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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (March 18, 2004)
Vol. 19, No. 6 ‘Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley” His sacrifice is remembered... The family of Erik Kesterson receives a salute after being presented with a flag that flew over the U.S. Capitol in his memory. Seated in the front row are M.J. Kesterson, Clay Kester son and Tim Mahalak. The community gathered at Vernonia High School on March 10, to honor the mem ory of Erik C. Kesterson, who lost his life No vember 15, 2003, when two Black Hawk hel icopters collided in Iraq. Erik, who honor ably met his goal of serving in the military with both the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Army, would have been 30 years old on the day of the assembly. The Colors were presented by the Nation al Guard and letters were read from Gover nor Ted Kulongoski, Congressman David Wu, and Representative Betsy Johnson. Sen ator Joan Dukes spoke, along with members of Erik's family, teachers, and friends. Tim Mahalak, Kesterson's half-brother, talked about his brother's heroism, relating how, in September of 2000, Kesterson was in a helicopter that crashed on landing and started to burn. Erik was the first one out but, instead of moving out of harm's way, he pulled seven others out of the helicopter to safety. He was awarded the Marine Corps Medal of Heroism for his actions that day but "...w as very humble about it," said Mahalak. Kesterson's mother, M.J., presented a plaque and a sign to the school. The sign said, in part: "We talk about the freedoms we have... We obtained these freedoms through the unity and might of our military; but they are not free. They were bought with a price and are kept with a price... Visit Arlington National Cemetery and other cemeteries... They all paid the price, the ultimate price." She also presented a plaque to Sharon Williams, one of her son's favorite teachers at Vernonia High School, for "having faith in Erik and giving him a break," by allowing him to pass her class and graduate so he could go into the service. Mayor Cindy Ball brought a memorial gift from the City of Vernonia—an American flag which had been flown over the nation's capi tal in memory of Erik. A member of the U.S. Marine Corps presented the flag to the Kesterson family - father Clay, mother M.J. and brother Tim. March 18, 2004 9-1-1 District again earns national award for fiscal excellence Columbia County taxpayers have a lot of reasons to be hap py with the operation of their 9- 1-1 emergency dispatching dis trict. When voters formed the dis trict, its outmoded equipment couldn’t be replaced because their cramped work area in the basement of the county court house was too small to hold new computer consoles. Over the years, a fiscally re sponsible adm inistration and board of directors have worked hard to develop a service that is now recognized throughout the state for its competence and professionalism. By the help of grants to stretch available funds, the dis trict now serves county resi dents from a district-ow ned building with the most modern equipment available, including microwave communications in areas previously unreachable because of “blind” spots. In spite of all that, the dis trict’s latest honor has nothing to do with dispatching or com m unications... it’s about budg eting. For the second year in a row, Columbia 9-1-1 Communi cations District has received the Distinguished Budget Pre sentation Award from the Gov ernment Finance Officers As sociation of the United States and Canada (GFOA). The award, which recog nizes excellence in govern mental budgeting, specifically recognizes Administrative Ser vices Manager Nancy Edwards and Office Support Specialist Kathy Simek. Columbia 9-1-1 is one of only 45 entities and managers (out of 14,000) in the U.S. and Canada to earn this recognition. The district was chosen after examination by a panel of inde pendent experts to determine if its budget met program criteria in four areas - as a policy doc ument, an operations guide, a financial plan and a communi cations device. “This award is the highest form of recognition in govern mental budgeting [and] repre sents a significant achievement by your organization,” wrote Stephen Gaughier, GFOA’s Di rector of Technical Services, in the letter announcing the award. Columbia 9-1-1 Communi cations District provides emer gency communications for all of Columbia County. It is also the coordinator and dispatcher for 16 public safety agencies in the county, as well as the Ore gon State Police and the Ore gon Department of Forestry. Preliminary okay for vendor at lake Vernonia City Council grant ed prelim inary approval, at their March 15 meeting, to Lar ry and Gail Snethen to operate a food and bait concession at Vernonia Lake. The Snethens have agreed to install a moveable conces sion trailer at the lake. A city franchise fee of five percent of net proceeds will apply to the operation, which also requires approval by the Colum bia County sanitarian and the Ver nonia Parks Commission. Approval was also granted to the Cowboy Mounted Shoot ing Association to hold another Please see page 3
