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The INDEPENDENT, March 4, 2010
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
Some beneficial events
for weary taxpayers
By approving a $13 million bond issue last fall, Ver-
nonia School District voters demonstrated tremendous
faith in the district’s plans to raise the remaining $10-20
million needed to achieve the goal of, not just a new
school, but an all new energy efficient campus using
sustainable construction methods.
One week ago district Superintendent Ken Cox told
the crowd at a Town Hall meeting that NW Natural Gas
is the project’s first corporate donor, with a gift of
$100,000, and Anne Kilkenny gave $50,000 to become
the first private donor. These two donations, and the
continued, multi-faceted support from the State of Ore-
gon, are indications that our faith is well-placed.
The school district has also put up a new website,
www.vernoniaschools.org, where up-to-date informa-
tion will be frequently added and where questions can
be asked.
~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~
In one small part of the school district, the Mist-
Birkenfeld Rural Fire Protection District received a
grant of $210,000 that will go to the purchase of a new
water tender, a vital, and expensive piece of equip-
ment. It is difficult for Rural Fire Protection Districts to
fund new equipment when local economic conditions
make an increased tax load highly doubtful, and many
in the M-BRFPD also voted for the school bond.
The Assistance to Firefighters Grant is greatly appre-
ciated.
~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~
Many of the people who were flooded in December
2007 are still waiting for funds to raise their homes.
Money used for the lifts that have been completed have
been mostly from insurance proceeds and private
funds. Constantly changing procedures and/or require-
ments have frustrated flood victims and those who are
trying to help them.
There are hopes that the City of Vernonia Resolution
03-10, which was passed last Monday, will be of some
help to flood victims. The resolution states that decks
(not just stairs) add value to homes being elevated.
This may seem obvious, but hopefully, it will help Un-
met Needs Committee work through some rule issues
that have arisen about the use of Community Develop-
ment Block Grant funds for decks.
Ike Says…
By Dale Webb, member
Nehalem Valley Chapter, Izaak Walton League
How important is a sin-
gle word? Well in the
case of the words “may”
and “shall”, pretty darn im-
portant, especially if you
are a sportsman in Ore-
gon.
During the 75th legisla-
tive session, HB 3089 was
introduced with the sup-
port of the Oregon Hunt-
ers Association (OHA). The bill made several
significant changes to the amount of fines for il-
legally taking wildlife, the length of time of li-
cense suspensions and when those suspen-
sions would be implemented. The bill passed
through both the house and Senate and was
signed into law…then somebody actually read it!
For years, people who intentionally act illegal-
ly and kill wildlife, have frustrated sportsmen,
who are robbed of the opportunity to pursue
these animals legally. The courts have many
times handed down light sentences and fines,
and repeat offenders were quite common. Most
sportsmen find it unconceivable that a sports-
man could make a mistake time after time; the
truth was that these offenders were simply taking
advantage of the lack of enforcement and low
fines that were comparable to taking a trip out of
state to hunt. OHA brought this frustration to the
legislature and pushed for changes to help curb
this boorish, illegal behavior. Like many well-in-
tentioned efforts though, the key is in the word-
ing and, somehow, somebody made a big mis-
take.
497.415. (1) When any person is convicted of a vi-
olation of law or any rule adopted pursuant thereto or
otherwise fails to comply with the requirements of a
citation in connection with such violation as provided
in subsection (2) of this section, the court { – may –
} { + shall + } order the State Fish and Wildlife Com-
mission to revoke all licenses, tags and permits issued
to that person pursuant to the wildlife laws. Revoca-
tion of licenses, tags and permits is in addition to and
not in lieu of other penalties provided by law.
So do any of you see a problem with the
above citation from HB3089? The word “shall”
leaves no choice for a judge when a person is
cited into court and, since the definition of a vio-
lation of law in this section is defined as any of-
fense where the fine is greater than $50 dollars,
which includes all wildlife offenses, then every-
body that would have been cited would have
their license, tags and permits revoked. The
Oregon State Police cite approximately 5,000
people a year in Oregon for fish and game of-
fenses, that would have meant 5,000 people
with a revoked license, tags and permits. In ad-
dition, the revocation for a first offense is for
three years!
While there are some people who believe that
every sportsman should follow the laws to the
Please see page 3