine when they are capable,
both technically and operation-
ally, to accept text messages.

For the latest information
on this new service, please visit
www.nwtext911.info.
Community Action Team: The First 50 Years
Part 7 – Financial
Resources for
Homeowners
By Leanne Murray

Community Action
Team (CAT) has been help-
ing with housing needs for
about 30 of its 50 years. Pre-
vious articles in this series
have covered topics such
as weatherization, home re-
habilitation, purchasing a
home, affordable housing,
and home repairs. Some of
these services are available
to both homeowners and
renters. This article focuses
on two significant programs
CAT offers to homeowners
who may be encountering fi-
nancial challenges.

One of the advan-
tages to already owning a
home in these times of in-
creasing housing costs is that
one doesn’t have to worry
about a landlord increasing
rent when a lease is renewed.
However, the housing crisis
we’re experiencing in Co-
lumbia County presents a
different kind of challenge
for homeowners – if they
lose their home, there is no-
where else to go. The mar-
ket is so tight right now that
there is virtually no rental
inventory at any price. That
pressure makes it that much
more important for house-
holds to make sure they are
up-to-date on their mortgage
payments.

The “Home Res-
cue” Mortgage Payment
Assistance (MPA) program
is a tremendous resource
for those whose income has
been reduced in 2016 com-
pared to income earned in a
year between 2009 and 2015.
Some common causes for the
income reduction are loss of
a spouse, full-time work re-
duced to part-time hours, or
divorce. The program can as-
sist homeowners in two ways
– through monthly mort-
gage payments for up to 12
months, capped at $20,000 or
by providing a reinstatement
payment of up to $15,000
that makes a mortgage in ar-
rears current.

The MPA is avail-
able through the US Trea-
sury’s “Hardest Hit Fund”
and administered by the Or-
egon Homeownership Sta-
bilization Initiative (OHSI).
$220 million was allocated
to Oregon in 2010 and al-
most 12,000 homeowners
have already received as-
sistance by way of this five-
year forgivable loan. Every
other Wednesday at noon
OHSI makes 200 state-wide
application slots available,
and as is to be expected with
this kind of support, the eli-
gibility criteria are many.
Homeowners can get qualifi-
cation details and application
continued on page 5