PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. Postage Paid Vernonia, OR 97064 Permit No. 37 Vol. 27, No. 2 THE FREE INDEPENDENT The Voice Voice of of the Upper Nehalem River The River Valley Valley for for Over Over 25 27 years years January 18, 2012 Vernonia School District continues fundraising Snow finally arrived this week in Vernonia and once it was here, it kept coming for a few days. Picture taken heading to the bridge over Rock Creek going into Anderson Park. Special Election ballot drop-off sites and certification information The Public Certification Test of the counting equipment for the January 31 Special Gener- al Election will be held on Tues- day, January 24, 2012. Testing will begin at 10:00 a.m. in the County Elections Dept. The public is welcome to attend. Drop sites for the election will be as follows: • Vernonia Library, 701 Weed Ave., Jan. 13 - 30, during library hours and from noon to 8:00 p.m. on January 31. • Mist-Birkenfeld RFPD, 12525 Hwy. 292, Jan. 13 - 30 during regular office hours and January 31 from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Ballots can also be dropped off at the Columbia County Courthouse Monday through Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and January 31 from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. There is also a drive-by drop box in the lower parking lot of the Court- house. Vernonia Band Concert An “Evening with Oscar” is the theme for the Vernonia High School Band Concert on January 24, from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Washington Grade School. Town Hall with State Senator Betsy Johnson in Banks Left to right, Suzanne Bonamici the Democratic and Indepen- dent candidate, and Republican Rob Cornilles are candi- dates in the January 31 Special General Election. State Senator Betsy John- son will hold a Town Hall meeting on Monday, January 23, at 7:00 p.m. in the Banks Elementary School cafeteria. Subjects will include what to expect in the upcoming February Session, budget is- sues, and education. Also on hand will be Ben Cannon, Governor Kitzhaber’s Educa- tion Policy Advisor. Recent donations to the Ver- nonia School District’s new school fundraising efforts were reported at the January 12 school board meeting. Superin- tendent Dr. Ken Cox told the board that $63,000 came in last week and that as of the end of December, an additional $325,000 had been pledged or received. Cox also told the board that $917,000 of the Ford Family Foundation $1 mil- lion Challenge Grant had been met and that the foundation has approved continuing the challenge into October. High school leadership stu- dent Alexis Baska added that Scappoose High School wrote a check for $800 (over their stated goal) toward the high school challenge goal of $11,000. In the meantime, the board approved Resolution #11-01, for a $3 million bridge financing loan. The temporary financing will be obtained from Wedbush Bank in Portland so construc- tion can continue on schedule while the fundraising contin- ues. The district always knew there would be a timing gap and a need for a bridge loan, so this is not an unexpected event. Construction is on schedule and interior paint is on the walls now, in the west wing. The dis- trict expects to have the keys to the building on June 8 and move in July 2 - 12. Demolition of the old schools is slated to begin on July 15. Tree removal will start soon to prepare for ODOT’s road im- provements, now scheduled to start this summer. The next school board meet- ing will be February 9, at 6:00 p.m., in the district office. Vernonians can start signing up as patients with Verdura Wellness The Verdura Family Well- ness clinic is expected to open in late February in the building previously occupied by Provi- dence Medical. New patient Welcome Pack- ets are now available at West Oregon Electric Co-op and at the Vernonia Pharmacy. Pack- ets include an envelope that can be sealed and dropped off in a lock box at Vernonia Phar- macy. The packets will be picked up weekly. Filling out this paperwork ahead of time will save patients time at their initial visit, because their infor- mation will already be loaded into the Verdura system. There are separate adult and pedi- atric packets available. More information should be available in early February. Come to event meeting and find out “what’s going on” in Vernonia Vernonia’s old school build- ings will be demolished this summer, so big changes will have to be made in some com- munity activities. Want to know what’s going on with Jamboree, Salmon Festival, 4th of July or other Vernonia community events? Want to be involved? Come to the first community event planning meeting of 2012 on Thursday, January 26, at 6:00 p.m. at city hall. This is your chance to find out “what’s going on” at the meeting.