The INDEPENDENT, May 7, 2009
Page 5
Flu: More information on how More benefits County jobless rate climbs steeply
number of unemployed
for unemployed Columbia County’s seasonal- the
to handle the H1N1 virus
people
rose by 324 to 3,805.
ly adjusted unemployment rate
From page 1
dent absenteeism. Schools
that have been closed based
on previous guidelines may be
reopened
Other details:
• Public hotline: For more in-
formation about the H1N1 in-
fluenza virus, the public may
call a toll-free public health hot-
line weekdays between 8 a.m.
and 5 p.m., Pacific time: 1-800-
978-3040.
• H1N1 testing: U.S. Centers
for Disease Control and Pre-
vention sent testing materials
today to state testing laborato-
ries, with those coming to Ore-
gon expected to arrive over the
weekend. By Monday, Oregon
expects to be able to test for
the H1N1 influenza virus.
• Protections against the flu:
Best protections against the
H1N1 influenza virus are to
wash your hands frequently,
cover coughs and sneezes with
tissue or sleeve (never your
hand), and stay home if you are
ill. Surgical masks can protect
people’s noses and mouths
from droplets carrying the in-
fluenza virus; however, use of
surgical masks is not being rec-
ommended at this stage of the
disease.
• Antivirals: Oregonians are
discouraged from stocking up
on antivirals for which they
have no immediate use.
• Pork not a disease source:
People cannot catch H1N1 in-
fluenza virus, also known as
swine flu, from eating pork.
Washington County public
health has opened a bi-lingual
hotline for citizens concerned
about H1N1 Virus. The hotline
will be available Monday
through Friday from 8:00 a.m.
to 5:00 p.m. The phone number
is 503-846-2999.
Following are precautions to
help prevent the spread of the
H1N1 virus:
• Cover your nose and
mouth with a tissue when you
cough or sneeze. Throw the tis-
sue in the trash after you use it.
• Wash your hands often
with soap and water, especially
after you cough or sneeze. Al-
cohol-based hand cleaners are
also effective.
• Avoid touching your eyes,
nose or mouth. Germs spread
this way.
• Try to avoid close contact
with sick people.
• If you are sick, stay home.
Do not go to work, school,
church, or any public gather-
ings. This is to keep from in-
fecting others and spreading
the virus further.
Elections are scheduled to pick
neighborhood CPAC members
Columbia County will be
holding Citizen Planning Advi-
sory Committee (CPAC) elec-
tions, for those positions whose
term is expiring.
CPACs provide advice and
recommendations on Land Use
Planning to the Planning De-
partment, the Planning Com-
mission and the Board of
County Commissioners. CPAC
members serve for two-year
terms.
Each CPAC is divided into
neighborhoods. Members rep-
resent neighborhoods in which
they reside or own property.
Residents and/or property
owners within the neighbor-
hoods elect their CPAC mem-
bers. There must be at least
five voters from each neighbor-
hood to hold an election for the
neighborhood. In order to be el-
igible to vote you must show ei-
ther picture identification prov-
ing that you live in the CPAC
neighborhood where you will
cast your ballot; or a tax state-
ment proving that you own
property within the neighbor-
hood where you are voting. You
may vote only once in your
CPAC area.
CPAC elections will be held
in the following locations, and
at the following times:
• Upper Nehalem, Tuesday,
May 12 at 7:00 p.m. at Vernon-
ia City Hall, 1001 Bridge St.
• Mist-Birkenfeld, Wednes-
day, May 13 at 7:00 p.m. at the
Hemeon residence, 14090
Wallace Rd., Mist.
For more information about
the boundaries of the CPAC
and the elections process, con-
tact Columbia County Chief
Planner Glen Higgins, or Land
Use Planner Debbie Jacob at
503-397-1501.
(Salem) – Governor Ted Ku-
longoski signed into law Sen-
ate Bill 462, which will allow
6,000 more jobless Oregoni-
ans to qualify for unemploy-
ment benefits. The bill comes
at a crucial time when more
Oregonians are looking for
work and need assistance to
make ends meet as they seek
employment.
“People across Oregon are
struggling and this bill is critical
to keeping food on the table
and shelter overhead for those
who have lost their job due to
the declining economy,” Gover-
nor Kulongoski said. “By
changing how benefits are cal-
culated we are opening the
door for thousands of Oregoni-
ans to get help when they des-
perately need it.”
Current law determines eli-
gibility for benefits based on
something called a “Base
Year.” Wages are counted in
four of the last five calendar
quarters, but wages from the
most recent completed quarter
are not counted. Senate Bill
462 creates an “Alternative
Base Year” which counts
wages from the four most re-
cent completed quarters. Due
to this change in calculation,
more Oregonians will be eligi-
ble for benefits.
The law also allows Oregon
to receive $85 million dollars in
federal funds from the Unem-
ployment Insurance Modern-
ization Act, under the American
Recovery and Reinvestment
Act of 2009, to further enhance
the state unemployment insur-
ance system.
“With this bill we will be able
to take advantage of federal
dollars to provide more efficient
and comprehensive unemploy-
ment insurance services to the
people who need them,” Gov-
ernor Kulongoski said.
Unemployment
benefits
come from an employer-paid
trust fund. The fund is automat-
ically adjusted to provide eight-
een months of benefits through
a moderate recession. Current-
ly, Oregonians can receive a
minimum of $138 and a maxi-
mum of $443 per week for as
many as 79 weeks (including a
federal $25 per week addition).
The state Employment De-
partment will contact individu-
als who will qualify for benefits
under this new law, which
takes effect July 1, 2009.
rose to 14.3 percent in March,
a significant increase from the
previous month (12.2%) and
the year before (6.2%). It also
exceeds the statewide rate
(12.1%) and the national rate
(8.5%). Total employment
dropped by 251 to 21,545 and
Total employment this March
was 1,064 fewer than one year
before and there were 2,246
more people unemployed this
year. March’s unemployment
rate was the highest in the
county since the current data
series began in 1990.
Buy first home canearn tax credit
by Steve Calhoun, Oregon Realty
The American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009 (aka
the Stimulus Bill) authorizes a
tax credit of up to $8,000 for
qualified first time home buyers
who purchase a principal resi-
dence between January 1 and
December 1, 2009.
The purchase date is the
date of closing and title transfer.
The tax credit is equal to 10
percent of the home’s pur-
chase price, up to a maximum
of $8,000, and is refundable
even if the taxpayer has little or
no tax liability. For example, if a
qualified home buyer had a
federal income tax liability of
$5,000 and had tax withholding
of $4,000, he would owe the
IRS $1,000. If that same tax-
payer qualified for the $8,000
home buyer tax credit, he
would receive a check for
$7,000 ($8,000 minus the
$1,000 owed).
A first-time home buyer is
defined as a buyer who has not
owned a principal residence
during the three-year period
prior to the purchase. For mar-
ried taxpayers, the law uses
the home-ownership history of
both spouses.
Vote counting test, ballot drop sites
The Public Certification Test
of Columbia County’s counting
equipment for the May 19 Spe-
cial Districts Election will be
held on Tuesday, May 12.
The testing will begin at 2:00
p.m. in the County Elections
Dept. at the Columbia County
Courthouse The public is wel-
come to attend.
Drop sites for the election
will be as follows:
• Vernonia Library, May 1-18
during regular hours. Hours will
be extended on May 19 from
noon to 8:00 p.m.
• Mist-Birkenfeld RFPD Of-
fice: May 1-18, during regular
office hours, plus extended
hours of noon to 8:00 p.m. on
May 19.