Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (June 16, 2005)
The INDEPENDENT. June 16, 2005 From page 2 nior High students the past 10 years. There has also been productions put on by high school students, and only re cently, it has stopped. This was as well the first year without Science Bowl, something that even I participated in when I was in the 5th grade, and Quiz Bowl is still alive at the High School. I haven’t seen any re porters or anybody in the places I have talked about, for example, the band room. Please get the facts straight, because if you would have tak en the time to see, our school is actually a great place to go to school. Ben Schorzman High School Student Vernonia Ed. note: We thank Mr. Schorzman for his response to criticism of the school district and are pleased to publish it. We are also pleased to publish information on student ac- tivities other than sports whenever we have information about them in advance. In spite of difficulties cre ated with a staff of only 3.5 people, The INDEPENDENT has pub lished hundreds more inches of in formation about student activities than of criticism. One clarification is needed: Mr. Ist- ed resigned when the music in structor’s salary was reduced by 33 percent, then an inexperienced teacher was hired. That doesn’t make Mr. Shannon a bad teacher, merely less experienced. Abortion notification bill is right direction To the Editor: “What’s wrong with this pic ture?” I would like to respond to Gayle Lee’s comments regard ing Oregon House Bill 2605, which would require parental notification of abortion (May 5 edition). HB2605 is definitely a step in the right direction. HB2605 is NOT about more regulation. It IS about giving back to parents something that never should have been TAKEN away in the first place - the RIGHT (yes, right) and responsibility of par ents to know what’s going on in the lives of our children. Parents are required to be notified before their children can be given aspirin, but our daughter can be taken to a fa cility that performs abortions WITHOUT our being informed. “WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE???” Another concern I have is this - because an abortion (like any other medical procedure) has the potential for failure, who pays for any subsequent medical expenses incurred upon the young woman be cause of a mistake made by the one performing the abortion. Will the doctor pay? NO. Will I By Nancy Burch, Librarian Vernonia Public Library Does it seem possible that another school year has ended and summer vacation is here for the youngsters of the commu nity? To mark the end of the school year, a bedtime story/activity time will take place at the library Thurs day, June 16 at 7:00 p.m. This will be the first of the summer activities sponsored by the library. Summer reading ses sions will be held on Wednesdays from June 22 to August 3 with the time being 10:30 a.m. ex cept for June 29, which will be the presentation by Mad Science at 7:00 p.m. Registration forms and further information are available in the li brary. Prizes will once again be awarded when youngsters meet the reading goals which they set for themselves. This promises to be an excit ing summer filled with activities related to the theme of Dragons, Dreams, and Daring Deeds. ’ A book drop for those wishing to donate books for the Friends of the Library’s annual book sale will be at the library, Saturday, June 25 from 10 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Take note of the fact that the book drop and the sale will be held at the library this year. Beginning Saturday, July 2nd, the library will be open from 10 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. These will be the new permanent hours for Saturday library users. Tuesday, July 5th will be the regular meeting for Friends of the Library at 6:30 p.m. They will be making arrangements for the book sale to be held Saturday, August 6. The Friends have renewed the annual pass to the Portland Children’s Museum, which is avail able to be checked out from the library. This pass will admit either two adults and one child or two children and one adult to the museum—not to be used by the same family more than twice in one year. It is quite a savings considering that the cost of tickets is $6.00 each. Just in time for hot weather, the water works is back at the museum. There are other special exhibits and programs offered for the months of July and August as well as summer camps. A newsletter with further in formation is available in the library. Stella Bellingham Satern’s book signing was a successful event with much reminiscing taking place between those in attendance. Copies of this delightful, informative book, The Nehalem River Valley—Settling the Big Timberland, are available for purchase at Sentry Market and for checking out from the library. New acquisitions for adults include The Closers by Michael Connelly, Rage by Jonathan Kellerman, Marker by Robin Cook, The Golden Spruce by John Vaillant, and No End in Sight: The Rachael Scdoris Story by Scdoris and Rick Steber. A nice selection of books for youngsters re flecting the summer reading theme has also re cently been acquired. Titles of these materials include: Artemis Fowl, Magical Animals, 97 Ways to Train a Dragon, Stories of Knights, Sto ries of Dragons, and My Brother the Knight. Remember that the library with its materials, programs, and resources is a wonderful source of summer’s entertainment. Vernonia Public Library: 701 Weed Ave. Hours: Mon., Wed., Fri. 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Tues., Thur. 2 p.m. - 7 p.m. Sat. 10 a.m .» 2 p.m. Preschool Story Time: Mondays, 10:30 a.m., when school is in session. Phone: (503 ) 429-1818 —— ....—............■ ............................................... I you pay? NO. Are the parents of the young woman having the abortion exempt from paying her medical bills simply be cause they weren’t notified of her abortion? Again, I say NO!!! Legally, her parents are still re sponsible for payment of med ical expenses. So why in the world should this one issue be exempt from parental notifica tion when they are responsible for the welfare of the young woman until she becomes an adult? This isn’t “rocket sci ence,” just plain old common sense. I do not approve of abortion for any reason, because all hu man life should be honored and protected from conception to the grave. For those who view abortion (versus adoption) as an option, those parents should be notified if their daughter is going to have an abortion (just like any other medical proce dure). The issue of parental notifi cation is not about parents who “have fallen down on the job,” it’s all about restoring the right of parents to be informed of anything that impacts the lives of their children, which is con trary to the liberal mindset that would undermine any and all parental authority over our chil dren. Robert Huntington Birkenfeld Page 3 need the support of the whole community to fund this event. The Buckhorn Restaurant will be offering their support by having their annual spaghetti feed. It will be June 30 from 5 to 8 p.m. The dinner includes spaghetti, roll, salad and dessert. Drinks are extra. Prices are $7 for adults and $4 for children 11 and under. The 4th kicks off with a pa rade at 7:30 p.m. forming at City Hall and ending at Wash ington Grade School. Everyone is welcome to be in the parade, no pre-registration required. The booster club will be serving their delicious burgers and hot dogs and the cub scouts will be selling popcorn, etc. There’s a rumor going around that we have changed the location of the fireworks, NOT TRUE! They will be at the high school as usual. Come out and support the concessions and enjoy the pa rade and great fireworks show. Thank you to the volunteer fire fighters who help organize the event and provide the py- rotechnician, Tom Ramsey, to set off the show. Come early as due to the new school building there will not be as much park ing on site as there has been in the past. Dede Webb Vernonia Pride Have fun and help From verse to worse? with Cycle Oregon To the Editor: To the Editor: Those of us who are not as (with picture if possible, of gifted in verse as previous con the not McLean logging bicy tributors would like to offer our clist) impressions of the urban log Your Town Needs You! ging issue. We will be perform Volunteers for Cycle Oregon ing an interpretive dance enti are needed on September 16 tled “Requiem for a Stump” at and September 17. Hawkins Park. Check local list Many clubs will benefit if ings for time. you help out. Earn money for Peter O’Leary Please see page 21 Jimi Kobson Vernonia NOTICE Donations are needed for July 4th fireworks To the Editor: Once again Vernonia Pride is asking for your donations for this year’s 4th of July fireworks. Letters have been sent to busi nesses and some individuals. We will also be collecting mon ey at the end of the show, so please stick an extra dollar or two in vour pocket, as we reallv The INDEPENDENT publishes on the first and third Thursdays of each month. Because June has five Thursdays, there will be three weeks between this issue and the next pub lication on July 7. The deadline for sub mission of ads and articles for the July 7 issue will be July 1.
