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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 31, 1990)
Pag© 2 Th© INDEPENDENT, October 31, 1990 Th, 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 & Noni Andersen, (503) 429 9410 ............ ... ........ .............. ................. - .......... O p in io n Leonetti and Sword Two gooa candidates are running for the unpaid position of mayor of Vernonia, Mario Leonetti and Scott Sword Both are involved in the work of the city, both are energetic and both of them really care about this town, its future and its people They're both seeking the responsibility because of concern, they're sure not doing it for the pay The only real difference we can ascertain is a dif ference in approach Leonetti’s heart sometimes clouds his judgement while Sword sometimes lets analysis overnde his feelings They usually end up in agreement Which would be the better mayor is a question we can't answer. Either way, Vernonia is a winner By Nancy Burch Vernonia City Librarian In anticipation of Vernonia's Centennial this coming year, I plan to include a tew highlights each month from Vernonia's past The fol lowing quotes were taken from 1933 issues ot the Vernonia Eagle "Mr and Mrs Joe Magott were charivaried Monday evening ’ "Bridgers' store robber is caught * "Three dollars has been set as the limit whch any girl may spend for her grad uation dress The boys' suits are to be simil arly inexpensive " Other articles in the 1933 Eagle told about the beginning and spread of the Tillamook Burn and the destruction ot Camp MacGregor There was also an ad list mg a 3 bedroom furnished house for rent at $6 00 a month with water included Getting back to the present. November. 1990, we now have several new books that patrons have requested These include The Snare of Serpents by Victoria Holt, The Plains of Passage by Jean Auel, Four Past Midnight by Stephen King, Buffalo Girls by Larry McMurtry, Harvest by Belva Plain, and The Burden of Proof by Scotl Turow These have all been in such demand since we acquired them that the last two are the only ones that I have had a chance to read In Harvest Belva Plain continues the saga ot the Werner family as Iris and her husband Theo a successful surgeon find their mar riage disintegrating When their son becomes involved with a dynamic and dangerous campus radical and Theo loses the use of his hand Paul Werner, who holds the secret of Iris's dubious parentage, offers his assis tance I would encourage anyone who has read and enjoyed Belva Plain's previous novels to also read Harvest The mam character in Scotl Turow's. Burden of Proof, is one who had been introduced in an earlier novel (Presumed Innocent) When celebrated defense lawyer "Sandy" Stern returns from a business trip to find that Clara, his wife of thirty years, has committed suicide he is forced to confront all he doesn't know about his life As he works to untangle the web of his brother-in-law's financial dealings, his entire world— marriage, family, career—is brought under intense scrutiny I enjoyed this book, but found the financial matters somewhat difficult to understand One more addition that I want to mention has come to us from Vernonia Recycles This is a 30-mmute v,deocassette called The Rotten Truth, which contains some amazing facts about garbage and recycling The music, animation and live-action footage in this tape will increase your awareness of the need to recycle Library H our*: Monday and Triday 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 Heimuller and White In the race for Columbia County Commissioner, Mike White is a fresh face on the political scene, but Dale Heimuller has stronger credentials White has worked effectively on various projects in the Scappoose area, but has only recently be come involved with other parts of the county We hope he continues to expand his expenence Heimuller has broader public experience, includ ing serving as a director for the Port of St Helens, which includes all of the county except this area. Perhaps, with his extensive expenence in the sand and gravel industry, he may even have some of the answers to county road problems We recommend Dale Heimuller for county com missioner Dukes and Mitchell State Sen Joan Dukes (D Astoria) has done a good job in some parts of her distnct, but. with the exception of her help on the Bacona landfill, this is n't one of them She worked, unsuccessfully, to defeat the state linear park, the only bright light in Vernonia's eco nomic scene in years Worse yet, her personal ani mosity toward the state parks department o u t weighed any benefits her constituents might gain Dukes is obviously out of touch with Vernonia when she tells us the way to get natural gas service here lies with local people working with the city and the county, after all, she talked with people at North west Natural Gas and finds them easy to get along with. Her statement belittles the hard work of local peo ple. the city and the county, to obtain use of the nat ural gas taken from under our feet It ignores both NNG's admission that their refusal to serve Vernon ia was based on an inadequate survey and their lat er offer to provide service if the school distnct con verted to natural gas—only to renege at a special 47J board meeting called at NNG's request Sykes Mitchell. Dukes' opponent, is a political novice who doesn't how to help us, but he knows of our efforts, understands our needs and won't sell us short. We urge support for Mitchell on Nov 6 Treasures (?) of measures the INDEPENDENT recommends the tol lowing on County Measures a nn ual p ro p e rty tax though, out 5-14 Would establish a tax base tor 9- 1-1 emergency services dispatching Yes 7—Work in lieu ot welfare is wha, this is called, bu, i, should be labeled the Slave La bor Ac, ot 1990 I, would, indeed take people ott welfare in the six county pilot program, putting them to work a, 90% ot the minimum wage a, no cos, to the employer Salaries would be paid trom funds earmarked tor un em plo ym e nt b e n e fits, food stam ps and AFDC which would no longer be available in the pilot program counties, and there are no health or child care benefits It makes no d is tin c tio n between able-bodied people and senior citize n s w ho scrape by w ith the help of food stamps nor does it protect the |obs of workers who could be replaced by their employers at no cos, No The next two measures are both designed to raise money tor construction, repair, main tenance or other improvement ot county and city roads It's unfortunate that fuel prices have increased because ot national and in ternational events bu, that doesn't till the hole in local road budgets 5-17 County m otor vehicle fuel tax ot 2c per gallon, would raise approximately $400.000 and would be divided with the cities in the county yes 5-18 Imposing a tee of 10c per ton on sand gravel, rock and other unrenewable natural resources mined in the county, this would raise $100.000 $150.000 annually Yes There are several state measures on the ballot tha, are very important bu, three really stand ou, 5 Constitutional lim it on property tax es to r s c h o o ls and lo c a l g o v e rn m e n t would replace lost school income with state general fund money through 1995 96 school year with no provision tor school funding af ter tha, Sets a limit ot $10 per thousand tor all local governments combined (county, city, tire district, etc ) Would also eliminate tax breaks tor agricultural land and greenbelts and replace the timber severance tax with an Very, very poorly No 11—-S c h o o l c h o ic e s y s te m a nd tax c re d it would allow students to attend any public school by requiring open enrollment throughout the state I, would also allow a tax credit o, up to $2500 per child tor attend mg a private school or home school The people ot this state are committed to a tree public education tor all students, we even de ,ermine with our votes how much we want to spend tor local education This doesn't pre vent private religious or secular schools, nor does i, ban home schooling Those are op tions open to everyone, bu, ,ha, doesn't re lease us trom our responsibility to public schools Private school operators should also look closely at this proposed constitu tional change because it puts government right in your bankbook and you may no, be able to keep it there NO L e t t e r s t o t h e E k lit o r Parenting is tough To the Editor: Being a parent today is one ot the most difficult roles one may have The challenge of keeping pace with our chil dren and their many activities and directions seems near ,o impossible As a mother of six ages 4 to 21, there are many days I want to throw up my hands and say "I can't do it anymore, slow down, give me a break ’ But then there is a new c ris is , a new More letters on page 3
