L ib r a r y
U n iv e r s ity o f Oregon
Oregon
N 8 8 0 8 8 8 8 M 8 8 8 8 8 I8 O 8 W
VERNONIA
WEATHER
An gathered from the
station located at the Vi
Ocrnon i a Eagle
VOLUMI-, 52, NUMBER 28
VERNONIA, OREGON $7084 — 18c Per Copy
MOOMMOBOOOMMOOM«
For those who haven't noticed,
it’s raining in Vernonia and has
been for several days High for
the period of July 2-9 was 78
degrees on the Fourth of July
while the low was 41 degrees on
July 7 Maximum precipitation
of 15 on Monday, July 8.
RENEE WILLIAMS finds Vernonia a friendly place io live.
Renee Finds Vernonia Nice
(E ditor’s Note: This is the last
in a series of interviews with the
four lovely girls who are vying
for the crown of Queen of the 1974
Vernonia Friendship Jamboree
Each girl is pretty, poised and
all have Qualities that would re
flect credit on Vernonia, which
makes the final decision even
more difficult Coronation with
the crowning of the queen, will
be Friday evening, July 26 at the
Vernonia High School. Be there
and see “ Who Will Be Queen ’’ )
Being the only girl with three
younger brothers, isn't always
easy for Renee Williams but at
16. she feels that it's really not so
bad A native of Oregon. Renee
moved to Vernonia from New
port five years ago
" I really love the town,” she
said with a smile “ It's so nice.
The (leople here welcome you
and are so friendly. I think that
surprised me the most,” she
added
A junior at Vernonia High
School, the daughter of M r and
Mrs Albert Williams finds being
a princess an exciting time “ It's
really fun Something’s always
going on,” she said. “ I think it’s
one of the most exciting things
I ’ve ever been in .”
The vivacious teenager also
plans to attend secretarial
school after she graduates then
work as a secretary for awhile
before making
any
further
plans
Although Renee enjoys horse
back riding, swimming and even
cooking, she admits, “ I hate to
do dishes, but that really is about
the only thing I do hate.’’
Despite her many duties as a
Jamboree princess, Renee plans
to work this summer although at
the time of the interview, she
still wasn't quite sure just
where
As to her pet peeve, she had
only one. " I don't like to hear
people always complaining,“
she said, adding, “ after all,
things could always be worse. I
mean, there’s always someone
worse off than you a re .”
For Renee, as for the other
three contenders in the race for
queen, the next two weeks will be
even more hectic as the date for
the coronation with the crowning
of the new 1974 Queen of the
Vernonia Friendship Jamboree-
draws closer
Chamber Plans
Float Entry
For Jamboree
The Chamber of Commerce
will enter a float in the Jamboree
parade depicting a Tug-of-War
which it is also sponsoring as one
of the events on Saturday and
Sunday.
George Smith was appointed
as director to fill a vacancy with
the approval of the directors. A
new member, Randall Holce,
was also gained. He will have his
office as Business & Tax Ser
vice Consultant on Bridge Street.
Two booklets on the Premium
List and Rules on the Oregon
F a ir have been received and will
be placed at the West Oregon
Chamber display
Connie Carlson was present at
the Chamber meeting Monday to
show Christmas Street orna
ments Though the need is felt
for new street decorations for
the Christmas season none was
ordered at this time
Budget t Gels
Voters Nod
In a 2-to-l vote, the Vernonia
City Budget passed according to
unofficial results of the Tuesday,
July 9 election
While the margin of “yes”
votes were overwhelming, the
turnout of voters on this im
portant measure, was not Only
128 registered voters out of ap
proximately 800 in the city limits
of Vernonia, braved the wind
and rain to cast their vote, with
the resulting victory of the pro
posed city budget
There were 86 “yes“ votes and
42 “no” votes counted after the
polls closed.
County Fair Offers
4-H Canine Review
tv Fa
going to the dogs. 4-H dogs, that
is.
A 4-H canine revue is on this
year’s F a ir program for Friday
(July 19).
Young members and their
canine companions - dogs that
range from co6tly purebreds to
the world's most loveable and
loved mutts - will be center
stage on Friday
While obedience and show
manship abilities are the object
of the revue, spectators have the
chance to see some side-splitting
and totally unrehearsed canine
antics that deserve a Walt Dis
ney film crew’s attentions.
Charter Government
Proposed By Committee
Columbia County voters will
have the opportunity in Novem
ber to approve a charter form of
government which would take
effect April 1, 1975 The new
charter-which was drafted by a
nine member committee chaired
by Ted White of Scappoose
would create a system of county
government quite different from
current county government.
Chairman of the Charter Study
Committee, Ted White, in an ex
clusive interview Friday, July 5,
with the Spotlight, emphasized
that the charter form of gov
ernment in his opinion would be
much more responsive to the
needs of Columbia County.
Also stressed was the concept
that “home rule" is county gov
ernment organized by the cit
izens of the county rather than
county government organized
from the outside. Under the
current system, he noted, the
county is regulated by the ord
inances governing c o u n t -
ies which are established by the
legislature. These State ordin
ances are often negative or re
strictive rather than positive.
With the General Grant of
Powers section of the new Char
ter, the county would be able to
promulgate ordinances govern
ing itself rather than waiting for
the State Legislature to act.
According to White, the General
Grant of Powers has been used
in nearly every city in Oregon
including the city of Scappoose.
Recall Committee Plans
Second Series of Meets
The Recall Committee of Co
lumbia County announced the
start of a second series of
meetings with the first slated for
Clatskanie at the IOOF Hall-two
doors left from the stop sign-
Tuesday, July 9 at 8 p.m
The next week, the Recall
Committee will be attending the
Home Rule Charter Committee
for the county, at meetings to be
held in Vernonia, July 16, St.
Helens. July 17 and in Rainier,
July 18 The proposed new
charter, coming up to a vote of
the people in the November
general election, features a cen
tralized government of appoin
tees who will hold a general
grant of powers, leaving voters
without the right to vote, in the
opinion of the Recall Committee
members
The Recall Committee
be
lieves they are well into the last
third of signatures required and
are asking petition carriers to
call or turn signatures required
and are asking petition carriers
to call or turn in petitions to the
follow ing local collection points
Rainier carriers may call Mr
and Mrs Steve Gaskill of Trojan
Mobile Homes. 556 1531; Scap
poose, RoseAnn Strobel. 543 2581
or 543-6205, Clatskanie. Mr and
Mrs Joe Gillis, 728 2632; Ver-
noni, Mrs Fields, 429-7811 or
Mavor Fisher. 429-6701; and St.
Helens, Mrs Stafford. 397 2281.
The Recall Committee find
Permit Requests
Heard By Co. Board
The Columbia County Board of
Adjustment, (subdivision of the
Columbia C o u n t y Planning
Commission) met July 1, to con
sider several requests for tem
porary permits.
.
Following discussion by the
board, staff and a number of
citizens of the county, a request
by MD Young for a temporary
permit to place a moblie home
on a lot in Panorama Terrace in
Warren was denied
The staff recommended that
an application for a temporary
permit by E.O M ark for mobile
nome use be accepted This was
approved by the board with the
provision that the sanitation
system must meet acceptable
standards
The Columbia County Plan
ning Commission failed to have
a quorum and thus no business
was transacted.
Story Hour Day
Changes This Week
The children's Story Hour
lieing held through the summer
has changed meeting days from
Tuesday Io Wednesdays
Children old enough to be in
terested in hearing stories read
by the Story Ixidy may come to
the Seoul Cabin at Hawkins Park
Wednesday mornings from 10 to
11:30 a.m
Sally Harrison has been Story
laidy through this week Nancy
Eckland will be Story Lady the
rest of the summer
their efforts are not hampered
by the commissioner's act of
withholding temporarily from
CRAG membership The com
mitter* feels the commissioners’
actions are misleading and state
that the commissioners have
deleted $57,000 from the Road
fund and programmed $100,000
Revenue Sharing Monies for
Mass Transit, monies that could
have been used for the Road
Department.
According to the Recall Com
mittee the commissioners state
the county is losing funding for
various agencies and have ne
glected to inform the public that
some of these agencies were
actually only funded for a period
of one year.
“The Commissioners state we
will not be able to get federal
funding without CRAG member
ship, a motheaten statement,
disapproved many times.” the
Recall Committee says, adding
“ the planning commission is
moving ahead towards the goals
and objectives of Regional Gov
ernment.”
The committee feels all in
dications point to the fact that
the Commissioners are only
hoping to shake the shackles of
Recall before moving back into
membership with the metro area
o l CRAG or the Clatsop. T illa
mook. Intergovernmental Coun
icil of District No. 2.
Horseshoes
Set To F ly
The kickoff of the 1974 Vernon
ia Friendship Jamboree festiv
ities will be the 10th annual
Horseshoe Pitching
Tourna
ment, to be held at Hawkins
Park. Saturday, July 13.
The first tournament held in
Vernonia took place in 1964 with
28 turning out for the fun
Present average has grown to 48
contestants. The Vernonia tour
ney is the only horseshoe tour
nament in the state of Oregon to
feature a division for Senior
Citizens. This class will begin
pitching at 7 a m
Other classes include A, B, C,
D, and E . Ladies and Juniors
They will register at 9:30 a m
with pitching slated for 10 a m
Bob West will be the defending
Champion at the nationally
sanctioned affair.
Everyone is invited to attend
this first event of the 1974
Friendship Jamboree and enjoy
some really outstanding horse
shoe pitching, very much in
keeping with this year’s theme,
“Those Were The Days.”
Ambulance Fund Up
The
Vernonia
Ambulance
Fund continues to receive dona
tions through the generosity of
both local residents and those
who have moved away with the
present total now $956 48
The Charter Study Committee
spent 18 months putting the
Charter together noted White.
Charters from other countries
were studied and officials from
Columbia County and other
counties, using a charter, were
interviewed prior to the drafting.
Authority for the Charter
Study Committee to draft the
charter was given in the Home
Rule Enabling Act passed in
1958. Since the legislation took
effect in 1959 a number of coun
ties have adopted their own
charters; among them are Lane
County, Washington County,
Multnomah Couniy and Hood
River County.
Serving on the committee,
which was appointed by Rep
resentative Dick Magruder and
former County Commissioner
Norman Barmeier; were Ted
White
of
Scappoose,
E .T .
"Boone” Johnson of Mist, Jim
Morton of Clatskanie, Dave
Williamson of St. Helens, Pete
Bartlett of Columbia City, Buf
ord Hayes of St. Helens, Ben
Coleman of St Helens, Agnes
Peterson of St. Helens, and
Howard Hopkins of Vernonia
who replaced Chuck Brownlow
who resigned from the com
mittee. Ted White was elected
chairman of the committee after
Chuck Brownlow resigned.
The Cnarter would create a
totally different system of gov
ernment for Columbia County.
Seven part-time commissioners
would serve, rather than three
full-time commissioners, and the
only other elective office to
remain on the county level would
be the office of Sheriff. Five of
the commissioners would be el
ected from newly created dis
tricts and two would be elected
from at-large postitons.
The five districts, which ac
cording to White fall within
acceptable Supreme Court one-
man-one-vote standards, are the
following:
District l-S t. Helens precincts
one through nine, which com
promise tne city limits of St.
Helens.
District 2-North and South
Milton, North and South M c
Nulty, North and South Deer
11th Annual
Art Show Set
RECOUNT of the recent IE D levy was under
taken Monday morning at the Columbia County
courthouse. Above are members of the counting
board as they review ballots cast by voters to
Clatskanie No. 2, North Clatakanle and Apiary.
The recount was asked for by Robert Johnson of
Scappoose and Involved three precincts. In ad
dition to those counted in Colombia County the
Clatsop County votes were recounted, with the
end result of one contested ‘no’ vote cast aside
la Clatskanie. This left the measure w ith 1482
no votes and 1475 yes votes. Johnson now has
the option to request a recount of the other 28
precincts Involved In the ballot. The deadline to
go on with the recount b Tuesday, July 23 and
as of Monday evening Johnson stated that he
was undecided as to whether to ask for a total
recount or not, but he Indicated he would make
his decision by the end of this week.
A rea Survey
July 4 Crash
Due In July
Claims Tw o
Local representatives of the
Bureau of the Census will in
terview a sample of households
in this area the week of July 15-19
to obtain information on em
ployment . The Bureau is part of
the U.S. Department of Com
merce's Social and Economic
Statictics Administration
The survey, which the Bureau
conducts each month for the U.S
Department of Labor provides
a continuous measure of em
ployment and unemployment for
the Nation For example, the
May survey showed that em
ployment was 86.0 million, up
slightly from the 85 8 million at
which it had stood since Jan
uary The unemployment rate
edged up to 5.2 percent from 5.0
percent in April, prim arily be
cause of a rise in joblessness
among teenagers.
Class on Pottery
Slated Next Week
The
Summer Recreation
Craft Class will learn pottery
making at its next week's meet
ing. Vicki Mawhirter will teach
the young people attending how
to “build" pottery objects with
day
The class, sponsored by the
Recreation Council m e e t s
Wednesday afternoons from 1 to
3 p.m at the Washington Grade
school art room. The room may
lie reached through the entrance
at the east end of the school. A
charge of 25 cents for each meet
ing is made to cover cost of m a
terials
Unemployment Fraud
The Oregon Employment D iv
ision reported that fraud control
activity in the second quarter of
1974, through its Unemployment
Insurance B e n e f i t s sec
tion, brought recommendations
for prosecution of 13 new cases,
bringing the total number of
cases to 52 Fraud was kept to a
minium because of continued
vigilance of claims personnel,
tax auditors, and fraud investi
gators, the Division reported.
Two residents of Birkenfeld
died Thursday. July 4, as the
result of a head-on collision on
Highway 202 in which four
others-all members of one fam
ily were injured
Dead are Judith Marie Berg.
29. who died at St. Johns Hospital
in Longview, and Douglas Beck
man, 40 who was dead at the
scene Injured was Edgar A r
nold Berg. 33, who suffered m ul
tiple fractures and dislocations
and was listed in satisfactory
condition; Loren Berg. 11, and
Darren Berg, 9. both listed in
good condition at St.Johns Hos
pital Allen Berg, 7, was trans
ferred to a Vancouver, Wash
ington hospital where he under
went surgery for head injuries.
His condition was listed as c rit
ical.
According to Oregon State
Police, Beckman, who was alone
in his car, was eastbound on
Highway 202 when the collision
occurred
The accident occurred at ap
proximately 6p.m . between Mist
and Jewell
Co. Commissioners
Give 50 Cent Raise
The Columbia County Board of
Commissioners announced July
2, that a new agreement has
been reached with American
F e d e ra tio n ^ State. County and
Municipal Employees Local 697,
representing employees in the
County Road Department
The terms of the agreement
call for a pay raise of 50 cents
hour, effective immediately
is is the first pay raise the
Road Department employees
have received since October
1972
The agreement also provides
for a further increase of 10 cents
per hour starting January 1,
1975
The settlement also contains
language changes in the contract
which had been requested by the
« « » ’ty.
T u i m c n i u n n v ««
THURSDAY, JULY 11, 1974
New Planner
Appointed By
Commission
Ron Reeves, County Planning
Director, announced Friday,
July 5, that Curtis J. Schneider,
28. of Eugene, had been appoint
ed to the position of County
Planner I I by the County Com
mission.
The planning post became
possible when a $9,000 grant
under title 701 from the Housing
and Urban Development Admin
istration was received by the
county.
According to Reeves, the new
planner will be responsible to
make the public aware of the
planning process within the
county and to help to involve the
citizens of the county in the
planning process. Another part
of his duties will be giving
assistance planning to the cities
and providing them with tech
nical help.
Schneider, who is formerly of
Eugene and Portland, obtained
his MA in Urban Planning at the
University of Oregon in June
1974. He received his BS in
Geography from Portland State
University in June 1968
Schneider comes to the county
with wide work experience in a
number of areas
Until
he
accepted the new post here he
had been working in the De
partment of Public Works, D-
partment of Planning for the city
of Springfield He served a two
year stint, 1968-70 in Sierra
Leone. West Africa in the Peace
Corps as a volunteer teacher,
teaching grades 4-5. While there
he ran the CARE Food Program
and helped to reinstate the PTA
in the school While completing
his work at PSU he worked as a
student intern on a work study
program for the Portland City
Planning Commission He also
spent a year in the Multnomah
County Department of Records
and Elections
Schneider is in the process of
purchasing a home here in Co
lumbia County His wife Daphne
is a teacher and taught the deaf
last year in a Eugene school
The annual Jamboree Art E x
hibit will again be one of the
features of the Friendship Jam
boree The Society of Arts and
Crafts will sponsor the exhibit,
and will again be joined by
Portland Community College in
presenting demonstrations of
craft work during the display.
Local craftsmen who will be
demonstrating their crafts are
Ned Mawhirter, throwing pot
tery on his potter’s wheel and
Sue Filter showing hand weav
ing on her loom.
PCC has arranged for Elsa
Mann to demonstrate creative
stitchery and felt applique dur
ing one afternoon and Elisa
Pryor will demonstrate silk-
screen printing on the other
afternoon, including audience
participation of her craft.
Another PCC staff member to
participate will be Mildred Hub
bard. who has instructed several
oil painting classes in Vernonia
in the past two years.
Art work by local artists will
again be featured in the art
exhibit.
This will be the eleventh
annual exhibit sponsored by the
Society of Arts and Crafts.
Island, South St. Helens, Co
lumbia City, Yankton and North
Warren.
District 3-Scappoose precincts
one through four, Sauvie Island.
East, West and South Scappoose.
South Warren and Canyon.
District 4-Vemonia precincts
one through five, North and
South Mist, Apiary, Goble, South
Clatskanie, South Delena, and
Chapman.
District 5-Clatskanie precincts
one and two, North Clatskanie,
North Delena, Quincy, Rainier
precincts one and two, West
Rainier, East Rainier, Prescott
and Marshland.
A new office of County Ad
ministrator would be created to
handle the administrative duties
now handled by the three full
time County Commissioners.
The
County
Commissioners
would make the appointment
and the Administrator would be
responsible to them. The Charter
extablishes that the administra
tor may not exercise legislative
power, appropriate c o u n ty
funds, or disburse funds or dis
pose of county property without
prior authorization of the board.
The Charter also calls for the
establishment of six depart
ments headed by qualified ad
ministrators who are appointed
by the commissioners who are
responsible to the County Ad
ministrator and to the com
mission.
One feature of the new charter
is the provision that the county
may not join a regional planning
agency or organization of gov
ernments without prior approval
of the voters.
Also in the Charter, according
to White, are provisions which
govern reapportionment when
the zones of the commissioners
become unbalanced in popula
tion thus ensuring the one-man-
one-vote principal.
Final drafting of the proposals
of the Committee was done by
Orville Etter, Local Government
Researcher and Consultant.
Watermasler Due
Clayton J. Gardner, State
Watermaster will be on the top
floor of the Columbia County
Courthouse on July 17, from 10
a.m. until 3 p.m to answer any
questions pertaining to water
rights.
Public Hearings Set
On Couniy Charier
Three hearing dates in dif
ferent areas of the county were
set several weeks ago by the
Columbia County Charter Study
Committee, according to com
mittee chairman Ted White.
The purpose of the hearing is
to give citizens of the county an
opportunity to respond orally
and in writing to the proposed
charter. The charter appears in
its entirety in this edition of the
paper on page 3.
Vernonia area residents can
respond to the charter on Tues
day, July 16, at 8 p.m. in the
Vernonia School District Ad
ministration office.
Scappoose and St. Helens area
residents will have the oppor
tunity to respond on Wednesday,
July 17, at 8 p.m. in the C ir
cuit Courtroom, Columbia Coun
ty Courthouse, in St. Helens
Rainier and Clatskanie area
residents will be able to respond
on Thursday, July 18, at 8 p.m. in
the Rainier Grade School, Rain
ier, Oregon