The INDEPENDENT, February 3, 2011
Where to Find Them
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden
(Dem)
1220 SW 3rd Avenue, Suite 585
Portland OR 97232
Phone: 503-326-7525
223 Dirksen Senate Ofc. Bldg.
Washington, D.C. 20510-0001
Phone: 202-224-5244
E-Mail: http://wyden.senate.gov/
contact
Website: http://wyden.senate.
gov
U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley
(Dem.)
One World Trade Center
121 SW Salmon St., Suite 1250
Portland, OR 97204
Phone: 503-326-3386
107 Russell Senate Ofc. Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-3753
E-Mail: http://merkley.senate.
gov/contact
WebSite: http://merkley.senate.
gov
U.S. Representative David Wu
(Dem) OR District 1
620 SW Main, Suite 606
Portland, OR 97205
Phone: 503-326-2901
2338 Rayburn House Ofc. Bldg.
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-0855
Website: http://house.gov/wu
Senator Betsy Johnson
(Dem) Senate District 16
PO Box R,
Scappoose, OR 97056
Phone: 503-543-4046
900 Court St. NE, S-314
Salem, OR 97301
Phone: 503-986-1716
E-mail: sen.betsyjohnson@
state.or.us
Website: http//www.leg.state.or.
us/johnson
Representative Brad Witt
(Dem) House District. 31
21740 Lindberg Road,
Clatskanie, OR 97016
Phone: 503-728-4664
900 Court St. NE, H-373
Salem, OR 97301
Phone: 503-986-1431
E-mail: rep.bradwitt@state.or.us
Website: http//www.leg.state.or.
us/witt
Representative Deborah
Boone
(Dem) House District 32
PO Box 926
Cannon Beach, OR 97110
Phone: 503-717-9182
900 Court St. NE, H-375
Salem, OR 97301
Phone: 503-986-1432
E-mail: rep.deborahboone@
state.or.us
Website: http//www.leg.state.or.
us/boone
Page 3
Letters
Response to tragedy
was impressive
To the Editor:
Even cynics would have to
be impressed by the rapid re-
sponse to the recent tragic
shooting of Rainier Police Chief
Ralph Painter. Within minutes
of the 911 call(s) police units
from Longview and Clatskanie
were on scene to take control
of an unknown situation; fol-
lowed very shortly by Port-
land’s Incident Command and
Employee Assistant Program
grief councilors, in addition to
countless other responders,
who were able to bring this
tragedy to its quick and (unfor-
tunately) best possible conclu-
sion.
As a Columbia County resi-
dent and small business owner,
I wish to convey my thanks to
and admiration for these and all
the other law enforcement and
fire/rescue agencies from sur-
rounding districts, especially –
but not limited to – Portland and
Multnomah and Washington
Counties, for their assistance
and support to the city of
Rainier during this very rough
time. These and others not only
provided Honor Guard for Chief
Painter while he lay in state in
Rainier, they assumed enforce-
ment and service positions
throughout Columbia County
on Friday, ensuring all officers
and associated personnel with-
in the county an opportunity to
pay tribute to the Chief by join-
ing the cortege from Kelso to
Portland and attendant servic-
es at UP’s Chiles Center.
Not to be ignored are the of-
ficers and fire/rescue personnel
from far and wide who came to
honor the Chief. Joining virtual-
ly every Oregon law enforce-
ment agency in his procession
were representatives from at
least British Columbia, Chica-
go, and much of western Wash-
ington.
To all of these we must ex-
press our thanks and gratitude,
and our sorrow at their loss of a
fellow officer.
Jay T. White
St. Helens
Scappoose Muffler
Scappoose
Follow His light in
times of darkness
To the Editor:
And, it is a Happy New Year!
Having my oldest daughter
walk away from being sub-
merged and upside down in the
roaring, over-flowing Nehalem
(who stops for no one in its
way, with its fierce, treacherous
debris) this past Saturday. I
thank the Lord for His mercy on
me.
My girls referred to me as
such a “Holy Roller” before.
Now after my daughter telling
me how she finally got out was
by “following the light” in the
darkness of the muck – I praise
God and cannot stop thanking
Him. Never forget to thank the
Lord for your life and the lives
of those you love.
Best wishes to all this year.
Virginia Kepner
Vernonia
anticipated to make the transi-
tion to the new partnership with
Coastal Family Health Center.
We also want to extend our
thanks to the dedicated past
and present staff for the quality
service they have provided this
community.
Happy retirement and best
wishes to you, Dr. Gilmore.
Sincerely,
Vernonia Health Center
Board of Directors
Carolyn Keasey, President
Marie Krahn, Vice President
Bob Wagner, Treasurer
Wendy Sears, Secretary
Ralph Keasey
Darlene McLeod
Phil Darrah
Rebecca McGaugh
Debbie Snook
Barb Ervin
Dr. Gilmore leaving,
services to continue Still need help with
To the Editor:
tournament funds
Many of you have heard
around the community that Dr.
Gilmore is retiring. The health
board was notified by Provi-
dence that her retirement date
will be March 4, 2011. We
would like to take this opportu-
nity to thank her for her dedica-
tion to this community, which
was abundantly apparent dur-
ing the flood of 2007, and the
sacrifices she made to continue
medical services during and af-
ter that disaster.
As stated in our previous let-
ter, we were hoping to have in-
formation by the end of 2010 on
whether our new partnership
was approved. Unfortunately,
the Federal government has in-
formed this board that the date
of notification has been extend-
ed to August of 2011.
We are happy to inform you
of a successful meeting with
our new potential partner,
Coastal Family Health Center,
and our current partner, Provi-
dence Health & Services, to en-
sure continuity of care during
this time of transition. An
arrangement was agreed upon
by all parties to ensure ade-
quate staffing in continuing to
provide this community quality
services.
You will probably notice
some new faces at the medical
center as the transition unfolds.
There are currently positions
available for local qualified ap-
plicants that can be accessed
at providence.org. Employees
hired through this process are
To the Editor:
Hello, this is Payton Wolf
and for those of you who don’t
remember me, I am the girl who
is fundraising for my tourna-
ment softball team. I play for
the Oregon Red Heat Fastpitch
Softball team. I was and still am
collecting cans or any other do-
nation you may have. Since
starting my fundraising in Octo-
ber, I have raised almost $500!
It has helped me so much and I
am so thankful to all of you that
called me and donated your
cans. I also want to thank those
of you that gave me money and
a big thanks to Sara Wold who
donated her time and profits
from a Scentsy Party that she
held for me.
I still have a little over half
my money that I need to raise.
I will still be collecting cans
through this spring, so you can
call if you have any for me to
pick-up. I have a couple of new
fundraisers coming up and one
of them is selling Krispy Kreme
doughnuts by the dozen. They
will cost $10 per dozen and I
am taking orders anytime. They
will be available for pick-up on
Friday, February 4th, at NAPA
Auto Parts from 8 a.m. - 6 p.m.
If this turns out to be a success-
ful fundraiser, I am hoping to do
this on the 1st Friday of every
month. The 2nd fundraiser I am
doing is selling tickets to a Bun-
co Tournament. The tickets are
$15 each and it will be held on
Sunday, March 13th, from 3-6
p.m. in Beaverton. Childcare
will be provided by the Red
Heat team girls, including my-
self. If you are interested in ei-
ther of these fundraisers or just
want to donate your cans,
please call me or my parents,
Steve and Amanda Wolf at
503-429-0457 or e-mail (aman-
dawo@msn.com).
Thanks so much for your
support,
Payton Wolf
Vernonia
Priorities for flood
mitigation are wrong
To the Editor:
This letter is probably a little
late, but my pot has been boil-
ing for so long, it finally boiled
over. I’m talking about the new
school.
I wanted a dam to be built,
because then all of these
homes in Vernonia would not
have to be torn down or raised
up. Look at the tax revenue we
are going to lose. The people
who are left here will be paying
higher taxes for years to come.
When they built the middle
school, I said, “What are they
doing? If we have another
flood, I’ll get more water in my
house,” and I did, seven more
inches. What kind of planning
was that?
Now we are building a new
school. I’m wondering about
the planning about that, too.
The old schools probably need-
ed work done on them, but I’m
sure they could have been
fixed up. I live in an old house
but I have to put on a new roof,
paint it and make repairs every
once in a while. I’ve probably
got mold in my house also, but
I’m 94 years old and I haven’t
died yet.
So, I’m very disappointed in
the new school, it is costing
way too much money.
Eleanor Thompson
Vernonia
Policy on Letters
The INDEPENDENT will
not publish letters with per-
sonal attacks on private citi-
zens. Preference will be giv-
en to brief letters, 300 words
or less.
All letters must be signed
and include a verifiable ad-
dress or phone number.