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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (April 4, 2012)
The INDEPENDENT, April 4, 2012 AARP says, “You’ve earned a say” by Chris Thomas, Oregon News Service AARP is asking Oregonians to stand up and share their opinions about the futures of Social Security and Medicare, in a new campaign called “You’ve Earned a Say.” The group says Congress is treating Social Security and Medicare as line items in the federal budget debate, rather than as the programs that keep a majority of Americans out of poverty in retirement. And Joyce DeMonnin, outreach di- rector for AARP Oregon, says the discussion isn’t only for re- tirees, “One of the things we want to do is not just talk to cur- rent beneficiaries, but Boom- ers, and Gen X, Gen Y and Mil- lennials, and say, ‘You know, if we all work together, this pro- gram can be there for you.’” DeMonnin says Social Se- curity pumps about $750 mil- lion a month into Oregon’s economy. In addition to re- tirees, the Oregon recipients in- clude more than 130,000 chil- dren and people with disabili- ties. Lee Hammond, president of AARP’s national board, says Congress has been crunching the budget numbers without re- leasing much information about what its decisions will mean to people, now or in the future. AARP wants to change that, by asking experts at two think tanks – one conservative and one liberal – to weigh in. Ham- mond continued, “We’re going to be having all of the plans that come forward for Medicare and Social Security, vetted through two different groups, who are sort of strange bedfel- lows: the Brookings Institute and the Heritage Foundation. And we’re going to get their take on how it affects people, and let everybody know that.” AARP has set up a website, EarnedaSay.org, to collect opinions and post information about the campaign. AARP also released a new national survey of people over age 18. It says from all political camps, 98 percent think Social Security and Medicare are im- portant to retirees, but only about half think the programs will be there when they need them. Page 9 Bits & Bites By Jacqueline Ramsay The other day my granddaughter came and asked me for a piece of tape. I ask, “What kind of tape do you want?” “Just tape.” “Cloth tape or pa- per tape,” I ask. “I want to seal a letter.” “Oh, well you know there are a lot of tapes in this house. We’ve got paper tape, cloth tape, masking tape, plumbers tape, bias tape, painters tape and, oh yes, Scotch tape. And, they come in all colors, you know.” Gritting her teeth at me she said, “Oh Grandma, give me Scotch tape, please.” Careful what you ask me for, you might get the wrong thing. Another side of me surfaced a couple of days later. Some of you know that I knit (I also teach others to enjoy the hobby). Anyhow, I was knit- ting away and I noticed a goof. So, I picked back to the spot, made what I thought was a correc- tion. Oh yeah, not so quick, because it became a bigger goof. So rip it out. Well, to make my painful tale a little shorter, I picked, ripped and re-knit about 25 rows before I quit for the week- end. I changed the pattern a little. The goof was simple but I had only eight bobbins going in two directions and my brain just couldn’t remember which thread went left and which one didn’t. Anyway, if you want perfection, you have to keep your eye on the work in front of you and not the all day running of some silly show on T.V. And, now to the topic of the day – Our Spring weather. If the groundhog saw his shadow I was asleep. But this I do know, we had snow the sec- ond day of Spring. The next morning it was gone and the sun came out. There was a break and then it snowed again. I walked in the slush one morning and the next day I took a knife with me to cut my way through the fog. So, now I put on a heavy coat, pull a cap over my ears, wrap a wool scarf around my neck, pull on my wooly gloves, grab my four-wheeled chariot and brave whatever happens to be on the menu for the day. No use trying to outguess the weatherman. It’s too much trouble. So ta-ta for now. See you all whenever. Lions dinner raises money for Roberts Vernonia resident Ryan Roberts is closer to getting on the waiting list for a kidney transplant, thanks to a Corned Beef & Cabbage fund raiser sponsored by the Vernonia Li- ons on St. Patrick’s Day. Roberts was presented with a check for $658.00 a week lat- er, on March 24, at a “Spaghet- ti Feed” fund raiser, also for Roberts. The Spaghetti Feed was hosted by “The Vernonia Com- mittee of Volunteers”. left to right, Lion Vince Asz- man, Lion Becky Abney and customer Shirley Daughtry. Photo by Randall Harvey. 50 Years Ago This Month The April 5, 1962, issue of the Vernonia Eagle included the following news story on the front page: Consideration of hiring a life- guard for the city park pool for the coming summer season was one of the matters taken up by the Ver- nonia city council at its meeting in the city hall Monday evening of this week. Mrs. Roy Jones was present to introduce to the council Rev. Bruce Roberts of the local Christian church who would like the job. Lester Sheeley also gave the council the information that he had made Portland contacts con- cerning possible lifeguard appli- cants and had located one person interested in the job, Dan Wolf, student at Portland State college. The council stated that they will receive written applications for future consideration which should give qualifications and in- clude recommendations if possi- ble. Consideration was again given to the unplatted area on OA hill below the old ball park for which the St. Mary’s Catholic church has made an offer of $500 for a church building site. The council had pre- viously decided to have a survey made of the tract to determine ex- act acreage and boundaries but had failed to find someone to do the work. They had approached Neil Zimmerman and Dave McMinn, Crown Zellerbach sur- veyors, who declined due to press of company business, and the county surveyor, Clarence Wagn- er, who is booked ahead for two or three months. The council will also hear the views of the planning commission concerning this area before a decision is reached. The council authorized the pur- chase of grass seed and fertilizer for use at Anderson park. An objection was received from the Vernonia chamber of commerce to the use of the word prohibitive n regard to expense of maintaining the lights on the Rock Creek bridge. Their investigation had revealed that the West Oregon Electric company had quoted a cost of $1.25 per light per month. There are five of the old lights on the bridge. No decision was reached by the council as to whether the lights would be re- tained or eliminated. Louis Towne, chairman of the Columbia county redevelopment commission, asked for sugges- tions relating to the area’s eco- nomic problems which should be placed before the commission for study. Councilman Ed Miller told the council of efforts now underway to organize a Nehalem Valley His- torical Society which would be in- terested in establishing a museum in the former International Paper company office. The council included the Scout cabin in its list of insured build- ings at $4,000. Estimates are to be obtained from local workman for installing the rear entrance door in the base- ment of the city hall to provide a jail exit as recommended by grand jury surveys. The door is to be a three-foot solid heavy duty door with no glass, equipped with yale or comparable lock and the en- trance is to be canopied and equipped with eave trough and down spout. The city employees will complete the work which will include fireproofing of inner parti- tion between the cell block and furnace room. Mariolino’s *Two Dollars Off Large Combo Pizza *Only valid with this coupon. Offer expires 4-18-12 721 Madison Ave.,Vernonia • 503-429-5018
