The Columbia Press
August 21, 2020
Taking a ‘moment’ to heal
Senior Moments columnist Emma Ed-
wards was injured in a fall last week. She is
now recuperating at home.
We send her our very best wishes for a
speedy recovery and, if you’re a praying
person, please remember Emma in your
prayers. She would appreciate that.
Letter to the Editor
Booth-Schmidt best candidate
I checked the statements of
Debbie Booth-Schmidt’s op-
ponent to see what was being
said, and found some inaccu-
racies:
Debbie is not a tool of Port-
land interests. She is not
funded by big money (no of-
fers of $1,000 from Timber
Unity for instance).
She is familiar with the
problems of working fami-
lies and workers in general.
She has worked in the union
movement and has their
trust. She is experienced and
trustworthy.
Here’s what she, herself, has
said -- all honest, all truthful.
“I know that working fami-
lies are the backbone of Dis-
trict 32, and they need access
to strong schools, good-pay-
ing jobs, quality healthcare,
and a safe, affordable place to
call home.
“I have experienced being a
single mom, working two jobs
trying to make ends meet.
I have had to make hard
decisions between putting
food on the table and having
healthcare. I have since been
a leader in my community
through my union advocating
for worker’s rights and on the
Sunset Transportation Board
advocating for better trans-
portation.”
Debbie Booth-Schmidt re-
cently retired from a ma-
ny-year job assisting in the
Clatsop County District At-
torney’s Office. She is the
co-owner of a small business
with her husband.
This is not the campaign be-
tween rural and urban inter-
ests that her opponent wants
to imagine.
Send Debbie, who will en-
gage honestly, listen careful-
ly, and work through solu-
tions to difficult problems.
Please vote for Debbie.
Charles Withers
Cannon Beach
Off the Shelf
by Kelly Knudsen
Considering race in rural communities
The month of August has
been busy for Warrenton
Community Library (WCL),
with the final distribution of
the Summer Reading Pro-
gram take & make activity
bags, as well as the installa-
tion, vandalism and re-in-
stallation associated with the
StoryWalk® on the Warren-
ton Waterfront trail.
A big thank you to Jerred
Engbretston and his fam-
ily for locating all the Sto-
ryWalk® signs and bring-
ing them to the library after
someone took them out of
the ground and threw them
along the trail. Jerred and his
family are a great example of
Agreement benefits electricians
Oregon and Washington
have joined forces to make
things easier for general
journey-level electricians to
work in both states.
The reciprocal agreement
between Oregon Building
Codes Division and the
Washington State Depart-
ment of Labor & Industries
will allow those who’ve ob-
tained a license in one state
to apply for a license in the
other without having to
take an examination.
It’s especially important
for those who live in Clat-
7
sop and Pacific counties,
where the rural population
may find itself short on
qualified help.
“One of the lessons
we have learned from
COVID-19 is that having ef-
ficient systems and flexibil-
ity is an asset that allows us
to better serve people,” said
Lori Graham, interim ad-
ministrator for the Building
Codes Division.
The agreement went into
effect Monday, Aug. 17, and
continues until the states
terminate it.
Special columns in The Columbia Press
Every week: Senior Moments with Emma Edwards
Week 1: History in the Making
Week 2: Financial Focus with Adam Miller
Week 3: Off the Shelf by Kelly Knudsen
Final week: Mayor’s Message by Henry Balensifer
how a community works to-
gether for good.
We appreciate your fami-
ly’s efforts in helping get the
StoryWalk® back up for our
community to enjoy.
Building community is
something I’ve been focusing
on this month while planning
some new adult program-
ming for the library, centered
on talking about race in rural
areas.
Since George Floyd was
murdered, it has become
apparent that our commu-
nity (and country) is divided
on the existence of systemic
racism, how we talk about it,
and how we work together to
change from systemic exclu-
sion to a sustainable inclu-
sive community.
To open the conversation
and learn from each other,
WCL has teamed up with La-
Nicia Duke, executive direc-
tor of the Love Coalition, to
start a series of yearlong dis-
cussions, “Rural Race Talks:
How to Talk About Race in
Rural Communities,” with
the goal of building stron-
ger, better communities, and
empowering everyone in our
communities to share their
voices in a safe space.
The Love Coalition (Tilla-
mook County) is a nonprofit
with “the mission of offering
acceptance without judgment
and acknowledging our differ-
ences in a healthy way, where
we can learn and grow from
each other, all while having
the freedom to be authentic
and without fear of bias.”
We welcome you to join
WCL for our first six-week
session of Rural Race Talks.
We will meet from 6 to 8 p.m.
weekly on Wednesdays be-
ginning Sept. 23 through Oct.
28. We have 10 in-person
seats available (social dis-
tancing will be adhered to) as
well as virtually on Zoom.
This is only the first discus-
sion in a series of Rural Race
Talks, as the yearlong pro-
gram will continue through
spring 2021, with four ad-
ditional six-week sessions,
expanding the conversations
and dialogue with commu-
nity leaders and guest pan-
elists, including city manag-
ers, mayors, police officers
and other policy makers. The
project will culminate with
a Community Cultural Cele-
bration in summer 2021.
For more information and/
or to sign up for the first six-
week session, please call Li-
brary Director Kelly Knud-
sen at 503-861-8156 or email
warrentoncl@gmail.com.
Watch our website, warren-
tonlibrary.org, this newspa-
per, and WCL’s Facebook
page for more information.
Kelly Knudsen is director
of Warrenton Community
Library. She has a master’s
degree in library and infor-
mation science.
Warrenton Community Library
160 S. Main Ave.
10 a.m.-6 p.m. MWF
10 a.m.-2 p.m. Tues & Thurs