The INDEPENDENT, April 1, 2010
Another good meet for equestrians
“The second district meet for
the Vernonia High School
Equestrian team was an event-
ful and successful meet for the
whole team,” said Coach Diane
Benes, “I’m pleased with the
success and the attitudes of
the athletes who represent
VHS,” she continued, “We had
a lot of fun and enjoyed quite a
mixture of weather.”
Jamie Benes, the only sen-
ior on the team, was honored to
carry the United States Flag at
Grand entry with her team-
mate, McKenzie Tarkalson,
carrying the team’s own flag
representing the High School.
The top 20 placements from
this meet in McMinnville were
as follows.
• Team event CA Flags – 3rd
of 14 teams.
• BiRangle – Brianna Carr
and Jamie Benes, 3rd of 33.
•
Trail
–
McKenzie
Tarkalson, 7th of 31.
• Steer Daubing – Brett
Benes, 11th of 22; Jamie
Benes 12th, and Brianna Carr
16th.
• Barrels – Brianna Carr,
14th of 47; Jamie Benes, 15th
• Dressage – McKenzie
Tarkalson, 18th of 29.
• Poles – Brianna Carr, 16th
of 35.
• Figure 8 – Brianna Carr,7th
of 37.
• Keyhole – McKenzie
Tarkalson, 9th of 40.
The next meet will be held
the second weekend in April, in
McMinnville.
Chinook season opens April 15
A sport fishing season for
spring chinook in the Hood Riv-
er will begin April 15 under tem-
porary rules adopted by the
Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife (ODFW).
The river will be open from
the mouth to Powerdale Dam
(4.5 miles) for adipose fin-
clipped chinook salmon from
April 15 through June 30, 2010.
Biologists are expecting a
strong return of hatchery origin
fish to the Hood River, said Rod
French, ODFW district fish biol-
ogist. The Hood River chinook
fishery is popular with anglers
because if offers a rare oppor-
tunity to land a Columbia River
chinook from the bank.
The catch limit for chinook
salmon is two adipose fin-
clipped adults and five adipose
fin-clipped jacks per day. All
salmon that have not been adi-
pose fin-clipped must be re-
leased unharmed.
All other catch limits, sea-
sons and restrictions remain
unchanged from those listed
for Hood River in the 2010 Ore-
gon Sport Fishing Regulations.
Chalk Talk
Chalk Talk is a column of information about Vernonia
schools. This column was provided by Superintendent
Ken Cox.
I wanted to let you know that the bonds have
been sold and the tax rate is much less than we
had expected. I am happy to report that the first
year’s tax rate will be only $1.72 per thousand of
assessed value, and will drop to $1.60 after that
for the remainder of the bond. This rate was
much better than we had expected.
In other good news, we received notice last
week that FEMA has lifted the five-year Flood
Mitigation Assistance (FMA) grant cap for Ver-
nonia. This is great news for the district and our
community. Participating in a conference call last
Friday with representatives from Oregon Emer-
gency Management in Salem, the FEMA Region
X office in Seattle, Dan Brown, Vernonia Flood
Recovery staff, and others, I got a better sense
of what this means and what lies ahead.
This approval indicates that FEMA has tem-
porarily set aside Flood Mitigation Assistance
(FMA) program funds that can be used to buy
out almost all of the buildings on our current
school site. These are reimbursement funds and
will not be available until after the existing build-
ings are removed. It will however provide ‘collat-
eral’ that can be used to help us obtain a ‘con-
struction loan’ to get started on our new schools.
The whole FEMA process however is time
consuming. First, we will need to finalize the pre-
liminary application that was used to make the
decision. This will include a formal appraisal,
which has been completed; completion of a ben-
ers in Oregon,” Avakian said.
“Reaching out electronically is
a key way to renew interest in
Oregon apprenticeship, espe-
cially among women and peo-
ple of color who are not tradi-
tionally directed toward these
career pathways that can lead
to high-skill, living-wage jobs.”
“Creating the jobs that our
apprentices will use to develop
their skills and earn while they
learn is the critical priority right
now,” said Avakian. Although a
slow economy limits the num-
ber of new apprentices current-
ly being registered in approved
programs, Avakian emphasized
the importance of looking at job
training over the longer term.
“Raising awareness about ap-
prenticeship opportunities now
efit cost analysis, which
is in process; and a du-
plication of benefits re-
view, which will take
into account the insur-
ance proceeds we have received toward our
buildings. While this is being done, we will con-
duct a Phase 1 Environmental Study of the exist-
ing site. We have completed this study on the
new site and had begun one on part of the exist-
ing site in relation to the Spencer Park ex-
change. All of this is scheduled to be completed
by the end of April.
Once we have the initial approval and the
overall dollar amount that FEMA will pay us, then
we will have to do a comprehensive Environ-
mental Assessment (EA), much of which has al-
ready been done. The only problem is that we
cannot begin construction on the new schools
project until this EA is completed. Estimates on
this process alone range anywhere from ninety
days to six months. I am optimistic however in
that we have already done much of the required
studies and believe that through the efforts and
influence of our Oregon Solutions partners we
can ensure that this timeline will be as short as
possible.
I will address this and other issues on the dis-
trict website as well as answer any questions
you might have about progress on the new
schools. Please check it out, email me your
questions, or fill out one of the question forms
that have placed on bulletin boards throughout
town and drop it by the district office.
Apply now for Farm Bureau 2010 scholarships
The Oregon Farm Bureau
Women’s Advisory Council is
now accepting applications for
its 2010 Memorial Scholarship.
The scholarship is open to
women who have completed at
least one year of college and
are pursuing an agriculture- or
forestry-related major. Appli-
New apprenticeship website launched
The Oregon State Appren-
ticeship and Training Council
(OSATC), chaired by Bureau of
Labor and Industries (BOLI)
Commissioner Brad Avakian,
has launched a new, informa-
tion-packed website to expand
outreach to potential appren-
tices in Oregon. Avakian’s top
priority as chief of BOLI is to
strengthen workforce develop-
ment and improve access to
job opportunities for all Orego-
nians. The new website, a
product of collaboration among
various business, labor, gov-
ernment agency and communi-
ty partners, is http://oregonap
prenticeship.com.
“This website is going to be
a great tool for recruiting the
next generation of skilled work-
Page 11
will prime the pump and ensure
that as jobs become available,
Oregonians are ready to start
or are in the process of getting
the necessary skills. When em-
ployment in the trades re-
bounds, we want to make sure
that all Oregonians are able to
enjoy a meaningful career op-
portunity.”
BOLI’s Apprenticeship and
Training Division (ATD) staffs
OSATC and helped create the
website through the OSATC’s
Affirmative Action Task Force.
ATD partners with business
and labor organizations to build
a skilled workforce in Oregon
through hands-on job training
and earn-while-you-learn paid
experience.
cants also must be voting or
supporting Farm Bureau mem-
bers or be part of a family that
has a Farm Bureau voting or
supporting membership.
Both full-time students, with
at least 12 credits per term, and
part-time students, with at least
6 credits per term, are eligible.
The scholarship application
is available on the Oregon
Farm Bureau website at ore
gonfb.org. Applications are due
by May 1, 2010.
For more information, con-
tact Anne Marie Moss at 503-
399-1701 or annemarie@ore-
gonfb.org.
Pet of the Month
Columbia Humane Society in St. Helens has a variety of wonderful pets
available for adoption. Find the pet that’s right for you in the shelter
at 2084 Oregon Street. Phone 503-397-4353
Open Mon - Fri 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, 11 am. to 5 pm.
Berkley was described as a perfect
dog for the family with kids since
he enjoys all the attention he can
get. Since he just turned a year old
he still acts like a pup. Due to his
size and excitement level he may
be too much for small kids. If you
are looking for a loving dog,
Berkley is your guy. Give him the
time and patience he deserves and
he will be the best friend ever!
The Columbia Humane Society is a No-Kill non-profit shelter
dedicated to helping friends find each other since 1985.
This Adopt a Pet is Sponsored by:
Senator Betsy Johnson