PRESORTED STANDARD
U.S. Postage Paid
Vernonia, OR 97064
Permit No. 37
Vol. 24, No. 15
“Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley”
August 6, 2009
Crisis fund set up to help alleviate
cuts in housing assistance aid
United Way of Columbia
County has set up a crisis fund
and is accepting contributions
from the community to aid
those families who were ad-
versely affected by recent cut-
backs in assistance from the
Northwest Oregon Housing Au-
thority (NOHA). The Housing
Authority and Community Ac-
tion Team (CAT) calculate it will
cost approximately $140,000 to
meet the housing needs of Co-
lumbia County’s affected fami-
lies over the next four months.
Contributions designated to
the 2009 Housing Crisis fund
can be made by calling the
United Way office at 503-556-
3614 to use your credit card or
by sending check or money or-
der to United Way of Columbia
County, P.O. Box 538, Rainier,
OR 97048. Be sure to indicate
“2009 Housing Crisis Fund” on
your donations. You may desig-
nate your contribution for assis-
tance in Columbia County. If
you have any questions about
this situation and the use of
these funds, contact Rocky
Johnson, Executive Director of
CAT, at 503-397-3511 or Carol
Snell, Executive Director of
NOHA, at 503-861-0119, ext.
112.
This photo, taken last year, is typical of the action at the Banks BBQ , Truck/Tractor Pull &
Combine Demolition Derby. This year’s event will be August 14-16.
Application process started for a
Didn’t shave? Then bring your 64th annual Banks hospital to be built in St. Helens
The Oregon Department of vant correspondence and may
face to the Grange beard contest! BBQ August 14-16 Human
Services (DHS) is be- be a party to any future infor-
Remember way back to
1959 when Oregon was cele-
brating the state’s centennial
with a beard growing contest in
different communities? In Ver-
nonia that year, Marion Steers
won with his magnificent and
‘bright red’ beard.
Now that the state in 2009 is
celebrating its sesquicentennial
– that’s 150 years – Vernonia,
during its annual Friendship
Jamboree will be having one of
those ‘Beard Contests’.
On Sunday, August 9, the
Vernonia Grange #305, 457
North Street, is sponsoring a
Beard contest for those want-
ing to show off their long-grow-
ing facial hairs also known as
‘whiskers’!
The judging will begin at
2:00 p.m. with a variety of cate-
gories being judged (e.g.
longest, ugliest, most colorful,
best and worst kept, scraggli-
est, people’s choice, etc.).
There is even a category for
that special lady!
For more information, call
503-429-7731. It costs only a
$1.00 donation for each cate-
gory (to pay for the awards).
County mandates furloughs for
workers to help balance budget
The Columbia County Board
of Commissioners approved
the implementation of furlough
days throughout the rest of
2009 through June 2010 for
county departments, with the
exception of the Sheriff’s Office
and the Road & Parks Depart-
ment. All county offices, except
the Road & Parks Department,
will be closed to the public on
these furlough days.
This action is being taken as
a result of budget shortfalls due
to the recession that Oregon
and the economy in general
has been facing. Of the coun-
See Furloughs, page 5
Get ready for fun and lots of
action at this year’s 64th annu-
al Banks BBQ, Truck/Tractor
Pull and Combine Demolition
Derby to be held August 14-16
at Banks Sunset Park.
Many other events will make
a weekend of fun, including a
parade, lots of kids’ games, a
beer hall and great barbecue.
See page 28 for the full
schedule of events.
Vernonia Jamboree
starting tomorrow
A full weekend of activities
and events will keep everyone
busy during the 53rd annual
Vernonia Friendship Jam-
boree, August 7-9. There’s fun
for everyone with a Kids Fish-
ing Derby, art show & sale, pa-
rade, horse gaming, logging
show, motorcycle show, car
show, concerts, drama, pet
party, book sale, teen dance,
lots of food and more.
See page 13 for the full
schedule of events.
ginning its review of an applica-
tion from Columbia Health Dis-
trict for a state certificate of
need to build a new hospital in
St. Helens.
The application is for a 12-
bed general acute care hospital
to be located at 35311 Millard
Rd. in St. Helens (near the in-
tersection of Millard Road and
U.S. Highway 30).
State law charges DHS offi-
cials with reviewing proposals
for new hospitals and nursing
facilities to ensure health care
consumers don’t pay for facili-
ties not justified by community
needs.
Jana Fussell, DHS certifi-
cate of need coordinator, said a
proposed decision about need
for the proposed St. Helens
project will be issued no later
than Oct. 22.
Anyone who has a vested
interest in the outcome of the
DHS decision may request af-
fected party status. Anyone
designated as an affected per-
son will receive copies of rele-
mal or contested case hearing.
A public meeting will be sched-
uled at which affected parties
and other individuals and or-
ganizations may provide testi-
mony regarding this applica-
tion.
DHS will make a copy of the
application available for in-
spection during normal busi-
ness hours in suite 930 of the
Portland State Office Building
at 800 N.E. Oregon St., Port-
land. For further information,
contact Jana Fussell at 971-
673-1108.
Fireworks Notice
There will be about a 10-
minute fireworks display on
Saturday, August 8, after
the concert on the Vernon-
ia school grounds.
This notice is to inform
the community so those
with pets can take ade-
quate precautions to keep
them safe during the loud
noise associated with the
fireworks.