St. Helens High School Class of 2014
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In this week’s Chronicle: Our special section on the St. Helens High School Graduation
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TODAY’S WEATHER Mostly Sunny Highs to 74 Page A12 Lows to 49
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The Chronicle A special publication of
The Chronicle
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
$1.00 Vol. 132, No. 24 26 Pages
www.thechronicleonline.com
Kennel proposal fetches opposition
13 Nights on the River
BY AMANDA FRINK amandaf@thechronicleonline.com
ST. HELENS — It was standing-room only at the Columbia County Commissioner’s meeting on June 4 as the board held a public hearing to consider a conditional use permit that would allow the owners of a local dog boarding business to build a kennel facility in Scappoose. Todd and Liana Viken, who operate Hug-A-Bubba’s Doggie Daycare and Grooming in Beaverton, are requesting a conditional use permit application to build and operate a commercial dog kennel as a type II home occupation in the Rural Residental (RR-5) zone. According to Columbia County chief planner Glen Higgins, the Vikens application proposes to build a 4,000 square-foot kennel structure to house 15 dogs in the back yard area of their 5.34-acre property at 55501 Columbia River Highway in Scappoose. Since 2010, the Vikens have operated a 12-dog kennel in their basement. The dogs are delivered by a kennel shuttle and utilize a halfacre play area in the northeast corner of the property. (In 2008, the commissioners denied the Vikens request to construct a 4,600 square-foot building for a 30-dog kennel with two outdoor exercise yards.) Higgins noted that the county’s conditions of approval require that: the kennel site meet the minimum setback requirement of 100 feet; the business operate Monday through Saturday; the dogs be transported via a kennel truck; only four dogs at a time be allowed out in the contained play area in 45-minute increments; and the dogs be kept indoors between the hours of 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. Since the Vikens proposal met all existing criteria, Higgins said the Planning Commission recommended approval of the application See KENNEL, Page A3
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DON PATTERSON / The Chronicle
Columbia View Park was filled to capacity on June 5 for the opening night of the popular concert series, 13 Nights on the River.
‘Journey’ opens for 13 Nights series Under clear skies and with nearly perfect temperatures, Thirteen Nights on the River opened in St. Helens on June 5. What organizers called the largest crowd ever packed Columbia View Park to hear Stone in Love, a tribute group to the popular rock band, Journey. “It was organized chaos,”
was how Thirteen Nights director, Christina Sullivan described the event. Attendees jammed the beer garden and stood in long lines at the vendor booths. She estimated the crowd at well over 5,000. The beer garden ran out of beer. Inconveniences caused
by the larger than expected crowd did little to dampen the mood of the concertgoers or the volunteer staff, said Sullivan. As a fundraising event, the concert broke even, Sullivan said. Her goal is to cover the costs of each concert with the proceeds collected that night from
vendor rentals, beer sales and donations. “It will help us coast through the season,” she observed. Sullivan said her biggest challenge remains having enough volunteers. The concert series begins its 10th year and has grown from a small gathering of
mainly jazz enthusiasts to a regionally popular summer event drawing thousands to St. Helens’ historic riverfront. Thirteen Nights is in need of volunteers to help put on the concerts. If you’d like to help, please email Christina.13nights@gmail. com.
Course offered on suicide prevention Reward BY AMANDA FRINK amandaf@thechronicleonline.com
ST. HELENS — In an effort to save lives and offer hope to a community healing from tragedy, the public is invited to attend a free course to learn more about suicide intervention and prevention. On June 24 at 4 p.m., a “Question, Persuade, Refer” (QPR) training will be held at that Columbia Theatre, 212 S. First Street in St. Helens. The class is free to attend and is expected to last 90 minutes. Participants can sign up by e-mailing orsp2014@ gmail.com. While the course is not meant to replace mental health counseling, the tools learned from QPR are considered to be the CPR of suicide intervention, providing the very basics of how to get someone the help that they need. “Nobody likes to talk about suicide,” explains suicide prevention and intervention trainer Lindsey King. “It has a very ugly stigma because it’s incurable. It’s incurable if someone follows through the act and completes. For
every person that completes suicide, there is at least six immediate survivors. Survivor of suicide is a family member, a boyfriend, a girlfriend, a loved one, teachers, those that are all affected by a suicide. Then those people become at higher risk of possibly attempting or becoming suicidal because they don’t understand why this person could not see how many people loved and cared about them.” Although it is a topic that can be uncomfortable to talk about, King adds,
“You never keep someone who’s at risk of suicide to yourself — you’ve got to tell somebody because you’re saving someone’s life. Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.” King explains, “There’s one suicide in every 14 minutes in the United States. Now if you do the math, there’s one suicide every 14 minutes and six survivors to every one. That’s a lot of people. … They are now at risk, they’re hurting, they don’t understand, and they feel
guilt. ‘Well if I would’ve done this, if I would’ve done that.’” During the QPR training, participants will learn: the signs to tell if a person is at risk of suicide; ways to ask someone if they are thinking about suicide; and how to intervene and assist them in finding the help they need. King says environmental factors — such as the loss of a job or a loved one, the fear of failing, or the fear of imprisonment — can cause someone to feel like they have no other option. Mental health conditions can also lead someone to think they have no way out. King adds that bullying is becoming a much more common trigger. “Bullying really can push someone over the edge, especially teens,” explains King, who is also the director of CASA for Kids, Inc. “They’re already selfconscious, they’re already trying to fit in. They’re not quite an adult, but they’re not quite a kid anymore. They’re in that gray fuzzy area — we’ve all been there as adults — trying to find their own group of friends. See SUICIDE, Page A3
offered in burglary cases
Law enforcement in Columbia County and St. Helens turned up the heat on residential burglars plaguing the area by offering a reward for information leading to the arrest of the thieves. A reward of up to $1,000 is being offered for a credible lead that results in the criminals being caught and successfully prosecuted according to Sheriff Jeff Dickerson. The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office and the St. Helens Police Department are offering the reward jointly through the Columbia Enforcement Narcotics Team, Dickerson said. Residential thefts and burglaries have plagued parts of St. Helens and the unincorporated county around the city since April. Investigators believe the thefts are related. The burglars usually strike during the day at homes that appear unoccupied. Anyone with information should contact Sgt. Phil Edwards of the St. Helens Police Department at 503-397-3333 or Lenard Olsen of the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office at 503-366-4611.
Columbia River PUD names 2014 My Fair Lady court
Columbia River People’s Utility District has announced the members of the 2014 My Fair Lady Court. This year’s My Fair Lady princesses are: Donna Worley, representing Scappoose; Charleen Pruett, representing Clatskanie; Rachel Kelley, representing Rainier; Barbra Bynoe, representing St. Helens; and Katharine Denckla, representing Vernonia. Worley was born and raised in Salem, Ore., and moved to Columbia County in 1981. She was a very busy wife and mother, raising three children, working as a Tupperware consultant and taking classes to complete her college degree. After 44 years of school, Worley is proud to say she is a
Washington State University graduate. She stays busy with nine grandchildren, volunteering to teach Sunday School for the Catholic Church, and volunteering at the Scappoose Food Bank. Worley was also a volunteer Ombudsman for Columbia County. Her hobbies also include quilting and reading. Pruett was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. After completing her nursing degree, she had the opportunity to live in Texas and South Korea as an Army nurse, settling in Columbia County in 1991. As a busy mother of three, she balanced raising her family with caring for the health needs of those in her community. Pruett has a long history of volunteer-
ing; currently she volunteers for her church, the Public Health Foundation, Medical Reserve Corp of Columbia County and Kiwanis Club of Clatskanie. When she is not volunteering, her interests include photography, crocheting, gardening, reading, and buying and selling on E-bay. Kelley was born and raised in Morrisville, Vt., moving to Columbia County in 2005. Rachel and her husband of 34 years have raised six children together and have provided a loving home for 100 or more foster children. The dedication and caring she has given to her foster children earned her and her husband Foster See COURT, Page A2
Courtesy photo
The 2014 My Fair Lady Court consists of princesses [left to right] Rachel Kelley (Rainier), Katharine Denckla (Vernonia), Donna Worley (Scappoose), Barbra Bynoe (St. Helens), and Charleen Pruett (Clatskanie). All five ladies will vie for the title of queen at the My Fair Lady Pageant in July.