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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (July 16, 2009)
Page 2 The INDEPENDENT, July 16, 2009 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 Free speech under attack We really didn’t want to write this, but certain behav- iors at the July 6 Vernonia City Council meeting were so egregious they need to be addressed. At that meeting, Interim Police Chief Mike Kay re- sponded to criticism about the Vernonia Police Depart- ment (VPD) and, instead of using a positive approach, chose to verbally attack those who wrote letters to the editor that were critical of VPD. Not only did he attack the writers, he made it worse by attacking their chil- dren! Kay made allegations of criminal records that don’t exist and of others that we’ve been unable to ver- ify. We don’t know whether he can’t get his facts straight or he has a problem recognizing truth. In response to Ed Johnson’s guest opinion in the June 18 issue of The Independent, Kay implied that, since the police have been to that writer’s residence 16 times resulting in 11 reports (we didn’t verify these numbers), Johnson has no right to criticize the VPD. Elaina Brasure, wrote a letter to the editor in the July 2 issue of The Independent alleging that Kay threatened to sic his drug dog on her children. Kay didn’t deny her allegation; his response was that Brasure failed to mention that her son is an adult. We must ask, “What difference does that make?” And, by the way, the night after the paper with Brasure’s letter came out, a VPD car was parked, around midnight, in the driveway di- rectly across from Brasure’s house, facing the house with its lights off. Coincidence? Well, we saw it and we’ve never seen them parked there before, nor can we imagine why they would. Was this an attempt at in- timidation or is this how Kay will achieve his policy goal of a highly visible police presence? Much of this council meeting seemed like harass- ment and intimidation with the goal of silencing criti- cism. That goal was made especially obvious by coun- cilors’ implications that this paper shouldn’t have print- ed the criticisms. Free speech be damned! Vernonia’s new administrator, Bob Young, jumped right on Kay’s bandwagon with his letter to the editor, (see Page 3 of this issue). The first version made accu- sations of criminal convictions that Columbia County court systems have no record of issuing. Young said Kay gave him the facts and he trusts Kay. Even when we pointed out they weren’t accurate and told him who to contact, he didn’t verify those ‘facts’. He says that, when mistakes happen, they will admit it and correct it. Does he mean that? Out of My Mind… by Noni Andersen Annoyed with the 24/7 Michael Jackson news coverage? Me, too. But my annoyance had noth- ing to do with Michael Jackson; it was because I’m a news junkie and real life continued during the excessive coverage of an outstanding entertainer. Outstanding, yes; the greatest entertainer ever? No. A certain amount of longevity is need- ed for “greatest ever” in any field. I’m aware that Michael Jackson started at age five but, like all child entertainers, he did what he was told to do. It was after he left the family group (they were good, too) that he started developing his own, fascinating style. Jackson reminds me in many ways of Judy Garland, a child entertainer whose addiction-tor- tured life couldn’t diminish her skillful dancing, excellent comic timing or magnificent voice. Like many child entertainers, Garland’s drug addic- tions started with “uppers” and “downers” intro- duced by adults who considered their production schedules far more important than a teen’s need to rest. Frequently mentioned on TV was Jackson’s success as a cross-over entertainer, whose work was appreciated by multi-ethnic audiences with widely ranging musical preferences. Other than record sales, which have been hugely enhanced by the multiple types of play-back equipment now available, Jackson couldn’t match Louis Armstrong. From relatively obscure beginnings in New Orleans, Armstrong became a favorite, highly anticipated headliner, and not just in America, but in countries on every continent. His crossovers weren’t limited to audiences, they in- cluded music selections from Jelly Roll Morton to Hoagy Carmichael to Richard Rodgers, with his distinctive gravelly voice and a trumpet that spoke an international language. Armstrong played just about every venue available – dives, high society clubs, radio, television and stage. Some derided him as an “Uncle Tom”, but his tal- ent created opportunities for subsequent black entertainers. Now that’s crossover! There are too many great musical entertainers to mention. A few of my favorites include the Richard Tucker/Robert Merrill duet in Bizet’s “The Pearl Fishers”, Merle Haggard’s “Pickin’ Cotton in the Tulare Dust”, Duke Ellington’s “Mood Indigo”, Josh White’s pain-filled voice and guitar on the soul-wrenching “Strange Fruit”, Kiri Te Kanawa in Johann Strauss II’s “Die Fleder- maus”, Freddie Slack’s boogie-woogie with a heavy left hand on “Celery Stalks at Midnight”, Ella Fitzgerald on Ellington’s “Take the A Train”. I love Fritz Kreisler’s schmaltz, Ramsey Lewis’s raunch and Broadway musicals, and I enjoy al- most anything by Luciano Pavarotti, Ella Fitzger- ald, Willie Nelson, Harry Belafonté, Dr. John, Sarah Vaughn, Placido Domingo, Scott Joplin, Pete Seeger and so many others. There will be more “greats”, but two weeks of 24/7 television is excessive by any standard.