The INDEPENDENT, January 21, 2010
50 Years Ago This Month
The January 21, 1960, issue
of the Vernonia Eagle included
the following news story on the
front page:
Permission for use of the city
hall by the public utility commis-
sion for a public hearing about
closing the S.P.&S. station here
was granted by city councilmen
when they met Monday evening.
The hearing date will be an-
nounced later.
The council will give future
consideration to an application by
Jake VanZee for the cemetery sex-
ton position the members decided.
They also heard a letter stating that
title insurance without reserva-
tions would now be written on the
O.A. subdivision by the St. Helens
Title and Trust.
Formerly, purchasers of O.A.
property had been faced with ac-
cepting title insurance with a pub-
lic usage clause written into the
deed and some were reluctant to
buy when clear title insurance
could not be obtained.
The new fire station came up
for consideration, first with the de-
cision to carry $7000 insurance on
the station and second that interior
finishing work is to begin. The fire
department is ready to finish the
floor after preparatory work by C.
J. Schaumburg and additional
heating is to be installed when
wiring is completed.
The council heard a report that
the Home Water association is in
difficult financial condition be-
cause of discrepancy between gal-
lonage readings of the city meter
and the total meter readings of
users in the association. The coun-
cil will consider a rate reduction
amendment to the ordinance regu-
lating charges.
H. C. Hertel asked councilmen
Bits & Bites
about plans for developing the
south park area and was told the
area would be put in shape for this
summer. The Vernonia Society
through Lester Sheeley is interest-
ed in having its annual picnic there
this year.
The engineering survey of the
proposed sewage lagoon site is to
be completed soon and when esti-
mates and preliminary plans are
ready, a spokesman for the engi-
neers will be brought in to explain
the lagoon system at a public
meeting.
The council also approved fur-
nishing materials for traffic signs
to be made by R. F. Chetwood for
the police department; ordered
rock to solve a drainage problem
on Nehalem street; paid a bill for
ambulance laundry and discussed
storage problems for city machin-
ery to keep equipment out of the
weather.
Radon now a leading cause of cancer
Radon is odorless, tasteless
and invisible – and it could be
in your home in dangerous lev-
els.
As part of National Radon
Action Month, all Oregonians
are urged to test their homes
for radon, one of the leading
causes of lung cancer in the
United States.
“Because you can’t see or
smell radon, people tend to
downplay the health effects
and ignore the possibility that
there might be a silent killer in
their homes,” says Radon Co-
ordinator Brett Sherry, Oregon
Public Health Division.
Radon is a naturally occur-
ring gas seeping out of the
ground. It is dispersed in the
outdoor air, but it can build up
to dangerous levels when
trapped in buildings. Scientists
have long been concerned
about the health risk of radon,
but never before has there
been such overwhelming proof
that exposure to elevated lev-
els of radon cause lung cancer
in humans.
The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency estimates
that radon is responsible for
more than 20,000 lung cancer
deaths per year. Radon is the
second leading cause of lung
cancer in the U.S., after smok-
ing, and the leading cause of
lung cancer among non-smok-
ers.
Testing homes for elevated
levels of radon is simple and in-
expensive. Radon test kits can
be purchased at local hardware
and home improvement stores
or directly from radon testing
companies. Many kits are
priced at about $20. Radon
problems can be fixed by qual-
ified contractors for a cost sim-
ilar to that of many common
home repairs such as painting
or having a new water heater
installed, anywhere from $800
to about $2,500. Results of the
tests are then sent to the Ore-
gon Public Health Radon Pro-
gram by the testing companies
by zip code, but does not in-
clude exact addresses or
homeowner names. However,
anyone needing more informa-
tion after testing their home can
contact the Radon Program.
Radon levels vary through-
out Oregon depending on the
underlying geology. For radon
levels in your neighborhood
visit the Oregon Public Health
Radon Program Web site to
look up radon test results by
county or zip code.
“The take home point is that
all homes should be tested for
radon, regardless what zip
code you are in or what your
neighbors’ test results were.
You simply won’t know if your
home has a radon problem un-
less you test it,” Sherry says.
The Oregon Public Health
Page 9
Radon Program is working with
the U.S. Environmental Protec-
tion Agency (EPA) in a nation-
wide campaign to educate
Americans about the dangers
of radon exposure. For more in-
formation on radon, radon test-
ing and mitigation, and radon
resistant new construction,
please call Oregon Public
Health Radon Program at 971-
673-0490 or visit www.health
oregon.org/radon or visit the
EPA’s
Web
site
at
www.epa.gov /radon/nram.
G OOD F RIENDS
G OOD F RIENDS
G OOD T IMES
831 Bridge St.
Vernonia, OR
503-429-0214
By Jacqueline Ramsay
This Bits & Bites brought to you via tele-
phone.
How’s your body clock? Shadow’s is out
of sync, so…so is mine. So, I’ve been hav-
ing a week of siesta days and so has Old
Sol up in the sky. I missed the paper dead-
line.
My observations for January are a jum-
ble of crosswords (puzzle, that is) that
stumped me. Question; sawlogs. I went to
the dictionary for the answer and haven’t found it yet. It’s a term
they use in the woods.
The days of January are flying by. Don’t know what I did, ex-
cept attend my grandson’s wedding on January 2nd. It was nice,
but…it was an 800 mile round-trip in one day. I was exhausted for
two days after the 12 hours of sitting.
Last saga of the forsythia – it’s got seven new buds and you
can see them getting bigger every day.
I’ll have more to say next time.
TIps to help animals in Wash. Co.
We have already started a
new year, full of new possibili-
ties. To celebrate, Washington
County Animal Services & Bon-
nie L. Hays Small Animal Shel-
ter in Hillsboro announces a
new community campaign,
2010: The Power of 10.
“This initiative reminds all of
us of the power of 10 and sug-
gests ways that people can
help us help the animals,” says
Deborah Wood, Animal Ser-
vices Manager. “The Power of
10 is all about community. If
each of us helps the animals
the best way we can, it will all
add up to an even better place
for the people and the pets in
our county. We all have 10 min-
utes of time to visit a shelter
animal, or $10 to help them out,
or 10 friends who will organize
a pet food drive with us.”
As you look forward to the
new opportunities of this year
and decade, think about the
power of 10. Here are our 10
ideas for helping the animals in
See Power on page 14
Meyers
‘ Auto Body,Inc
503-429-0248
493 Bridge St, Vernonia, OR