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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 29, 1990)
Page 2 The INDEPENDENT, August 29, 1990 n, INDEPENDENT Serving the upper Nehalem River valley Published monthly on the last Wednesday ot each month by Public Opinion Laboratory Ltd , 1206 State Avenue, Vernonia OR 97064, as a tree newspaper All material protected under U S Copyright laws Editors and Publishers, Dirk & Nom Andersen, (503) 429 9410 Garbage may hide a great opportunity e tw e e n th e By Nancy Burch Vernonia C ity Librarian Have you ever felt you should read a certain book but for one reason or another kept putting it aside in favor ot others that more readily caught and held your attention? Then, when you finally decided to read it now or never found it to be so engrossing that you hated to put it down until you had read the final page This has been my experience with M K Wren's novel. A Gift Upon The Shore Martha Kay Renfroe (M K Wren) is an Oregon author who lives at Roads End near Lincoln City on the coast and she uses the Pacific Northwest as the setting and the near future as the time frame tor this spellbinding tale After nuclear war. earthquakes and tidal waves have ravaged the West Coast, violent looters and a horrifying tever have taken their toll on the remaining human population Mary Hope, a writer, and her beloved friend. Rachel Ward, a painter are two survivors After searching into and beyond the Willamette Valley into the Cascades and finding no other survivors, these two determined women take In less than six months, Vernonia will celebrate the 100th anniversary of its incorporation as a city Many plans are under way for special activities throughout the centennial year Also, the new Banks- Vernonia Linear State Park will open officially this spring, bringing even more publicity to this area It's a great opportunity to attract visitors; it may even broaden our tax base by attracting new resi dents and businesses The question is: What will A commendable job visitors see when they come to Vernonia9 Some sights awaiting them are buildings that don't To the Editor: meet minimum health and safety codes; rust heaps of undnvable vehicles; garbage and other forms of litter To all those people who strewn about; lots full of overgrown weeds and grass w orked hard on the Jam boree, I wan, to commend es...to name a few of the less savory vistas Disparate though they may seem, all of these you on a job well done I have been involved with the public nuisances have one element in common: Jamboree, it seems like most Under city ordinances they are all illegal ot my lite There have always The next question is: Why is there no enforce been problems except this year Everything I though,, ment of city ordinances governing these conditions? wen, very smoothly The city's police chief has the authority to act as Also, the town, and espe building official and enforce nuisance abatement ordi cially the school grounds and nances He and his officers should enforce the city's parks, were in the best shape ordinances regularly and consistently especially they've been in years You have se, the stage tor a really since that's what they're paid for great ce le b ra tio n tor next The next question is: Why doesn't the city council year I know tha, all of the insist on better performance by the enforcement arm baseball players associated of city government, and back up that insistence with with the softball games are looking forward to next year penodic reviews of the chief’s performance9 Once again, congratula It's nice to be nice, it's even desirable to be nice, tions except when that isn't getting the job done on the task of preserving all remaining books they can find as the only record of a world that has perished, but also in the hope that some spark of culture will survive Eventually, Mary and Rachel find they are not the only humans left and their farm becomes home to a small group of fanatics, led by Miriam, who views books as blasphemous The conflict between Mary and Miriam divides the community in passion and terror as A Gift Upon the Shore reaches its thrilling climax When I firs, started reading the book, the theme really depressed me with its description ot such destruction ot life as we know it, caused by both man and nature But. hope is the theme that is established and maintained thoughou, the book and i, I were a survivor, and had to make decisions concerning which books were important ,o save tor future generations, this would definitely be on the ______ list Library 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 am L e t t e r s t o t h e ID d it o r Pro or con, you have a say about property taxes A mail election will be held in September on the question of an operating levy tor the school district. Our school property tax rate falls just about in the middle of rates throughout the state, so while we're not low, we're not high either. One thing is certain, however; only people who vote will have a voice in setting our tax rates and in determining the future of our educational system There is nothing easier than voting by mail, so if you don't vote, please don’t complain You have the op portunity to make a difference Bill Hawkins Portland Thank you, Bill To the Editor: Hooray for Bill Hawkins' He really is a great ambas sador tor Vernonia We have been coming ,o Vernonia ev ery year tor Bill's annual soft ball tournament and wha, a wonderlul job he does We have several ot his h a n d crafted trophies and cherish each one We also have a great ap preciatwn tor what all ot you "locals" pu, up with, with this great influx ot tourists we put up with “them" all year' We play several tourna ments each year bu, rarely will any team member miss com ing to Vernonia to r a good, clean fun time all due to the hard work and unselfish effo rts of Bill H aw kins Thanks, Bill' Larry & Claudia Peterson Seaside Merchants Women's Slowpltch Softball Team Thanks for the help To the Editor: We a, M is, B irke nte ld RFPD wish to say "Thank you'" to all those who helped with site preparation tor our planned substation Many, many people were involved in this protect, and several busi nesses as well The site tor the Peterson Substation is tilled and nearly ready to build upon Located |us, north ot Apiary junction on Hwy 47, seven m iles south of Mist, this station is planned to shorten response times in tha, area and place needed equipment closer tor emergency services While the individuals who volunteered their time are too numerous to list, we are very grateful tor their help Among the businesses who donated th e ir tim e, m ate rials and equipment were L J Chnsto- phersen (trucks, loaders, op erators. e tc ). Cavenham For est Products (rock and till ma tenal), Oregon State Highway Division (rock and till materi al), Bud Hemeon (dump truck and d riv e r), Dan German (dump truck and driver), L. Jepson & Sons (dump truck and driver). Columbia County (dump truck), and Evenson Logging Company (expertise and materials) Earlier this summer Caven ham Foros, Products were in advertently let, o „ ot a pub lished list ot those who helped with this protect The majority of the till material was dona, ed by them for our use as needed We certainly appre ciate their help and apologize tor leaving them ou, earlier The land was donated by Richard Peterson, a life time resident, who home is located |us, across the street trom where the new station will be built Again, thanks from all ot us Dave Crawford, Fire Chief Mlst-BIrkenfeld Rural Fire Protection District Crisis line moved To the Editor: As a result ot the closure of St H e len 's H o sp ita l, the Columbia County Women's Resource Center has moved its after hours diversion sys tem ,o a new home base a, More letters on page 18
