PRESORTED STANDARD
U.S. Postage Paid
Vernonia, OR 97064
Permit No. 37
Vol. 23, No. 21
“Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley”
Zoning is first step for
possible airport project
Autumn glory
By Rebecca McGaugh
It may be hard to remember this year’s remarkably colorful fall once winter’s grey sets in,
so we need to enjoy this glorious autumn while it lasts.
Hyde, Fisher win; Banks School bond is voted down
Columbia, Washington and
Clatsop Counties agreed with the
majority of Oregon voters for feder-
al and state candidates, so this ar-
ticle will refer only to election is-
sues of interest to voters in The IN-
DEPENDENT circulation area.
County Board of Commission-
ers, Position 1.
Judge Jenefer Grant re-
tained her position on the coun-
Columbia County
The next Society of Ameri-
can Foresters woodcut for Ver-
nonia flood survivors will be
Saturday, November 15. Volun-
teers are asked to meet at 8:00
a.m. at the weigh station on
Hwy 26 near the junction with
Hwy 6 (to Tillamook). From
there, empty pickup trucks will
go to the home of Kim and Lin-
da Swanson of Banks, who
have donated 3-4 loads of cut
and split wood to be picked up
and delivered to Vernonia.
In Vernonia, the meeting
place is the Wauna Federal
Credit Union parking lot be-
Columbia County voters re-
turned Republican Tony Hyde
to the Board of Commissioners,
Position 3, for another term in
his race against Democrat Pat
Zimmerman. Hyde was one of
few Republicans approved by
county voters in this year’s
General Election, a result that
reflected both his constituent
service and a widely-held opin-
ion that the BOC should be
non-partisan.
Democrat Earl Fisher won
handily over Republican Glen
Dorschler for the Columbia
November 6, 2008
ty Circuit Court, fending off
challenger David Herr.
Justice Court Judge Wally
Please see page 14
Woodcutting set for flood victims
tween 9:30 and 10:00 a.m.
(across from city hall). From
there, a crew will go to the
home of Mitch and Leslie Seib-
ert to cut, split and load wood.
Needed items to bring; open
bed pickup trucks, trailers,
wood splitters, splitting mauls,
chain saws, and related gear.
Anyone running a saw should
have chaps, goggles, ear pro-
tections, and gloves.
Everyone should dress for
the weather and bring water,
coffee and lunch.
For more information, call
Robert Alverts at 503-639-0405.
Does Vernonia need more
land near the Airport designat-
ed as Airport Industrial? Local
businessman Tim Bero thinks
the answer is yes, so he took
the question to the Columbia
County Planning Commission
on August 18.
The Planning Commission’s
answer was a 2-3 split in oppo-
sition to the requested zoning
change.
What is this all about? A
number of years ago, some of
the city-owned land at Vernonia
Airport was rezoned as Airport
Industrial. That would allow air-
port related businesses to open
shop at the airport. For in-
stance, those businesses could
repair planes, make plane
parts, or run any other busi-
ness that would meet the defi-
nition for that zone. To date, no
businesses have developed on
the city-owned industrial land
at the Vernonia Airport.
Recently, Tim and Michelle
Bero, who own and operate
TNW Firearms, Inc., on Timber
Road, bought land that includes
27 acres adjacent to the Ver-
nonia Airport. The Beros ap-
plied to the county to change
the zoning for that acreage
from Primary Forestland to Air-
port Industrial and are calling
their development plan, Eagles
Nest Business Park. Using
their property, they would like
to extend the airport’s runway
to make it safer and more ac-
cessible to small planes. Tim
Bero said they would also like
to make the existing house on
the property into a bed and
breakfast, set up additional
Please see page 4
Loggers head to
State playoffs
The Vernonia High School
Loggers Football team will
play in the first round of state
football playoffs on Friday
night, November 7.
Willamina (6-3), West Val-
ley’s No. 2 seed, will host
Vernonia (3-6) at Willamina.
GO LOGGERS!
Lesson: Turkeys don’t float!
This lesson we learned very
well last year as many of the
donated turkeys perished in the
flood. With the help of Patty Fo-
gel, Marc Farmer, Columbia
Pacific Food Bank in St. Helens
and other generous donations
of turkeys, food and money,
Vernonia Cares gave out over
300 Christmas food boxes fol-
lowing the flood. It is time, once
again, to begin herding turkeys
for this annual event. Cares will
provide groceries for an entire
Christmas dinner, including a
turkey, for low-income house-
holds. This is the sixth year for
the Christmas Turkey Drive.
Currently, more than 450
clients (approximately double
since last year) representing
160 households are helped
each month according to Direc-
tor Sandy Welch. The goal this
year is to provide 300 to 350
Christmas food boxes to clients
as well as other households
who need a helping hand dur-
ing the holidays. Many commu-
nity members are still strug-
gling to make ends meet fol-
lowing the flood’s devastation.
Between now and Thanks-
giving, most grocery stores ad-
vertise their turkey promotions.
The turkeys that are donated
now are distributed only at
Christmas, but now is the time
to gather and store them frozen
for the Christmas food boxes.
Vernonia Sentry makes it
Please see page 14