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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (April 25, 1990)
Page 2 The INDEPENDENT, A p ril 25, 1990 ™. INDEPENDENT Serving the upper Nehalem River valley Published monthly on the last Thursday of each month, by Public Opinion Laboratory Ltd 1206 State Avenue. Vernonia, OR 97064, as a free newspaper All material protected under U S Copyright laws Editors and Publishers, Dirk and Norn Andersen, (503) 429 9410 O p in io n No good taxes, but try to get something useful Three measures on the May ballot deal with money issues that directly affect this area - a tax base for the new emergency communications district, and increased tax bases for both the Vernonia School District and the Columbia Education Service District Ideally, they could all be approved by the voters, but this isn't an ideal world and too many taxpayers’ pockets aren’t deep enough to handle additional property taxes District 4 /J has done some good budgeting, but has also allocated an unseemly amount for extracur ricular sports - not physical education, but extracur ricular sports - the PE budget is elsewhere An increase of $22,887 takes the high school extracurricular sports budget to $92,687 . for fewer than 200 students That doesn’t include $5,000 for drug testing, that's budgeted in non-athletic student activities Non-athletic activities were reduced by $1.776 (but who needs things like music, drama and art?), and when the drug testing $5,000 is subtracted, there is only $10,248 for non-athletic extracurricular activity $2,000 was deleted from tuition money for Portland Community College's vocational education and advanced courses; the library budget was reduced by $1,800 The budget for legal costs was doubled to $15,000 for a possible lawsuit over drug testing On the elementary level there is a total of $28,620 for extracurricular student activities $25,770 of that amount is for sports and $2,500 for drug testing, leav ing a total of $350 for participation in spelling bees, science fairs and other ridiculous activities. Anyone concerned about property taxes would be well advised to approve the communications district tax base That will eliminate a $40-50,000 a year burden to the City of Vernonia and we're more like ly to need an emergency medical technician than a defensive lineman. Publication day changed Starting with today's edition, The INDEPENDENT will go to Wednesday delivery instead of Thursday All local outlets will now receive the paper in the afternoon on the last Wednesday of each month Local mail customers will still get the newspaper delivered on Thursdays e tw e e n th e : By Nancy Burch City Librarian If you’re anxious to read a best seller but haven't the money or the storage space for books, come in and see if our library has what you're looking for. We have the newest novels by Janet Dailey, Rosamunde Pilcher, Phyllis W hitney, Robert Ludlum, Arthur Hailey, M K Wren, Robin Cook, Judith Michael and LaVyrle Spencer. At least one of these authors must have written som ething that you've enjoyed enough to want to read another by h im /h e r. Phyllis Whitney has been a favorite of mine for years with her tales of romance and suspense and her latest novel, "The Singing Stones," combines these elements while challenging our views of life and death, destiny and love. When Lynn Mc Leod, a clinical psychologist, is asked to try and help the troubled child of her former husband, she accepts, with m is givings, and is drawn into old passions and new m ysteries. If you enjoy Phyllis Whitney, put this on your list of books to read. An author I have recently discovered and enjoyed is LaV yrle S p encer. "B itte r S w eet,’ her latest tale of love and postponed passion...of a forbidden reunion, with choices both bitter and sweet...has returned Ms. Spencer to the bestseller list. We also have two of her former books, "Vows" and "M orning G lory," in paperback. "Morning Glory" was my first encounter with Spencer's works and after reading it, I added her to my list of favorite authors. This is the story of a love strong enough to endure the traumas of a war and true enough to survive a terrible crime It is one of those stories that makes you cry even while you're enjoying every minute of it. There is never enough space to elaborate on more than a few books, and the ones that I choose to write about may not be your choice, so come in and look around. You'll find som ething that suits your reading taste. L l b ra ry Hours: Monday and Friday 1-5 p m , Wednesday, 9 a m -5 p m . and Saturday, 10 a m -2 p m Preschool Story Time is every Wednesday from 10 30-11 a m L e tte rs to th e E d ito r 911 funding needed To the Editor: Funding for the Columbia County Emergency Commu nications Distnct is one of the larges, problems tha, the Ver noma City Council and I have had to face Last year C-Com charged the City $44,000 for 911 ser vices If the tax base election fails, the new Com m unica tions District may charge the City as much as $50,000 Last year, to form the 1989 budget without asking tor a levy, we had to strip every spare dollar from the equip ment budgets in the general fund There is no spare money left this year in any of the Police, Fire or Ambulance budgets to help pay for the in creasing costs of providing 911 services If the tax base for the Communications District does not pass, the budge, for the General Fund will face some very hard times The Council would have to consider ask ing for a levy or laying off some of our employees from the Police or Fire D epart ments. I feel that voting for the tax base is going to provide some stability for the City's future budget as well as pro- vide an excellent 911 service tor the county Thank you for your time Scott Sword, Mayor City of Vernonia Fireworks on 4th? To Venonla Citizens: Will there be a fireworks display this July 4th? The C ham ber of C o m merce is no, going to sponsor the fireworks display this year unless there is money to pre pay the fireworks The reason is very simple - lack of funds In the past, the Chamber has had donat ed firewood to sell, which, with individual business do nations and collections after the show, paid for the display and provided enough money to assure the following year's display Last year firewood was not easily obtained or delivered, and for the second consecu tive year, many of the dona tion cans were stolen. As a result, there is a balance of $9 toward the $2,000 needed for the display l personally asked another organization if it was willing fo sponsor this function and was turned down My question to you as citi zens is, do you want a fire- works display, and are you willing ,o pay for it? If the an swer is "yes," stop by either U S Bank or Farmers 8 Mer chants Bank to make a con tribution, or mail your check to the chamber a, PO Box 7. Vernonia, OR 97064 Will we have a fireworks display in July? The answer is up to you Fred Klinger, President Vernonia Area Chamber of Commerce 911 affects ail To the Editor: I am writing in regard to a subiec, tha, affects all Col um bia C ounty re side nts W iergency communications The Inter-G overnm ental C ouncil and M anagem ent Team in November, 1989, asked voters to change the way 9-1-1 (C-CO M ) was managed You, the voter, re sponded and formed a com munication special district The next big step is to obtain stable funding for C olum bia C o unty's 9-1-1 center. The former management team recommended that the new District Directors ask voters for a tax base which is projected to last for five years More letters on page 21
