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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 20, 2011)
The INDEPENDENT, January 20, 2011 2011 Dairy Princess named Jan. 15 Jessica Budge, representing Clackamas County, was crowned 2011 Oregon Dairy Princess-Ambassador January 15, at the 52nd Annual Corona- tion Banquet hosted by the Oregon Dairy Women. Ms. Budge was crowned by outgoing 2010 Oregon Dairy Princess-Ambassador, Hanna Emerson. There were four oth- er Oregon County Princess- Ambassador finalists. The final- ists were evaluated by a three judge panel over the course of two days. In addition to Satur- day evening’s onstage person- al interview and four-minute dairy related speech, the judges conducted personal in- terviews, evaluated impromptu speeches, a creative commer- cial for a dairy product, and a mock classroom presentation. Each finalist was awarded points based on communica- tions and speaking ability, knowledge of the dairy industry, appearance and poise, and ex- tracurricular activities and scholarship. Rebecca Thomas, repre- senting Washington County, was named First Alternate Ore- gon Dairy Princess-Ambas- sador. Carly Hartenstein, rep- resenting Marion County, was voted to receive the Congenial- ity Award by the other finalists. Other candidates for the 2011 competition were Amanda Wor- man, representing Columbia County, and Emily Whalen, who represented Tillamook County. The Oregon Dairy Princess- Ambassador scholarship pro- gram is available to qualified young women applicants with a family background in dairy farming, dairy 4-H or FFA expe- rience, employed in the dairy industry or has a parent with in- volvement in dairy support in- dustries who are interested in promoting the benefits of dairy farming and dairy products. For more information regarding qualifications, please contact DairyPrincessBiz@aol.com. Page 15 Power of the People By W. Marc Farmer, General Manager, West Oregon Electric Cooperative WOEC Board Passes 2011 Budget At its December Board Meeting, the WOEC Board of Directors approved the 2011 operating budget. The budget went through a rigorous review and cost cutting process by the Budget Committee, made up of management staff and three of the board members. The final draft was unanimously approved by the full board. There are several points that are worth noting on this year’s budget. After management staff had gone through its cost cutting process and re- duced discretionary budget items by 4.12%, the Budget Committee went back through the entire budget and reduced discretionary spending by an additional 4.4% for a total reduction of 8.52%. These reductions included cuts in a wide range of areas from smaller items to larger items. For example, even the BBQ lunch we have been serving at our Annual Meeting, donations we make to community programs, travel, training, promotions, and outside services are some of the areas that were cut or reduced. Also salaried staff accepted a wage freeze, at 2009 levels, for the second year in a row. Though some of the smaller items did not have significant impact on the overall budget, it was the recognition that times are extremely dif- ficult for our members, and we had a responsibil- ity to our membership to do everything we could to reduce the overall budget. As our Board of Di- rectors pointed out in our meetings, this is in- deed a bare bones budget. Staff at WOEC really took the challenge to re- duce costs during 2010, not just in the voluntary wage freeze for all employees, but in constantly looking for ways to reduce expenses and costs. We scrutinized each purchase and cost as we went along and made some changes in the way we operated, as we could. These changes are still in place today, even on things as small as taking papers and documents that are one sided and using the blank side as scratch paper. We are taking seriously the financial con- straints and difficulties our members are having. We are doing what we can to be frugal and care- ful with the fiduciary responsibility we are en- trusted with at WOEC. There are outside events and expenses, whether it be wholesale power costs, costs of goods and services, or weather related events that impact our ability to control costs and therefore rates. The things we do have some control over, we are committed to doing so. Apply for a controlled hunt and you could win a 2012 Sports Pac Apply for a controlled hunt by January 31 and you will be entered into a drawing to win one of fifty 2012 Sports Pacs (a $164.75 value). For the second year, ODFW is awarding a total of 100 Sports Pacs to Oregon resident hunters among those who ap- ply for and are issued a fall big game controlled hunt applica- tion before April 15. (Non-resi- dents that apply early and are selected in the drawing will win a hunting license, a $140.50 value.) The purpose of the drawings is to encourage hunters to ap- ply for controlled hunts early, well before the May 15 dead- line. The sooner hunters apply, the better their chances of win- ning one of the three drawings: 50 Sports Pacs (or Non-Res- ident Hunting Licenses) will be awarded from the pool of hunters who apply between Dec. 1, 2010, and Jan. 31, 2011. 30 Sports Pacs (or Non-Res- ident Hunting Licenses) will be awarded from the pool of hunters who apply by March 15, 2011. 20 Sports Pacs (or Non-Res- ident Hunting Licenses) will be awarded from the pool of hunters that apply by April 15, 2011. A Sports Pac includes a Combination Angling/Hunting/ Shellfish License, a Combined Angling Harvest Tag, a Valida- tion for Upland Bird and Water- fowl hunting, plus a General or Controlled Deer, General or Controlled Elk, General Cou- gar, General or Controlled Bear and Spring Turkey Tag. The drawings will take place February 1, March 16 and April 18; winners will be notified by mail. Hunters unsuccessful in the first or second drawing will be re-entered into future draw- ings. Only one entry per hunter is allowed, meaning hunters who apply for several con- trolled hunts will still only be en- tered once. Controlled spring bear hunt applicants are not el- igible for the drawing. Hunters can apply for con- trolled hunts online, at a license sales agent, at ODFW offices that sell licenses, or by mail or fax order using the fax or mail order application (also found on page 17 of the 2011 Oregon Big Game Regulations). Mail order/fax applicants should allow 7-10 days for their applications to be processed and issued. Remember, to be eligible for the drawing, the controlled hunt application must be issued, not just re- ceived, by the drawing dead- lines (January 31, March 15 and April 15). Controlled hunt applications can be processed and issued immediately online, at license sales agents or ODFW offices. The deadline to apply for a controlled hunt is May 15 each year. In 2010, 79,861 out of 375,227 total applications (21 percent) were processed by April 15. The previous year, 68,849 out of 426,921 (16 per- cent) were processed by April 15. Some of Oregon’s big game hunts are limited entry, includ- ing almost all rifle hunting of deer and elk east of the Cas- cades and pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep, and Rocky Mountain goat hunts. These hunts require a controlled hunt application. Meyers ‘ Auto Body,Inc 503-429-0248 493 Bridge St, Vernonia, OR