Friendship Jamboree
Pull-out Guide inside
PRESORTED STANDARD
U.S. Postage Paid
Vernonia, OR 97064
Permit No. 37
Vol. 27, No. 15
THE
FREE
INDEPENDENT
The Voice
Voice of
of the Upper Nehalem River
The
River Valley
Valley for
for Over
Over 25
27 years
years
August 1, 2012
Verdura Family Wellness
office in Vernonia has closed
Verdura Family Wellness of-
fice in Vernonia closed for the
last time on July 30. The clinic
opened on February 20 of this
year and had been open three
days a week. Business Manag-
er Sara Miller cited a lack of pa-
tients as the primary reason for
the closure. They had hoped to
have 1,000 patients by this
time and had only 348 as of
this week.
At the end of the day on July
30, Miller said, “We hope we’ve
helped some patients while
we’ve been here.”
Patients will receive a letter
this week telling them of the
closure and their options to
This is what the old West Oregon Electric Co-operative building looked like last week as the
demolition continued. See article on this page for information on flood recovery projects.
Cougar seen in Vernonia neighborhood
A cougar was spotted inside
city limits of Vernonia on July
20. Ernie Smith and his son,
Taylor, saw a cougar, at about
midnight, in their backyard be-
tween 4th and 5th Avenues, at
the north end. The cougar
stayed in the yard for a couple
of minutes, then moved off into
the timber behind the house.
“Then we heard it attack
some animal,” Smith said, “it
was snarling and making a gut-
tural growl,” then the noise
stopped. They called 9-1-1.
When a Vernonia Police Of-
ficer arrived they heard sounds
that led them to believe the
cougar was devouring some-
thing. They listened to the
sounds for about five minutes.
The next day, Ernie Smith went
in the woods but saw no sign,
though Taylor found large cat
prints and a path that looked
like the cougar had dragged
something into the thick brush.
Smith said they had previously
seen a deer with two yearlings
in the area and, since, have
seen only one yearling. The po-
lice department contacted Ore-
gon State Police and Oregon
Department of Fish & Wildlife
(ODFW).
Information on the ODFW
website states that Oregon is
home to more than 5,000
cougars, also known as moun-
tain lions. Their primary food
source is deer, but they will
also eat elk, raccoons, and oth-
er mammals and birds.
Cougars are large animals with
a cat-like appearance, tan or
tawny color and a nearly three
foot long tail.
ODFW advises those who
live in cougar country to keep
See cougar on page 5
How to identify cougar
tracks, see page 5
continue care at the Hillsboro
or Carlton clinic locations. Ver-
dura Family Wellness will pro-
vide medication refills for 30
days and will follow up with pa-
tients on any labs or tests done
recently. Patients with ques-
tions or concerns are urged to
contact them at the Hillsboro
office at 503-648-8210.
The Vernonia Health Board
met with Verdura on Monday
night, to facilitate their closing,
and remains committed to pro-
viding health care in Vernonia.
The board will now begin a
search for another provider to
operate the clinic.
2007 flood recovery efforts
are winding down this year
The tear down of the old
West Oregon Electric Co-oper-
ative building took place start-
ing the week of July 23. The
building, at the corner of
Adams Ave. and Maple St. was
built in 1957 for $113,406. It
was replaced this year by the
new building, out of the flood
plain, at Maple St. and Rose
Ave.
Recovery efforts from the
flood on December 3, 2007,
are winding down, with the last
batch of nine houses to be lift-
ed this year. A total of 36 hous-
es have been elevated (without
money from FEMA), 30 were
elevated with FEMA money,
nine FEMA elevations still to
go, 34 houses in Columbia
County were bought by FEMA
and torn down. One house was
moved to a different part of the
property (higher ground) and
then lifted. 21 houses were mit-
igated by the owners, such as
replacing an existing manufac-
tured home. There were also
three businesses, Vernonia
Sentry, West Oregon Electric
Co-operative, and the schools
that were mitigated (floodwalls
for Sentry), or torn down and
re-built elsewhere. Two busi-
nesses are still in the process
of seeking mitigation options.
Oregon given
No Child Left
Behind waiver,
see page 12