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Intersection safety improvement debate Wednesday, February 12, 2020
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Jail levy renewal heading to voters
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Serving Columbia County since 1881
Cap and Trade Debate JEREMY C. RUARK jruark@countrymedia.net
As the Oregon Legislature takes up a renewed version of the Cap and Trade legislation, those concerned about the environmental proposal to reduce green house gas emissions are voicing their opinions at rallies at the state capitol building in Salem. Others are testifying as legislative committees begin to review the latest version of the Cap and Trade legislation. In St. Helens, South County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Chrissy Marquardt said they are keeping a close watch with what happens with Cap and Trade at the Oregon Legislature. “The Oregon State Chamber of Commerce has issued a statement against Cap and Trade because it would impact small businesses due to the tax on fuel emissions,” she said. The South Columbia County Chamber offers legislative updates to its members through the Chamber’s newsletter. To sign up for the newsletter, visit southcolumbiacountychamber.org, or go to the Chamber’s Facebook page. St. Helens city officials said they are taking a “wait and see” approach to the Cap and Trade debate. The City’s Government Affairs and Project Support Specialist Racheal Barry said it’s too soon to forecast any negative impact to St. Helens, but she said the bill, as presented, has wide-ranging impacts. “It changes our statewide
Columbia County Impact
$ emissions reduction goals and the oversight structure for measuring and achieving these targets,” Barry said. “St. Helens is not a regulated entity under the bill definitions as we are not a utility, do not generate power, and in the course of providing public services, we do not engage in emissions-intensive trade-exposed processes.”
Barry said the City would have “more to say” when a final bill is enacted by the legislature. “The League of Oregon Cities has been a part of the conversation around greenhouse gas reduction and we will continue to work with cities across the state to set and meet reasonable reduction targets,” Barry said. According to Jim McCauley,
Oregon League of Cities Legislative Director, which represents all 241 cities in Oregon, adopted principles in 2019 on carbon to help guide the League’s position on specific aspects of the Cap and Trade policy discussion, including transportation fuels and public contracting provisions. “Our primary focus has been on the fuel-related costs and
impacts to public contracting on local governments across Oregon and its potential impact on a $5.3 billion transportation investment package passed during the 2017 session,” McCauley said. In Rural areas of Columbia County, such as Clatskanie, there is heightened fear about the impact of the Cap and Trade legislation. “My concern with Cap and Trade is what effect it will have on industry and more locally, the timber and timber products and paper industry,” Clatskanie City Manager Greg Hickleman said. The new environmental regulations would restrict industrial competition and the ability to operate cost-effectively, and that, Hinkelman said, would mean those businesses will leave and there will be a cascade effect. “Local utilities will be affected, most likely resulting in higher rates, and there will be an impact on the secondary businesses such as restaurants, stores and other small businesses,” he said. “Cap legislation, should it be enacted, forcing industry to close, would propel us into an instant economic depression that would be catastrophic for the town and area. If we have no jobs, people will leave and the town will die.” The Clatskanie Chamber of Commerce also issued an alert to area businesses concerning the Cap and Trade legislation. “We need you to take a stand against harmful legislation that
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County’s Teen Support Program JEREMY C. RUARK jruark@countrymedia.net
Photo courtesy of Monica Cade
Community volunteers fill gift bags for the students in need.
While larger metropolitan areas, such as Portland, Salem and Eugene are facing increasing challenges with homelessness, a group of St. Helens volunteers and the St. Helens School District is partnering to help students challenged with living situations. Columbia County resident Monica Cade launched The Teen Support Program in the fall of 2015 after seeing how some of her son’s school mates were living on their own without parental support. “I watched how they struggled to meet basic needs, yet remain in school,” Cade said. “I saw how hard it was for them. I wanted to help
other kids with the same circumstances, and that’s how The Teen Support program began.” Cade partnered with the Day Breakers Kiwanis, a St. Helens based fraternal group, and began working directly with the St. Helens School Districts to help teens with the greatest need throughout the school year. “So they can stay in school, increase attendance, and graduate,” she said. “Our primary target is helping unaccompanied, homeless teens, but we will also provide support for other teens living in difficult situations. We rely on the school district to tell us what they need,
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More than 20 years of quilting CHRISTINE MENGES chronicle2@countrymedia.net
Opinion: ...................A4 Poll: ...........................A4 Cartoon: ...................A4 Out & About: ...........A5 Community Events: A5 Weekly Events: .........A6 TV Guide: ................A7 Classified Ads: ......A7-8 Legals: .......................A9 Blotters: ..................A10 Sports: .....................A12 Vol. 138, No. 7
Kathie Harris has always loved to sew. At nearly 76 years old (her birthday is Feb. 28), Harris has accumulated several decades’ worth of knowledge on the craft, as evidenced by the hundreds of quilts, wall hangings, and baby blankets on display at Bethany Lutheran Church’s 40th annual quilt show on Friday, Feb. 7 and Saturday, Feb. 8. While the show accepted quilts from numerous quilters, Harris had the honor of being the show’s featured quilter, with most of the work on display being her creation. Harris, who had dabbled in quilting for a while, took up the hobby seriously after retiring as a home economics teacher from St.
Truckload Meat Sale
Helens High School in 1998. She estimates she has made hundreds of quilts in those 20-some years. She hasn’t sold as many, though, although that has never been her goal. While Harris and a few other people she has worked with have designed quilts for fabric companies, and Harris herself has sold a few quilts in stores and once made baby quilts that were quite popular, Harris has sold about 20 quilts in her 20 plus years of quilting. There have also been a few times when Harris has donated her work, like at the nonprofit Peace
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Christine Menges / The Chronicle
Kathie Harris was the featured quilter at Bethany Lutheran’s 40th annual quilt show.
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