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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 3, 2002)
The INDEPENDENT, October 3, 2002 Page 3 Lotters to the Editor Urges approval Sheriff’s levy of To the Editor: The Columbia County Sher iff’s Office is severely under staffed and under funded. The cost of operating the new jail, 911 security concerns and pop ulation growth have aggravated this already critical problem. The Sheriff’s Office has ded icated and hard-working em ployees who do their best to keep our communities safe. But, current funding is simply not enough to adequately pro tect the public. The Sheriff’s Office currently cannot provide 24 hour cover age. There are only five total patrol deputies to cover all the shifts, 24-7-365. Despite their hard work and long hours, it often takes deputies hours, and sometimes days, to respond to all but the most serious calls. The patrol deputies routinely juggle four to seven calls at the same time, and are often many calls behind when they start work. Deputies never seem to get caught up and cannot pro vide good, thorough complaint investigations. Deputies get very little time off and are routinely called in on their off hours to respond to calls. The situation is so bad they often get little sleep be tween shifts, jeopardizing everyone’s safety. They are do ing the best they can, but they are tired and frustrated. The situation is critical. We need an adequately staffed Sheriff’s Office. Our safety de pends on it. This levy will add additional patrol deputies plus provide funds to help operate and adequately staff the jail. The average homeowner will pay just $7.75 a month if this levy passes. That’s a small price to pay to keep us all safer. Please vote yes on Measure 5- 109. Sincerely, Lisa Hood Warren Victimized by theft and newspaper report To the Editor: If I were asked to describe the [St. Helens] Chronicle newspaper in five words or less, I would describe it as “a dirty little political rag.” As a re cent burglary victim, I felt per sonally violated. As a subject of the Chronicle’s misreporting appreciate the interest of indi facts of that burglary, I felt vio viduals and groups wishing to lated again by what has often ride. The Arena will be open been referred to as the “fourth again next April or May, de estate of government.” Gee, I pending on the weather. wonder what politics has to do If you would like to partici with your article concerning the pate in the Barrel Clinics, or are burglary of my residence. I interested in helping the fair would suggest that anyone who grounds to make the Open would like to know the true Rides more desirable, please facts concerning the burglary of call the Fair Office at 503-397- my residence simply read the 4231. We are always open to September 18 issue of the your help and suggestions. Evelyn Hudson Scappoose Spotlight, or better yet, read the article entitled Re Columbia County Fairgrounds Fair Administrator call Effort Against Pat Zimmer man Ends After Burglary which was published in the Septem Explanation of fund ber 19 issue of The Clatskanie recommendation Chief. Sincerely, Ed. note: The Scappoose Senior Mervin Arnold Citizens Center, which has started its own transportation service, has Rainier Ed. note: The recall election re ferred to above concerned a mem ber of the Port of St. Helens. The Nehalem Valley area of Columbia County is not part of the Port. Fairgrounds thanks riders for arena use To the Editor: The Columbia County Fair grounds would like to thank those who used the Arena for Open Rides this season. We Batwaon the Bookends By Ann Krutsinger, Library Assistant Banks Public Library Children in grades five and up are invited to join Club Newbery. Centered on the famous Newbery Award for best children’s book of the year, this club is designed for young people who love to read - those who, for example, might possibly stay up beyond bedtime just to read! Club members will get to read the latest books, participate in book discussion groups, and vote for the next Newbery Award winner and more! Anyone interested is encouraged to ask for more information at the library. Sign-ups are starting now. Group size is limited to 15. Kick off night will be October 10th, from 7-8:00 p.m. If you have never checked out a “Cultural Pass to Adventure,” now is the time to try it. The World Forestry Center Museum is presenting an exhibit from October 5, 2002, through January 5, 2003, of approximately 50 original Ansel Adams photographs, in honor of the 100th anniversary of Adam’s birth. This is one of a kind exhibit that will be shown nowhere else. Nearly 40 of the photos were printed by Adams and are signed by the artist. Adams was not only a nature photog rapher, he was also an active environmentalist who served on the board of directors of the Sier ra Club for 37 years, from 1934-1971. For infor mation on reserving the World Forestry Center Cultural Pass, call the library. The new books are pouring in! After a slow summer, The Friends of the Library have finally ordered some “hot" titles. The new titles include Tom Clancy’s suspenseful adventure, Red Rab bit, and a sparkling romantic novel by Jennifer Crusie, called Faking It. Must Love Dogs, by Claire Cook, is a book about a 40 year-old, ro mantically challenged Pre-School teacher, preparing to go on her first date in about ten years. This is a funny, zany look at the intricacies of dating and family life, as we get to know the family of the main character, Sarah Hurlihy. Oth er new titles are Sylvia Browne’s Book of Dreams, and The Cell: Inside the 9/11 Plot, and Why the FBI Failed to Stop It. Have you ever wondered about the fat con tent of that chicken Caesar salad that tastes so good? Are you convinced that ordering a tuna salad sandwich is low calorie? You should check out Restaurant Confidential by Michael F. Ja- cobon, Ph.D. and Jayne Hurley, RD. They are the authors of The Fast-Food Guide, the book that taught us all how fattening movie popcorn is. In Restaurant Confidential, the authors have re searched America’s favorite cuisine for fat and calorie content - Chinese, Mexican and Italian. They have also included breakfast foods, Greek cuisine, sweets, and Mall food. Get ready to give up eating out! 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: Wednesdays, 10:15 a.m., when school Is in session. Phone: (5 0 3 )3 2 4 -1 3 8 2 Internet: www.WILInet.wccls.lib.or.us. asked the Columbia County Board of Commissioners to reconsider awarding all of the available spe cial transportation fund to ColCo Transportation. This letter is in re sponse to their request. To the Editor: Four members of the [Co lumbia County] Special Trans portation Fund Committee (STF) want to explain our rea soning behind our decision to recommend awarding the en tire STF funds to ColCo public transportation. Our County Commissioners appoint members to the STF Committee and we represent the entire county. Four mem bers live in Scappoose, one lives in Vernonia, one in Rainier, one in Clatskanie and one in St. Helens (total 8). We met five times over two months and five members were in attendance at this last meet ing: two from Scappoose, one from Rainier, one from Clatskanie and one from St. Helens. Since we finally had a quorum, we discussed the STF fund and what recommenda tions we would give to the Co lumbia County Commissioners. We only had two applica tions, one from ColCo and the other from Scappoose Senior Center, which was submitted at our third STF meeting. There was a motion to give Scap poose some of their monetary request, but no second to the motion. Discussion followed and that motion died. A new motion was made to award all of the funds to ColCo. It was seconded, discussed and passed, unanimously (5-0). We, therefore, recommend ed to the Columbia County Commissioners that they award all of the STF funds to ColCo. The following week, the Com missioners voted to follow the STF Committee’s recommen dation and awarded the funds. In these difficult economic times, we need to unite in order to provide efficient, safe and re liable transportation to seniors and disabled persons in our county. We feel that there is al ways room for improvement on any committee or in any organ ization, and we, who sit on sev eral Boards, Committees and are involved in a variety of ac tivities to benefit seniors in our respective towns and through the county, need to work to gether to accomplish these goals. We will continue to work to ward these goals and we hope that others will, also. Sincerely, Josephine Claflin Scappoose Norma Hendrickson Clatskanie Ruth Brockhaus Rainier Betty Lou Stickler St. Helens Two areas will be closed at WGS From page 1 the board conclusions as fol lows: • Continue with mold mitiga tion ad conduct air quality test ing. • Get a structural engineer ing analysis of WGS as soon as possible. The board did not discuss whether the analysis should include the high school. • Present findings of mold testing, air quality testing and structural review at a town hall style informational meeting with broad publicity. • Draw a committee to study solutions to both the short and long terms needs of the district from the participants of the in formational meeting. Maintenance Committee recommendations Director Randy Hansen pre sented the maintenance com mittee’s recommendations to the board. Examination of the fire alarm systems at both the WGS and the high school by the state fire marshal’s office determined that neither system met current standards, accord ing to Hanson and Lewis, and the security system at the high Please see page 9
