The INDEPENDENT, January 4, 2012
50 Years Ago This Month
The December 21, 1961, is-
sue of the Vernonia Eagle in-
cluded the following news story
on the front page:
West Oregon Electric Coopera-
tive employees worked virtually
around the clock from Saturday to
Wednesday to repair the extensive
damage to their system which re-
sulted from the Saturday night
windstorm.
Besides West Oregon crews,
crews from the City of Forest
Grove, McMinnville Water and
Electric Board, Portland General
Electric co. and Barnes Construc-
tion Co. helped to restore service.
Temporary repairs were made in
many areas.
A tree through the Timber-Ver-
nonia transmission line caused a
forty minute power failure in Ver-
nonia. Power was switched to the
Warren-Vernonia line until repairs
on the Timber line could be made.
No complete tally of breaks in
the power lines has been possible
except to state that one time al-
most all lines were down. At least
10 poles were broken in Scoggins
Valley alone.
Service was restored to Keasey
Wednesday.
An incomplete listing of lines
that were down included: the Tim-
ber-Elsie transmission line, all
service in the Nehalem valley be-
low Pittsburgh, all Olney lines,
Hamlet, Timber Route, Pebble
Bits & Bites
Creek, Hayward area, Strassel,
three lines out of Chapman Sub-
station, Scoggins Valley and all
Pike area. The area covered ex-
tended from Northwest Clatsop
county into Yamhill county
through Columbia and Washing-
ton counties.
Manager Guy Thomas Wednes-
day expressed his appreciation for
the consideration of the members
during the extensive outages. He
also wished to thank the crews and
the other utilities for their help in
restoring service to all members.
He stated that this was the worst
storm in the history of the co-oper-
ative.
New transportation laws started Jan. 1
From page 8
update. This simple update lets
child passengers weighing
more than 40 pounds ride in
any approved child safety sys-
tem designed for a child weigh-
ing more than 40 pounds. Pre-
viously, Oregon law required a
child passenger weighing more
than 40 pounds to be secured
in a booster seat using a lap or
shoulder belt until age eight or
4’9” tall.
That’s still legal; however, if
you have a 5-point child pas-
senger safety seat system de-
signed to accommodate chil-
dren weighing over 40 pounds,
it is now legal to use that as an
alternative to a booster. Learn
more, and see a schedule for
free child safety seat clinics, at
www.childsafetyseat.org.
ORS 807 (SB 546 from the
2009 Oregon Legislature), Mo-
torcycle training. Effective Jan-
uary 1, 2012, new motorcy-
clists aged 40 and under must
complete an ODOT-approved
motorcycle safety course be-
fore they can be issued a mo-
torcycle endorsement by DMV.
This is part of a phased-in law
passed by the 2009 Oregon
Legislature. For information on
Oregon’s approved motorcycle
rider education courses, visit
the TEAM Oregon Web site,
www.team-oregon.org.
SB 130, Bicycle and flashing
yellow arrow signals. SB 130
adds definitions for green, yel-
low and red bicycle signals and
describes how bicycles are ex-
pected to respond to these sig-
nals:
• Bicyclists facing a green bi-
cycle signal may proceed
through the intersection, turn
right or turn left, unless a sign
prohibits either turn movement.
Bicycles must yield the right of
way to other vehicles in the in-
tersection at the time the signal
turns green.
• Bicycles facing a yellow bi-
cycle signal are warned the sig-
nal will soon turn to red. Bicy-
clists must stop at a marked
stop line, before a marked
crosswalk or before entering
the intersection. If a bicyclist
cannot safely stop, the bicyclist
may
proceed
cautiously
through the intersection.
• Bicyclists facing a red bicy-
cle signal must stop at a
marked stop line, before a
marked crosswalk, or before
entering the intersection. The
bicyclists must remain stopped
until the signal turns green or to
2012 Mammogram van schedule
Tuality Healthcare has an-
nounced the 2012 schedule for
their mobile mammography
van to be in Vernonia. As in the
past, the van will be parked in
the parking lot of the Vernonia
Medical Clinic building on
Bridge St.
The van will be here on Jan-
uary 26, February 23, March
29, April 26, May 31, June 28,
July 26, August 30, September
27, October 25 and December
13 (not here in November).
To schedule an appoint-
ment, call 503-681-4035.
Page 9
make a turn movement other-
wise allowed by law.
SB 130 also adds a defini-
tion for a flashing yellow arrow
signal to Oregon law and de-
scribes how drivers are expect-
ed to respond to a flashing yel-
low arrow signal. Drivers facing
a flashing yellow arrow signal
may make a turn but must yield
to other drivers in the intersec-
tion and to approaching traffic.
Read the full news releases
and find more information at:
http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/
COMM/news_main.shtml .
By Jacqueline Ramsay
It is 2:00 p.m. Wednesday, December
21st. 40 degrees, sunny, calm, cool but not
really collected. Shadow and I traversed
our 29 blocks this a.m. and now she is
asleep and I am trying to stay awake.
Here is a word for all of you Spelling
Bee folk. “Annihilate”. The reason for the
word is – I decided to teach my grand-
daughter how to annihilate a dead chicken.
It was quite amusing. “Take these chains
from my heart and set me free”, that is my hope of the Holiday
season. I’ve been in the valley of PAIN since the middle of July
and I feel that is long enough. I do enjoy my trips to that spot in
the hills where The Golden Oldies play. The music is always
great, the crowd always friendly, and the food always stands in-
spection.
In checking my calendar, I noticed the small print. WINTER
began TODAY December 21st. Mayhap it will SNOW??? Count-
down. 12-22-11 cold (30 degrees) but sunny. 10:30 a.m., I’m off
to dialysis. Time has marched on – it is now 3:35 p.m. and I’m
home. The day was shiny bright with sun (still 30 degrees). The
interesting thing, north facing roof tops have not lost their frosty
white glow from Monday night’s dusting of frozen dew. The world
sleeps…
12/23/11 – clear, blaa…30 degrees again. My sister would be
90 today if she were still with me (Oh, the Christmases we had
as tots). Wow, noon, 41 degrees, sunny, calm and I’m watching
my grand-daughter vacuum the rug. Gee, it’s a tough job teach-
ing a 19-year-old how to keep a house running.
12/24/11 – 40 degrees, sunny, calm, and I’m off to dialysis.
Gone to Chang’s for Christmas Eve dinner. Yum…hot & sour
soup plus all the other good stuff. See you after Christmas.
Santa has come and gone, so now comes the clean-up of pa-
per, string, boxes, and all of those dirty dishes. Santa was good
to me. I got yummies for the tummy, woolies to keep me warm
and my wish, Killing Lincoln by Bill O'Reilly. Now it’s back to the
grind of hand therapy, dialysis, ear appointments. I am praying for
a healthier New Year.
I hope you all have a HAPPY NEW YEAR.
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