Vol. 20, No. 7
"Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley"
Vernonia Half Marathon on Saturday
An Eggcellent Day!
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April 7, 2005
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Teamwork helped these youngsters have a great tim e dur
ing the annual Easter Egg Hunt sponsored by the Vernon
ia Chamber of Commerce.
Approximately 150 runners
and walkers will be at the start
ing line for the Vernonia Half
Marathon on Saturday, April 9.
The event will start at 9:30 a.m.
from Anderson Park and pro
ceed 13.1 miles along the
Banks-Vernonia State Trail,
some of it paved and some
gravel, through scenic woods
on the abandoned railroad bed
that became Oregon’s first lin
ear trail. The finish line will be
near the Buxton Trail Head.
The Oregon Road Runners
Club (ORRC), which is spon
soring the half marathon, will
bus participants from the finish
back to Vernonia for the awards
ceremony. Food, beverages
and a few surprises will be pro
vided after the race. Awards will
go to the top three overall male
and female winners, and to the
top three overall male and fe
male masters winners. In addi
tion, ribbons will go to the top
five finishers in each five year
age group.
A map of the trail and direc
tions, are available at <www.
oregonstateparks.org/park_14
5.php>.
A limited edition long sleeve
Dri-Release T-shirt is available,
but only pre-registered partici
pants are guaranteed a shirt.
Day of race entrants get shirts
as quantities last.
Participants may register at
<www.active.com>. Pre-regis
tration for ORRC members is
$20 with no shirt and $35 with a
shirt; for non-ORRC members
the cost is $25 with no shirt and
$40 with a shirt. Registration,
which starts at 8:00 a.m. on the
day of the race, is $50 for all.
For more information, or to
volunteer as a helper, call Race
Director Mark Barrett at 503-
357-3533 or email <MBarr
etts@aol.com>.
Sen. Wyden brings Town Hall to
Vernonia school, senior center
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden,
who holds a town hall meeting
in every Oregon county, every
year, chose Vernonia High
School as the site of this year’s
Columbia County Town Hall, on
March 28.
Student questions included
a variety of topics such as the
possibility of a draft, Oregon’s
assisted suicide law, being able
to serve our country at 18 but
not being able to drink until 21,
school budgets and funding,
security improvements needed
as a result of recent shootings
at schools, and even “who will
win the NCAA tournament?”
Wyden’s responses were
generally supportive of state
laws and states’ rights, with the
suggestion that the public
should be cautious about the
issues when they request in
volvement from the Federal
government.
Gordon Smith, owner of Ver
nonia Sentry, stated he would
like to hire more teens (14 to 17
year-olds) but has stopped do
ing so because of the high
Please see page 5
Lesson in Government
Many candidates for May 17 ballots
Candidate
filings
have
closed for the May 17 Special
District Elections revealing
three contested positions on
the board of directors for Ver
nonia School District, one con
tested position for the Banks
School board and two for the
Jewell School board. There are
no contested fire district posi
tions.
Vernonia School District
Leslie Barnes and Dick
Brunsman are seeking Position
4, currently held by Gienah Ch
eney, who was appointed and
did not file for election.
Position 6 incumbent James
Krahn is being challenged by
Kim Wallace.
A three-way race has devel
oped for Position 7, held by
Philip Doyle, who was appoint
ed. In addition to Doyle, Debo
rah Brown and Ernie Smith are
seeking to fill the position.
Two additional positions will
be on the ballot: Angela Taylor
is the sole candidate for Posi
tion 1, now held by Ed Buckner
who was appointed and did not
seek election. Cari Levenseller
is unopposed in seeking re-
election to Position 5.
Banks School District
Will Moore and Ruth Liese-
gang have both filed for the va
cant Position 2.
Incumbents Douglas Nord-
Please see page 4
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden visited Vernonia March 28, spending an hour at Vernonia High
School, then dropping in at the VernonlaSenior Citizens Center before heading to his next
appointment.