PRESORTED STANDARD
U.S. Postage Paid
Vernonia, OR 97064
Permit No. 37
Vol. 26, No. 20
THE
FREE
INDEPENDENT
The Voice of the Upper Nehalem River Valley for Over 25 years
October 19, 2011
Candidates for District 1
give views during forum
Fall colors are just starting to show up around Vernonia. This photo was taken earlier this
week on Noakes Road.
Circuit Court announces furloughs
In light of budget limitations,
it has become necessary for
the Columbia County Circuit
Court to reduce the hours it is
open to the public. The reduc-
tions began on October 7 with
the public counter being closed
on Fridays. There will be a drop
box for court filings and pay-
ments which will be picked up
at 5:00 p.m. Any documents in
the box before 5:00 p.m. will be
file stamped with the current
date. The courtrooms will be
open for business as usual.
The Columbia County Cir-
cuit Court staff deeply regrets
any inconvenience this may
cause. Friday closures will be
in effect through June 30,
2013.
In addition to the Friday
counter closure, the Chief Jus-
tice has signed an order man-
dating full court closure for nine
calendar days: November 25,
2011, March 23, 2012, May 25,
2012, August 17, 2012, Octo-
ber 19, 2012, November 23,
2012, January 18, 2013, April
19, 2013, and May 24, 2013.
Staff will be furloughed during
these dates but the judges will
be holding pretrials and nonof-
ficial meetings in chambers.
good they will do.
At the Portland “Occupy”
event, Kari Koch says the
scene may look a little disor-
ganized, but the groups in each
city are agreeing on goals and
actions and have a clear vision
of what needs to be changed,
“The economic and political
system is not working for work-
ing people. It is, in fact, collaps-
ing on top of the working class,
See “Occupy” on page 22
State Senator for 17th District.
Delgado-Morgan is a member
of the International Union of
Operating Engineers, Local
701. She and her family also
own Morgan Meadows Vine-
yard in Gaston. Witt is current-
ly State Representative from
the 31st District and was the
Secretary/Treasurer of the Ore-
gon AFL-CIO for 14 years.
The “Conversation” was or-
ganized by Columbia County
Citizens for Human Dignity
(CCCHD), the Rural Organiz-
ing Project (ROP), Working
Families, MoveOn.org, and Re-
build the Dream.
See Candidates on page 5
Town Hall on
New Park
The Vernonia School District
will hold a Town Hall to get
community input for the New
Spencer Park project to re-
place the existing schools. The
Town Hall will be tomorrow, Oc-
tober 20, at 7:00 p.m. in the
cafeteria building.
Halloween Activities
Monday, Oct. 31
Halloween Costume Parade — The Vernonia
Costume Sidewalk Parade will take place on Halloween, start-
ing at Vernonia City Hall. Meet there at 4:00 p.m. to start the
parade at 4:30 p.m. The parade route (and trick-or-treat to
businesses) starts from City Hall, going first to the Library,
down Bridge St. (with detour to Sentry) to Shay Park, crosses
the street at Adams Ave. and returns to City Hall via the other
side of the street.
All children up to 10 years of age and their parents are wel-
come.
“Occupy” idea spreads in Oregon
by Chris Thomas, Oregon
News Service
Frustrated folks in at least a
half-dozen Oregon cities are
part of the “99 Percent” or “Oc-
cupy Together” protests that
have sprung up across the na-
tion to protest corporate greed
and government inaction.
Some of the gatherings started
last week and are still going on,
but those who are not part of
the protests may wonder what
“A Kitchen Table Conversa-
tion: Voices of Rural Oregon”
was the name of a candidate
forum held October 11 in Scap-
poose.
Four candidates, all 11 were
invited, for the Congressional
District 1 position opened up by
David Wu’s resignation, partici-
pated in the “Conversation”.
The questions and each candi-
date’s answer are given below.
Other candidates will be con-
tacted before the next issue
with the opportunity to answer
the same questions. Ballots for
the election will be mailed out
starting October 21 for the No-
vember 8 Primary Election.
The Special General Election
will be held January 31 to fill
the position.
The four candidates at the
Scappose forum were Brad
Avakian, Suzanne Bonamici,
Delinda Delgado-Morgan and
Brad Witt. Avakian is currently
the Oregon Labor Commis-
sioner. He also served three
terms in the Oregon Legisla-
ture, representing Beaverton
and NW Portland. Bonamici is
Trick or Treat at Church — Come start your
Halloween Trick or Treating at Vernonia Community Church
with free hot dogs, chips and drinks on October 31 from 5:30-
7:00 p.m.
Don Tiffney of Vernonia
caught this 40 lb. Salmon on
a recent fishing trip to
Youngs Bay he took with
Don Webb, also of Vernonia.
Fall Carnival — Join the fun at the 25th anniversary
of the Fall Carnival at Vernonia Christian Church!
A safe Halloween alternative at 410 North St. on Monday, Oc-
tober 31, from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. There will be games, prizes,
goodies and more! It’s free family fun for everyone!
For more information call the church office at 503-429-6522.