Page 2
The INDEPENDENT, November 6, 2008
The
INDEPENDENT
Published on the first and third Thursdays of each month by
The Independent, LLC, 725 Bridge St., Vernonia, OR 97064.
Phone/Fax: 503-429-9410.
Publisher Clark McGaugh, clark@the-independent.net
Editor Rebecca McGaugh, rebecca@the-independent.net
Mentor Noni Andersen
Printed on recycled paper with vegetable based dyes
Opinion
Thanks for clean campaign
We want to thank Tony Hyde, and others, for running
a “clean” campaign. We didn’t see any Hyde advertise-
ments that put his opponent down or slung mud at any-
body. It was a welcome change from so many of the
electoral contests this year.
Two more years of same?
Sally Harrison ran unopposed and won two more
years as Vernonia’s Mayor. We hope her memory
works better the next two years then it did the last two.
Remember, Harrison is the one who didn’t remember
signing, or approving, the $119,000+ check (until we
showed her a copy) using the loan reserves to pay off
another loan and sticking all of Vernonia with the
$11.50 loan repayment fee on our utility bills (until De-
cember). In fact, she was recently still blaming others
for this situation. Her latest memory lapse was signing
an endorsement for Senator Gordon Smith and then
endorsing his opponent, Jeff Merkley. Then saying she
‘forgot’ she endorsed Smith.
On the other hand, the whole council voted to raise
the park fee from $1 to $2 and then starting talking
about needing new playground equipment at Hawkins
Park. Meanwhile, they have allowed weeds and mud to
take over the playground at Vernonia Lake, even tear-
ing out equipment rather then repairing or replacing it.
While we’re talking about utility rate increases…at
one of the rate increase public hearings a resident
spoke up and wondered why she had to pay the sewer
fees on a house that hadn’t existed since it was de-
stroyed by the flood. At the following council meeting
where council approved the rate increases, we asked
how the city knew who didn’t have sewer and were as-
sured by city staff that they had identified everyone in
that situation and were giving them monthly credits.
The resident in question did not start getting her cred-
its until we called city hall specifically on her behalf, af-
ter both of the above meetings. Well, mistakes do hap-
pen, huh?
At this point, the citizens of Vernonia bear the re-
sponsibility for our city leadership or lack thereof be-
cause no one was willing to step forward and run for
Mayor. Next time, please consider serving. This city,
like so many other small cities, is run by volunteers.
Here you really can make a difference – good or bad.
Ike Says…
By Dale Webb, member
Nehalem Valley Chapter, Izaak Walton League
What a difference a
year makes. Last year we
just about tagged out on
deer in Eastern Oregon,
but this year we almost
didn’t punch any tags. My
son, Michael, managed to
bag a forked horn; the rest
of us drew a blank, al-
though some of us had
our chances. The unfortunate aspect of our sto-
ry is that it was wide spread across Eastern Ore-
gon. Many sportspeople were reporting the same
thing in their units – lots of Does, but not very
many bucks. Some areas reported not very
many deer period, that is even more trouble-
some. What is behind the low harvests? A bad
winter and predators, a very simple equation for
low harvests. As usual, the Does had plenty of
fawns during the season, it is simply a matter of
getting those fawns to recruit into the deer herd
if we expect to gain harvestable deer.
Taking a deer is only part of the equation
when it comes to the enjoyment of a deer trip.
Simply getting away from the job and entering
into the wilderness to deal with her terms is fun.
This year we set up our usual camp in the usual
spot on Wednesday in nice sunny weather; the
next day we were hunting in a pretty good snow-
storm. We ended up with six inches of snow be-
fore it was done and it was a good hunting snow.
Many times snow ends up being crunchy, which
the deer can hear and flee from. We have a com-
fortable tent camp, a wood stove, dining table,
cook table and three cots. We always have plen-
ty of grub to eat and, once a buck hits the
ground, the menu quickly expands to heart and
liver. This year the heart was literally shot, so we
ended up with just the liver from Mike’s buck.
Dad had grown some Walla Walla sweet onions
and I had the honor of doing the cooking. I like
my onions cooked until slightly caramelized, the
liver floured and cooked quick on a high heat.
Let me tell you, it was good! It is also interesting
to see what shows up on the menu, this year’s
surprise dish was sweet and sour meat balls on
spaghetti noodles, Mom about had a fit when she
heard what we did with the meat balls she had
sent with us. Personally, I thought the noodles
were just as good as the rice she had intended
for us to use, besides, the noodle package was
already open – good call Dad. Surprise dishes in
the past have not turned out so well; we all seem
to remember the Blue Grouse goulash Dad
cooked up. Darn, those grouse were tougher
than a boot!
Getting out and hunting is also part of the
trip’s big picture. Getting some good physical hik-
ing, looking at new country and getting back into
the packing board straps all bring back memo-
ries of years past, years of big bucks and plenty
of game. Now we are starting to face fewer ani-
mals and fleeting shots at younger bucks. While
it would be nice to turn back the hands of time, it
Please see page 2