PRESORTED STANDARD
U.S. Postage Paid
Vernonia, OR 97064
Permit No. 37
Vol. 24, No. 9
“Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley”
May 7, 2009
Town Hall on ideas for new schools
The Banks Junior High Jazz Band entertained as bidders looked over items for the silent auc-
tion portion of the annual Banks Community Auction. Those attending could also enjoy a
spaghetti dinner prepared by FFA alumni.
Swine flu update Free health tests Free immunization
As of 2:00 p.m. yesterday,
45 cases of H1N1 influenza
virus had been confirmed by
the Oregon State Public Health
Laboratory in Hillsboro. Three
cases were confirmed in
Washington County, but none
in Columbia County.
“Our laboratory work contin-
ues and these numbers are
likely to change,” Mel Kohn,
M.D., state public health officer
in the Oregon Department of
Human Services, said. “As this
virus becomes more wide-
spread, there will be more
transmission in Oregon.”
The state Public Health Divi-
sion has adopted CDC recom-
mendations that now do not
advise school closure, in gen-
eral, for a suspected or con-
firmed case of this novel virus.
Instead, similar to seasonal flu,
local school district decisions
on closure should be based on
the magnitude of faculty or stu
See Flu, page 5
today and Friday
for K-7 students
Free health screenings will
be available at the Vernonia Li-
ons Mobile Screening Unit on
May 7-8 behind Washington
Grade School.
Student tests for vision and
hearing will be performed May
7 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
and May 8, from 8:30 a.m. to
noon.
Tests for community mem-
bers will be provided May 8
from noon to 5:00 p.m. and will
include vision, hearing, dia-
betes and blood pressure. No
appointments are needed.
Columbia County Public
Health will be providing free
immunizations for kindergarten
through seventh grade for
those immunizations needed to
stay in school.
Parents are urged to take
advantage of the free immu-
nizations on May 8 from 8:15
a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Parents must
sign a permission slip for their
child to receive immunizations.
Contact school nurse Heidi
Brown for info: 503-429-7941.
Help Stamp Out Hunger, Saturday
You can Help Stamp Out
Hunger on May 9. The National
Association of Letter Carriers
and the United State Postal
Service will be collecting non-
perishable food items to help
families in need in our commu-
nity.
Residents inside Vernonia
city limits should place food do-
nation items at your mailbox on
May 9 before your letter carrier
arrives. Suggested items in-
clude canned meats and fish,
canned soup, juice, pasta, veg-
etables, cereal and rice
.All donations will stay in the
community.
Vernonia Schools hosted a
Town Hall meeting, April 28, to
share information on schools
that have been visited for ideas
about what Vernonia’s new
schools should be like.
Just over 50 people attend-
ed the meeting and break-out
groups to review information.
There were to be six stations
but, due to technical difficulties
with computers, some stations
were discussion only. Most of
the site visits unearthed the
same positive attributes – flexi-
ble spaces, lots of light, lots of
storage, and many also had in-
ternal courtyards to provide air
and light.
The “Boot” site, currently the
preferred site for new schools
has shown “no fatal flaws” in
it’s initial geo-tech study. Wet-
lands on site can be dealt with
and drainage will take care of
any other water problems,
those present were told.
Planning
will
continue
through July, then nine months
of detailed planning is expect-
ed (including three months of
initial site preparation). The
schools should start going up in
2011, according to the sched-
ule BOORA Architects outlined.
A presentation at 3:00 p.m.
today, in the middle school
cafeteria, will be on alternate
versions of potential space
uses. The final program on the
use of space will be at 3:00
p.m., May 14, before a BOORA
presentation to the Board at
6:00 p.m.
Help Make Vernonia
Shine on May 16
Vernonia Pride invites the
community to come out on May
16 and help “Make Vernonia
Shine”.
Registration will start at 9:00
a.m. in the parking lot at Provi-
dence Medical Center.
Participants are asked to
bring tools such as hoes,
rakes, and weed-eaters for
cleaning yards, parks, etc.
There will NOT be a free
dump day or a place to take
yard debris this year.
Free lunch for volunteers
will be from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m.,
in the covered picnic area at
Anderson Park.
Free child seat safety clinic today
Columbia County Safe Kids,
in partnership with Alliance for
Community Traffic Safety
(ACTS Oregon) and several
community partners, will hold a
free child safety seat check-up
today, May 7, at the Vernonia
Fire Station, 555 E. Bridge
Street, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.
The clinic provides an op-
portunity to have a child safety
seat checked by a certified
technician who can correct
misuse, help with installation
and teach you how to correctly
install the seat. Technicians
can also check for seat recalls.
There is no cost to have a tech-
nician check your child safety
seats. Please plan to spend 30-
60 minutes at the event.
Additionally, through a grant
funded by the Oregon Depart-
ment of Transportation, Colum-
bia County Safe Kids is also
able to provide low-cost child
safety seats to families in need.
Families can get a coupon for a
reduced cost seat from several
See Safety, page 4
VHS Equestrian Team
Good Luck at State, May 14