Image provided by: Vernonia Public Library; Vernonia, OR
About Vernonia freedom. (Vernonia, Oregon) 1978-198? | View Entire Issue (Aug. 6, 1981)
RUTH STEERS 409 ROSE VERNONIA OR 97064 MORE JAMBOREE PHOTOS PAGES 6 & 7 RODEO COURT— The Columbia County Fair and Rodeo Court were entrants in this year’s Jamboree Parade. From left to right they are: Princess Keri McElhaney, 18, of Warren; Queen Kelly Ann Ryan, 16, of Clatskanie and Princess Diane Van Winkle, 19, of Vernonia. Queen Kelly and her court represent Columbia County at events throughout the state, including the St. Paul Rodeo and the Pendleton Round-Up. CITY COUNCIL NOTES City must demolish buildings The City Council voted last Monday night to demolish the public restrooms on Bridge Street and the public dressing room at Hawkins Park. While the council was reluctant to take this drastic a measure, it was felt necessary due to the amount of vandalism the two structures have been repeatedly subjected to. So that the move will not be a complete waste, and as part of the city’s drive to conserve money, the cinder blocks used in constructing both facilities will be recycled. Plans at this time call for the blocks to be used as part of the foundation for the chlorination plant building scheduled for construction as part of the expanded sewer treatment plant. In other business, the council was informed that DEQ has approved a ten acre site about the city cemetery for use as a land fill site. Before the property can be put to use as a land fill it must first be logged. City officials say that bids for that logging will be let out in the next week or two. Effective Monday night, the council voted to make all city water deposits non-refundable. This will not affect deposits currently on file, but will apply only to future deposits as the ordinance cannot be made retroactive. Another chapter in the continuing saga of dog control in Vernonia was written during this last council meeting as well. The council has decided that instead of building a holding facility for confiscated dogs they will put a removable wire cage on one of the city pickup trucks, and as necessary, pick up and immediately transport any impounded animal directly to St. Helens. It is hoped this measure will prove adequate in handling this long standing problem without necessitating a large capital outlay on the city’s part. HOMEMADE— Paul Mackenzie, a clown for 23 years, holds aloft one of the chairs he cut from logs in just minutes with a chain saw. Each chair, as they were raffled off, became an excuse for MacKenzie to impart a smeared grease paint kiss to each winner. School board levy failure forces program cuts As a result of the negative vote by School District 47 J citizens at the June 30 election, the Vernonia School Board, meeting with the district budget committee, has made extensive cuts in the 1981-82 school budget. The revised special levy will be presented to the voters at an election scheduled for September 15. Schools will open for classes on August 31 but without enough funds to assure operation for the full school year, according to district sources. In addition to reductions affecting nearly all the school programs, some school services have been totally eliminated. Because of reductions in school staff, homemaking classes at both the high school and grade school have been cut out. Forestry and small engines classes and driver education courses have also been eliminated. Special education will also have one less full-time staff member. Athletic and activity programs have been severely reduced at both the elementary and secondary levels. Boys’ and girls’ track, girls’ basketball, dance team and cheerleaders have been deleted from the grade school program by a reduction of six staff positions. High school students will be denied the opportunity to participate in golf, cross country and freshman basketball by the elimination of those sports. Other high school activities will be sharply curtailed by elimination of seven coaching positions and seven activity supervisors. Included in the activity budget cuts are drama, school newspaper and yearbook production costs, dance team and all activity clubs such as National Honor Society, Lettermen and Foreign Language. High school sports and activities have been reduced by approximately 40 percent while the grade school activity program has been reduced by over 50 percent. Another significant budget reduction was the elimination of accident/injury insurance coverage of students. The district will no longer provide this type of protection for students or athletes. Major reductions were made in the purchase of equipment, supplies and maintenance projects. Renovation of the deteriorating mortar between the bricks in the exterior walls at Washington Grade School has been postponed to some future year as well as the purchase of additional classroom space for shop classes. Other budget reductions include the cutting of school educational field trip allowances by 50 percent , and the reduction of the district subsidy to the school lunch program by 65 percent. As a direct result of this, along with the loss of federal and state support, lunch prices charged to students participating in the lunch program will be sharply increased. Some modest budget increases were included to cover the escalating costs of fuel and electricity as well as the added cost of holding additional elections. Overall budget revisions call for a $214,000 reduction in the levy of $456,195 that was defeated in June. This reduction coupled with the increases in costs caused by inflation makes continued on page 7
