The INDEPENDENT, March 15, 2000
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The most exciting news from the library this
month is that the decisions have finally been
made concerning the software for automating
the library’s materials and the hardware to sup
port this program...and that these items are
presently being ordered. The chosen software is
called Athena and is a product of a company
called Sagebrush, which is based in Texas. This
is a program that has been used in libraries long
enough to have established a good reputation,
is affordable and is very user friendly. Those of
us who have used the sample of this software
are very excited about its implementation in our
library. Of course, it’s going to take quite some
time to get all the materials input into the system
and both the present method of searching and
checking out, as well as the computerized
method, will be used until the process is com
pleted.
If you’ve driven past the library this last week,
you will have seen that some of the landscaping
has been done. As with nearly everything in
connection with the new buildings, volunteers
have played a key role, and this is no exception.
Dale Webb spent an afternoon laying down
some ground cover material which helped keep
mud from the building and which will be used in
some areas to prevent the growth of weeds, the
Thiringers selected and delivered the plants, Jeff
and Heidi Burch did the planting and a very nice
man working through community service spread
the bark dust. Two donations were also made to
help defray the costs. These came from Edna
Hailey and from Don and Rose Dunaway (One
of the golden rain trees is a memorial to Mark
Busch, their son-in-law and will be so designat
ed). The ferns and other plants along the sides
of the creek have been planted by the Youth
Corps and they are also responsible for scatter
ing the chips to deter weed growth along the
creek.
Sometimes it is hard to keep focused on
reading with all of these other items that need at
tention, but I would like to recommend two au
thors this month. The first, Diane Mott Davidson,
writes tales of culinary suspense involving her
protagonist, chef turned sleuth Goldy Schulz.
Tough Cookie is Davidson’s newest mystery.
Councilor takes a
different approach
To the Editor:
The letter stating the opinion
of Vernonia’s mayor and two
city councilors regarding com
plaints about the police depart
ment, does not express my
view.
I respect all the citizens of
Vernonia and appreciate their
input. Although I was unable to
attend the March 6th council
meeting, I will continue working
to see that all citizens are rep
resented.
Shirlee Daughtry
Vernonia City Councilor
Thanks for trip to
Washington, D.C.
To the community and busi
nesses of Vernonia:
We, the students and chap
erones attending the trip to
Washington, D.C., on March
20, would like to thank you for
all your support. Your commit
ment to helping us was the
main contributor to our achiev
ing our goal. You opened your
doors to our seemingly never-
ending knocks with smiles on
your faces, donated at our car
washes, even on rainy days,
and brought your children to
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Letters to the Editor
Between the Bookends
By Nancy Burch
Ill'll"
Page 3
The titles of some of her previous books are Dy
Again, thank you for your
ing for Chocolate, The Cereal Murders, Killer “good ideas" and your support
Pancake, The Grilling Season, and Prime Cut. for our program goals and the
Goldy is the owner of Goldilock's Catering, true desire to help the young
Where Everything Is Just Right! As you can well sters of our community grow to
imagine from these titles, Goldy leads a very in be productive citizens.
teresting life as she solves mysteries, while op
Sincerely,
erating her catering business. Davidson in
Mike Durbin, Principal
cludes recipes for each of “Goldy’s" special
Vernonia High School
menus and has been called “a cross between
Mary Higgins Clark and Betty Crocker” by the
We can clean up,
Baltimore Sun. Look for these on your next li
brary visit. The tempting recipes and elaborate now let’s beautify!
plots add up to a literary feast!
The other author with whom I have recently To the Editor:
become acquainted is Jo Dereske. She writes
Clean up day is rewarding:
mysteries involving a librarian, Helma Zukas, one becomes a part of the
which include such titles as Miss Zukas and the community. Vernonia rose like
Library Murders, Final Notice, Out of Circulation the Phoenix, but out of a terri
and Miss Zukas In Death’s Shadow. Dereske ble flood instead of ashes. We
lives in the northwest corner of Washington really worked together to get
state, which she uses for the setting of these our homes and town cleaned
novels. Helma Zukas, a librarian in fictional up. We do know how! Last year
Bellehaven, Washington, leads a life that is any we had “Vernonians Only” at
thing but boring. Helma checks out books, an the dump. (Remember the peo
swers reference questions, reminds library pa ple needing to check drivers li
trons of Internet rules, finds dead bodies, solves censes?)
This year we want to beauti
crimes, and finds time for a little romance. Of
course, she researches everything thoroughly fy... we need people to help
before embarking on any new undertaking (as plant and renew. Specifically,
does any good librarian). If you have enjoyed we need project leaders, work
the Mrs. Polifax mysteries, I think you will like crews and donations.
Vernonia now has it’s new
these.
And...finally in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, an sidewalks and street lights.
Let’s keep going— beautify!
Irish blessing by Robin C. Burns:
Mark your calendars for April
May your feet never sweat,
29th - Vernonia Pride Clean
Your neighbor give you ne’er a threat
Up Day!
May your car be full of gas
Isabelle McDaniel
And you owe nothing to the IRS
Member
When flowers bloom, I hope you’ll not sneeze
Vernonia Pride
And may you always have someone to squeeze.
our carnival, buying just one
more round of tickets. Without
you, there wouldn’t have been
money in the cash box, and the
result of that would have been
no trip to Washington, D.C.
So...when you bought that
candy bar, or that ticket to par
ticipate in our log float, you
may not have thought you were
making a very big differ
ence... but really, if you think
about it, we couldn’t have done
it without you. A special thank
you to Vernonia 76 and Sentry
for the pop can support and the
many businesses who helped
us with our sales by providing
counter space.
Thank you Vernonia! When
we see the president, we’ll be
sure and tell him how lucky we
are to have you to call home.
D.C. 2000 students,
Chaperones and Parents
Miss Teen contestant
appreciates the help
To the Editor:
I would like to acknowledge
members of the Vernonia Com
munity who have helped my ef
forts in the Miss Teen Portland
Pageant with their sponsor
ship. Thank you to Cindy Sme-
jkal, NAPA Auto Parts, Creative
Impulse, and The Hair Parlour.
Marilyn Schmidlin
Vernonia
Opposes new bridge
as unnecessary
Open letter to Chief
of Police Jim Walters
Dear Jim:
For a long time now, I have
wanted to express my gratitude
for all the work you and your
staff do as partners of Vernon
ia High School. Your excellent
work does not go unnoticed.
When we ask you or your staff
for assistance, advice or exper
tise on various behavioral is
sues or legal matters, you are
always cordial, helpful, prompt
and pleasant in your response.
We very much appreciate that
attitude because of the myriad
of issues of student manage
ment we deal with throughout
the day. The school and home/
family and police must work to
gether as partners to success
fully prevent and resolve be
havioral management prob
lems.
In addition, I appreciate your
enthusiasm to work with us to
develop a Critical Incident Re
sponse plan for the Vernonia
School District. Your knowl
edge and training of how to
deal with incidents, coupled
with our management and or
ganizing of a plan in the build
ing will provide the key to de
veloping an emergency re
sponse plan with the capability
of addressing any emergency
issue that may arise.
To The Editor:
At the public town hall meet
ing on March 2 at the Rainier
Intermediate School, we were
told by Rosemary Brinson-
Sipola of the Cowlitz-Wahki
akum Council of Governments,
that the current Lewis and
Clark Bridge could be made
completely safe through updat
ing procedures to last at least
another 50 to 100 years.
The reason that the local
governments want to replace
the current bridge is strictly a
capacity issue. Since the states
won’t pay for new bridges for
“over capacity” issues, the local
governments are trying to get
what they “want” and make the
general public, namely North
Columbia County citizens, pay
for it!!
Ms. Brinson-Sipola went on
to explain that every bridge that
crosses the Columbia River be
tween Oregon and Washington
is over capacity!! Our bridge is
less over capacity than the
Portland
area
interstate
bridges, but yet the local gov
ernments want to convince us
that we “need" a new bridge,
but a toll is the only way to pay
for it. This tells me that the new
bridge is a “want” and not a
“need.” The current bridge is
and will be made to remain per
fectly safe according to the
state’s Department of Trans
portation agencies!!
The “want” for the new
bridge is coming from the local
economic development agen
cies and the governmental
transportation agencies to fur
ther their transportation agen
das. The local citizens did not
and have not asked for this
bridge. There were 2,400 local
signatures on a grass-roots “no
toll” petition turned in to officials
at the meeting.
There is no bridge safety
“need”!! If tolls are the only way
that the Lewis and Clark Bridge
can be replaced, then I say
“NO NEW BRIDGE” and it
would appear that 2,400 local
citizens agree. What part of
“no" don’t they understand??
Carole Kelley
Rainier
Enjoys seeing police
exposure in town
To The Editor:
We support our police de
partment.
I personally enjoy driving
through our community and
seeing the amount of police ex
posure we have for the size of
our community.
In today’s society, the police
departments and other law en
forcement agencies are losing
more and more of their author
ity and tools which they need to
perform their duties to help pro
vide a safe and livable commu
nity for the law abiding citizens.
In response to businesses in
our town being slow after 9:00
pm, maybe people in our com
munity are finding better things
to do than support these types
of business.
It is also nice to think people
are becoming more responsi
ble with their drinking and dri
ving, which is also being strict
ly enforced by our local police
department.
Vernonia is a safe place to
raise and enjoy our families —
let’s keep it that way.
Thanks for doing your job.
Brian Bassett
Vernonia
FOLIC? ON LETTERS
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publish as many as p o s s ib le . All fetters must be signed
and include a verifiable address and telephone number,
although the a d d re s s and phone number will not be print
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serves the right to edit submissions for brevity or clarity.
— NOTICE —
The INDEPENDENT is published on the first and third
Wednesdays of each month. There are five Wednesdays in
March, so there will three weeks between this issue and the
first issue in April.
Deadlines for the April 5, 2000, issue will be March 31 for
both news items and display advertising, and March 3 for clas
sified ads.