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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 6, 2011)
Page 2 The INDEPENDENT, January 6, 2011 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 Vernonia 2010 Year in Review From page 1 Mar. 15 – City council hold improper executive session regarding an unlawful arrest lawsuit. Mar. 18 – Catherine Mater, Sr. Fellow at Pinchot Institute gave presentation on potential for Vernonia to become a “Living Laboratory” for sustainable biomass. Mar. 28 – 13 downtown businesses vote to form Downtown Association as Economic Development sub-committee. Apr. 1 – Unlawful arrest lawsuit against Vernonia Police Department settled for $9,800. Apr. 5 – City council approves $61,000 for GIS project. Apr. 17 – Make Vernonia Shine Day. Apr. 18 – Announcement of $400,000 Dept. of Energy grant for biomass boiler for new school. Apr. 29 – School board awards Vice Principal/Special Education Director contract to James Brookins. May 7 – Vernonia First Friday season opens. May 11 – Police Officer Jeff Dalrymple resigns. May 13 – School board member Tammy Jennings resigns. May 16 – Vernonia Volunteer Firefighters’ Pancake Breakfast. May 17 – Vernonia Police Dept. gets council approval to investigate replacing Justice Court with Municipal Court. June 5 – Vernonia High School graduation cere- monies. June 6 – Senator Jeff Merkley holds town hall. June 7 – City council approves immediate resignation of City Administrator Bob Young, appoints Bill Haack as Pro Tem Administrator; Chief of Police Frank Grace submits resignation to be effective Sept. 1; Councilor Brett Costley announces resignation effective July 1. June 8 – Captain Mike Kay gives up position, returns to Sergeant to get union representation due to an investigation. June 21 – Chief Grace tells council Justice Court is fine, no need to change. July 4 – Temporary Wheels Park opens. July 8 – Bill Langmaid appointed to school board vacancy. July 19 – Catherine Helmer appointed to open council position. Aug. 3 – Governor Kulongoski issues Executive Order Please see page 15 Ike Says… By Dale Webb, member Nehalem Valley Chapter, Izaak Walton League Frankly as I sit here at my computer on this snow-covered day in De- cember my mind is blank. Probably having just worked 19 out of the last 22 days has something to do with my mind being the way it is. Here are some random thoughts. We have had a couple of instances in the last month that gave us all the “oh, not again” mo- ment when it came to the possibility of flooding. I think that is just going to be a fact of life for we residents of Vernonia, for a long time coming. I hope, though, people will understand that the National Weather Service and our local emer- gency service personnel have a far better under- standing of the dynamics of what causes floods in our area and are on guard watching out for us. Then there are we armchair flood predictors sit- ting in the wings always watching, also. We may not be able to stop a flood in the future, but we will know when one is coming and will be able to give people ample time to protect their property and themselves as best can be expected in that type of situation. Sturgeon fishing is on the decline in Oregon, the great Columbia River is not what it used to be. While it is such a shame this has come about, we are still one of the few places in the world where a person can catch these fish and eat one. The last information I saw was that a 30% reduction in harvest was being proposed by ODF&W staff. What this will look like, as far as the fishing season time frame and harvest, is yet to be seen and decided. Deer hunting in Oregon will continue down the same path, is my prediction. Unfortunately for all of us, this is a downward path to very poor hunting. Mule deer populations are under tremendous pressure, both from hunters and predators, and ODF&W’s unwillingness to do what is necessary to reverse this trend will even- tually lead to a failure. It will take only one hard winter to finish the deer population off; will it be this year? As I write this, winter on the Eastside is shaping up to be a hard one for deer. Blacktailed deer are also in a precarious situ- ation locally, and the pain is spreading into other areas such as the Cascades and the units to our south. Again, hunting pressure, Hair Loss Syn- drome, lack of logging (not in our area) and her- bicide spraying are billed by many for the caus- es of the deer decline. So far we have not seen the leadership it will take to reverse this trend, so we can figure on the trend continuing and spreading to the south. Again, a hard winter could have a dramatic effect on the overall pop- ulation. Rocky Mountain elk populations continue to decline, too. Again hunter harvest and predation by cougars, bears, coyotes and now wolves, continue to result in declining populations. Again there seems to be no direction to turn this Please see page 16
