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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 7, 2010)
PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. Postage Paid Vernonia, OR 97064 Permit No. 37 Vol. 25, No. 19 THE FREE INDEPENDENT The Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley for Over 25 years October 7, 2010 WOEC rate increased 4% Youngsters had fun carving pumpkins at the annual Vernonia Salmon Festival, October 2nd. West Oregon Electric Coop- erative (WOEC) held a Rate Change Member Meeting on September 28 to announce that rates would go up 4 percent ef- fective October 1 of this year and that they expect to raise rates another 5 percent in Octo- ber 2011 (see Power of the People on page 15 for more specific information). After a presentation by General Man- ager Marc Farmer and a ques- tion and answer period with the audience, the Board of Direc- tors voted for the rate increase. The reasons given for the in- crease this year were labor costs, benefit costs, tree trim- ming costs, Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) increas- es, principal and interest for the new building, and a potential lawsuit that will increase legal expenses. The 2011 increase is expected to be driven by in- creased BPA costs passed through to WOEC. The meeting was well at- tended and questions from the audience included one request- ing additional information about WOEC’s choice of the Rose Ave. site for the new building. Farmer responded that they looked at a number of sites and the Rose Ave. site best met the selection criteria and total costs are anticipated to be $2.2 mil- lion less on that site than the next best site. The increased rate is ex- pected to bring in additional revenue of about $329,000, over the next 12 months, to cover the increased cost of supplying electricity. Salmon Poisoning disease can kill dogs Eight candidates seeking two Vernonia Council positions Dogs that eat even a small amount of uncooked Salmon, Trout, or Steelhead are at risk of getting potentially fatal Salmon Poisoning disease. The cause is a microscopic organism that sometimes lives in a parasite that can infect the Salmon family. The germ is killed by cooking, freezing or hot smoking fish. If a dog eats infected fish, symptoms start from a few days to five days later. Symptoms in- clude decreased energy level, increased temperature, loss of appetite, swollen lymph glands, vomiting, and diarrhea (turning bloody within a day or two) If untreated, 90 percent of dogs with symptoms will die within 7-14 days from dehydra- tion and blood loss. If caught early enough, Sal- mon Poisoning is treatable with antibiotics. In severe cases, in- travenous fluids may be need- ed. Get the dog to a veterinari- an as soon as Salmon Poison- ing is suspected. The longer before treatment starts, the harder and more expensive the treatment will be, and the greater the chances that treat- ment will not be successful. If your dog is seen eating fish, talk to your veterinarian about a preventive shot of an- tibiotics to avoid Salmon Poi- soning. Most dogs are immune to fu- ture Salmon Poisoning, once they have had and survived it. Special emphasis on MOST, not all dogs develop immunity. Preventive measures in- clude disposing of raw fish waste in a can with a tight fitting lid, leaving dogs home when fishing, or leashing dogs when near water. Vernonia voters will have the opportunity to choose two Ver- nonia city councilors in the No- vember 2 general election. The incumbents are Cindy Ball, who previously served as mayor and currently as councilor, and Catherine Helmer, who was ap- pointed as councilor in July of this year. All council positions are non-partisan. Eight commu- nity members have filed as can- didates. All of the candidates were in- terviewed by The Independent, asking the same questions of each one. Here are the ques- tions and the candidates’ re- sponses. Responses are in al- phabetical order by surname. The candidates are Cynthia (Cindy) Ball, Willow Burch, Catherine Helmer, Edward Johnson, Steven Johnson, Marilyn Nicks, Ernest (Ernie) Smith, and Burton (Burt) Tschache. Additional informa- tion about each candidate fol- lows the questions and an- swers. From the Candidates: 1. Why are you running for this office? Ball – I have found the past 13 plus years to be rewarding, ag- gravating, educational, fun and sometimes downright scary, but I have always felt personal sat- isfaction at doing my best. I Fire Season is ended, but permits are still required Fire Season officially ended on September 22, so forest op- erators are no longer required to have fire suppression equip- ment and fire watch services as part of their forest operations. Public fire restrictions have also been lifted. Private forest own- ers can still have restrictions that apply year round. The Columbia County Fire Defense Board has lifted the ban on open burning with the end of fire season, but burning will be regulated on a day-to- day basis by local fire districts and the Oregon Department of Forestry. Permits are required for any open burning within Co- lumbia County. The burning of domestic waste and yard debris requires a valid permit from your local fire district. Outside a rural fire district, the Depart- ment of Forestry issues permits. It’s still necessary to apply See Burn on page 5 have learned a great deal in the past several years and would like to put that knowledge and experience to work, once again, for the city. Burch – I think city council needs change; to find a positive way to communicate with peo- ple, in both directions. Then the city and citizens can support each other better. Helmer – Because I feel like the city is going to go through sig- nificant changes – it’s already started – and I would like to be part of it. I have heard that if you don’t like the way things are going in a situation you can sit around and gripe about it or you can try to change it for the better and be part of the change. Johnson, E. – I believe some of the folks have been there too long, changes need to be made and I don’t believe that will hap- pen unless new people get in there. Johnson, S. – 10 months ago, a friend suggested I run and that See Candidates on page 8