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