september7 2017
free
VERNONIA’S
volume11 issue17
reflecting the spirit of our community
www.vernoniasvoice.com
Vernonia Youths Hailed as Bonamici Visits Vernonia
Heroes for Rescuing Friend to Discuss and View Projects
Two young men are being
hailed as heroes after they saved
their friend from drowning after he
suffered a seizure and fell into Rock
Creek.
Mekhi Williams and Daniel
Smith, both aged 17, were swim-
ming in Rock Creek on August 25,
2017 with their friend Seth Schultz,
also 17, who was climbing in a tree
above the creek. Shultz suffered a
with the Vernonia Rural Fire Protec-
tion District (VRFPD). Daniel says
he is not certified in CPR, but says he
knew what to do.
Williams says after they
started CPR, he headed out to the
road to help first responders find
them, and he saw Loren Loomis, a
Lieutenant with VRFPD who lives
near the creek. Loomis quickly ran
to assist the young men.
Senior Center/Food Bank
and Wastewater projects are
recipients of federal funds
U.S. Congresswoman Suzanne
Bonamici visited Vernonia on August 23 to
meet with City leaders and discuss the Se-
nior Center/Food Bank project, and to tour
the almost completed Wastewater Treat-
ment Upgrade Project.
Both projects have been the recipi-
U.S. Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici met with local leaders of the Vernonia Senior Center
and Vernonia Cares to discuss their new joint facility. Pictured left to right: Bonamici,
Jack Harvey, Randal Harvey, two Bonamici staff members, Sandy Welch,
Tobie Finzel and Vernonia City Administator Josette Mitchell.
Mekhi Williams (l) and Daniel Smith (r) pulled their friend Seth Schultz (c)
from Rock Creek and performed CPR after he suffered a seizure.
seizure and fell into the water.
“We didn’t realize he had
a seizure and then when he didn’t
come to the surface, I jumped in,”
said Williams during an interview
following the incident. “I looked
for him and he was down on the bot-
tom.”
Williams says the water is
about six feet deep in that area.
Williams and Smith pulled
Schultz to the surface and then onto
a nearby log. While another friend
called 9-1-1 for help, Smith began
performing CPR on Schultz, who
was initially unresponsive.
Smith’s mother is Trish
Smith, a local EMT, and his father
is Jason, a local volunteer firefighter
inside
8
old grads picnic
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where do you
read the voice?
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an electric car?
When the ambulance ar-
rived, Schultz, who had become re-
sponsive thanks to the quick work
of his friends, was transported to
the hospital and then released a few
hours later.
The three young men, who
will all be seniors in high school this
coming school year, say they have
been friends since elementary school
- Smith and Schultz since preschool.
The friends are glad they
were able to be there and help each
other and can even joke a bit about
their experience after the fact. “We
all need to have a friend who knows
CPR,” said Schultz, when asked
to comment about his experience.
“And a skinny one that can swim
like a fish and run really fast.”
Cares Food Bank at the Vernonia City Hall
to discuss the project’s progress and listen
to concerns and road blocks in the process.
Included in the discussion were Vernonia
Cares Director Sandy Welch, Senior Cen-
ter President Jack Harvey, Randal Harvey,
and Tobie Finzel, along with Vernonia City
Administrator Josette Mitchell. The group
discussed the design of the shared facility,
funding for the project, ongoing funding
and business planning for both operations,
ent of federal funds. The Senior Center/
Food Bank project, through an application
submitted by the City of Vernonia, was
awarded $2 million in Community Devel-
opment Block Grant (CDBG) funding in
2016. The Wastewater Treatment Upgrade
Project received interim financing of $2.8
million from the DEQ Clean Water SRF
Program while the main funding for the
project came from the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development
who provided a loan of $5.6 million and a
$2.2 million grant.
“It’s helpful for me when I’m ad-
vocating for funding in Washington to say,
‘These are the kind of projects that make
such a difference in these rural communi-
ties,’” said Bonamici.
During her Vernonia visit Bonamici
met with local volunteers and leaders in-
volved with the Senior Center and Vernonia
delays in breaking ground due to extensive
mandatory reviews by CDBG staff, and
government imposed restrictions on the use
of the facility.
“I’m a big supporter of the CDBG
program and am obviously concerned that
CDBG is eliminated in President Trump’s
proposed budget,” said Bonamici. She not-
ed that there is a counter budget proposal
in Congress that cuts some CDBG funding
but still retains the program. “I have called
for a modest increase in CDBG funding, be-
cause I see projects like this and see what a
difference it makes to our local communi-
ties. I know Vernonia would not be able to
find this funding on their own.” Bonamici
went on to say she believed there is bipar-
tisan support for some continuing CDBG
funding, along with programs like Meals
on Wheels which she said the President has
continued on page 7
PCC Going Out for Bond Measure in November
Bond would support
programs leading to high
demand careers, workforce
training and safety
Portland is growing fast — and
in order to meet the changing needs of
its workforce, the city’s largest college
is in need of upgrades.
In some cases, it’s a matter of
modernizing equipment and technolo-
gy. In others, facility overhaul has been
determined as the most efficient and
economical method of delivering long
term, high quality instruction to support
student success and best serve the com-
munity at large.
To accomplish this, PCC’s
Board of Directors has voted in fa-
vor of placing a bond measure on the
November 7, 2017 ballot for consid-
eration by voters within the college’s
1,500-square-mile district.
If passed, the bond would im-
prove workforce training programs to
align with current and future industry
needs, and better the chance students
can secure higher paying positions.
“The college has a two-pronged
responsibility: to its students and to
Portland metro area voters who have so
generously supported PCC in the past,”
said Kali Thorne Ladd, chair of PCC’s
Board of Directors.
“Approval of the bond measure
by voters would enable PCC’s ongoing
protection of the community’s invest-
ment in PCC and the college’s current
assets. Furthermore, the college would
be positioned to advance delivery of top
quality instruction so that diverse stu-
dents receive the training and prepara-
tion needed to jumpstart their careers or
further their education,” she said.
If passed, the PCC bond mea-
sure is estimated to maintain the tax rate
of 40 cents per $1,000 of assessed prop-
erty value, for 16 years, with the total
principal amount of the bonds autho-
rized not to exceed $185 million. For a
home assessed at $200,000, the annual
cost of the bond to a homeowner is es-
timated to be $80 per year, or $6.66 per
month.
Funds from the bond measure
would go toward projects expected to:
• Improve workforce training programs
to align with current and future industry
needs, and better the chance students
can secure higher paying positions —
necessary in a metro area whose cost of
continued on page 11