Man reported missing had suffered a heart attack INSIDE:
The body of 46 year-old
Michael Hlavka, of 916 Rose
Avenue, Vernonia, was found
Monday by a woman who was
looking for the source of water
that had been running untend
ed in the yard of neighbor who
was out of town.
At the time of his death,
Hlavka apparently was water
ing the yard at 831 Third Av
enue for a friend who was on
vacation. He was in the back
yard, behind the house, and
couldn’t be seen from the
street. An autopsy revealed the
cause of death as a massive
heart attack.
He had been reported miss-
ing by his employer a couple of
days before he was found, ac
cording to Vernonia Chief of
Police Jim Walters, who had
gone to the man’s home at the
employer’s request. Walters
found no one at home and no
one in the yard.
Local man injured in accident that closes Hwy. 47
A Vernonia man was injured
Tuesday at about 10:45 a.m.
when he apparently lost control
of his van, crossed the center
line on Hwy. 47 near Wilson
Cutoff Road, and was hit by a
truck and lowboy trailer loaded
with a timber processor.
Garrett “Gadget” Abney was
thrown out of his van when it
spun around from the initial im
pact and was hit a second time.
He was in fair condition at
Emanuel Hospital with rib frac
tures, multiple abrasions and
bruises. The truck driver wasn’t
injured.
The truck, owned by Heavy
Hauling, Inc., was hauling a
wide load and had the required
pilot car leading the way. The
highway was closed in both di
rections while a diesel spill re
sulting from the accident was
cleaned up "and the vehicles
were removed.
Special, Pull-out
VHS Graduation
Section
pgs 11-14
PRESORTED STANDARD
U S. Postage Paid
Vernonia, OR 97064
Perm it No. 37
Attn: Leslie Larson
Vol. 16, No 11
Banks leans
toward water fee
to balance
budget
pg. 10
. “ Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley”
FREE
June 6, 2001
Citizens ask Council
for law enforcement
47J shows stable financial condition
Like many school districts in
Oregon, Vernonia schools are
wearing out, but unlike many,
Vernonia doesn’t need to worry
about cutting personnel or pro
grams.
The ultra-conservative spend
ing policy the district adopted
last year had the desired result
and not only stopped a skid
into a chasm of red ink, but cre
ated some cash carryover. Be
cause the state funds schools
mostly on a per-student basis,
inflated enrollment figures from
prior years were causing a
hardship when overpayment
was “adjusted" resulting in less
income for the following year.
The Budget committee held
two meetings in May and will
reconvene June 14 to com
plete its review of the budget
proposed for 2001-2002. The
meeting will start at 7:00 p.m.
in the 47J District Office. The
public is welcome and there
will be opportunity to speak,
though time will be limited.
City sets Town Hall meeting on
energy and water conservation
Are you tired of that bright
street light shining in your bed
room window? If so, you may
be able to nominate it for a
blackout.
With increasing costs and
the potential for power short
ages, the City of Vernonia is
going to be looking at a variety
of ways to utilize energy effi
ciently. One way will be to turn
off some of the street lights, or
to use lights that need less
power.
Water conservation will also
be part of the mix. Not only is it
very expensive to operate the
city’s water filtration plant,
there is concern about the wa
ter supply if this ongoing dry
trend continues.
The Town Hall meeting will
be Monday, June 25, at 7:00
p.m. in the Vernonia City Coun
cil meeting room. The city
wants you to bring your ideas.
Citizen complaints about
what they consider inappropri
ate or inadequate police re
sponse, dominated “topics
from the floor” at the June 4
meeting of the Vernonia City
Council.
Craig and Treasa Staggen-
borg sought Council help be
cause guests at their Vernonia
Inn Bed & Breakfast, will not
tolerate the noise caused by
the operation of an off-road
motorcycle (a “dirt bike”) and
other noisy, recreational vehi
cles adjacent to the inn. Un
able to reach an accommoda
tion with the operators of the
equipment, the inn-keepers
asked the police department to
enforce the city’s noise abate
ment ordinance so guests
could rest in peace.
The Staggenborgs felt the
response was inadequate for a
number of reasons. After “nu
merous
complaints"
from
guests, Staggenborg said, he
left a message on the police
department’s answering ma
chine asking for a return call.
There was no response, but six
days later Police Chief Jim
Walters went to the inn to talk
to Staggenborg about the
neighbor’s complaint that he
was staring at her. (Staggen
borg told the council that he
became a “bit defensive" when
she called him a “pervert.”) He
noted that the side of the inn
that faces the neighbor has six
rooms, plus the manager’s
apartment.
He also explained the noise
problem to Walters and said he
expected a full house because
of a church convention over
the Memorial Day weekend.
Walters told him to call the dis
patcher if there was a problem.
Two days later, one family
attending the church function
tried to take a nap, but the mo
torcycle started in again. They
called the front office asking
that something be done so
they could rest. Staggenborg
said he called dispatch, as in
structed, but the officer who re
sponded apparently felt the
noise was not a violation of the
city noise ordinance.
The Staggenborgs sent their
complaints to the council in
writing and, two hours before
the council meeting, Police
Chief Jim Walters met with
them to discuss the situation,
and also visited the neighbors.
Walters also told the council
that he had referred the ques
tion to City Attorney Julie
Koontz six days earlier, be
cause he didn’t know who to
cite, the minors operating the
equipment or the parent.
Koontz had not been told it
was an ongoing problem, and
hadn't looked at it.
A second complaint was
presented by Betty Wall, a
Weed Avenue resident who
feels she is being besieged by
skateboarders who build ramps
and jumps on the corner where
she lives. In addition to finding
it difficult to use the sidewalk
for walking, Wall expressed
concern about the danger to
the skateboarders when they
dart out into the street.
Wall and other Weed Av
enue residents have been ask
ing for police help but said the
only response they get is that
it’s “legal to ride on Weed Av
enue sidewalks.” They have
not been able to get the police
department to consider the
reckless and dangerous be
havior with or without skate
boards. “We need some relief,”
she said.
Walters told the council that
he “really can’t do anything
about it" because it is legal to
ride skateboards on Weed and
Adams Avenues, and on Maple
Street.