The INDEPENDENT, September 6, 2007
Page 3
Letters
Teaching intolerance
rewards bigotry
To the Editor:
Open Letter to the Good
People of Vernonia: Mr. Miller,
principle of our elementary
school, is charged with marijua-
na possession. I’ve heard and
read the righteous indignation
of the good citizens of Vernon-
ia. Our policy is zero tolerance!
What kind of example is he
setting for our precious chil-
dren? Fire the lawbreaker! And
the ever-present call for Mr.
Miller to resign! This controver-
sy is inseparable from our view
of school, law, and children.
What are we teaching our
children? Zero tolerance, why
the hell do we accept this bigot-
ed policy? It should be sent
back to the propagandist’s copy
desk stamped try again we re-
ject intolerance. Are we not an
open-minded, loving, tolerant
people? We know that learning
is making mistakes (no mis-
takes = no learning). If, school
is for anything other than turn-
ing out intolerant, brain-dead
robots obedient to fashion and
authority, it is to help the next
generation become a little more
knowledgeable, a little more
skilled at critical thinking, a little
more tolerant, a little more
compassionate, a little more
prepared to live in the world
than we are.
What kind of example are
we setting for our children?
Leaving aside the quaint princi-
ple of ‘presumption of inno-
cence,’ in the rush to judgment
why not stone Mr. Miller for his
indiscretion? Or we can exam-
ine the law that he is accused
of violating. Are the laws of pro-
hibition just? Are they consis-
tent with the rights of a free
people? Are they arbitrary, ra-
tional? I don’t want to write
about the hypocrisy of legalized
alcohol when there is a prohibi-
tion on marijuana. We old peo-
ple may not get it, but be as-
sured our teenagers see the
naked hypocrisy.
What are we teaching our
kids? Maybe smoking marijua-
na is an act of civil disobedi-
ence. To violate unjust laws is
civil disobedience! We move
forward as a people not by free-
doms granted by a govern-
ment, but by the lives we live.
He has no respect for the
law! Fire the lawbreaker! It’s
easy to become drunk on self-
righteousness. Like power, it
corrupts from within. I didn’t
see any protests when we in-
vaded two sovereign countries.
A war of aggression by any oth-
er name still stinks. It’s still ille-
gal, is still harmful, and still cor-
rupts the aggressor by making
him blind to the humanity of all
God’s children.
That’s all folks! Thanks for
your time.
Elliot S.Wisotsky
Vernonia
Fruit thieves may be
four legged visitors
To the Editor:
I just wanted to write a quick
response to Mr. James
Brookins Letter to the Editor in
the August 16, 2007 edition of
Ike Says…
From page 2
mind. Bees are one of them,
they can make camping un-
bearable if you are not pre-
pared. The lack of water is go-
ing to be another consideration;
you may not be able to depend
on the usual water sources.
The lack of water may also shift
animal numbers in localized ar-
eas, so keep that in mind. The
last consideration is the fire sit-
uation. While I am writing this
article, the situation has moder-
ated but will take only some
lightning to cause major prob-
lems. Some areas may have
road closures due to ongoing
fires, or even last year’s fires,
so call ahead to find out what is
happening where you will be
going.
Donna and I spent a few
days backpacking up in the
Three Sisters Wilderness area.
We hiked in eight miles the first
day and camped by a nice lake
that I used to fish. Yep, dummy
didn’t bring his fishing pole and
the trout were jumping every-
where. Donna said, “It sure
would have been nice to have
some pan fried trout.” Still kick-
ing my butt for that one! Be
safe out there and have fun.
Izaak Walton League,
Nehalem Valley Chapter
meets monthly on the 3rd
Thursday at 7:00 p.m. Call
503-428-7193 for location.
The Independent. Late last
summer, my plum tree was
completely full and thick with
the branches hanging heavy
with ripe wine colored plums
just waiting to be harvested. I
couldn’t wait to bring my bas-
kets out the next morning, and I
had planned to pick each sweet
juicy jewel. So, as planned, the
very next morning I collected
my baskets and scurried out
under the tree. However, I was
shocked to find that EVERY
single plum was gone, except
for the plums far up towards the
very top of the tree. Because
my tree is near the road and
somewhat out of sight from the
house, I obviously assumed
that some fruit thieves came
out in the dark and “stripped”
my tree of all of the plums! So
disappointed and disgusted by
some people’s behavior, I
stomped back to the house and
vented my frustration to my
husband. Now my husband,
having a mind of science and a
heart of optimism, wanted to
look a little closer before agree-
ing with my bandit theory. He
led me back to the tree and pa-
tiently looked very carefully at
almost every branch. Then he
slowly plucked small clumps of
deer or elk hair from some of
the branches on the tree. The
closer I examined the branch-
es, the more I began to see ev-
idence of hair and broken
twigs. Embarrassed because I
quickly assumed the worst in
human nature – I smiled, realiz-
ing the real bandits didn’t have
two legs, but four.
Lynn Berry
Vernonia
Birkenfeld kindness
left great memories
To the Editor:
As first time participants in
Portland to Coast my team and
I were not as prepared as other
racers. We did not bring a tent
and found ourselves dreading
the hot open field that most
vans rested in.
After eating at the café in the
Country Birkenfeld Store,
Mike’s generosity made our
Portland to Coast experience a
lifelong memory when he gra-
ciously offered us the shade of
his land. Not only did we lose
our breath at the sight of such a
beautiful piece of property, we
were fortunate enough to enjoy
a peaceful nap and prepare for
our next legs. People as kind
as Mike seem to become more
rare each year, but he helped
us to see that there are still an-
gels around us. Thank you for a
great meal and a place to
sleep!
Sincerely,
A Happy Portland to Coast
Team.
Kim Almon
Portland
Vernonia needs to
re-open old theater
To the Editor:
Several of my classmates
enjoyed the annual “Old Timers
Picnic” on August 19 in the An-
derson Park. It was great to
catch up with everyone’s
whereabouts and share each
other’s news.
One subject came up we all
vehemently agreed upon, even
with several residents in Ver-
nonia; why has the downtown
theatre never reopened? We all
know the disastrous floods and
all the restoration it entails but I
would think the community-at-
large would demand this. The
theatre could also be used for
drama productions, contests,
awards ceremonies, presenta-
tions and the like. It is unbeliev-
able there is no entertainment
for your residents especially
the children and teenagers.
Everyone should rent the
movie “The Majestic” maybe
that would ensure the inspira-
tion to get the ball rolling!
Thanks for listening.
Sharlee (Powers) Dougherty
VHS Class of 1955
Emmett, ID
Ed. Note: The theater is privately
owned and was closed long before
the floods of 1996.
Benefit dinner raised
funds for Rhiannon
To the Editor:
The dinner for Rhiannon
Meyers’ Recovery fund on Au-
gust 18 was very successful.
We served over 100 people
and earned over $1,100 in
meals and donations. Friends
of Rhiannon – Caressa, Dani,
Dylan, Gina, Kaci, Melissa,
Mitch, Sasha and Travis – vol-
unteered to serve, prepare and
cleanup.
Special thanks to the Ver-
nonia Senior Center for donat-
ing the use of their facilities and
to Bill James for footing the bill
for the dinner.
We are very appreciative to
everyone who volunteered their
time and to all the people who
attended, as well as those who
made such generous dona-
tions. Rhiannon’s family and
friends are very grateful for
your support.
Gina Cropp and
Sasha Mack
Vernonia
Let U.S., not county,
enforce federal laws
To the Editor:
Recent editorials want to
make us believe that the
biggest issue facing Columbia
County today is the hiring of un-
documented workers. It’s not
maintaining our roads, ade-
quate funding of our schools,
stable funding for our county
programs, affordable health
care coverage for our neighbor
or police coverage to make our
community safer. Sorry, but I do
not buy into that scare tactic. It
is certainly not fair that some
unscrupulous contractors hire
illegal, undocumented workers
and then pay them illegal, un-
documented wages that end up
hurting honest, hard-working,
law-abiding local businesses.
But that is an enforcement
problem (paying someone less
than the minimum wage, un-
der-the-table or without a valid
social security identification
number is already a crime), not
a problem calling for more
laws.
A note of reality when it
comes to the issues revolving
around immigration laws – im-
migration or border security is a
Federal responsibility and
should remain a Federal re-
sponsibility. In the most recent
court decision dealing with lo-
cal efforts to enforce anti-immi-
gration laws, the federal judge
Please see page 14
Policy on Letters
The INDEPENDENT will not publish letters that include per-
sonal attacks on private citizens. Because of space limitations,
preference will be given to brief letters, 300 words or less.
All letters must be signed and include a verifiable address or
phone number; all letters are subject to editing for clarity or length.