The INDEPENDENT, October 5, 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
313 Hart 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 ace
pl
620 SW Main, Suite e 606
r
Portland, OR 97205
o on
Phone: 503-326-2901
– n lecti
d e Ofc. Bldg.
2338 Rayburn
l
ne ti House
g
i
Washington,
s un DC 20515
e
t
Phone:
R en 202-225-0855
Website:
m 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
Good warning about
dogs and salmon
To the Editor:
Being a lover of all animals
and especially dogs, I was so
happy to see your article on
salmon poisoning and potential
death for dogs! I live on Fish-
hawk Lake and several years
ago, came within a hair’s
breadth of losing our beloved
Golden Retriever, Jenna, be-
cause she ate salmon that
spawn up there in the creeks
every year. I took her into the
vet’s office in Hillsboro, who
misdiagnosed her initially
(we’ve changed vets since).
This is why I am writing this,
because the symptoms can
easily present as any number
of OTHER diagnoses…and
time is of the essence in saving
our pets after they’ve eaten
salmon, and MUST be correct-
ly diagnosed quickly. If a veteri-
narian doesn’t often see this, or
is not aware of the travelling
someone has done near a river
or other waters during salmon
spawning season (as an exam-
ple), then you, as the dog own-
er have to be their advocate
and let them know that it could
be from eating salmon!
I list and sell real estate at
Fishhawk Lake and tell all of
my clients who have dogs
about this hazard and have an
article of my own about it on
one of my websites, too. You
have to also be especially
aware of puppies doing the
same thing (my young Golden
Retriever pup got into salmon
during a long spawning season
and I’m thankful to Dr. Goza’s
office and the Vernonia Phar-
macy for having the antibiotics
readily handy for me to get
ahold of quickly and thus sav-
ing his life). Time is of the
essence in saving your dog’s
life.
I would recommend that this
article be resurrected every
year as salmon spawning be-
gins.
Thank you!
Gayle C. Rich-Boxman
Fishhawk Lake
Note: We, at The Independent,
are dog owners and advocates,
and run this article every year.
Young athlete works
to earn tourney fund
To the Editor:
Hello to all; my name is Pay-
ton Wolf and for those of you
who don’t remember me, I play
tournament Softball. I am in the
7th grade now and am playing
for a new team, Blaze~Ohana,
out of Beaverton. I switched
teams to get a little more com-
petitive and because I wanted
to be able to go to Colorado for
Western Nationals. We will be
going to Colorado at the end of
June 2012, and I am responsi-
ble for paying my way to get
there.
Last year I fundraised and
earned the whole amount of
money I needed to play on my
Softball team. That is my plan
again this year and I am so
thankful for all of you who sup-
ported me and participated in
my fundraisers. I have a new
fundraiser I am doing which is
selling Christmas Wreaths. I
have three different styles and
from those styles you can
choose what size you’d like.
There is the regular round
Salem Scene
By Representative Brad Witt
Oregon District 31
I’m writing this on
September 22 from
Salem as we are in the
midst of our quarterly
“Legislative Days.” It is
our opportunity to hold
informational meetings
in anticipation of the full
session in February
2012. We also circle
back with the agencies to make sure that legis-
lation already passed is being implemented
properly. Since our legislature is not full-time, we
need these opportunities to collect data, discuss
options for possible solutions and draft appropri-
ate legislation.
A case in point is the current difficulty being
experienced by participants in the Senior Tax
Deferral Program. Under the program, the state
pays the property taxes for qualified applicants,
and then the state is paid back when the proper-
ty is sold or the person dies and their estate
pays the deferred property taxes plus interest.
This program is designed to be self-funding, but
the current housing crisis has created havoc
with the process and it is now $19 million in the
hole.
In order to protect the long-term viability of the
program, the legislature passed HB 2453 last
session, which requires reapplication every two
years, imposes a house value “test,” and discon-
tinues participation by those who hold a reverse
mortgage. The House Revenue Committee has
asked the Department of Revenue to prepare a
full report on this issue including who was de-
nied, why they were denied and what options
are available to the Legislature when we recon-
vene in February. It is my opinion that we need
to do everything that we can to protect the abili-
ty of senior citizens to stay in their homes.
Another point of discussion during these leg-
islative days is the September Revenue Fore-
cast that we received at the end of August.
There are many in our state that are still suffer-
ing greatly from this recession however, com-
pared to the national economy, Oregon’s econo-
my seems to be showing some preliminary signs
of improvement.
Our job rate increase is in the top 25% in the
nation, and we have added private sector jobs
every quarter since the beginning of the year.
The investments we made in the Jobs and
Transportation Act, capital construction projects
and healthy kids in 2009 have all helped spur job
increases in important sectors of our economy.
On the budget side, we have enough in re-
serves to cover the current revenue decline. So
for the time being, our best course of action is
“steady as we go.” We continue to emphasize
fiscal prudence and we join the Governor in urg-
ing all agencies to be cautious with their spend-
ing. This global recession has been longer and
deeper than anyone could have predicted. Let’s
hope we see the end of this soon…
It’s been a terrific summer with lots of in-dis-
trict events, county fairs and city festivals. It’s a
great opportunity to meet constituents face-to-
face and listen to your concerns. Please be as-
sured that my staff and I continue to be available
by email, letter or phone, so don’t hesitate to
contact us.
wreath, swag or candy cane
shaped wreath. They range
anywhere from $15-$36 de-
pending on the size you want. I
am also still collecting cans and
bottles or any other donation
you may have.
If you are interested in pur-
chasing a wreath or just want
to donate your cans, please
call me or my parents, Steve
and Amanda Wolf, at 503-429-
0457 or e-mail (amandawo@
msn.com). Thanks so much for
your support,
Payton Wolf
Vernonia
Help needed for trip
to Washington, D.C.
To the Editor:
My name is Bradley Ely, and
I am 13 and an 8th grade stu-
dent at Vernonia Middle School
this year. I have been accepted
into the Leadership class and I
am going on a Close-Up trip
with them to Washington D.C.,
but I first have to raise about
$2,000. To help with this I
would like to ask you to call
when you have any spare cans
and bottles that are lying
around that you would like
picked up and I can return for
money. It will be appreciated
very much and will help me get
closer to my goal! The class is
also holding drives for you to
drop off cans and bottles where
we will all split the money on
November 19th, January 7th,
and March 17th. Our leader-
ship class is also selling poin-
settias that you can order from
any one of us.
I am leaving in April so you
can call me at any time be-
tween now and then. If you
would like to reach me, you can
call 503-429-5709. I also do
bake sales at Sentry on Oct.
22, Nov. 18 and Jan. 20. Those
also help me earn money, so
you can buy jams, jellies and
fresh baked goods there if you
Please see page 10
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.