PRESORTED STANDARD
U.S. Postage Paid
Vernonia, OR 97064
Permit No. 37
Vol. 25, No. 9
THE
FREE
INDEPENDENT
The Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley for Over 25 years
May 6, 2010
Merkley’s target is more rural
jobs and lower energy costs
by Senator Jeff Merkley
Snake is on the menu for this great blue heron at Vernonia Lake. Photo by Garry Kinney.
Car wash benefit June 2 filing for mayor, 2 council seats
The position of mayor of Ver- 97064. The packet will include
for school bands nonia,
in addition to two council a nominating petition that can
The Vernonia School Band
Program car washes scheduled
for May 8, June 12, July 10,
Aug. 14 and September 11 (the
second Saturday of each
month) will be held from 9:00
a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the District
Office parking lot.
All proceeds go to band
events, festivals and instrument
repairs. Donations gladly ac-
cepted.
Vernonia Volunteer
Firefighters
3rd Annual
Pancake
Breakfast
May 16 • 8 AM - 1 PM
Fire Truck Rides
Blood Pressure Checks
Firewood Raffle
positions, will be on the ballot of
the November 2 election. The
mayor’s term of office is two
years. The two council posi-
tions are both four year terms,
and are currently filled by Brett
Costley and Cindy Ball.
Those interested in seeking
one of the open positions
should request an election
packet at Vernonia City Hall, of-
fice of the City Recorder, 1001
Bridge St., Vernonia, OR
be filed between June 2 and
August 24 (by 4:00 p.m.) with
the City Recorder. Those filing
with signatures (rather than
paying the nominal $10 fee) are
requested to submit petitions
no later than August 20 by 4:00
p.m. in order for all signatures
to be validated prior to the filing
deadline.
For more information, con-
tact City Recorder Joann Glass
at 503-429-5291, ext. 104.
Ballot counting test and drop sites
A Public Certification Test of
the counting equipment for the
May 18 Primary Election will be
held on Tuesday, May 11.
The testing will begin at
10:00 a.m. in the County Elec-
tions Dept. The public is wel-
come to attend.
Drop sites for the election in-
clude:
• Vernonia Library, 701
Weed Ave., through May 17,
during regular hours and from
Noon to 8:00 p.m. on May 18.
• Mist-Birkenfeld RFPD,
12525 Hwy 202, during office
hours from now through May
17. On May 18, drop off hours
will be from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00
p.m.
The unemployment rate in
Oregon has been in double dig-
its for the past year, but it
seems as though many politi-
cians in the nation’s capital are
focused on creating frustration
and gridlock instead of new
jobs.
Bipartisanship isn’t com-
pletely dead, though. Recently,
I joined with members of both
parties, including Republican
Senators Richard Lugar of Indi-
ana and Lindsey Graham of
South Carolina, to introduce a
bill that will both create jobs and
lower monthly energy bills for
families and businesses.
It’s called the Rural Energy
Savings Program and it works
like this: Rural electric co-ops,
like West Oregon Electric Co-
op in Vernonia, will administer
low-cost loans to help families
and business owners afford the
up-front costs of energy effi-
cient renovations. The families
and business owners will see
their energy bills go down, and
can pay off the loan out of these
savings. In fact, they can pay it
back with a charge on their
electric bill, so they don’t even
have to pay an additional bill.
The construction and manu-
facturing sectors have suffered
major job losses during the re-
cession. This program will put
people back to work installing
and manufacturing energy effi-
cient materials like insulation,
windows, roofing, and heating
and air conditioning units. The
vast majority of these products
are made in the U.S., and many
of them are made in Oregon,
like the insulation products
made at Owens Corning in
Portland, the efficient lighting
made at Energy Wise Lighting
in the Eugene area, or the win-
dows made at JELD-WEN in
Klamath Falls.
I’ve been working to develop
similar energy efficiency pro-
grams called “Home Star” and
“Building Star” that will be put
into action at the local level to
offer rebates and low-cost fi-
nancing options to home and
business owners, whether or
not they live in areas that are
served by electric co-ops.
The only way out of this re-
cession will be through hard
work and cooperation, and the
support for this program that
I’ve seen from both Democrats
and Republicans makes me
confident that we can put Amer-
icans back to work and move
our economy forward.
Hilger Memorial Trap Shoot, May 15
The 14th annual Dan Hilger
Memorial Trap Shoot will be
held May 15, starting at noon,
at the Verboort Gun Club.
All proceeds will be donated
to the children of Dan Hilger
trust fund. Cash donations are
also appreciated. Last year a
total of $7,200.00 was donated
to the four children of Dan and
Tammy Hilger. The shoot is
sponsored by the Verboort Gun
Club, the Sunset Gun Club,
and Bighorn Logging.
A Remington 300 Ultra Mag
Model 700 XCR Rocky Mtn. Elk
Foundation edition (valued at
$815.00) and a 77 Ruger Hawk-
eye .375 RCM Bolt Action SS
(valued at $790.00) will be raffled
off at the shoot. Raffle tickets are
$5.00 each or five for $20.00.
Make checks for raffle and dona-
tions to “Hilger Trust”.
Lunch will be for sale at the
snack bar. Bring the whole fam-
ily (no age limits).
For more information, call
Denise at 503-324-2422. Dona-
tions may be mailed to 120
North Main Street, Banks, OR
97106.