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The Columbia Press March 26, 2021 7 Mayor’s Message Senior Moments by Henry Balensifer III with Emma Edwards Phraseology of ‘medicology’ Relief money helps city cope with utility fund Some of us may have de- cided to catch up on doctor’s appointments as a way to get out of the house during the pandemic. When the doctors got wise, most reverted to telephone appointments. I was delighted to talk to my doctor for about 20 minutes. Had it not been for the pan- demic, I would never have had the opportunity. Have you ever noticed that medical specialties end in “ology”? Oh, yes, like derma- tology, urology, optomology, cardiology, psychology, pa- thology, terminology or even gastrology? So many of our ailments end in “itis.” Those bother me the most. You know, like laryngitis, televisionitis, pan- creatitis, tendinitis, hepatitis, meetingitis, bronchitis and neuritis. Add the “itis” to something and, through the Latin, it be- comes a disease or inflamma- tion. The “ology” is derived from Greek. “Terminology” com- bines the Latin terminus with logia to mean “the study of terms and their uses.” As one can easily see, the “ology” and “itis” words are not all related to medicine. Televisionitis, for instance, can become like a disease and even inflame others in our home. “Meetingitis” de- scribes a person with a pro- pensity to hold unnecessary meetings. In studying the “ologies” and “itises,” I ran across this unique little list defining some familiar medical terms for us to enjoy. Artery - The study of paint- ings. Caesarean section - A neigh- borhood in Rome. Cauterize - Made eye con- tact with her. Colic - A sheep dog. Dilate - To live long. Fibula - A small lie. Labor pain - Getting hurt at work. Morbid - A higher offer. Nitrates - Cheaper than day rates. Node - Was aware of. Outpatient - A person who has fainted. Post-operative - Letter car- rier. Recovery room - Place to do upholstery. Terminal illness - Getting sick at the airport. I can identify with a joke from Bob Newhart, who is 91: “When it’s all over, you go to heaven and God says, ‘What did you do?’ And I say, ‘I made people laugh.’ ‘Get in that real short line over there.’ ” I think I will end with a quote from 75-year-old Dolly Parton: “I can’t stop long enough to grow old. I’m just gonna be the best that I can be at what- ever age I am.” Federal relief money for cit- ies is on its way and there’s a lot of questions from people about what the city is going to do with those dollars. There still are quite a few unknowns — like how much of a cut the state of Oregon will take in “administrative costs” for creating new rules over and above the federal rules for the money. Howev- er, we do know that the mon- ey will not come all at once. Prior relief dollars distrib- uted to the city were ear- marked solely for helping Warrentonians with rent and utility relief and distributed through Clatsop Community Action. The first tranche of that relief was used quickly. The second did not have as much demand, but was used up. It helped the city go from hav- ing more than 200 water cus- tomers so far behind in their bills that they were going to get water shut-off notices, to only 28. To put it in perspec- tive, before the pandemic we averaged 12 to 20 customers a month who received shut- off notices. Specific verbiage was in- cluded in the federal bill sug- gesting it could be used to shore up depleted utility ac- Special columns in The Columbia Press Every week: Senior Moments with Emma Edwards Week 1: Financial Focus with Adam Miller Week 2: Here’s to Your Health from CMH Week 3: Off the Shelf by Kelly Knudsen Final week: Mayor’s Message by Henry Balensifer counts with cities that have been burning through cash reserves to continue provid- ing safe, clean utilities. This is what I anticipate we will be putting most of the funds toward. While it seems puzzling to some people when I tell them, but the city’s utility rates don’t cover the opera- tions and maintenance costs of the system. The current commission has been playing catch up after an extended period of no rate changes in the first decade of 2000. As a result, the costs increase, but the revenues don’t. Using the federal money to backfill the shortfall will benefit ratepay- ers because it both covers the cost of the loss of funds and commensurate lack of rate changes in 2020. The relief funds also are expected to be sufficient to avoid having to ask the bud- get committee for a rate in- crease this year. I cannot guarantee this, as the budget committee is equally five appointed citi- zens, and five elected com- missioners. The City Commission can- not significantly alter the rec- ommended budget by state law. However, utility relief appears to be where we’re headed. NOTICE OF BUDGET COMMITTEE MEETING A public meeting of the Budget Committee of the Warrenton-Hammond School District, Clatsop County, State of Oregon, to discuss the budget for the fiscal year July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2022, will be held at Warrenton High School, 1700 S. Main Ave., Warrenton. The meeting will take place on April 14, 2021, at 6:00 p.m. The purpose of the meeting is to receive the budget message and to re- ceive comment from the public on the budget. This is a public meeting where deliberation of the Budget Committee will take place. Any person may appear at the meeting and discuss the proposed programs with the Budget Committee. A copy of the budget document may be inspected or obtained on or after April 14, 2021, at WHSD District Office between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. NOTICE OF SALE UNDER WRIT OF EXECUTION – REAL PROPERTY Case No.: 19CV34800 Plaintiff/s: Nationstar Mortgage LLC D/B/A Champion Mortgage Com- pany. v. Defendant/s: Unknown Heirs and Devisees of Patricia A. Chesser, Bank of the Pacific; Clark David Chesser; Robert John Chesser, United State of America; State of Oregon; Occupants of the property. Notice is hereby given that the Clatsop County Sheriff’s Office will, on Tuesday, April 13, 2021, at 10:00 AM, in the main lobby of the Clatsop County Sheriff’s Office, 1190 SE 19th Street, Warrenton, Oregon, sell, at public oral auction to the highest bidder, for cash or cashier’s check, the real property commonly known as 113 SW Cedar Avenue, Warrenton Or- egon 97146. Conditions of Sale: Potential bidders must arrive 15 minutes prior to the auction to allow the Clatsop County Sheriff’s Office to review bidder’s funds. Only U.S. currency and/or cashier’s checks made payable to Clatsop County Sheriff’s Office will be accepted. Payment must be made in full immediately upon the close of the sale. For more information on this sale go to: http://oregonsheriffssales.org/ Publish: The Columbia Press, Feb. 26, Mar. 5, 12, and 19, 2021.