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Wednesday, February 26, 2014

2/21/12

WRESTLING: Scappoose wins its first District I title, sends 12 to state meet Page A12 3:24 PM Page 1

The Chronicle

TODAY’S WEATHER Mostly cloudy Highs to 50 Page A12 Lows to 40

$1.00 Vol. 132, No. 9 16 Pages

www.thechronicleonline.com

Inmate punches through window, goes to hospital Gregory Hering, 43, of Portland, was sent to the emergency room after a violent outburst inside the Columbia County Jail the afternoon of Feb. 24. Hering was being arraigned on a St. Helens Municipal court warrant for failing to appear on a resisting arrest charge. According to Columbia

County Sheriff Jeff Dickerson, Hering was in a room set up for the court within the county

Gregory Hering

County OKs jail levy for May ballot BY SHARI PHIEL news@thechronicleonline.com

An in-person appeal by local mayors, police and school superintendents appears to have convinced the Columbia County Commissioners to place a three-year levy to fund the county jail on the upcoming May ballot. “We believe that the Columbia County Jail is crucial to the welfare of our community, and we urge all citizens of Columbia County to support all endeavors to save our Columbia County Jail for the fundamental safety of our children, for the security of our families and for the future of our communities,” said Scappoose School Superintendent Stephen Jupe. Jupe presented a proclamation signed by all five school district superintendents that urged the commissioners to give voters another chance to pass the levy. Jupe presented the same proclamation to the Scappoose City Council a day earlier. The proclamation came about during the last superintendents’ meeting (the group meets monthly) and was signed by fellow superintendents Ken Cox (Vernonia), Lloyd Hartley (Clatskanie), Michael Carter (Rainier) and Mark Davalos (St. Helens.) The jail is currently scheduled to close at the end of the fiscal year on June 30. “We began to get increasingly nervous about the fact that the jail may not be there after June,” Jupe added. “It’s really to stir people up.”

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It’s a sentiment shared by many others. In an open letter to the citizens of Columbia County, Sheriff Jeff Dickerson said closing the jail will have far-reaching impacts (see the full letter on page A5). “While no one can know for sure the degree to which the loss of the county jail will impact the way we live, I do believe with all my heart that it will be worse than most of us imagine,” Dickerson said. “There have been accusations of ‘scare tactics being used to motivate voters out of fear… these are not scare tactics, but they are facts that are scary.” School officials weren’t the only ones urging the county to give the levy another chance. Scappoose Mayor Scott Burge, Clatskanie Mayor Diane Pohl and St. Helens Mayor Randy Peterson were also at the commissioners’ meeting. Although unable to attend the Wednesday morning meeting, city officials from Columbia City and Rainier also voiced their support. “We’re at a point now where we’re at catch-and-release... where we’re at today – and that’s not counting where we will be at in June – is unacceptable. We really need to consider giving it one more shot,” said Commissioner Tony Hyde. What will be on the May 20 ballot will be a local option levy at the rate of 57.97 cents per $1,000 of assessed value for three years. The ­­­­ See LEVY, Page A4

jail when he struck the window between him and the court verifier with his arm, breaking the window and bloodying his arm. He then proceeded to break up a table inside the room where he was confined, leaving a trail of blood on the walls and floor. “Mr. Hering is known to us and can be violent

CLATSKANIE — Area farmer Mike Seely and environmental activist group Columbia Riverkeeper filed an appeal with the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals in response to the county’s approval of a Port Westward rezoning application. “The next step will be to establish the record, which is going to be very extensive. That could take weeks or even much longer than that. These things typically play out over a 6 to 12-month timeframe,” said Dan Serres, conservation director for Columbia Riverkeeper. “But it can go much longer than that.” The Port of St. Helens submitted an application to the county’s planning department in early 2013 to have 957 acres rezoned from Primary Agriculture to Resource Industrial – Planned Development. Although the planning department recommended approval of the application, the Columbia County Planning Commission

handle people who come to us with all kinds of issues, including violent ones like this,” the sheriff said. “I worry about the safety of our law enforcement officers and the citizens they are sworn to serve, if we end up losing this facility and have no place within the county to take people like this.”

GONE ...

... to the dogs

Photos by SHARI PHIEL INSET: Columbia City Mayor Cheryl Young (right) and Shannon Fitzgibbons, chair for the parks committee, officially open Columbia City’s new dog park across from the Port of St. Helens on E Street, on Saturday, Feb. 22. The park was paid for entirely through donations and the port is donating use of the land. ABOVE: There’s plenty of room for an All out run at Columbia County new dog park, which has separate fenced areas for small and big dogs, benches and waste stations.

Farmer, environmentalists file appeal for Port Westward rezoning BY SHARI PHIEL news@thechronicleonline.com

at times,” said Dickerson. “I’m glad we had him contained during this outburst, though I’m sure he frightened the court verifier with this violent outburst.” Hering was also being held for a parole violation with a total bail amount set at $62,500. “Citizens need to know that our jail is designed to

voted 5-to-1 against the application, citing concerns that the application and potential use of the land lacked specificity. The application then went to the county commissioners for final review and approval or denial. Following three separate and very lengthy public hearings – two in Clatskanie and one at the Columbia County Courthouse – the commissioners approved the application, although with several conditions, including prohibiting the land from being used for coal projects. The conditions attached also removed two parcels of land designated as wetlands from the application, reducing the rezoned area to 837 acres. “There has been strong testimony throughout the whole process. That’s a big feather in our cap for the challenge, all of the people who showed up and talked about their farms, or about their knowledge of the soil in the area, it’s really going to help the case move forward,” Serres added. ­­­­ See APPEAL, Page A4

Job search group a valuable resource BY SHARI PHIEL news@thechronicleonline.com

There’s no doubt that looking for work can be an extremely stressful. From filling out applications (either online or in person), making it through the interview process, and then waiting for days or weeks to hear back from a prospective employer, it all takes its toll. But you don’t have to go through it alone. Every Tuesday morning, the Job Search Group meets at Warren Community Fellowship with those attending talking about job search issues, possible leads, where to get help or even to host the occasional guest speaker. The meetings are free and open to the public and are meant to supplement rather than replace other resources, such as Worksource Oregon and Goodwill’s Job Connection. The Job Search Group, which recently celebrated its one-year anniversary, was organized and launched by St. Helens resident Cynthia Dailey-Hewkin. “I retired from Portland Community College, where I worked as a career specialist. One of my responsibilities there was to facilitate a

job search group. That was my favorite thing,” said Dailey-Hewkin. “We would talk about things that weren’t in the normal workshops I had to teach, like resumé writing and interviewing. So I was able to explore other things that were helpful to job seekers. When I retired it was one of the things I really missed.” There doesn’t seem to be a limit to either the kinds of jobs people in the group are looking for or the subjects to be discussed. Dailey-Hewkin said during the past year, job seekers have included registered nurses, high tech employees, construction workers, truck drivers, self-employed people, those in banking or finance, hospice workers and caregivers, retirees, those wanting or needing to go back to work, people wanting to change careers, and jobs seekers getting interviews but no job offers. The benefits of attending the group meetings seem to be just as varied. In addition to learning to build a better resumé or develop interviewing skills, there is also the opportunity to connect and share with others, provide inspiration to others, ­­­­ See JOBS, Page A4

Hate your job?

Looks like you aren’t the only one. In June 2013, Gallup, Inc. wrapped up a threeyear study in which the pollster found only 30 percent of working Americans said they were engaged in their work. The rest – a whopping 70 percent – either hated or were just uninterested in their jobs, with 52 percent described as not engaged and the remaining 18 percent as “actively disengaged” from their work. Gallup defines engaged employees as those who are “involved in, enthusiastic about, and committed to their work and contribute to their organization in a positive manner.” But the disengaged workers “roam the halls spreading discontent,” said Gallup CEO Jim Clifton in the report. Having unhappy employees is also costly. Gallup estimates these actively disengaged employees cost the U.S. between $450–$550 billion each year in lost productivity. “They are more likely to steal from their companies, negatively influence their coworkers, miss workdays, and drive customers away,” said the report.


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