The INDEPENDENT, June 20, 2012
Col. Co. Democrats send three
delegates to national convention
Bits & Bites
By Jacqueline Ramsay
Left to right, Vice-Chair Mary Lou Osburn, Chair Cris Land,
and Elections Chair Donna Nyberg will all be heading for the
Democratic National Convention in September.
For the first time in history,
the Columbia County Democ-
ratic Central Committee (CCD-
CC) will send three delegates
to the Democratic National
Convention in September. The
elected delegates are Cris
Land, Chair, Mary Lou Osburn,
Vice-Chair, and Donna Nyberg,
Elections Chair.
The three local delegates
will join the Oregon contingent
in Charlotte, N.C. to nominate
Barack Obama to a second
term as President of the United
States. This group of 84 dele-
gates is the largest and most
diverse group ever to represent
Oregon.
According to Mr. Land, this
is the first time in memory that
Columbia County has been
able to bring such a strong rep-
resentation of elected dele-
gates to a Democratic National
Convention.
“I think it says a lot about our
party that three candidates
from a small rural county were
elected to represent Oregon’s
1st Congressional District,”
said Nyberg.
Mary Lou Osburn intends to
bring fans printed with her mes-
sage of “One heart One Vote,
and Mine is not for sale” to
ward off the warm tempera-
tures of Charlotte in Septem-
ber.
“Democrats care about the
issues that are important to us
in smaller counties, like fair
wage jobs, environmental and
land use protections, and ac-
cess to health care for all. I am
honored to be part of such a
strong contingent of people to
represent us from our county,
our district, and our state in
Charlotte,” said Land.
Gee whiz, what do I
write about this week? I
am somewhere between
being fluffy and/or grind-
ing my teeth on a subject
that I’ve had in my bon-
net since my children
were in the school sys-
tem.
In reading the article in
the last paper about the torment of bullying, and
then seeing the news on Channel 8 Tuesday
night of the Clackamas child that was roughed
up, tied hand and foot with shoe laces, then
dumped down the embankment by two other
boys – my ire has been lit. Too long parents,
teachers and folks in charge of teaching children
the lessons of proper (for lack of a better word)
civil etiquette to children, maybe that should be
a subject taught in a classroom for all people.
Looking back over my child rearing years it
seems I spent too much time at school explain-
ing my child’s need for the right to come to
school for an education in the basic reading,
writing, and fun. Not in how to learn to defend
their right to be kind, thoughtful and friendly to
their other classmates, teachers, and all the oth-
er people they meet in life.
O.K., school’s out for the summer, time to en-
joy the sun, moon, stars, wind, rain, bees, bugs
and to remember that kids are home all day.
Now you have to stock the frig. with extra tidbits
of grab and run food, soda pop and all the junk
food they sell on T.V. Oh, joy!!
It seems I’ve spent a lot of time the last two
weeks moving my flower pot garden into the sun
and out of the rain. Growing flowers in a com-
plex is a chore.
Here is a question for you folks over the age
of, say, 70. Are you beginning to miss seeing or
hearing from friends and others you run into oc-
casionally, and think nothing of it? Every time I
get The Independent, I see the faces of folks I’ve
known for the past 16 years and it hurts me to
know I won’t be able to run into them again
whenever I’m in Vernonia. To those folks that
know I knew your loved ones, my prayers are
with you.
Till next time. Love, JBR.
Letter Carriers collected over 6 tons of food in 2012
In mid-May the National As-
sociation of Letter Carriers held
their annual food drive, the
largest one-day food drive in
the nation. Columbia Pacific
Food Bank reports that thanks
to the generosity of the resi-
dents in our area, Columbia
County had the highest per-
centage increase in the entire
state for pounds of food collect-
ed compared to last year. The
County Post Offices collected a
grand total of 12,630 pounds of
food. All food donated for this
food drive stays in the local
community in which it was col-
lected.
The Columbia Pacific Food
Bank, which supports local
food pantries and other partner
agencies throughout Columbia
County, continues to see a rise
Investigation is continuing in
the death of Richard Nels
“Rick” Jensen, 54955 Timber
Road, Vernonia, who was
found shot to death on May 31.
A late model Buick owned by
the victim was involved in po-
lice pursuit near Clackamas
Town Center within hours of the
slaying, Columbia County Dis-
trict Attorney Martin A. Sells
said.
Clackamas County Sheriff’s
deputies, unaware of the homi-
cide, started following the auto
after observing erratic behavior
by the driver. After driving at
speeds up to 70 mph on Sun-
nyside Road the driver braked
suddenly, leapt out of the car
and disappeared through the
backyards of nearby resi-
Dr. Jule Plummer, founder of
Valley Veterinary Clinic in
Rainier and Vernonia, surren-
dered her veterinary license on
June 1.
The Oregon Veterinary Med-
ical Examining Board does not
release information about the
reasons for the surrender.
Plummer waived her rights to a
contested case hearing and ju-
dicial review and agreed not to
reapply for a license. She does
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still have a license to practice
in Washington, but is being in-
vestigated there, with two open
cases before the Washington
Veterinary Board of Governors.
Plummer opened the clinic
in 1975 and currently has four
other veterinarians working for
her. The practice has been for
sale for some time, and Plum-
mer had been planning to retire
in the near future.
Open Daily
11 a.m.
dences. The deputies were un-
able to follow, Salls said.
Though there are no sus-
pects, leads are now being fol-
lowed in an effort to develop a
composite drawing of the car’s
driver, he added.
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in the number of families and
individuals seeking assistance,
making food drives like this one
more important then ever.
Dr. Jule surrendered her license
24 Years Ago This Month
The June 30, 1988, issue of
The Independent included the
following news story on page
24 under the headline, “Break
appears in local murder”:
Page 9
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