The INDEPENDENT, July 5, 2001
L etters to the E ditor
B etw een the Bookends
By Cindy Stanley, Library Assistant
Banks Public Library
The Summer Reading Program is in full swing
with over 100 children signed up to “Read a Wild
Tale!” It’s too late to register but not too late to
enjoy the line-up of special entertainment
scheduled in the weeks to come. Reptile Man
and his reptile companions will be with us on
July 12th, storyteller Anne Louise Sterry on July
19th and ventriloquist Steve Taylor and his dum
my friend, Rudy O’Riley, on July 26th. The final
program will be on August 2nd with a perfor
mance by Rhys Thomas and his Up For Grabs
Juggling show. All programs are held at the li
brary and begin at 2:00 p.m. There is no charge
for admission.
Best-selling author Elizabeth Berg delivers
another satisfying story with her new book Nev
er Change. Visiting nurse Myra Lipinsky is a
fifty-one year-old modern-day spinster whose
life is content simply revolving around her work
and her faithful dog, Frank. When Chip Reardon
becomes her patient, Myra’s life gets a shake
up. Long ago, Chip was someone Myra adored,
but his too-good-to-be-true image always kept
her at a distance. Now the circumstances sur
rounding their reunion force a redefinition of
roles.
Spunky New Jersey bounty hunter Stephanie
Plum returns with a brand new case in Janet
Evanovich’s latest thriller, Seven Up. Steph
From page 2
again, what’s new? Edwards said that if I had
concerns about this hunt, I needed to testify at
the Commission meeting. Knowing that I could
n’t make the meeting, I did the next best thing
and got the word out...something our District Bi
ologist did not do! In fact, that was one of the
points of contention. This issue had not been
brought to the affected hunters so they could air
their concerns in a public forum. This borders on
deceit! I was told that this proposal was aired at
the District Biologist annual public forum and at
the Tillamook chapter of Oregon Hunters Asso
ciation meeting. My response was that the
Tillamook OHA does not represent the hunters
in this area and the public forum is a joke, since
the District biologist revamped the format so that
you can only meet one on one with a District
staff person, not in an open forum, as in the
past. I should mention that, at the last open
meeting with the District Biologist in Seaside,
more than sixty sportsmen attended (this ac
counted for more than 25 percent of the partici
pation in the entire state of Oregon) and they let
him have it over anterless deer hunting and elk
management.
Speaking of deer, I should mention that our
District Biologist still insists that the hair loss
syndrome is not affecting on local deer herds.
Here is some food for thought: According to the
last available ODF&W data (2000) from tooth
surveys of female deer, there has been a 46 per
cent decrease in the harvest results for the age
group that includes fawns, yearlings and two
year-old deer compared to pre-moratorium data
(1991-93) and during the moratorium (97-98).
Correspondingly, there has been a 72 percent
increase in the harvest of deer in the three to
seven year-old class. While some sportsmen
may think this is great, it is not. In a healthy pop
ulation of deer, the younger age classes will al
ways be represented as the largest group. What
this data means is that the recruitment of young
deer into the herd has dropped significantly. The
Page 3
anie’s assignment: Bring in semi-retired mob
ster Eddie DeChooch, who failed to show for his
court appearance. Charged with trafficking con
traband cigarettes, Eddie is making Stephanie’s
job difficult - and dangerous - with his attempts
to avoid going back to jail.
Lorna Landvick has delighted readers with
Patty Jane’s House of Curl, Tall Pine Polka and
Your Oasis on Flame Lake. With Welcome to the
Great Mysterious, she has created another
group of intriguing characters at home in Deep
Lake, Minnesota. Stage, screen and television
performer Geneva Jordan returns to her home
town but not to play the lead this time. She has
the supporting role in the lives of her twin sister's
family, caring for their thirteen year-old son, a
boy with Down’s syndrome, while his parents
take their first-ever vacation away from him.
Saturday, July 14th, is Recycle Saturday at
the SWATCO Service Yard on Sellers Road, be
tween 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Friendly library volun
teers will be there to assist you. Items accepted
include newspapers, cardboard, magazines,
aluminum and tin, glass and plastic containers
with necks (sorry no plastic tubs, lids or caps).
Banks Public Library: 111 Market Street
Hours: Tues., Wed,, Thurs., 11 a.m. - 7 p.m.;
Fri. and Sat. 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Preschool Story Time, Weds., 10:15 a,m.
P hone:(503)324-1382
«MMM.
average age of the deer herd has changed from
3.4 years, pre-moratorium, to 4.6 years in 2000.
This is a significant shift and is explained by the
decreased recruitment rate.
The only other explanation would be that the
moratorium had a very significant effect, with
very high survival rates, since that is the group
of deer represented in the three to seven year-
old age class. Unfortunately, I don’t believe that
is totally the case. Although the moratorium did
have an effect and the deer herd did increase,
the appearance of the hair loss syndrome has
severly hurt the recruitment rate of deer in the
herds. The winters of 1997-98 and 1998-99
were both very wet and the District Biologist and
I agree that this may have caused higher deer
mortalities, yet the data do not entirely support
this contention. The two year-old deer in the
2000 harvest data represent the deer born in the
spring of 1998 who went through that wet winter
and show a marked decrease, but the three
year-old deer in the 2000 harvest data were
born in the spring of 1997 and went through that
wet winter with few ill effects. What was the dif
ference? The appearance of the hair loss syn
drome. If winter weather is a major factor, why
does the yearling age class have the lowest
showing (15 percent) in the 2000 harvest data?
These deer went through one of the mildest win
ters (1999-00) in a long time, except for this last
winter (2000-01).
So far, my predictions about the deer herd in
the Saddle Mountain Unit are coming true, un
fortunately. The future is bleak unless the hair
loss syndrome goes away, which doesn’t look
likely.
Izaak Walton League Nehalem Valley
Chapter meetings are on the third Thurs
day of each month at 7:00 p.m. The public
is welcome
For meeting location, call (503) 429-7193.
Remember, remember always that ail of us, and
you and I especially, are descended from immigrants
and revolutionists.
— Franklin Delano Roosevelt
(1882 - 1945)
Address to Daughters o f the American Revolution
April 21, 1938
Good experiences at
Senior Center
To the Editor:
In response to “Senior Cen
ter”, June 20, 2001, I’m very
sorry Linda Garrymore has
complaints. In my experience
with the Senior Center, I’ve al
ways been treated with re
spect, kindness and outstand
ing professionalism. I find the
Senior Center extremely clean
and wholesome.
People forget that the Se
nior Center has its doors open
to the public by choice. I’ve
never had a problem receiving
a receipt and I take personally
shopping there while others
gather in the dining area for a
sing-a-long. Where else can
someone shop and be sere
naded at the same time!
Jeanie Ferguson
Vernonia
Donations almost
pay equipment loan
To the Editor:
The Vernonia Amateur Ra
dio Klub, Inc., a non-profit club,
wishes to thank the belowing
organizations and people for
their support:
Report of donations for Year
2000 as of 6/10/2001.
Curl’s Transportation, $200;
Econofab Buildings, Inc., $50;
G & D Technology, Inc., $50;
Vernonia Packaging & Ship
ping, $25; West Oregon Elec
tric, $50; Vernonia Realty & In
surance, $50; Burton Chiro
practic, $20; Virgil & Jeanine
Hall, $50; and Garret (Gadget)
Abney, $40.
We have almost paid off the
loan for the packet station lo
cated on Corey Hill, which is
one of our communications
links for Columbia County. We
are independent from the com
munications for the county, but
see ourselves as “backup.” We
did respond in 1996 for the
Vernonia Flood and are in a
better position for communica
tions in the future. We do need
to update and upgrade “Ham”
gear at the emergency com
munication station established
at the Vernonia Fire Hall. The
equipment there was “loaned"
by a club member and we need
to purchase newer equipment
to replace it.
Again, a heartfelt thank you
to those who responded with
their cash! A special thank you
to Noni Andersen of The INDE
PENDENT for her advice and
editing of our letters. She has a
warm heart for Vernonia.
Norman Roberts
KB7CK
Secretary for VARK, Inc.
Vernonia
Salem Scan«
By Pep. Elaine M. Hopson
Second District
July 2, 2001
I missed writing last week.
As you probably heard, a
number of us felt we needed
to leave the Capitol to protect
the implementation of some
procedures we felt were un
constitutional. I agreed that
to circumvent the legal
process for determining how
to redistrict every ten years
was
not tolerable.
The
metaphor used by one of my
good Republican friends here
was with a baseball team. It
isn’t a bad way to look at it.
He felt that a real team
would play anytime, any
where, with anyone. I would
agree under most circum
stances. However, if two
teams are playing and one
has a decided advantage, it is
very important to follow the
rules. In this case, the game
metaphor could be illustrated
by the stronger team not liking
the way the game was going
in the ninth inning and decid
ing to change the rules. In ad
dition, the team did not like
the Commissioner (Governor
John Kitzhaber), did not trust
the chief Umpire (Secretary of
State William Bradbury), and
dramatically changed the
rules so they would not have
to answer to either. In so do
ing, they were attempting to
circumvent the process and
rules that had been in place
for over 100 years.
We are back and hard at
work after experiencing a
great deal of varied encoun-
ters. These types of activities
may appear “fun” from the
outside but I assure you that
trying to avoid being “caught”
does not engender a good
feeling; particularly if one is
known as a rule follower.
(That would be me, as my
friends would tell you.) It was
particularly difficult for those
with spouses with serious ill
nesses, members with small
children at home, and those
without safe places to relo
cate.
We hope to finish some
time in the next week and we
are ready to head home. This
bump in the road was neces
sary in order to protect the in
tegrity of the rules in place.
However, it should not cloud
the many good things that
have and will happen during
this 71st Legislative Session.
Higher education is funded at
an all-time high including both
the Oregon University System
and Community Colleges.
Programs for seniors have
been reinstated and support
ed; hatcheries remain open;
OYA programs have been
maintained; buy-back fishery
programs have been support
ed; and the K-12 budget is
looking good.
So, in spite of the fact that
a somewhat public and un
planned disruption took place,
a great deal of good work has
happened and proved that the
system works. The compari
son between making laws and
making sausage continues to
be quite apt. It may be a
messy business, but it is defi
nitely the best one around.