The INDEPENDENT, January 18, 2012
24 Years Ago This Month
The January 28, 1988, issue
of The Independent included
the following news story on the
front page:
A plan for dealing with the
city’s stalled nuisance abate-
ment program was presented
to the Vernonia City Council at
their January 4, 1988, meeting,
by Building Official Jim Tierney.
The proposal, which would
create a point system for prior-
itizing abatement targets, also
calls for an ordinance that
would allow fines of up to
$1,000 for violations, then
channel those fines into a re-
volving fund to finance the pro-
gram.
The point system for deter-
mining abatement priorities
would be based on five criteria:
1. Immediate health hazards,
as determined by the county
health officer, would be 10
points. 2. Health and safety
risks determined by the city
building official would range
from 1 to 10 points.
3. Future health and safety
risks, for situations deemed re-
pairable by the building official,
would be 1 to 5 points. 4. Crime
hazard, for instance an unse-
cured vacant building used for
illegal purposes, 1 to 5 points.
5. Visibility, whether the proper-
ty reflects negatively on the
town, would be another 1 to 5
points.
Tierney also requested
$3,000 for the program in the
1988-89 fiscal year. That
amount wouldn’t result in an in-
crease in the budget, Tierney
said, because of a decrease in
the building official’s hours and
salary.
The council referred the plan
to City Attorney Tom Kohl for
review.
In other action during Janu-
ary the council agreed there
would be no charge for water
leaking from a pipe at the resi-
dence of Mike Pihl after instal-
lation of a new water meter
there. Public Works Director
Mike Smith explained that even
though the pipe was broken on
the Pihl’s side of the meter, it
Bits & Bites
could have been caused by the
installation of the new meter.
Council member Mario Leo-
netti asked Smith to purchase
all of the materials needed to
complete the fencing at
Spencer Park, per agreement
with Larry Bair, the adjacent
landowner. Smith said he was
waiting for a list of supplies,
and would obtain the materials
as soon as possible.
Two ordinances were unani-
mously approved: one changes
the composition of the planning
commission so that one mem-
ber can reside outside the city
limits.
The other ordinance ap-
proved was to set a sixty day
limit for homeowners to com-
ply, after notification by the city
that their curbs or sidewalks
need to be repaired.
The council also set a work-
shop with the airport commis-
sion for February 15, following
a council meeting, to discuss
insurance,
hangar
rental
agreements and maintenance.
County libraries saddle up for trip to wild west
Columbia County public li-
braries are joining forces for
the 2012 Our Community
Reads program running from
January through March 2012.
Local libraries will take readers
on a journey to the Wild West
through a selection of Western-
themed books and events.
Participating libraries in-
clude the St. Helens Public Li-
brary, Clatskanie Library Dis-
trict, Columbia City Community
Library, Rainier City Library,
Scappoose Public Library and
Vernonia Public Library.
Three books have been se-
lected to cover a range of read-
ing ages. The adult selection is
“The Hearts of Horses” by
renowned Portland author Mol-
ly Gloss. “The Devil’s Paintbox”
by Victoria McKernan is the
teen selection, and older ele-
mentary students will enjoy
“The Captain’s Dog” by Oregon
author Roland Smith.
A variety of Western-themed
events are planned at partici-
pating libraries. Author Molly
Gloss will be at the Vernonia
Public Library on February 27
at 5:30 p.m. to discuss her
book. She will visit the St. He-
lens Public Library on March 1
at 7:00 p.m.
Adult and teen readers inter-
ested in discussing their read-
ing selection from the comfort
of home can visit two book blog
spots: http://thedevilspaintbox
discussion.blogspot.com/ and
http://theheartsofhorsesdiscus
sion.blogspot.com/.
Other events include a
Western Film Series at Scap-
poose and Vernonia Public Li-
braries; Sing Like a Cowboy
night at St. Helens Public Li-
brary; leather carving for stu-
dents; an antique quilt show;
cowboy-themed preschool sto-
rytime with individualized, old
fashioned WANTED posters;
presentations on saddle mak-
ing and Custer’s last stand;
and a book sale at Columbia
City Community Hall.
Community members inter-
ested in participating are en-
Page 9
couraged to visit a participating
library to check out the Our
Community Reads selections
and start reading. A complete
list of events and dates are
also available at participating li-
braries.
Our Community Reads is a
program designed to bring
reading to the forefront of pub-
lic discourse. By reading the
same book at the same time, it
is hoped that Columbia County
residents will be inspired to dis-
cuss, connect and share their
perspectives.
For further information re-
garding the 2012 Our Commu-
nity Reads program, please
contact St. Helens Public Li-
brary Director Margaret Jeffries
at 503-397-4544, ext. 104.
Mariolino’s
Fresh Homemade
Soup Daily
By Jacqueline Ramsay
Happy New Year. Santa and Frosty no
longer reign under the Hinoki tree, they are
now passed out on the front room floor,
drying from all the fog and rain we had
over the last three days. Oh, we had some
sunshine too, but there wasn’t much heat
in it, just glare. This you are missing, Mox-
ie (the cat) is attacking Frosty and his
broom. It must be the green fringe on the
scarf that caught her attention. Ah, the
New Year has made its appearance; cold, gray night, plus fire-
works that raised Gee Whiz with Shadow who thought another
war had broken out.
Today, the 1st, we have sun, wind and no rain. Shadow and I
took our first walk of 2012 and found 13 new Forsythia blooms
along the way. January 2nd, my Shadow for the last 10 years has
gone to her final rest.
Memory of a True Pal. In 2002, I met a pup named Baby. She
was a two-year-old nobody needed, but she needed someone of
her own and she chose me. I, Jacqueline, was visiting the pet
store in Vernonia. Baby was being chased by a couple of BIG
DOGS, when making the third pass around the room she dove
onto my lap and there she has been ever since. We had one dis-
agreement on the way home as to who would be Alpha and who
would be Omega. She accepted the name Shadow and we be-
came (almost) one. While trying to become an escape artist by
climbing fences she cracked her tail bone. Then she changed to
digging out and heading for the lake to visit Big Bill. She soon
found out she didn’t like being chained. So we walked to the lake
to herd the ducks into the water, put the rabbits in the briar patch,
weathered all kinds of weather, played in knee deep autumn
leaves, picked tons of wild blackberries. Been nose to nose with
raccoons and possums in her own backyard. We made a team.
When I started using a walker on our long walks she became Al-
pha and I became Omega. Then fate stepped in, she lost the
sight in her right eye and things starting going down hill. Things
only BIG BUCKS could (maybe) help. This I have faced before.
Accept your rest, Shadow, you have earned it.
FOR
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