PRESORTED STANDARD
U.S. Postage Paid
Vernonia, OR 97064
Permit No. 37
Vol. 27, No. 9
THE
FREE
INDEPENDENT
The Voice
Voice of
of the Upper Nehalem River
The
River Valley
Valley for
for Over
Over 25
27 years
years
May 2, 2012
More County candidates
speak on county needs
At the 2011 Camp 18 Logging Exhibition and competition, Robbie Van Dyke (facing camera)
and Kyle Hilger are shown during Cross-cut Bucking, while Dwayne Dethlefs supplies the
WD-40. See related article on page 13.
New school fundraising efforts continue
Fund raising efforts for the
new Vernonia school are slated
to continue through 2013, but
the school is set to open in
September of 2012. The timing
difference between the open-
ing of the school and fund rais-
ing efforts, though known for
years, has become more ap-
parent. While classrooms,
cafeteria, and the “small” gym-
nasium will be completed by
this June, some elements will
be delayed, possibly until after
the school opens.
Though the so called “small”
gymnasium is longer than the
current high school gymnasi-
um, and will have the floor from
the current gym, bleachers
may not be in place. School
games could still take place,
but the audience may find
themselves sitting on folding
chairs for a while.
The “big” gymnasium and
the wrestling room may be
closed off, by the simple means
of locked doors, until complet-
ed. The district hopes to contin-
ue work on these areas starting
in July, but funding is needed to
continue these and some other
areas.
The list and estimated cost
of delayed portions of the proj-
ects include items that have
been purchased, but need to
be installed:
• blinds and shades in class-
rooms – $65,000
• concession door and small
gymnasium scoreboard –
$9,000
• inside light shelves –
$10,000
• final lift of parking lot as-
phalt paving – $ 85,000
• work on the big gym and
wrestling room includes in-
stalling wood paneling, painting
ceilings and walls, plus installa-
tion of wood floor, wood panel-
ing basketball hoop, and
bleachers – $91,000.
Items that remain to be pur-
chased and installed include:
• sound system and stage
curtain – $92,000
• bleachers for both gymna-
siums – $119,000
• projector screens and
mounts – $23,000
• science classroom fume
hood – $18,000
• solar panels for roof –
$300,000.
Some final landscaping on
the new wetlands has been
postponed until 2013 with an
estimated cost of $150,000.
All of these projects offer do-
nation and volunteer opportuni-
ties. If interested in helping,
contact the district office.
Superintendent Dr. Ken Cox
said, “There is no way the
school won’t open on time. We
already have a donation of
$21,000 needed to install the
lockers and may have a dona-
tion for the stage curtain.”
The shop classroom, though,
See New on page 12
Columbia County voters will
decide who should represent
them on the Columbia County
Board of Commissioners, in the
May 15 primary election, when
two positions are up for elec-
tion. The two open seats are
Position 1 and Position 3, cur-
rently held by Earl Fisher and
Tony Hyde, respectively.
If one candidate for each po-
sition gets a majority, or 50%
plus one, of the ballots cast,
that candidate is elected in the
primary and will not have to run
again in the general election. If
no candidate gets a majority,
the top two candidates for each
position will go on to a runoff in
the November general election.
The Independent inter-
viewed the candidates, asking
the same questions of each
one. Here are the questions
and the candidates’ responses.
Responses are in alphabetical
order, separated by the posi-
tion they are seeking.
The candidates for position
1 are Earl Fisher, Wayne Mayo,
Brady Preheim, Terry Luttrell,
and Colleen DeShazer (see
April 18 issue for information
about these candidates).
The candidates for position
3 are Tammy Maygra, Jim Gib-
son, Tony Hyde, and Reginald
VHS Band going
to State
The Vernonia High School
Band is taking their skills to
state competition this year.
The band will perform May 10
at 11:45 a.m. The awards will
be presented between 1:15
and 1:30 p.m.
The competition will be at
Oregon State University’s
LaSells Stewart Center, lo-
cated at 875 SW 26th, Cor-
vallis. Spectators are wel-
come, but there is an admis-
sion charge.
See page 12 for informa-
tion on band performance in
Vernonia on May 5.
Ward.
Following the questions and
answers, there is additional in-
formation about each Position
3 candidate.
Position 3 Candidates
1. How do you propose to
provide county services with
less money (bad economy,
loss of county payments,
etc.)?
Gibson – We need to prioritize
what is critical and what we can
live without. Public safety is a
biggy and county roads are an-
other. They eat up a lot of re-
See Candidates on page 5
Vernonia Health
Fair
The Vernonia Health Fair
will be held May 5 from 10:00
a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the
school cafeteria (green build-
ing). The Fair is sharing
space with the Firefighter’s
Pancake Feed.
There will be vision and
hearing tests, bloodmobile,
glucose, cholesterol and
bone density testing, other
health related information,
plus a drug take-back from
Noon to 2:00 p.m.
Vernonia
Firefighter’s
Pancake Feed
Vernonia Volunteer Fire-
fighter’s 5th annual Pancake
Feed will be held May 5, from
8:00 a.m. to Noon, in the
school cafeteria (green build-
ing). The Health Fair is shar-
ing the space.
The menu includes pan-
cakes, biscuits and gravy,
ham, eggs, fruit, and bever-
ages. Adults – $7, kids and
seniors – $5, families – $25.
There will be free fire truck
rides, plus a fire wood raffle.