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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (March 20, 2002)
The INDEPENDENT, March 20, 2002 Page 3 Lsttars to the Editor By Nancy Burch, Librarian Vernonia Public Library Early April promises to be an exciting time for library patrons, young and old(er). Saturday, April 6, at 3:00 p.m., will be a first in Vernonia’s library. An author from the Pacific Northwest, Spike Walker, will be relating some of his Alaskan adventures as well as discussing re search and writing techniques. Walker is the au thor of Working on the Edge, which relates ad ventures while fishing for king crab on Alaska’s high seas, Nights of Ice, which tells about sur vival following shipwrecks in Alaskan waters, and Coming Back Alive, which tells the true sto ry of the most harrowing search and rescue mis sion ever attempted on Alaska’s high seas. Copies of these books will be available for any one wishing to purchase an autographed copy and refreshments will be available. The week of April 14-20 has been designated National Li brary Week. To help celebrate locally, the Friends of the Library will be sponsoring a pre sentation by Steve Taylor, a magician and ven triloquist, on Monday, April 15 at 4:00 p.m. Both of these events are free to the public. Atten dance at these presentations will help determine whether similar events will be scheduled, so mark those calendars now and plan to attend. Another project to keep in mind is the book and plant sale to be held during Jamboree. This will again be a fundraiser of the Friends of the Li brary and they are requesting donations of books, as well as plants. Books may be left at the library and there is still time to stick those starts of plants in pots to have them ready by early August. For anyone who missed getting a video of Vernonia’s 1996 flood, Ivan Oliver has placed a few in the library for purchase at $10.00 each. He also donated a circulating copy to the library. Recent acquisitions include The Cottage by Danielle Steel, The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, My Happy Life by Lydia Millet, Eure ka by William Diehl, Mercy Among the Children by David Adams Richards, Miracle at St. Anna by James McBride, and The Summons by John Grisham. An unabridged copy of The Summons has also been added to the library’s collection of audiocassettes. George Martin and Lawrence Fick, the authors of A Road in the Wilderness (The Salem to Astoria Military Road) have gen erously donated a copy of their recently pub lished book to the library. For young adults, Mil dred Taylor’s The Land and Polly Horvath’s New berry Honor book, Everything on a Waffle, have recently been acquired. New picture books, with a seasonal theme, include Come Along, Daisy and Lettice, the Dancing Rabbit. Remember, also, to mark your calendars for the monthly meeting of the Friends of the Li brary. Meetings are held on the first Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. in the library, with the next meeting scheduled for April 2. V ern onia L ib ra ry 701 W eed Avenue Hours: Mon., Wed., Fri. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues., Thur. 2 p.m.-7 p.m. S a t 10a.m .-2 p.m. Preschool Story Time, Mondays, 10:30 a.m. P hone: (503)429-1818 Elk ranching is not a “no-risk” operation To the Editor: As much as I respect the opinion of Dale Webb’s articles and his views on wildlife popu lations, I must take exception to his (March 6, 2002, “Ike Says...”) opinion that the elk ranchers are getting away Scot-free. I have no vested in terest in commercial elk ranch ing, and I fail to see how Mr. Webb can accuse any busi ness on conducting a “no-risk operation”. Anyone who has been around any kind of ranch knows that a lot of sweat equity goes into its startup, and like any business startup, it doesn’t stop until the operation is sold, or fails. Any way you look at it, the rancher (cattle, sheep, lla mas, exotic birds or small ani mals such as mink or chin chillas, or the attempt to do mesticate wildlife such as elk or deer) takes one heck of a chance. Free enterprise does not come cheap. The possible rewards not only benefit the startup owner, but also other businesses and the tax-base in the community. In Mr. Webb’s School board members enjoy student presentations From page 1 with an architect gives the board and the district some protection from liability. Addi tionally, McClellan told the board that he has been encour aged by the state to apply for special grant funds for school improvement and that an appli cation would be facilitated by having an architect on retainer. McClellan also told the board that the initial report from the recently conducted community survey indicates that the board has more work to do before pursuing another bond elec tion. The board tabled action until the next meeting. With one position remaining vacant on the school board, chair Carla Strand suggested waiting to fill the vacant posi tion until after the survey re sults are reviewed and some of the difficult tasks facing the board are accomplished. There has been only one applicant for the position. Directors Jim Krahn and Tim Titus felt that a new member should be ap pointed as soon as possible, though both acknowledged that a new member will have an ex tremely difficult time under standing the complexity of some situations awaiting deci sions. A high turnover rate, with four new directors coming in and two directors leaving since June of 2000, has made it diffi cult for the board to function in some areas. Presentations heard Every year, Lincoln Grade School has a project on the concept of “100” by counting school days until they reach 100 Days of School. As the big day approaches, students be gin to assemble their contribu tion to the 100s Museum, with each student making a collec tion or creation of 100 objects. Students Bridger Stewart, Hai ley Dennis, Alex Chapman, Charlotte and Kaytee Burghard and Taylor Chapman brought their collections to the board- room and displayed them. Director Cari Levenseller in troduced Patti Dickens-Turk, teacher-coordinator for the youth Transition Program (YTP), a cooperative effort of the Vocational Rehabilitation Division of the Oregon Employ ment Department and the Uni versity of Oregon. The pro gram’s goal is to involve the community in a job-training pro gram that meets the needs of students and employers. Stu dents must apply for the pro gram and accept enrollment on a voluntary basis. An unanticipated benefit has been the “fill-the-bus” concept. If a YTP student is interested in a particular career, such as law enforcement, YTP will fund a trip to the Oregon Police Acad emy in Monmouth. Even it only one YTP student is going, the district can “fill-the-bus” with other interested students. Stu dents and parents told of trips to places and events that re sulted in positive changes in post-high school plans. YTP also operates the Print Shop, a business in the high school. Since the Print Shop started operations in Decem ber, 2000, it has printed 411,724 copies for the district. YTP students learn job-related skills while working in the Print Shop. Services to YTP students in clude a coordinated set of ac tivities that are designed to promote moving from school to post-school activities, including post-secondary education, vo cational training, integrated employment, continuing and adult education, independent living and community participa tion. Students continue to be part of the program until they reach the age of 23. Additional business The appointment of a new director and a search for an in terim superintendent will be discussed at the board work shop on March 21. Board members were also reminded to bring their calendars in order to set up meeting dates for dis cussion of the communications audit, community survey and building improvements. In other action, the board: • Accepted the Council Ex change program for inclusion on the list of approved ex change student programs. The policy will also be discussed at the next board meeting. • Approved contract exten sion for certified staff, with Di rector Randy Hansen abstain ing. • Approved using the OSBA Executive Search Service to find an interim superintendent. • Approved budget adjust ment resolutions. piece, why doesn’t he mention the possibility that the TB could have been introduced by a “wild” elk? Bacteria can travel in both directions. Typically, Mr. Webb's obser vations are positive in outlook, especially in the hunting sports and the hazards of over-or-inef- ficient regulations. If we want to increase our hunting opportuni ties, then a more sensible alter native might be to restrict or eliminate the elk cow season to increase future elk hunting op portunities. After all, when an elk cow is taken, the hunter also takes its unborn calf. If more calves were born, then a larger number of elk calves will reach maturity. More elk means more hunting. More hunting means more tags. More tags mean more cash flow, and more cash flow means less burden to those taxpayers that don’t hunt. To blame a rancher trying to make elk available to either private hunters willing to pay for taking a elk, or to rou tinely harvest the elk as we now do cattle, just seems unreason able. Sincerely, Roger Grimsrud Vernonia Thanks to Hunter Safety teachers To the Editor: I would like to say thank you to Jim King and Leonard Sim mons for the time and effort they have expended to teach the Hunter Safety Course. This course has been taught for many, many years by local vol unteers and they are appreciat ed. Melissa Hunt Vernonia POLICY ON LETTERS The INDEPENDENT welcomes readers’ let ters and will publish as many as possible. AH let ters must be signed, in cluding those sent by fax, and include a verifiable address and telephone number, which will not be printed except at the writer’s request. Un signed letters will not be published. ,
