The INDEPENDENT, February 16, 2000
Botween the Bookends
Letters to the Editor
By Nancy Burch, Librarian
Vernonia City Library
ble by Councilor Cindy Ball, these are from R.R.
Donnelley & Sons Company. One collection em
phasizes the diversity of American cultures and
It is still so absolutely wonderful to come to is intended for youngsters and young adults.
work each day in the new library. Library patrons This collection celebrates Black, Jewish, Chi
are continually commenting on the space, open nese, Hungarian, and Mexican cultures in these
ness, and attractiveness of the building and its beautifully illustrated and well written works of
furnishings. Meetings and demonstrations are fiction. The other collection is a series of true ac
being held in the Margaret Thiele Petti Room counts of such people as Wm. S. Hart (his movie
(Tracy Fletcher demonstrated rubber stamping roles in the early 1900s), Edward Rickenbacker
at the February 9th meeting of Arts and Crafts). (his aerial combat during Ward War I), Tom Horn
Free computer classes are being held on a reg (his adventures as a rodeo champion, hired gun
ular basis. Cheri Califf and Marge Dunay answer and Pinkerton agent and murderer), and Fanny
questions and oversee “hands on” solutions to Kelly (her captivity among the Sioux Indians).
computer problems on the 2nd and 4th Tues This is a wonderful series calling attention to
days of each month from 2 until 4 pm, and LV persons and events from the past of which you
Schoonover volunteers his time to conduct sim may have heard, but cannot recall specifics.
ilar classes on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday
Another selection of books to watch for has
evenings of each month from 7 until 9 pm. If you been donated by Glenda Jones. This features
have questions about computers or have skills mostly Oregon authors (with a few from other
to share, you are invited to join these sessions sites in the Northwest) and contains both fiction
that are open to the public. Youngsters may be and non-fiction material. Only a few of these
found many afternoons and evenings doing their have been processed to date, but they are being
homework at one of the tables or even on cush placed in a section specially designated for
ions on the floor or using the computers for in works by writers from our locality (the Pacific
teractive educational games or for reference Northwest). Be sure to watch this area as it is
materials from the CD encyclopedias. These are filled with these books.
some of the activities that have become possible
Of course, new items have been purchased
in the new building and are in addition to the reg recently, too. These include John Grisham’s The
ular Wednesday morning pre-school story time Brethren; Lillian Jackson Braun’s The Cat Who
and of course, there is now space for the popu Robbed a Bank; Nevada Barr’s Firestorm, and
lar summer reading programs. If you aren’t Steve Martini’s The Attorney. New audio tapes
presently using the library, why not give it a try? recently purchased include Rainbow Six by Tom
As one recent new patron commented, she has Clancy, The Hammer of Eden by Ken Follett,
found herself “hooked on the library."
and Brian’s Winter and Brian’s Return by Gary
Be sure and take particular notice of the Paulsen.
beautiful, handmade dolls depicting Tom
As you can tell, the library is a very busy
Sawyer, Huck Finn, and Becky Thatcher. These place, with activities and with new items being
have been generously loaned to the library by processed and added for your reading, listening
their creator, Barbara Corl. Vernonia’s abun and viewing pleasure. Come on in and get
dance of talented citizens continues to amaze “hooked on the library."
me and it is such a pleasure to have their cre
Yes, we do have tax forms.
ations on display in the library for others to en
joy.
V e rn o n ia Library 701 Weed Avenue
Just added for your pleasure are three beau
H o u rs : Mon., Wed., Fri, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
tiful watercolors, painted and loaned to us by
Tues., Thur. 2 p.m.-7 p.m.
Dixie Polvorosa. Be sure to notice these on your
S a t 10 a,m.-2 p.m.
next visit.
Preschool Story Time, Weds, 10:30 a.m.
Two outstanding selections of books have re
Phone: (503)429-1818
cently been donated to the library. Made possi
Users know dangers of hillside path
Don’t eliminate truck
“splash” guards
To the Editor:
If you hate to be doused by
splash and spray while follow
ing or trying to pass truck and
trailer rigs, or even triple trailer
rigs on Oregon’s wet highways
now, just wait, it could get
worse, much worse.
The Oregon trucking indus
try as represented by the For
est Products Transportation
Association and the Oregon
Truckers Association have
asked the Oregon Department
of Transportation (ODOT) to re
peal the rule that requires
“splash and spray” devices on
all big trucks. A hearing officer
has recommended that ODOT
accept the proposal of the
trucking industry. The Oregon
Transportation Commission will
consider the recommendation
in March.
The truckers cite a federal
study that finds such devices of
little safety value and are mere
ly a costly nuisance. I don’t
think that study was conducted
in Oregon!
AAA Oregon/ldaho opposes
the stand of the trucking indus
try and wants splash and spray
suppressant devices on all
trucks. AAA asked ODOT to
deny the truckers’ request to
repeal the rule.
I think it’s obvious to all of us
living in Western Oregon that
anything that can reduce
splash and spray is a plus for
our driving safety. The only way
we can make our concerns
known is to contact the Oregon
Transportation Commission,
135 Transportation
Bldg.,
Salem, OR 97310. Also contact
Senator Joan Dukes, Oregon
State Capitol, Room S-318,
Salem, OR 97310 and Rep.
Elaine Hopson, Oregon State
Capitol, Salem, OR 97310.
Remember, the decision will
probably be made in March.
Dale Fisher
Vernonia
United Way thanks
all those who helped
JUDY HILL/THE INDEPENDENT
Among the many people who must use the walk along Hwy. 47 are many school children.
Sixth graders Sam Thornton, left, and Randy Normand agree that the trucks are “...scary, it
feels like they might roll” over.
A frequent complaint of peo
ple who use the path along
Hwy. 47 is that the traffic goes
“way over 20 miles per hour” in
the school zone. Winter is the
worst time, according to some,
when it gets icy and slippery. “I
fell more than once,” said a
student. An employee at Wash
ington Grade School com
plained that, with only one
street light on the hill, it is even
more dangerous on dark and
icy winter mornings.
The path is bumpy and nar
row, it slopes and drops off
steeply and, to make it even
more difficult to negotiate,
there is no sidewalk at the top
or the bottom of the hill. The
bottom is a special concern be
cause the hole for a drainage
Page 3
basin goes right to the shoulder
of the highway and it’s almost
impossible to avoid the road.
One mother is concerned
about the amount of exhaust
fumes her children must inhale
on their way to and from
school, because cars and
trucks are only a few feet away
and there is no other way
around the hill.
To the Editor:
United Way of Columbia
County has had another fan
tastically successful campaign.
We had a lovely celebration to
thank and recognize the many
people who helped to make
this campaign successful.
We would like to take this
opportunity to publicly thank
the following businesses for
their continued support: Co
lumbia River PUD for the loan
of Ken Corliss, who was Divi
sion chair for the School Dis
tricts in Columbia County and
the donation of door prize gifts
for the celebration. Clatskanie
PUD for the loan of Debbie
Throop, who was Division
Chair for Utilities in Columbia
County. Western Bank of St.
Helens for the loan of Lori Hul
bert as Division Chair for Fi
nancial. Armstrong World In
dustries, for supporting the vol
unteers working on the United
Way campaign and donation of
office equipment to help main
tain our low overhead costs.
Boise Cascade, Paper Division
and AWPPW #1 as well as Fort
James, Wauna Mill and IUPI
Local 1097, for the many hours
spent by in-house volunteers
working on the United Way
campaign, the donated paper
products that allow us to main
tain low overhead costs, and
the donation of door prizes for
our Celebration Dinner. PGE
for the many hours spent by in
house volunteers who worked
on the United Way campaign
and donation of office space
and miscellaneous office sup
plies. Clark Signs and St. He
lens Auto for donation of space
on a billboard to hang the Unit
ed Way banner during our
Campaign. Paulson Printing,
for donated printing during
1999. Red Apple Market, for
being our Campaign Paceset
ter and donations of products
for the Celebration and Volun
teer Recognition Dinner. Time
& Again Ballroom for the use of
the ballroom for the Volunteer
Recognition Celebration. Fred
Meyer, Scappoose and Safe
way, Clatskanie and St. He
lens, for door prizes. Hi School
Pharmacy, St. Helens, for door
prize items. Express Lane
Espresso for their donation of
labor and products during the
Volunteer Recognition Cele
bration and raffle prize. Bertuc-
ci’s, St. Helens for their dona
tion of door prizes and raffle
prize. Green Mountain Floral &
Gift (Kalama), Barnstormer
Bed & Breakfast, Oregon Meat
Co. (Scappoose), St. Helens
Book Shop, Flower & Fluff
(Clatskanie), Fultano’s Pizza,
Humps Restaurant, Chinook
Sales & Rentals, Vernonia Golf
Course, Vernonia Inn Bed &
Breakfast, and Shilo Inn (Sea
side), for the donation of raffle
items.
To all the United Way mem
ber agency staff who took time
from their busy schedules to
make presentations during our
campaign. Thank you! We
couldn’t have done it without all
of you.
Our
campaign
slogan,
“Neighbors Helping Neighbors.
It is working in our community”
is very true.
Cliff Tetreault, Sup’t.
St. Helens School District
Earl Fisher, Sup’t.
Clatskanie 6J School District
Year 2000 Campaign
Co-Chairs
POLICY ON LETTERS
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