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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (June 18, 2009)
Page 20 The INDEPENDENT, June 18, 2009 Polar Bear challenge for teenagers Local teens can join the fight against global warming, help save imperiled polar bears in the Arctic and maybe earn a trip to the San Diego Zoo, in a new competition sponsored by Polar Bears International. Project Polar Bear chal- lenges teams of two or three teenagers, ages 14 to 18, to develop a community project aimed at reducing carbon diox- ide in the atmosphere. For the contest, PBI has teamed up with North American communi- ties whose zoos, like the Ore- gon Zoo, have polar bears. “This is a great chance for local teens to become involved in polar bear conservation by educating themselves and the community,” said Julie Christie, Oregon Zoo marine life keeper. The winning team will re- ceive a VIP tour of the San Diego Zoo, including a behind- the-scenes look at its Polar Bear Plunge exhibit, plus ad- mission to SeaWorld San Diego and a $500 prize for each participating student. The teens also will be interviewed about their involvement in the program for a PBI video. To enter the competition, teams must register by July 31 at www.polarbearsinternational .org/project-polar-bear. Groups will decide on a project and complete progress reports to measure the success and im- pact of their efforts. Each team will also have its own Web page for showing before and after pictures, videos, audio in- terviews and other data demonstrating the outcome of its project. Polar Bears International is a nonprofit organization pro- moting worldwide polar bear conservation and support for research and educational proj- ects that benefit the world’s largest land predator. For more information, visit www.polar bearsinternational.org. The zoo opens at 8 a.m. dai- ly and is located just off High- way 26. The zoo is also acces- sible by MAX light rail line. Ad- ditional information is available at www.oregonzoo.org or by calling 503-226-1561. Don’t let change keep you down From page 8 change can happen in sec- onds, accepting that change takes much longer. Give your- self that time. And, while doing so, remember the positive, sta- ble things still in your life. Make a list of family, friends, and things you enjoy, and you’ll find that there’s much that hasn’t changed at all. It’s said that every time one door closes, another door opens. You can let change sim- ply overwhelm you, or you can make the effort and take the time to see what new directions and new possibilities just might be waiting. Approach change as a positive experience and you just may find it is. W illiams M etal F ab Custom Fabrication & Welding All Metals Including Stainless Steel & Aluminum Portable W ELDING A VAILABLE 5 0 3 - 4 2 9 - 8 4 3 1 17819 Noakes Rd., Vernonia, Oregon Guest Opinion From page 2 cause Kay was hired in 2004 and this is about the time aggressive police tactics began appear- ing in Vernonia. Before then, you never heard of anything like this happening around here. And Scott…it’s more than just “at times” that police abuse their powers. I see articles practically everyday where some cop is being investigated or indicted for questionable, abusive, or some type of illegal behavior. From a psychological point of view there is a very fine line between the criminal psyche and that of a law enforcement officer. There were no surprises when Jim Johnson brought in Howard Webb to present his one sided opinion regarding this matter. However, I must question Howard’s integrity for not with- drawing himself since he is Mike Kay’s friend. It’s like allowing one to judge their self. This also draws Jim Johnson’s integrity into question by allowing this to occur. And, for Scott to taint the jury pool by presenting a one sided accounting of what occurred is really unprofessional for a journalist and a media. Opinions of Howard Webb, Jim Johnson, and Jon Eggers of the St. Helens Police Department are all based on the sole perspective of a single entity. I viewed Howard’s website and I was not im- pressed with his 55 page profile of repetitious and redundant text. Everything in his profile could have been said in about five pages. I’m quite skeptical of his alleged accomplishments. I’m not sure what to make of this; he either thinks very highly of himself or he’s attempting to pro- mote and defend a multi-billion dollar industry; namely law enforcement. Scott pointed out that Howard’s organization was non-profit. I find this difficult to believe since this is how he makes his living. Howard gets paid for being a professional witness. He may not have been paid by the City of Vernonia but my understanding is he was paid by the city’s insurance company. So what’s the difference…he got paid! Of course Howard regurgitated the usual Taser International’s (TI) standard claims and defenses: Law enforcement only uses a Taser as an alternative to shooting someone and a police officer would not, normally, apply one as a means of brutality, Tasers are safe, people don’t die from being Tasered, etc. It’s understandable that TI diligently defends their product since this is where and how their profits are derived. However, I find their claims questionable. For example: The first claim im- plies that if a police officer didn’t have a Taser, when dealing with an intoxicated and disorderly person, they would shoot them. Is this what they did in the past before they even had such devis- es? I don’t think so…they handled it by other means, such as, developing their abilities to physically restrain an individual. Second, if a Taser was safe why’s there so much emphasis placed on safety when working with electricity? I’ve worked in the electronics industry for 25 years and the first thing I learned, from day one, and the number one precaution, was…“don’t get shocked” – less than a milliamp can kill you. They even attempt to compare the use of a de- fibrillator with that of a Taser by citing how much more output the defibrillator has. Defibrillators are only used on people that are already techni- cally dead (or would be if not applied) so this ar- gument, to me, is a moot point. TI states all types of reasons why people die after being Tasered such as they fell and hit their head, they were so worked up they had a heart attack, or they choked, alcohol poisoning, etc. But, according to TI a person has never died from the Taser, itself. This is a ridiculous claim. Even if death wasn’t caused directly by the TASER it at least contributed to the death. And of course…at the last city council meeting there was no mention of the man the Salem police killed with a Taser over the Memorial Day week- end. A point to make regarding the similarities between the Salem incident and the one here is the number of officers involved. There were four officers on the guy in Salem and three in Vernon- ia. Furthermore, Scott, it’s pretty lame to use a statistic to justify a death in a society that places a very high value on life. I noted that the City Council seemed to buy into the city administrator’s defense of the VPD. Or did they? Maybe they’re covering for their buddy, Mike Kay. It seems that the current mem- bership of the city council is made up of a close knit clan. It appears that Kevin Hudson, Cindy Ball, Jim Johnson, and Mike Kay have a very close relationship. In addition, Cindy Ball’s two daughters seem to contribute a significant amount of time to the VPD. I have nothing against volunteers but when there’s a significant relationship, among those involved, ulterior mo- tives become a question. It also appears that Kevin Hudson is grooming Mike Kay for an even- tual position as chief. At this time Mike Kay does- n’t qualify for chief because he doesn’t have the proper credentials. There appears to be a signif- icant conflict here. A scenario of this nature is politically un- healthy. There’s no opposition…or any opposi- tion that may exist would certainly be out num- bered. I’m not sure where all these folks came from but they certainly didn’t come from around here. This small group of people has basically taken over our community. Kevin and Cindy should be ashamed of themselves; they’ve cre- ated a conflict of interest between the city coun- cil and the VPD. The city council should be di- recting the VPD but it appears that VPD is direct- ing the city council. I’ve been attending the city council meetings for the past couple of months and not once have I observed any opposition to a VPD request. I haven’t even observed anyone aggressively question a request. At this time I’m recommending that Kevin Hudson and Cindy Ball resign from the City Council or at least re- frain from commenting and voting on any VPD affairs. I’m also proposing a ban on the use of TASER and all similar devises in the City of Ver- nonia.