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The INDEPENDENT, July 15,1998
INDEPENDENT
Serving the upper Nehalem River valley. Published twice
monthly, on the first and third Wednesdays of each
month, by Public Opinion Laboratory Ltd., 725 Bridge
Street, Vernonia, OR 97064, as a free newspaper. Edi
tors and Publishers, Dirk & Noni Andersen. Sports Edi
tor, Caren McGaugh. Phone/Fax: (503) 429-9410.
Good news is more
fun than bad news
Today’s issue of The INDEPENDENT starts out with
good news all over page one.
The coming partnership of Vernonia Health Center
with Providence Health System will continue the reli
able management VHC has enjoyed under Tuality
Health Care, but will also add much more. The old
pharmacy building will be repaired and remodeled for
a larger clinic and there will again be a pharmacy in
town. This partnership will fill a huge need while it also
fills prescriptions.
The photo on page one shows members of a film
production crew who are fine-tuning locations for
“Physical Graffiti”, a movie that will be shot partly in
Vernonia. (This isn’t another “Vernonia Incident”, which
was fun to watch being filmed but painful to view when
finished.) It is gratifying to talk with people from other
areas who think that Vernonia is as beautiful as we
think it is. And when the movie is finished, it will be fun
to see our schools, streets, parks and buildings as in
tegral parts of a make-believe story.
The lead story on page one is about a remarkable
program (and a remarkable opportunity) for a small
town. Storyteller Thomas Doty is nationally known and
highly sought after. So where is he going to teach a
six-week course this summer? Right here. The Hands
On Art Center found funding for the program and,
though participation is not free, HOAC will be able to
provide some scholarships. One exciting thing about
the program is that Doty teaches others to find and tell
(or write) their own stories, something that is so often
neglected. Fifty-dollars for this six-week course will be
a bargain.
Another article on page one relates how the Ver
nonia Senior Center will get a new van. Though word
of the opportunity came almost too late, cooperative
efforts by Columbia County and the City of Vernonia
came together quickly to take advantage of the offer.
It’s hard to beat making an expenditure of only $8,000
for a $55,000 van. What is outstanding is that the
county and city didn’t let the seniors down even though
it meant spending general fund money that was allo
cated for other purposes.
Whether the final article on page one is good or bad
news won’t be known for a while, but we will learn
whether Vernonia will become part of the Portland ex
tended area phone service. The homework has been
done; lots of people testified orally or in writing; even
more signed petitions and provided demographic data.
We should know soon whether the effort was success
ful.
Some other good news— that is not elsewhere in
the paper — is that the Friends of the Scout Cabin will
received a donation of $25,000 if they can raise a
matching $25,000. This is an opportunity that should
not be missed. Fifty-thousand dollars would provide a
big chunk of the funds needed to refurbish the scout
cabin and make it available again for use as a
youth/community center. Anybody who can help with
this project would certainly be welcome. For more in
formation, call Shirlee Daughtrey at 429-9002.
M e t t H at W ill Be ApfeeTtD e /
-tt-Use utfMAe
By Dale Webb, member
Izaak Walton League, Nehalem Valley Chapter
I hope everybody had a good fourth of July
celebration. The fireworks show was put in
question by a pair of osprey that are building a
nest on one of the football field light poles at
Vernonia High School, where the fireworks are
usually set up. I don’t have all of the details yet,
but I have heard a few rumors that relocating the
Osprey nest might be a good project for our
chapter. We’ll see; first we will have to consult
with the experts.
A question that pops into my mind is, “What
happened to the Osprey’s original nest?" For
many years, I have seen the birds flying toward
the southwest after catching fish in Lake Ver
nonia. For some reason they are not nesting in
the same place. Observing their behavior, start
ing a late nest on top of the light pole, I suspect
they lost their original nest during nesting sea
son and are now trying for a second hatch.
I hope all of you hunters have been reading
the newspaper and are aware that you will have
to go through an instant check when purchasing
a rifle, shotgun or pistol come December. I don’t
usually write about gun issues, but felt com
pelled to in this case.
I guess what bothers me most is that we will
all be treated as if we were felons and have to
prove that we are not. I feel this whole procedure
is going to be a waste of time and money. Thou
sands of innocent people have been denied gun
ownership due to computer foul-ups and similar
ities in names. Does anybody really expect this
law to keep a gun out of the hands of a criminal
who truly wants one? He will either steal it or buy
it on the black market. Oh, by the way, we law-
abiding citizens will have to pay a fee to make
sure we are clean.
The people pushing for this legislation say
that we are the user group, so we should pay for
the check. If this theory holds true, anybody
who is stopped by the police should also pay a
fee when their driver’s license is run. Can you
imagine the millions of dollars that program
could raise? I believe this is just another chip out
of our right to bear arms. Many people believe
that gun ownership can be controlled. They also
must believe that illegal drugs can be abolished.
We all know how successful that has been.
I guess what really sets me off is the total lack
of understanding that many people have. They
fail to realize that many crimes have been
thwarted by the mere presence of a gun, let
alone the use of one. The other day I was read
ing The Oregonian and, tucked way in the back,
4(iecj.
there was a very small clip about a woman in
Lebanon who successfully defended herself
against four bat-wielding men who had broken
into her home. She had to fire three shots
through her bedroom door to persuade them to
leave. One of them left some of his blood. Now,
if that woman had been killed the story would
have been on the front page.
Many people are under the misconception
that we have police to deal with the criminal ele
ment. I used to be a reserve officer for the Ver
nonia Police Department and, let me assure
you, that if a criminal is breaking down your front
door, you are on your own for at least a couple
of minutes. A couple of minutes is a long, long
time. If somebody is going to get hurt or killed it
will most likely occur before the police arrive.
Don’t get me wrong, we have a very good police
force in Vernonia, but the logistics- calling the
dispatcher, the dispatcher calling the police offi
cer and the officer getting to your home-take
time.
As an example, a friend of mine who lives
about three miles out of town, got into a scrape
with a couple of drunks who followed him into his
driveway late one night. I was awakened by a
frantic phone call from his wife. Before I could
get dressed, she called back and said she had
heard gun shots. She had called the police first.
I was no longer a reserve officer, but I grabbed
my pistol and sped through town. I passed the
city officer sitting in his patrol car about three
hundred yards from the scene (The officer was
following correct procedure by waiting for back
up.). As Ipulled up to the scene, I’ll admit I was
almost more concerned about carrying my pistol
concealed than confronting the bad guys.
As it turned out, one bad guy was laying on
the ground with a split in his head from the bar
rel of a shotgun and the other guy was pretty
much played-out from wrestling around on the
ground with my friend. The police showed up in
force (three patrol cars) almost an hour after the
start of the incident. The point is, my friend was
on his own and who knows what would have
happened if he had not had a weapon. In his
case a big club would have worked just as well
but, when he stepped out on his front porch, he
didn’t know what he would have to contend with.
Back to the topic of fees, some organizations
are rallying in protest against the trail fees im
posed by the Forest Service. I do not support
this program either. I believe that the citizens of
the United States should not have to pay to walk
on their own land. I’m sure it will only be a mat
ter of time before they start charging hunters to
Please see page 3