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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 16, 2003)
Sanders Creek work is impressive effort To the Editor: Was very impressed with the recent article on road and cul vert removal to improve salmon habitat in Sanders Creek. Good things don’t just happen. A co operative effort and dedicated spirit gets things done. Using private money, Longview Fibre, with the Ne halem Watershed Council, provided a spark and made an improvement. Recognition to those men tioned, Jim Buxton, Maggie Peyton, Tom Budge, R & M Taylor and especially Longview Fibre. Your effort and work are appreciated. Steve Calhoun Vernonia Open letter to a thief To the Editor: This letter is addressed to the thief or thieves who are stealing AVON cologne (and maybe other things that I haven’t noticed yet) from The Menagerie. First of all, I want you to know that the AVON is the only source of income I have. You must not have any income, or you wouldn’t keep stealing things. But, then again, maybe you do have money and just get a kick out of stealing. But, trust me, if you are caught (and you will be, eventually, if not here, then somewhere else) you will be given more than just a “slap on the hands”. I work hard to have what I have and you have taken money out of my pocket just so you can smell nice. I sincerely hope that the cologne causes you to have a terrible reaction to it. Just re member, what goes around, comes around. I would hate to have to take all of my stuff out of the Menagerie or put it in a locked cupboard (much to the incon venience of honest people), so think twice before you do this again. If you think the law will be tough on you, let me tell you one last thing, you had better hope that they catch you in stead of me. Sincerely, Janie Wasmann Vernonia P.S. Do us both a favor and put $6.00 per bottle of cologne in an envelope with my name on it and drop it off at the Menagerie. No one will ques tion this, as I have other things Between the Bookends By Nancy Burch, Librarian Vernonia Public Library Library patrons were very generous this year in adopting books provided by the St. Helens Book- Shop as gifts for the library. Twenty-three books were purchased (adopted) and are now available for circu lation. This is a wonderful selection of books for readers of all ages. Titles such as / Have a Cold and Back to School? Cool! are available for beginning readers. Mossflower and Stand Tall will appeal to teens while The Little Friend, Crimson Petal and the White, Portrait of a Killer, Raising Ourselves, and The Last Girls are a few of the titles for adult readers. A special thanks is extended to all who made this adoption of books for the library a suc cess this year. Other new acquisitions include: How to Cook a Tart by Nina Killham, Death by Chocolate by G. A. McKevett, The Last Place by Laura Lippman, Prey by Michael Crichton, Four Blind Mice by James Patterson, and The Little Chinese Seam stress by Dai Sijie. A new copy of Tuck Everlast ing and one of my all time favorite books for youngsters, Miss Twiggly’s Tree, have also re cently been purchased. The library has been the recipient of a large number of paperback mysteries by various au- dropped off there for me. I could really use the money and I’m hoping you could use a clear and clean heart. Measure 28 is fault of state legislature To the Editor: The state budget is in sham bles. After numerous legislative sessions our representatives have been unable to resolve our budgetary problems. In stead, they now tell us that it is our responsibility to solve the problem by passing Measure 28. This crisis is not the result of a single, unforseen, cata strophic event. Rather, it is a re sult of legislative negligence over a number of years. The legislature allowed the budgets of state agencies to grow far out of proportion to in creases in state population or inflation. New programs were initiated. Old programs were expanded. There was little, if any, oversight over the opera tion or spending of state agen cies. And, there was no fund established to enable the state government to cope with diffi cult times such as we are now experiencing. On the contrary, our state representatives re- •.•.•.•iw??::??» thors and most of these are now available for circulation. The selection of audio and videocas settes has increased over the past several years, mainly through generous donations. For a rather nice selection of children’s videos or of older, classic videos for adults, the library is the place to look. Audiocassettes continue to be in demand and the library now has a few CDs. Pe riodicals range from Dirt Rider to Smithsonian with issues ranging from the latest publication to those of the past year. The computers are avail able for Internet use, word-processing or playing educational games. Computer search of the li brary’s catalog has become familiar to many pa trons and is so much more efficient than the old card catalog method. The library serves so many needs in the community—from a place to obtain reading, listening or viewing materials to a place to attend meetings or special events to a place that offers children’s programs to a place to use computers to a place to sit and read in comfort. Remember, it’s your library, so be sure to take advantage of the services it offers. Don’t forget! The ballot drop site is the library, from now until January 28 at 8 p.m. for this elec tion as well as posted dates for all upcoming elections. Vernonia Publie Library: 701 Weed Ave.m Hours. Mon., Wed., Fri. 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Tues., Thur. 2 p.m. - 7 p.m. S Sat. 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Phone: (503 ) 324-1382 cently enacted legislation which reduces state tax revenue. (This was the establishment of a new tax credit for those who contribute to the Oregon Cul tural Trust.) We have been told that our current budgetary problems are a result of the inexperience of many legislators who have come into office as a result of term limits which were imposed by the voters and later nullified by the courts. Who, may I ask, heads legislative committees? Who decides which bills will be voted on? Who negotiates compromises? Am I to believe that all of this is done by new comers to the legislature? I pre fer to believe that legislative ac tion or inaction is the direct re sult of what our long-term legis lators do. And, what about all of the “institutional memory” I hear about? Isn't it those with many years in office that are respon sible for our current budgetary difficulties? Not only should they remember how they got us into this mess, they should be able to figure a way to get us out! We are told that if we vote “no” on Measure 28 that the state police will be fired, that criminals will be released from jail, and that old folks will be thrown into the streets. We are told that these and other un conscionable events will occur if we vote “no.'' This is not true. If any of these things will hap pen, it will be the result of our elected officials not meeting their responsibilities to the citi zens of Oregon. Place the responsibility for the creation of this mess and its solution where it belongs — on our elected representatives in Salem. To vote in favor of Mea sure 28 is to vindicate them. We will be sending a message to them that they can do any thing they want without any po litical consequences. Don McDaniel Astoria S en . D u k e s p h o n e n u m b e r c h a n g e d Residents of Senate District 16 wanting to dial direct to State Sen. Joan Dukes during the upcoming legislative ses sion will have to use a new number: (503) 986-1716. Dukes’ phone number has changed because the number of the district was changed dur ing redistricting from number 1 to number 16. Dukes’ capitol office address remains the same: Room S- 318, State Capitol, 900 Court St. N.E., Salem, OR 97301. Her email is: dukes.sen®state, or.us. “I hope my neighbors in the district will take a moment and contact me during the session,” Dukes said. “Keeping in touch with them helps me determine the district’s priorities." District 16 includes all of Clatsop, Columbia, and Tillam ook counties, as well as West ern portions of Washington and Multnomah counties. The 2003 legislative session began Mon day, January 13. The toll-free number for gen eral legislative information is (800) 332-2313. Area includes slopes of 40-60 degrees From page 1 the Riparian Management Area (RMA) for medium Type F streams at 70 feet and for small Type F streams at 50 feet. The logging plan is for 216 acres, about half of which in cludes 40-60 degree slopes that, Savage said, will be cable logged, with no ground based logging equipment permitted inside the RMA. Savage said that the land exchange between the state and Longview Fibre has been planned to eliminate some “checkerboard” patterns of land ownership. In this particular ex change, one purpose is also to increase state ownership of timberland around Spruce Run. — N O T IC E — The INDEPENDENT is published on the first and third Thurs days of each month. There are five Thursdays in January, so there will three weeks between this issue and the first issue in February. Deadline for the issue of February 6, 2003, will be January 31. t
