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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (April 20, 2006)
The INDEPENDENT, April 20, 2006 Page 3 Letters From page 2 murder. Most of these crimes have been tied directly to esca- lated drug use and availability, (in particular methampheta- mine.) In just a few weeks we will be asked to pass a sheriff’s levy that request County tax- payers to pay 39.5 cents per $1000 of the assessed value of our homes. For an owner of a $150,000 property, this amounts to less than $60 per year. To put that into perspec- tive; if you purchase a latte on your way to work each morn- ing, it will cost you about $400 per year. The sheriff’s levy will cost you less than one-sixth of that. The money generated from this levy will go directly to em- ploying more deputies to cover the 600-plus square miles the Columbia County Sheriff’s De- partment must now scramble to cover. Presently, we have no more than 2 deputies on duty during the day and zero on duty in the evening. Yes, there are no funds available to have deputies on night duty. If I were a bad guy—and there are prob- ably bad guys reading this right now—I would focus on doing all my criminal activity—in particu- lar the cooking and selling of methamphetamine—during these evening hours. Another important benefit of the sheriff’s levy will be the availability of deputies in areas of the county that enable them to respond to calls quicker. For example: An officer stationed in Vernonia can answer calls quicker, concentrating solely on any emergency approximate to that area. Keep in mind, this is simply a humble, bare-bones request to hire additional, well-qualified of- ficers to maintain a safer com- munity. For those living inside cities like Scappoose and St. Helens, and already paying taxes to a police department, please con- sider this: Unlike huge bureau- cratic federal police organiza- tions, our local city and county police actually work very close- ly with one other, sharing infor- mation as one efficient law-en- forcement organization. It's also important to remember that criminals incarcerated for crimes committed inside county cities are actually housed at the Columbia County jail. In the end, we are actually saving Between the Bookends By Nancy Burch, Librarian Vernonia Public Library For me, the highlight of the month was the visit by Portland author, April Hen- ry on the 8th of April. Ms. Henry was very down-to- earth as she told about the ways in which she gets her ideas for books and the approach she takes in research and plot development. She is presently formulating ideas for her next book and toying with the theme of a blind teenager who is kid- napped while waiting in a car that is stolen. After choosing a main theme, Ms. Henry uses a “what if?” approach and then researches these ideas. Ms. Henry also reviews a book each week for The Oregonian. These reviews may be found in Sunday’s Entertainment section. (The library does have a copy of Thomas Perry’s, Nightlife , a novel set in Portland about a female serial killer, which was reviewed last Sunday.) Former clinical psychologists turned authors, Stephen White and Jonathan Kellerman, have each recently published new books. White’s sus- penseful novel, Kill Me , is based on the state- ment many have made…“If that ever happens to me, I wish someone would just…kill me.” Psy- chologist Alan Gregory faces one of the most challenging cases of his career when a patient slowly reveals a progression of deadly secrets while trying to influence the outcome of circum- stances which he has set in motion and cannot seemingly change. In Kellerman’s 20th of the Alex Delaware series, Gone , psychologist Delaware and detective Milo Sturgis once again team together as they pursue an investigative trail of corpses leading to an unconventional act- ing school and the family of the eccentric woman who runs it. I especially enjoy these two authors because their backgrounds give them the ability to convey psychological insights in their charac- ters, adding to the suspense and giving the read- er more empathy with these characters. The most intriguing work of nonfiction that I’ve come across lately is Miracles on the Water . Written by Tom Nagorski (a senior producer at ABC’s World News Tonight ), this is a riveting ac- count of the sinking of a British passenger liner by a German submarine in World War II. The S.S. City of Benares , with 406 passengers and crew, was 630 miles out in the North Atlantic on September 17, 1940, when it was torpedoed by a German U-boat. As the Benares sank, passen- gers and crew abandoned ship in the stormy wa- ters. Those who made it into lifeboats faced gale winds and icy waters and were three hundred miles from the nearest rescue vessel. Many drowned or died of overexposure before the HMS Hurricane arrived and rescued 108 sur- vivors. In its search, the Hurricane missed Lifeboat 12 and its 46 passengers endured eight days with minimal food and water. The situation that makes this event especially memorable is that ninety of the passengers were children (only 13 survived) who were on their way to Canada to escape the German blitz over England. They were considered lucky because they were, sup- posedly, leaving World War II behind and head- ing for safety. Nagorski, whose great-uncle was among the survivors, bases this vivid narrative mostly on firsthand accounts, with many exam- ples of courage and endurance of both the chil- dren and adults. Upcoming events in the library include Family Movie Night on Friday, April 21st, at 6:30 p.m., and Book Discussion on Monday, April 24th, at 5:30 p.m. 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. - 4 p.m. Preschool Story Time: Mondays, 10:30 a.m., when school is in session. Phone: (503 ) 429-1818 money by not incurring addi- tional property taxes to build and maintain separate city fa- cilities to detain and house criminals. Not only will supporting the levy enable the citizens of our community to enjoy a safer community, but it is also in the interest of keeping our hard- working deputies safer as well: Expecting our deputies to an- swer calls without proper back- up and support is not only dan- gerous for them, but as you might imagine, very stressful for their families.I am grateful to have a police organization that is hard-working and virtually corruption free. Over the years I’ve lived here, I cannot recall one incident of police corrup- tion, while our neighbors in Portland harbor a long and sor- did history. No matter what your occupa- tion is, we can all agree that it’s important to have the tools at hand to perform our duties competently. Sheriff Derby’s re- quest for additional officers to maintain his department is more than reasonable and fair. Please vote “yes” for the sher- iff’s levy and give them the tools to do their job effectively. Randy Sanders St. Helens Join the annual fun & Make Vernonia Shine To the Editor: This years “Make Vernonia Shine” day, sponsored by Ver- nonia Pride, will be held April 22. Registration will start at 9:00 a.m. at Providence Health Center. Groups and organizations are asked to pre-register by calling Genny Fisher at 503- 429-4019. If you have a project or area you wish to do, please tell her at this time. If you have the following tools, hoes, rakes, weedeaters, please bring them along. Take advantage of Waste Management’s free Dump Day, 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. There is a two-load limit and you must show that you are a Vernonia resident. Dad’s Recycling will also be providing free disposal; accepting appliances, batter- ies, etc. Vernonia Pride will be doing curbside pickup of yard debris (no household garbage please). They will be taking tires that day, also, just south of the Li- brary. A charge of $1.12 for tires off the rims and additional charges for those on the rim or for truck tires. This is the Jamboree’s 50th year and plans are being made for a great celebration. As our Mayor said, “We want our town looking its best, we want to be wearing our prom dress.” Cleanup Day can be a start to- wards that goal. Lunch will be provided at 1:00 p.m. at the Scout Cabin for all those that participated in the cleanup. Here is hoping all you citi- zens will pitch in to “Make Ver- nonia Shine.” DeLoris Webb Vernonia Pride Dismayed by loss of home mail delivery To the Editor: I am puzzled and somewhat dismayed by the recent deci- sion of the US Post Office that the mail truck cannot park on the ‘bike path’ on E. Bridge St. between the museum and the lake to deliver the mail to our homes. There has been a ded- icated bike path on that street for many years and having a mail truck or delivery van parked there never stopped or hindered anyone from using the bike path. And it will be even less of a problem when we get sidewalks since we have very few bikes that use the path. We mostly have peo- ple on foot that will use the sidewalk. My largest problem however is that the Post Office now tells us that we must get our mail from a group of boxes down by the lake. I am a senior citizen who has difficulty walking any distance and have no car or drive to pick up my mail for me. I wonder how I am supposed to get my mail. There are a lot of changes being made in Vernonia now and some of them are neces- sary. But some of them are not. And it is my belief that this one from the Post Office will cause some of us more hardship than it will help. Jeanette Searles Vernonia More letters on page 15
