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About The times of Willamina. (Willamina, Oregon) 1972-1974 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 31, 1973)
Sample Copy WILLAMINA TIMES, Willamina, Oregon, Wednesday, January 31, 1973 of Willamina-Sheridan VOLUME 64 NUMBER 28 Council approves Smith, cable rate increase Grand Ronde and Willamina Fire Departments responded to a 4:45 a.m. blaze that completely destroyed the small frame house and contents belonging to Billie Sisson, last Friday morning. Sisson, whose home is located about two miles west of Grand Ronde on Highway 18, was in Coos Bay at the time of the fire visiting a brother. Thirteen firemen fought the blaze including three student-firemen, David Reid, Kelly Morris and Randy Holmsten. W illam ina grade school activities This past week in Willamina grade school found the students involved in a variety of activi ties. The first grade is learning to read. They are also learning to use a ruler and have been using practical applications of their new skill including measuring their feet. The class has also been keeping a calendar to indi cate what the weather has been. The second graders are cur rently finishing a science unit on air. They are now preparing to review what they have learned by doing experiments and video- tapihg. In the sixth grade the students are studying simple Spanish words in one of their reading classes. This enables them to pronounce the Spanish words in their social studies class. Cur; rently the students are learning about Mexico with many of the students being able to name all the countries in Latin America as well as their capitals. The students also have a model car display in their classroom. Each month the students elect officers for their classroom. This month’s officers are: President, Diane Potter, Vice President, Brenda Williams, Se cretary, John Merceir and Trea surer, Jim Thompson. Mrs. Domes, the fourth grade teacher, returned to action Mon day after being absent for two weeks due to foot surgery. The school’s librarian for the last two and a half years, Mrs. Mary Schwalenberg left the school to move with her family to Centralia, Washington. Her replacement will be announced later. According to Mrs. Paul, the school principal, Mrs. _ Schwalenberg ‘ ‘was quite capable* and a wbnderful person.” Local men cooperate in tow truck firm What does a young man do when he can’t find a job? There were many alternatives, but being an ambitious guy, John Robertson created his own job by going into business for himself. He bought his first tow truck, a one and one-half ton Chevrolet truck with a four ton lifting capacity. winches go in forward and re verse. It is also equipped with a hand winch. The truck is powered by a 540 cubic inch, 200 horse power, LeRoi V-8 gas engine that has 20 speeds forward and 4 reverse. It has an eighteen foot boom with 750 feet of cable on the main ^ John Robertson, standing next to his eleven-ton tow truck. John soon realized two things, that without another business (such as a wrecking yard, or gas station) he would have to go out of the business entirely. So it was either get out of the busi ness or go all the way. And go all the way he did, for this week John brought home a big white Autocar tow truck, big enough to handle anything that is legal on the highway. The truck weighs eleven ton all by itself, and is equipped with three power winches. The main winch will pick up twenty-one ton, with the two secondary win ches having a pick-up capacity of ten ton each, making a lifting brute capacity of 41 ton straight off the winches. By using block and tackle, it can pull an even greater weight. The two-speed £ drum. John would eventually like to extend the main cable to 1000 feet. John is 19 years old, a 1971 graduate of Willamina High School, has taken a year of elec tronics at Chemeketa Community College, and lives with his par ents, the Bill Robertsons in the Van Duzer Corridor four miles west of Grand Ronde on Highway 18. He hopes to have the trucks housed in Grand Ronde in the near future. With the purchase of a large tow truck by John Robertson of Grand Ronde the combined towing efforts of Robertson and Mischler Wreckers is now at four tow trucks. According to Mischler they ‘ ‘ can now handle anything, that is legal on the road.” The new truck weighs 22,000 pounds according to Robertson who says that the truck was built especially for towing. While looking quite a bit like a con verted logging truck Robertson said that this truck has an all steel frame whereas a log truck has a lot of aluminum in it to help keep the weight down. Mischler said that they tow all the way from the coast to the Portland and Salem areas. While towing from such a wide area though they have not been able to lure the log truck driv ers into having them haul out their trucks. Currently, he said, when the loggers get stuck they call the insurance companies who then send out a truck from the P ort land area. Mischler would, of course, rather see them call him and then call the insurance com pany. With the services of this new truck at his disposal he feels that this would be entirely pos sible and would prove to be a great service to the drivers. Mischler himself has been tow ing for over 20 years, having started in 1952 with the purchase of his wrecking yard that in cluded a tow truck. Robertson, on the other hand, has only been in the towing busi ness for a few months. The two will be working to gether, with Mischler working out of his wrecking yard near the junction of highways 18 and 22 and Robertson out of the old theater in Grand Ronde, formerly occupied by the White Elephant second hand store. According to Mischler glass is his primary interest while wrecking is secondary. While admitting to liking the business Mischler says he ‘‘would like to quit it. I would sell out and retire if I could find the right party to buy it. I would sell them the business and rent the building to them.” Meanwhile Mischler and Rob ertson are looking forward to business with their fleet of four tow trucks to assist them. 1 Sergeant Richard Smith of the Sheridan Police force was named Acting Chief of Police at the special city council meeting held on Monday, January 22. Prior to the appointment of Smith, the city council accepted the resignation of Sheridan Po lice Chief A1 Bomberger. Bom berger is resigning effective February 1 to accept a job as police chief in Forest Grove. Bomberger joined the Sheridan force almost six years ago com ing here from Yamhill where he had served as chief for three years. Less than a week after Bom: berger joined the department Smith also joined the force. In referring to the establishment of the Youth Police Reserve by Bomberger, Mayor Jordan said “ you have left your mark on Sheridan and I, for one, wish you Godspeed.” Smith, in addition to his pro motion to chief, will also re ceive a raise in pay of $50 a month and a car allowance of $25 a month. In leaving the department Bom berger asked the council to con tinue to work with new chief Smith as much as they did with him. He also encouraged the council to maintain “ a forward look.” Smith will serve as acting chief for the remainder of the fiscal year which ends on July 1, 1973, at that time it ^vill be decided if he is to be named permanent chief. Appointed by Mayor Jordan sub ject to the approval of the coun cil, Smith won the confidence of the council through a unanimous vote of the council. The council also voted to draw up a letter of commendation for Bomberger because of his s e r vice to the community. In other action the council has begun to review applications for the job of city administrator. A new administrator must be chosen to replace Bob Wells who is resigning effective February 1. There were applications from eight applicants opened at the council meeting. The council also appointed two new members to the city plan ning commission. The two are Kenneth Knutson and Elwin Heil- inger. The last order of business for the council was the approval of a rate increase by Stuck Elec tric Incorporated and Cable TV. By a vote of four to two the council permitted an increase of $1 a month for cable rental for the company’scableTVbusiness. Stuck had previously raised their rates and then was ordered by the council to prove that the rate increase was necessary. The city’s jurisdiction over the company is only within the city and as Stuck pointed out it is hard to project costs just in side the city because the com pany has customers in the su r rounding communities as well as those in Sheridan. In addition to this, Stuck oper ates the cable business in con junction with his electrical com pany. Stuck also explained that the Federal Communications Com mission has set up rigid stand ards considering the quality of the TV reception for those on cable. He also pointed out that the company must also maintain and improve the service. Stuck thus explained that it was impossible for him to give a report like the one the council wanted because he couldn’t get Jthe information. The council did grant its ap proval to the increase with the stipulation that cable TV oper ating expenses for 1973 be re ported next year. Stuck agreed to this. New acting police chief Smith Approval of Council Acting Police Chief Richard Lee Smith Sergeant Richard Lee Smith was named acting Sheridan Police Chief Monday, February 22, af ter the resignation of former police chief At Bomberger was accepted by the Sheridan City Council. Smith will officially step into the job on February 1 when Bom- berger’s resignation takes effect. Having served the Sheridan force for six years Smith is already acquainted with the area and will serve as acting chief for six months during which he will be on probation. If he passes the test period he will be named police chief. Smith joined the Sheridan force within a week after Bomberger was named chief. At that time expansion of the force from one and a half men up to the current five man force had just begun. When he first joined the force Smith had just been released from the service. Born in McMinnville, Smith was Carolyn Morton passes out sample copies of the Times in Sheridan. This issue is the last sample copy; regular subscriptions will begin raised in Crescent City, Cali fornia. “ I like police work real well, right now I’m trying to learn this job. I’ve got a lot to learn and a helluva big pair of shoes to step into. But I want to learn all I can and do the best job I can do.” Smith has completed the work for his Associate of Arts de gree in law enforcement from Chemeketa Community College and will receive it this June. While admitting that it was still to early to set forth any plans on changes in the department Smith is striving to expand the department. A replacement for Smith will be chosen from within the de partment and a member of the reserves will be moved up to fill the other vacancy. Smith and his wife Anita have been married for two years and have no children. They live in Sheridan. with our February 7 edition. After that date, subscriptions will cost $2.50 per year, and newsstand price will be 10C per copy. .
