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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 19, 2019)
4 letters to the editor/community bulletin board december19 2019 Readers Lend Their Voices... To the Editor, My phone “service” is thru Ve- rizon. In the last 6 months or so, I have noticed a distinct decrease in the quality of the “service.” Most of the time I only hear a very garbled voice and can only make out every 4 th or 10 th word. Also, the calls are dropped on a very regular basis. All this despite having a network extender which gives me a solid 5 bars of signal strength at all times, but still the phones rarely work. On the rare occasion when I can actually get thru to a real person, it has been my experience that Verizon evi- dently has a very strict “no usable help allowed” definition for “tech support.” From my conversations with some of the folks in the area, it seems I am not the only one with this ongo- ing problem. Given this, I contacted the Vernonia Weather November 2019 DATE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Ave/Tot HIGH 62 64 61 60 53 63 63 62 49 55 62 52 55 53 55 51 54 53 51 52 54 50 49 51 45 38 43 41 40 42 LOW 24 30 30 30 34 26 25 25 38 43 38 41 36 36 39 38 45 41 30 27 24 25 37 34 32 29 22 17 15 15 PRECIP 0 0 0 T 0 0 0 T .14 T T .09 0 .06 .18 .06 .02 .55 .03 0 0 0 .03 .20 .11 .07 0 0 0 .08 52.8 30.9 1.62 Oregon Consumer Complaints depart- ment. The lady I spoke with said she had not had any complaints that she knew of in this area. Therefore, I would like to en- courage everyone using Verizon and having similar problems to contact the Oregon Consumer Complaints depart- ment. You can either fill out the lengthy complaint found at the address below or just call. Oregon Consumer Services: 503-378-6600 or toll free within Oregon 1-800-522-2404. https://apps.puc.state. or.us/consumer/complaint.asp Wolfgang Rotbart Vernonia Fellow WOEC Members, Think your rates are high now? Think again. For the past 75 years Oregon’s electric cooperatives like WOEC have provided our members affordable, reli- able electricity. Sometimes that’s not easy. WOEC has experienced four FEMA events in the last six years leaving thousands of consumers with- out power, causing millions of dollars in damages. FEMA funds bring the lights back on after these major events. However, due to an unintended con- sequence of federal tax law changes in 2017, electric co-ops that receive FEMA funds are now at risk of losing their tax-exempt status, forcing them to raise rates to pay taxes. Currently WOEC pays prop- erty tax in all five counties we service as well as a franchise tax to the City of Vernonia. Electric cooperatives remain income tax-exempt as long as they re- ceive 85% of their income from their member-owners. But with tax law changes, government grants now count as non-member income, threatening this 85% threshold. Other cooperatives in the state are already wondering whether they should accept FEMA monies or just raise rates to pay for damages. Thankfully, common-sense leg- islation in Congress - the RURAL Act: Revitalizing Underdeveloped Rural Areas and Lands Act - ensures that co- ops do not jeopardize their tax-exempt status when they accept government grants. Passage of this bipartisan legis- lation means that Oregon’s electric co- ops do not have to choose between their tax status or rebuilding infrastructure. But time is running out. The bill’s ultimate fate may rest with U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, who has a unique opportunity to help keep rural Oregon in the light in more ways than one. By passing the RURAL Act, Senator Wyden will also demonstrate a shining example of bipartisan coopera- tion that Oregonians expect from their elected leaders. Please write to Senator Wyden asking him to support the Rural Act: https://www.wyden.senate.gov/ contact/email-ron. Also, please note that our Dis- trict 1 House Representative Suzanne Bonamici has not signed on to endorse the House version of the Rural Act: https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th- congress/house-bill/2147/all-info. Please write to her as well asking for her support: https://bonamici.house.gov/ contact. This is a nationwide problem, but let’s do our bit here in Oregon. Use your voice to make a difference for your- self, as well as your friends and neigh- bors. Erika Paleck WOEC Director District 5 Vernonia, Buxton, Timber Events Yoga at the Grange – Tuesdays & Thursdays 8:00 am, Saturdays 8:30 am, 425 North Street. All levels welcome. Yoga at the Vernonia Grange Facebook page. Yoga at the YogaFarm – Wednesdays 3:00 - 4:15 pm, 11669 Keasey Rd. All levels welcome. https://www. facebook.com/simmeryoga/ TOPS Group (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) meet Fridays at the Mist- Birkenfeld Fire Dept. 8:30 am weigh in, 9:00 am meeting. Men and women invited to join. (503) 429- 7503 Weather data is collected at the U.S. Weather station at the Vernonia Water Plant Columbia Humane Society Purr-fect Pals Featured Dog Apple is full of holiday cheer and ready to start the New Year in a new home with a new family. This little lady is around 6 years old and was adopted from the shelter a little over 6 years ago. She was found as a stray, and due to her microchip she was able to be tracked back to CHS when her family could not be found. We assume she was abandoned. We gladly accepted her back into the CHS family as we believe in our animals and providing care for them regard- less of how long ago they were adopted from the shelter. She is very friendly and loving. She does not seem to mind the other cats in the cattery, however, we would recommend slow introductions to both cats and dogs in a potential home. We would also recommend you have a place you can keep her separate until she gets the lay of the land. Apple's adoption fee is $125, that includes current vaccines, microchip, and flea and worm treatment. If you have any questions about her please don't hesitate to call or email. 2084 Oregon Street, St. Helens, OR 97051 Phone: 503-397-4353 Boaz was adopted out for the first time in 2017 and recently returned to us. We are now looking for a new forever home for him. He is going to be a very loyal companion and will be a very good protector. Boaz is kind of complicated, and lacks trust in new people. He will need a home without cats, other dogs, or kids under 16. He has a tendency to want to guard objects from other dogs. He deserves a life of being the most important animal in the home. Boaz is going to need a place he can stretch his legs and get the daily exercise he needs. He is very big and goofy and sometimes has no idea that he is so large. Being a Canaan mix we would ask that prior to meeting him you please do your research on the breed to fully understand what you’re getting into. These guys are known to be protectors of their people, and they will be very vocal. For those reasons they are not great at living in the city; there tends to be too much going on and they become overly protective of their property. If you are interested in meeting this kid we ask that you please email animalwelfare@columbiahumane.org and we will send you an adoption application. His adoption fee is $250 which includes his neuter and all vaccinations. E-mail: info@columbiahumane.org Web: www.columbiahumane.org