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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 19, 2002)
The INDEPENDENT C w Serving the upper Nehalem River valley. Published twice monthly, on the first and third Thursdays of each month, by Public Opinion Laboratory Ltd., 725 Bridge Street, Ver nonia, OR 97064, as a free newspaper. Editors and Pub lishers, Dirk & Noni Andersen. Phone/Fax: 503-429- 9410, e-mail: noni@vernonia.com t>oO THAT 7 Cue a fTj r f if rioW. / f oe H /Tj I Opportunity is here to extend linear trail It has been many years since this newspaper advo cated for development of the Banks-Vernonia Linear Park. We were told passionately and vociferously how local people and property would be harmed by strangers using the trail, and already depressed prop erty values would go even lower. But the small local group supporting the rail-to-trail conversion had done their homework, including a na tionwide survey of similar trails. Among the findings were the following: — People unfamiliar with this type of park tend to op pose it because they are afraid of having strangers in the area. — After becoming accustomed to the trail, most peo ple enjoy it and even encourage others to use it. — Rather than having a negative result on property values, recreation trails tend to attract people who like a healthy lifestyle and will buy property in the vicinity, gradually increasing property values. All of these findings from the survey of other trails in the U.S. have been repeated here. After a few years of a few people talking about it, it now appears that an extension of the trail from Ver nonia to Scappoose is a very real possibility. The Co lumbia Mainline, which was developed by Crown- Zellerbach along the former railroad right-of-way from Pittsburg to Scappoose, is now owned by Hancock, which is amenable to the idea. The Port of St. Helens will participate with property at Scappoose Landing, which would be the trail’s end at Multnomah Channel. Columbia County, the City of Vernonia and the Scappoose Park and Recreation District are all on board and working with the Oregon Park and Recre ation Department to arrange financing. This isn’t a “done deal” yet, but all of the pieces are coming together and real progress should be made by the middle of 2003. If you’re wondering where the mon ey will come from, then you’ve probably forgotten Mea sure 66, which voters approved to provide funds for the development and improvement of parks - local, re gional and state. Those funds can’t be used for any other purpose. Vernonia’s economic future relies heavily on outdoor recreation. This may lead to a very bright 2003. .41 % Ho Li O* r s • Letters ........... to the . ....................... Editor Seniors rely on you Remember military to retain modest aid during Christmas To the Editor: As a young state represen tative back in 1975,1 was proud to co-chair the committee that sponsored the legislation that created Oregon Project Inde pendence (OPI). The concept was to provide a modest amount of in-home service to people over the age of 60. We believed that provid ing a small amount of services would help to prevent, or at least delay, very expensive nursing home care. The program has proven it self in 27 years of effective lo cal services, which include housekeeping, bathing assis tance, meal preparation and so on. In a state budget of roughly $12 billion, OPI is a bargain at $13.7 million, serving about 3,800 seniors, statewide. Please don’t let a vital, cost- effective program like Oregon Project Independence become a memory. Thousands of sen iors depend on your “Yes” vote on January 28. Ralph Groener Former State Representative Oregon City To the Editor: Remember the year you spent Christmas overseas? The smell of the barracks, the heat, the loneliness? You spent the day thinking about those friends and loved ones at home. Wishing that Christmas were a normal workday so you could at least do something. Our military for all its great ness, has never really found an answer for that old Christmas standby I’ll be home for Christ mas, if only in my dreams. As Americans we can tend to take for granted our free dom. The realities that right now other countries are work ing, other Marine Corps are working other armies are work ing. And as we sleep tonight a young Marine is guarding a wall. A young sailor is manning his station: soldiers and airmen are keeping the wolf from the door. They’ll do it on Christmas and most of us won’t even think about them. This is the reality they live with every day so that we might not even think about our own safety. Sacrifice? You bet. If you know a serviceman or woman, Call his or her parents and ask if they’ll be home for Christmas. They don’t want gifts, what do you buy a guy who lives out of a sea bag? They want a let ter from home. Not E-mail, the smell of a letter smells like that friend. Hand write the letter, “don’t type it" and if you really want to make Christmas, Christmas, a cassette tape recording from friends or family is better than gold, pure gold. If you have a friend in the military this year don’t take for granted that their family can provide for them, and the mili tary won’t do it, believe me. But if you take the time to send a piece of your life by communi cating, that friend will remem ber you for life. Joe Cason St. Helens WRC says thanks to many kind people To the Editor: The Board, Staff, Volunteers and Clients of Columbia Coun ty Women’s Resource Center would like to thank the many Please see page 3
