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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (May 3, 2000)
Miller beats Harmon for 1500 meter championship INSIDE: There are people who dream and there are people who work hard to achieve their dreams. Maryanne Miller does n’t just dream. With the aid and encouragement of her coach, Mel Nice, she has gone far be yond dreaming. Three years ago, Maryanne asked Coach Nice if she could be a good runner. His response was, “If your desire is there, and you stay committed to it, you can be as good as anyone else.” A year later, she was the state cross country champion. Last year she was the 2A state 1500 meter champion. In December of this year, Coach Nice asked if she would like to try to be the best at every level of competition: 4A- 3A-2A-1A. Her response was “If you think I can do it, I’ll try.” In early April of this year, Maryanne entered a 1500 me ter race in The Dalles. The Dalles is where Mandy Fitz- Gustafson, the 3A state cham pion lives. Maryanne beat Mandy on her home track— the first time in two years that Mandy had been beaten. The highest hurdle still re mained: Laura Harmon of Je suit High School, the reigning 4A 1500 meter runner and the best in the state. Jesuit has six of the top ten runners in the state of Oregon. Nike boss Phil Knight has poured millions into the school to make it the athlet ic “Mecca" of Oregon. Vernonia High School can’t host a track meet because their track does n’t meet even minimum stan dards. The only opportunity Maryanne would have to run against Laura was at the Cen tennial High School meet of April 29. So Coach Nice got Maryanne signed up. Would Cinderella’s carriage go home, or turn into a pumpkin? The plan was to stay on Laura’s back until the final 200 meters, then pass her. Mary anne did just that, even though Please see page 9 Voice o f the Upper Nehalem River Valley’ Jeff Burch, left, set the example for his son, Dylan, and Luke Johnston (with back to camera) as they spent most of the Vernonia cleanup day landscaping around the pool area at Hawkins Park. More photos on page 12. Clean up day very successful Approximately 200 people turned out April 29 to spend a sunny Saturday sprucing up the town. The annual citywide clean up day sponsored by Vernonia Pride and SOLV was a great success by any mea sure. Major projects included landscaping around City Hall, cleaning up Hawkins Park, An derson Park and Vernonia Lake, and landscaping the swimming pool area. While most of the volunteers came alone, in pairs or with families, there were also larger, organized groups that planned to work together. The youth group from St. Mary’s Church worked on pro jects for senior citizens who are unable to take care of every thing. A group from the Four Square Church had planned to clean Madison Avenue and Shady Lane, but had to change their plans because those streets weren’t dirty, so they worked elsewhere. Members of the Assembly of God Church spent the day painting their church and pour ing a new sidewalk. The Foursquare Church will also be putting in a new sidewalk, soon. The members of Boy Scout Troop 201 did a thorough job of cleaning Hawkins Park with, of course, a generous amount of help from families and friends. Music in May......... pg. 11 Is backyard burning toxic?, pg. 17 FREE May 3, 2000 Candidates working to overcome apathy Beautification project By Noni Andersen The Nutrition Magician..pg. 10 BULK RATE U.S. Postage Paid Permit No. 37 Vernonia, OR 97064 Attn. Leslie Larson UO Library-OMP 1299 University Of Oregon Eugene, OR 97403-1299 Vol. 15, No 9 Counting ourselves., pg. 6 Larry Steele brought a crew from Cedar Ridge, and at least two candidates for Columbia County Commissioner - Re publican Colleen DeShazer and Democrat Mike Avent - joined in the day’s efforts. Most of the employees from the Vernonia Public Works De partment and the city’s admin istrative offices spent the day working as volunteers. City Council members, who are vol unteers even though they are elected, joined in the digging, shoveling and raking, too. While the digging, raking, trash hauling, weeding, planti ng and other activities were in progress, still another group of volunteers was busy preparing Please see page 12 The lackluster campaign for the presidency may have neg ative affects on voters’ interest in local and state government campaigns. Since George W. Bush and Al Gore have each eliminated competition for their party’s presidential nomina tion, voter interest seems to have dropped more rapidly than a one-day stock market “adjustment.” This creates problems for other candidates. Columbia County voters have four candidates on the Democratic ballot for Commis sioner Position 1, and two on the Republican ballot. The candidates share some common concerns: Maintain ing the livability of the county as growth continues; appropri ate fiscal management; the need for more family wage jobs. On the Democratic ballot, Mike Avent is concerned about people’s feelings of being “shut out" and stresses the need to develop better access to coun ty government in order to in clude residents in decision making, not exclude them. Avent is on the Rainier City Council, the Rainier Senior Cit izen Advisory Council, is a di rector of Columbia Pacific Eco nomic Development (ColPac) and the Rainier Economic De velopment Corporation (RED- CO). He owns property manage ment companies and is a prop erty owner in Vernonia. Susan Easley, a St. Helens resident and book store owner, thinks county government should do more to increase ac cess to higher education and job training, and to attract more medical professionals. She is on the St. Helens School District Board of Direc tors, the county Commission on Children and Families. Joe Corsiglia also feels that the county should do more to address the shortage of health care professionals. He wants to find more creative ways to deliver government services and is concerned that existing industries and businesses not lose their position. Corsiglia is on the St. He lens City Council and previous ly served on both the St. He lens and Columbia County Planning Commissions. He is an employee of PGE. Carole M. Smith, a resident of Warren, is a former project manager and administrator with an emphasis in health care and social services; she is retired. She was appointed to the Board of Commissioners to fill a partial term, then lost the seat in the subsequent election. The availability of quality health care and access to higher education are both ma jor concerns to Smith. She has served on many advisory com mittee in the county and the re gion. Republican candidate Scott Burge, a Scappoose City Councilor says county govern ment should do a few things well and not try to do every thing. He has not been specific about which services the coun ty should continue, but says that some things such as road and park maintenance could be put out to contract. He is employed as an au tomation specialist. Colleen DeShazer, a War ren resident, emphasizes the need for improved land use planning in order to plan for development instead of react ing to it. She wants to develop a county-wide consensus on planning for the growth and development of the county.
