14
community
november 21
2019
Some Oregon Vehicle Fees Will be Based on MPG Starting in 2020
New Oregon vehicle registration, title, and trip
permit fees will take effect January 1, 2020, as part of
“Keep Oregon Moving,” the biggest transportation in-
vestment in state history.
Under this transportation funding package the
Oregon Legislature passed in 2017, passenger vehicle
registration fees will be based largely on the vehicle’s
fuel efficiency rating. Drivers of more efficient vehicles
will pay more to register and renew their tags so they
contribute more for use of the roads. That’s because
these drivers are contributing much less (or nothing) in
fuels tax while driving just as much.
Drivers of electric vehicles and passenger cars
that get 40 miles per gallon or better will have a choice.
They can pay a full fee for two or four years up front, or
they can pay a lower fee and a monthly per-mile charge
for miles driven in Oregon if they join OReGO.
Oregon residents with vehicle tags expiring on
or after January 1, 2020, will see these new fees in their
renewal reminders starting this month. If your vehicle’s
tags expire after December 31, 2019, the new fee will
apply even if you pay early. Registration fees are based
on the vehicle registration renewal date, not the date
that the fee is paid.
Here is a summary of the new fees for passen-
ger vehicles (new vehicles are registered for four years
at first, then every two years):
Most passenger vehicles
Fuel economy Four years Two years
0-19 mpg
$244
$122
20-39 mpg
$264
$132
High-mileage passenger vehicles
Fuel economy
Four years Two years
40+ mpg NOT in OReGO
$304
$152
40+ mpg enrolled in OReGO
$172
$86
Electric NOT in OReGO
$612
$306
Electric enrolled in OReGO
$172
$86
Drivers can compare what they would pay in
OReGO versus what they currently pay in gas tax by
plugging their car’s mpg rating and the typical number
of miles they drive into the OReGO calculator at www.
MyOReGO.org/calculator.
Drivers can contact OReGO customer service
at (503) 986-7827 or myOReGO@odot.state.or.us,
8:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday to learn
more or for help signing up.
DMV will update its fee information at Or-
egonDMV.com as of January 1, 2020.
Fees for commercial trucks and buses also are
going up under this transportation funding program.
For more information on commercial vehicle fees, visit
the Motor Carrier Transportation Division at www.Or-
egon.gov/ODOT/MCT.
Vehicle registration fees, title fees, and other
motor vehicle-related fees, such as fuels taxes and
motor carriers’ weight-mile taxes, are set by the Leg-
islature and help support Oregon’s transportation sys-
tem – statewide and at the local levels. The increased
fees are part of the major funding package to improve
our state’s transportation system and to strengthen our
economy.
Here are some transportation system investments
your fees will support:
• Highway maintenance, preservation, seismic
upgrades, and safety, including specific construction
projects across the state.
• Increased funding for road maintenance and repairs
in small cities and counties.
• A Safe Routes to School infrastructure program to
reduce barriers and hazards for children walking or
bicycling to and from school.
• Economic benefits by sustaining jobs, keeping
freight moving, and providing a boost to local
communities across the state.
For upcoming transportation projects in your
area, visit www.oregon.gov/ODOT.
Any time you need to visit a DMV office, first
check www.OregonDMV.com to find office hours and
locations, and to make sure you have everything you
need before your visit. You also can do some DMV
business from home, such as vehicle registration re-
newals, at OregonDMV.com.
Yoga in Vernonia continued from front page
classes help to unwind the spine and in-
tegrate connective tissue. “They’re sim-
ple movements that get more complex as
the practice becomes more familiar and
allow the body to become more fluid.
There’s never a goal within a pose, it’s
always an exploration. My practice can
be adjusted to anybody and it can work
for anyone.”
Her regular Sunday “mini re-
treats” allow participants to arrive
around 8:30 for a cup of tea and some
social time, followed by practice from
9:00-12:00, which includes time for a
meditation and a dharma talk – a brief
lesson, then floor based physical work
followed by some more classical yoga
work. The practice is followed by a
group lunch and time to relax and enjoy
the farm.
Adams’s Wednesday classes are
by donation. Sunday retreats are on a
sliding scale from $20-$45 and she asks
anyone planning to attend a Sunday re-
treat to reserve a spot to help accommo-
date meal planning. “I also keep my fees
open. If it doesn’t work for someone
for whatever reason, they can just talk
to me. I just want people to be able to
come.”
Adams has a website, Sim-
merYoga.com, where she posts writings
meant to accompany her yoga teachings,
including some of her philosophy and
information about anatomy. “If anyone
is interested in diving in a little deeper,
they have that to support their practice,”
she says. Her website also contains
schedules for upcoming retreats and oth-
er classes, including an upcoming Win-
ter Solstice retreat on December 19-22
and a retreat she’ll be teaching in British
Columbia this summer. The YogaFarm
has overnight accommodations for up to
17 people.
Wanless says he’s mostly taught
yoga as a volunteer, first teaching men at
a drug and alcohol treatment center for
over a year, then teaching inmates at the
Oregon State Penitentiary for nine years,
and at the Oregon State Correctional In-
stitution for five years. He also taught
anger management, violent offender
groups, meditation, and mindfulness
practices to inmates. “There was just
something about working with inmates
that really drew me in,” says Wanless. “I
met some of those guys at the Penitentia-
ry who had been in prison for a long time
and they were pretty grounded. Some of
them were really wonderful, but their
whole world was about pumping iron
and running and pushing themselves to
the limit. They thought yoga was go-
ing to be a stretching class. About 15
minutes into class they were flaming
out because they didn’t know how to
manage their energy and were bringing
150% to everything they were doing. I
started moving it away from being just a
physical class because I saw they needed
some sense of an internal life.”
Wanless was born in Wiscon-
sin, and grew up in Beaverton. He spent
four years in the U.S. Air Force as an
aircraft mechanic during the Vietnam
era, and then spent 31 years working for
the Union Pacific railroad as a conduc-
tor. He is now retired and moved to Ver-
nonia several years ago. Wanless says
working for the railroad was hard on his
body, and he found yoga was a way he
could exercise that provided relief for
his chronic pain. “I really needed some-
thing that was going to nourish me, that
was about caring for myself and being
good to myself. And yoga was the per-
fect fit.”
Adams is originally from New
Jersey, attended college at William and
Mary University before transferring to
Oxford University where she studied art
and math, and then completed her grad-
uate studies in London, earning a degree
in painting conservation. She moved
back to the United States and worked as
an engineer for the Department of En-
ergy in Portland, before becoming a full
time yoga instructor. She has studied
yoga with several different teachers in
Portland and in Sante Fe, New Mexico
and taught in studios in Portland. She
and her husband Ben are living at the
YogaFarm and acting as caretakers of
the property for owner Larry Steele.
“Ben grew up on a ranch in Colorado,”
explains Adams. “He works in Photo-
shop doing advertising, but he loves to
work with his hands, and build and fix
things. We wanted to live more in com-
munity, so this is a great fit for us. And
I’m starting up the yoga program here.”
“Culturally we have this image
of what yoga is, and that’s not yoga,”
says Adams. “It’s not a wealthy, white,
skinny person’s sport. We want the
practice to be inclusive.”
“Between what I’m teaching
and what Tess is teaching, I think peo-
ple here in Vernonia are pretty lucky to
get all of that,” says Wanless. “Yoga is
a wonderful practice. I wasn’t sure if it
was going to work here in Vernonia. But
people are progressing and it’s slowly
growing.”
For more information about Jim Wan-
less’s classes go to “Yoga at the Verno-
nia Grange” on Facebook. For more
information about Tess Adams’s classes
go to www.SimmerYoga.com.
Don‛t worry.
We‛ll go to Meyer‛s Auto Body.
I hear they‛re out of this world.
Hunting Season is here!
Archery Equipment - Sporting Goods
Calls - Cammo - Boots - Accessories
Binoculars - Scent Killers - Targets
Family owned & operated for over 50 years
834 Bridge St, Vernonia
503-429-6364
Meyer’s
Auto Body
493 Bridge Street
VERNONIA • 503-429-0248