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.