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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 21, 2008)
The INDEPENDENT, August 21, 2008 Page 3 Letters Health inspection of Market not warranted To The Editor: The local Health Inspector, in search of violations after a phoned-in tip, recently inspect- ed the Friday night Open Air Market. Perhaps there were some violations, perhaps not. I don’t know; I wasn’t there. Baked goods, frequently sold at the venue and labeled as being from non-certified kitchens, were one possible concern. Ap- parently, no illnesses had been reported. We live in a world where mil- lions of people are homeless due to war and natural disas- ters. Countless people starve to death each day. Our nation is at war in two countries on the other side of the world. Our country’s economy is sliding deeper into recession. In our own county, over sixty percent of the population are living at the lower economic levels, just making it day-to-day. Vernonia has lost whole families to other, more stable communities due to the after-effects of the flood among other problems. Where is the sense of pro- portion here? Next time we, as citizens of this community, see a problem, why not come to- gether with possible solutions instead of complaining, de- stroying, or demanding that our already over-taxed, over-bur- dened, over-worked bureaucra- cies “just fix it!” as if we, our- selves, were uninvolved by- standers in our own lives? A local enterprise had brought much needed income to local inhabitants. Downtown businesses certainly benefited, especially the Buckhorn and the Black Bear among others. The questions we should all be asking ourselves are: Do my actions benefit the community? Am I contributing to the greater good? If we cannot honestly, in good conscience answer YES to these questions before we act, perhaps we should hold our peace until we can. Sincerely, Erika Paleck Vernonia Don’t put U.S. job on Deputies’ shoulders To The Editor: Although I’ve never met Wayne Mayo, it seems he has a bone to pick with me. While supporting his ballot measures at a recent forum, Mayo said that anyone who doesn’t support 5-190 & 5-191 is a “bad American”. Since I find these measures of his pointless and potentially harmful to our county, I guess he means me. Just for the record, I’m a law- abiding, tax-paying resident of Columbia County. I served for a couple of decades in the mili- tary of our country. I’ve been working, pretty much continu- ously, since I was in my teens. I Between the Bookends By Nancy Burch, Librarian Vernonia Public Library The Friends of the Li- brary had a wonderfully successful book sale dur- ing Jamboree weekend. Several energetic ladies worked many, many hours to unpack, organize and sell the books. Many fa- vorable comments were heard about the quality of the books and the way they were organized and displayed. People buying books must be some of the nicest in the world. They are so happy to find books to add to their collections at reason- able prices while supporting worthwhile causes such as Friends of the Library. Thank you all so much for making this such a fabulous success. The summer reading parade entry was fun, well-received and garnered a 1st place in the children’s division. Bill Sword deserves a huge thank you for letting his wagon become a “buggy float” and for pulling it with his trusty tractor. For the youngsters who participate in the parade, having candy to throw is great fun and Randy Parrow of Sentry once again made this possible. Thank you, Randy. All in all, the summer programs were a big success and youngsters have until September 1st to complete their reading goals and turn them in at the library to receive their prizes. With only a couple of weeks until school starts, it’s still vacation time for many families. To keep the vacationing spirit alive you might want to watch RV starring Robin Williams as he drags his reluctant family on a road trip in an at- tempt for them to spend quality time together. (This movie might make you glad you are home.) Those who camp might enjoy the pictures and articles about travel trailers of the past in the cur- rent issue of Reminisce, entitled “On the Road Again” and The Long, Long Trailer with Lucille Ball has some of the funniest scenes imagina- ble. New books include Fractured by Karin Slaughter, It Only Takes a Moment by Mary Jane Clark, Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer, Damage Control by J. A. Jance, Time is a River by Mary Alice Monroe and Off Season by Anne Rivers Siddons. I’m currently reading The Condi- tion by Jennifer Haigh. This novel is of particular interest to me because Gwen, one of the main characters, was born with the same genetic dis- order (Turner’s Syndrome) as was one of our children, and this is the only time I’ve ever seen this particular condition mentioned except in medical articles. With football season starting soon, the family movie this month will be Air Bud, Golden Receiv- er to be shown at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, August 19th. The adult movie for August will be Driving Miss Daisy to be shown Thursday the 28th at 7:00 p.m. Book discussion will take place Monday, Au- gust 25th at 5:30 p.m. with Beryl Markham’s memoir, West With the Night , being the featured book. Vernonia Public Library: 701 Weed Ave. Hours: Mon., Wed., Fri. 10 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Tues., Thur. 1:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. Sat. 10 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Preschool Story Time: Mondays, 10:30 a.m., when school is in session. Phone: 503-429-1818 volunteer, when I can, in the community. My family’s been in the United States for over two hundred years – though there’s some question about whether they all came here legally. And I’m not used to being referred to as a Bad American. I’ve read a whole bunch of emotional arguments, both for and against these measures, but my main objections to them are pretty down-to-earth: Money. Or lack of it. These bills smack of the same sort of thinking that gets folk up to their necks in credit card debt. We aren’t a rich county to start with, but these bills make no provi- sion for raising the funds nec- essary to enact them or carry them out. Instead, they are to be bankrolled by the county’s general fund – is there going to be some huge surplus there that the rest of us are unaware of? The reports I’ve read in the paper seem to indicate the op- posite… Redundancy. There are al- ready several state and Feder- al laws that address the same issues that Mayo’s bills do. His supporters maintain that the laws aren’t being enforced. So the answer is… MORE laws? If Mayo had put half the effort into calling for enforcement of exist- ing laws that he has into drum- ming up support for these bills, he might have had some real success by now. Hell, I proba- bly would have supported him. But then, I guess he wouldn’t have gotten all this publicity Priorities. I can’t bring myself to believe that this is the most pressing criminal issue facing Columbia County. When I read the papers, I read about as- saults, burglaries, drunk driv- ers, and tweakers stealing spools of copper wire. These are the sorts of crimes I’d like to Please see page 22 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. Where to Find Them U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (Democrat-OR) 1220 SW 3rd Avenue, Suite 585 Portland OR 97232 Phone: 503-326-7525 230 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg., Washington, D.C. 20510 Phone: 202-224-5244 Website: http://wyden.senate. gov U.S. Senator Gordon Smith (Republican-OR) One World Trade Center 121 SW Salmon St., Suite 1250 Portland, OR 97204 Phone: 503-326-3386 Fax: 503-326-2900 404 Russell Senate Ofc. Bldg. Washington, D.C. 20510 Phone: 202-224-3753 Website: http://gsmith.senate. gov U.S. Representative David Wu (Democrat-01) 620 SW Main, Suite 606 Portland, OR 97205 Phone: 503-326-2901 Fax: 503-326-5066 2338 Rayburn Building Washington, DC 20515 Phone: 202-225-0855 Fax: 202-225-9497 Website: http://house.gov/wu Senator Betsy Johnson (Democrat-16) PO Box R, Scappoose, OR 97056 Phone: 503-543-4046 900 Court St. NE, S-314 Salem, OR 97301 Phone: 503-986-1716 E-mail: sen.betsyjohnson@ state.or.us Website: http//www.leg.state.or. us/johnson Representative Brad Witt (Democrat-31) 21740 Lindberg Road, Clatskanie, OR 97016 Phone: 503-728-4664 900 Court St. NE, H-277 Salem, OR 97301 Phone: 503-986-1431 E-mail: rep.bradwitt@state.or.us Website: http//www.leg.state.or. us/witt Representative Deborah Boone (Democrat-32) PO Box 926 Cannon Beach, OR 97110 Phone: 503-717-9182 900 Court St. NE, H-375 Salem, OR 97301 Phone: 503-986-1432 E-mail: rep.deborahboone@ state.or.us Website: http//www.leg.state.or. us/boone
