The INDEPENDENT, August 6, 2009
Where to Find Them
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden
(Dem)
1220 SW 3rd Avenue, Suite 585
Portland OR 97232
Phone: 503-326-7525
223 Dirksen Senate Ofc. Bldg.
Washington, D.C. 20510-0001
Phone: 202-224-5244
E-Mail: http://wyden.senate.gov/
contact
Website: http://wyden.senate.
gov
U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley
(Dem.)
One World Trade Center
121 SW Salmon St., Suite 1250
Portland, OR 97204
Phone: 503-326-3386
107 Russell Senate Ofc. Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-3753
E-Mail: senator@merkley.sen
ate. gov
WebSite: http://merkley.senate.
gov
U.S. Representative David Wu
(Dem) OR District 1
620 SW Main, Suite 606
Portland, OR 97205
Phone: 503-326-2901
2338 Rayburn House Ofc. Bldg.
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-0855
Website: http://house.gov/wu
Senator Betsy Johnson
(Dem) Senate District 16
PO Box R,
Scappoose, OR 97056
Phone: 503-543-4046
900 Court St. NE, S-314
Salem, OR 97301
Phone: 503-986-1716
E-mail: sen.betsyjohnson@
state.or.us
Website: http//www.leg.state.or.
us/johnson
Representative Brad Witt
(Dem) House District. 31
21740 Lindberg Road,
Clatskanie, OR 97016
Phone: 503-728-4664
900 Court St. NE, H-373
Salem, OR 97301
Phone: 503-986-1431
E-mail: rep.bradwitt@state.or.us
Website: http//www.leg.state.or.
us/witt
Representative Deborah
Boone
(Dem) House District 32
PO Box 926
Cannon Beach, OR 97110
Phone: 503-717-9182
900 Court St. NE, H-375
Salem, OR 97301
Phone: 503-986-1432
E-mail: rep.deborahboone@
state.or.us
Website: http//www.leg.state.or.
us/boone
Page 3
Letters
Community will fail
without our schools
To the Editor:
What would Vernonia look
like without its schools?
Families would move out,
and as a result property values
would go down. There would
be no sporting events, which
are such popular entertainment
events for our community. Due
to lack of population, the health
clinic would close, and our mar-
ket would likely be gone, along
with other local businesses we
depend on every day.
We can have a beautiful new
school that would attract new
families to our community. Of
course, grant providers need to
see community participation in
projects before they dispense
any money. That is why it is so
important to pass our school
bond measure – we need that
grant money!
We realize that times are
tough right now for everyone,
but we can tighten our belts
and do what’s right to keep our
beautiful community alive and
vital.
We urge everyone to attend
the Town Hall meetings to ask
questions and learn more
about the plans for new
schools, and the school bond
we must pass. A Town Hall
meeting is planned for some-
time in August, please watch
for the date.
The Vernonia Health Center
Board is committed to providing
health care to our unique com-
munity. Passing the school
bond issue is vital to that com-
mitment.
Let’s work together to keep
what we are blessed to have.
Vernonia Health Center
Board of Directors
Carolyn Keasey, Chairman
Barbara Ervin
Marie Krahn
Darlene McLeod
Wendy Sears
Debbie Snook
Robert Wagner
A great summer with
local Midget Baseball
To the Editor:
How’s Your Summer Been?
Well ours has been great! We
have had the great pleasure of
watching the Vernonia Logger
Midget Baseball team all sum-
mer long. What a thrill it’s been
to watch these 10 year-old ath-
letes show us their stuff! They
have so much skill and knowl-
edge at this young age about
the game due to the coaching
provided by coaches Morrison,
Butcher, Tolonen and Cieloha.
The much improved team
was undefeated in their league
this season which in turn sent
them to the “Midget National
State Tournament” in Eugene
where they finished 4th out of the
12 teams playing. Pretty great for
a little town like Vernonia!
Thank you to all of our boys
for such a fun and skillful sea-
son!
The team was: Trask Zook
(#70), Jake Patton (#20), Clay
Sullivan (#10), Jarod Shaw
(#24), Hayden Elton Cieloha
(#14), Tristan Adams (#16),
Baily Morrison (#2), Jacob
Butcher (#1), Jason Foutch
(#27), Brett Elliot (#9), Chase
Tolonen (#22), and Daniel
Fletcher (#18).
Special thanks to #14 for
making us proud and showing
good sportsmanship (and not
losing any teeth inside 3rd).
An Oregon Perspective
By Senator Jeff Merkley
Lowering Health
Care Costs and
Providing Choice
At the beginning of July,
I held town hall meetings
in Umatilla, Polk, Clacka-
mas, Linn, Marion, and
Multnomah Counties. At
each meeting, the most
prominent issue of concern was health care.
People of all walks of life are paying dramati-
cally more for health care than they used to.
These high costs are hurting our families and our
small businesses. Last year, we spent 17 per-
cent of our gross domestic product on health
care; in the last nine years, costs have doubled
for the average family. In May, Oregon’s largest
insurer announced that the average small busi-
ness premium was going up 14.7 percent – on
top of a 26 percent increase last year. Health
care costs are an increasing drag on our econo-
my and the pocketbooks of working families.
In my role on the Senate Health, Education,
Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, I’ve
been working with my colleagues on a plan for
health care reform that will lower costs, provide
consumers with more choices, and increase
competition.
The change would work like this: Americans
who are happy with their current health plan can
keep it. But if you don’t like your plan and you
want to look at other options, we’re going to
make sure you have a choice of quality, afford-
able health plans. This will lower costs and it will
also force insurance companies to provide better
services to their customers.
One of those options will be a community
health insurance plan offered by the federal gov-
ernment. This public option will be an additional
choice to increase competition, lower prices, and
keep insurance companies honest, so families
won’t be entirely at the mercy of the insurance
companies. Most Oregonians I’ve talked to – and
about three-quarters of Americans according to
the polls – like the idea of having a choice of
what type of plan they want rather than having
the federal government make that decision for
them.
Over the next few months, we’ll be engaging
in a nationwide discussion about the direction of
health care in our country. We’ll have before us a
choice between a system that gets more and
more expensive every year, leaves middle class
families one pink slip from losing their health cov-
erage, and makes our businesses less competi-
tive, or an improved model that increases health
care options, expands care, and lowers costs. I
don’t think we can afford to do nothing.
We have a once in a generation opportunity to
remake our health care system for the better. I in-
vite you to contact my office and talk to your
friends and family about your opinion because
we can only enact real change if you make your
voices heard.
Keep up the good work, next
season will be here before you
know it!
GO LOGGERS!
Larry & Shelley Elton
Vernonia
Help is needed to get
man on transplant list
To the Editor:
My name is Darrold Mushatt
and I grew up here in Vernonia.
I graduated from Vernonia High
School and then worked differ-
ent jobs before joining the Army
where I served for five years.
My wife, Teresa, and I are the
parents of two boys and two
daughters and we live here in
Vernonia. We are in need of
your support and assistance.
I am 32 years old and have
always worked hard. In April of
2007, I started feeling sick. One
day I would feel fine and the
next I would have no energy
and feel sick to my stomach.
Tests were done here at the
Vernonia Medical Clinic and af-
ter taking what seemed to be all
of my blood, Dr. Gilmore broke
the bad news that my kidneys
had failed and she already had
a room set up for me at Provi-
dence Hospital in Portland. My
world immediately turned up-
side down and inside out.
Three surgeries and five
days later, catheters were
placed in my thigh, chest, and
wrist for kidney dialysis. Going
back to work was difficult at
best as I worked swing shift
and would have to coordinate
two-hour trips for dialysis. I
would go in for dialysis from
6:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., then be
at work at 3:00 p.m. which
made for extremely long days.
It was proving to be too costly
financially and physically, so
my doctor suggested doing
dialysis at home. This required
another surgery to install a
catheter in my abdomen. This
worked out well as I could re-
See Letters, page 16
Policy on Letters
The INDEPENDENT will
not publish letters that in-
clude personal attacks on
private citizens. Because of
space limitations, preference
will be given to brief letters,
300 words or less.
All letters must be signed
and include a verifiable ad-
dress or phone number.