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Wednesday, October 18, 2023
Local creator sharing comics with the community Originally published in The Chronicle Vol. 141 October 11, 2023 WILL LOHRE Country Media, Inc.
A local artist and comic creator has been sharing his works with local businesses, spreading the adventures of Rocket Girl and other heroes throughout the St. Helens community. Jonathan Dickson began sharing his artwork and comics with several of his favorite businesses in about 2018, and he started because he wanted to create and share his work within the community. Dickson has been living in St. Helens for more than a decade, he loves the close-knit community and the proximity of his favorite hang-out spots. Dickson has enjoyed making connections within the community. Dickson has given some of his comics to Dutch Bros, the CC Rider, Sunshine Pizza, and Burgerville, among others. The biggest collection currently resides at the Burgerville, and while the staff initially started by hanging the drawings on the wall, they now have a big enough collection that they have compiled a binder full of his comics and art. “At first, he was bringing them in, and we were hanging them up on the wall. He would make holiday cards and occasionally one of his comic strips with Rocket Girl. It was clear that he took a lot of time to do this for us,” Burgerville General
Jonathan Dickson and Sheila Kruger show off Dickson’s work at Burgerville in St. Helens.
Manager Leah Williams said. As they continued to get more and more pieces, Williams got a binder so that all of the work could be put together. After compiling a trove of comics, Williams got an author photo of Dickson, which is on the cover of the binder and placed the collection in Burgerville’s free
library. “We labeled it, and we say that it’s a restaurant copy only, and ask everybody not to take it home,” Williams said. “People really like to look at his artwork when they come in, and we’ve had people come in that have asked if we can make a copy of it because they want to be
able to show people that they know that you can achieve your dreams, you can write a book as Jonathan has.” Williams said that Dickson’s work has been inspiring to many of the people who come in, and she’s actually had to replace the original binder because of the wear-and-tear it underwent
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because so many people were looking through it when they came in. In addition to his artwork, Dickson likes to keep up a healthy lifestyle, participating in basketball and bowling. Dickson even medaled in an Oregon Special Olympics basketball event in 2019! Dickson also volun-
teers at Columbia Pacific Food Bank and enjoys giving back to the community. Dickson spends his free time perusing the selection of comics at Pantheon Comics and Games, the bowling alley, and walking around town. Dickson also spends time with his friend Sheila Kruger and her husband, watching movies and keeping up with the Portland Trailblazers. “There are so many places that he’s comfortable with that he can walk to on his own, and visit. The comic books store, [Burgerville], if he needs to do a little shopping on his own, he can do that, and it’s like everywhere he goes, he keeps making friends,” Kruger said. Dickson is always creating new characters for his comics, and he even created characters for Kruger and her husband, Stealth Wing Lady and Talon. With the constant stream of new comics and characters, the community should expect new installments of the adventures of Rocket Girl and others, and the best place to see them is to stop in at the Burgerville at 715 South Columbia River Highway. “We look forward to Jonathan bringing in his artwork, and we’re always happy to see him. It’s been nice to connect to him on a more personal level. He’s kind of a shy guy, but he always has these big beautiful smiles for us when we get excited about him bringing something in and put it into the book,” Williams said.
Speeding, the biggest culprit in county crashes Originally published in The Chief Vol. 132 October 13, 2023 WILL LOHRE Country Media, Inc.
An examination of crash data between 2017 and 2021 of crashes on Highway 30 has revealed that the leading causes of accidents are speeding and following too closely, according to the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT). Between April and September of 2023, the Chief reported on four separate accidents on Highway 30 that resulted in five deaths. In light of those incidents, the Chief reached out to ODOT to find what the leading causes of crashes are and what the department is doing to try and promote safety and minimize accidents. ODOT does not have preliminary data on crashes yet for 2022 or 2023. However, ODOT Communications Representative David House provided complete data for the five-year period of 2017 through 2021. The two sets of data provided include traffic accidents in Columbia County as a whole and data from the stretch of Highway 30 from St. Helens North City Limit to Clatskanie East City Limit. “I don’t see a trend in this data, but no matter what the figures are year to year, everyone’s goal is to make the number of crashes, injuries, and fatalities go down. Anecdotally, we sense that the number of crashes, injuries, and fatalities are up – not just in Oregon but nationwide,” House said. Without the data for 2022 and 2023, it is difficult to discern whether fatalities have risen in recent years. From 2017 to 2021, ODOT recorded ten fatalities on Highway 30 between St. Helens and Clatskanie. The most fatalities in a year was four in 2019. House said that in Oregon as a whole, a major part of the increase in fatalities appears to be vehicle-pedestrian crashes. “This appears to be an effect of more people being closer to traffic or in areas
of highway right-of-way where pedestrians and camping are not allowed – because it puts people in danger,” House said. Excessive speed One of the main factors that ODOT has observed as a recurring issue is that people have been driving at high speeds since the pandemic. “Although speed alone doesn’t cause a crash, it makes it more likely to happen and more severe,” House said. “At higher speeds, drivers have less time to react, and it takes longer to stop or evade a surprise on the road. Higher speeds make it more likely for a crash to happen that could have been avoided or turn a fender-bender into an injury crash and to make a bad crash a fatal crash.” Between 2017 and 2021, on the stretch of Highway 30 between St. Helens and Clatskanie, ODOT recorded 371 crashes during those five years. The leading cause of crashes was speeding, with 109 crashes as a result. The second leading cause was following too closely, which resulted in 82 crashes during that same span. Looking at ODOT data for Columbia County during that same period, there were 1759 crashes. Speeding was again the top cause, accounting for 521 accidents, with following too closely as the second leading cause again with 367 crashes. Failure to yield was the third leading cause, with 353 accidents. “We included crash causes for that stretch of highway and Columbia County as a whole, and excessive speed tops both. It’s important to note that excessive speed amplifies the impact of other factors – following too close, failure to yield, etc,” House said. Of the 1759 crashes, speeding, following too closely, and failure to yield accounted for 1,241 of the crashes from 2017 until 2021. It’s possible that speeding played a part in each of the categories, as House alluded to. One trend that ODOT
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Between 2017 and 2021, on the stretch of Highway 30 between St. Helens and Clatskanie, ODOT recorded 371 crashes.
Courtesy data from ODOT
noted in recent years is that distracted driving is resulting in more accidents on a state and national level. On the aforementioned stretch of Highway 30, driver inattention accounted for 32 accidents, and on the county level, driver inattention was responsible for 151 crashes. “Our Area 1 Manager, Mark Buffington, said that excessive speed and distracted driving have been significant factors on U.S. 30 crashes in recent years
– reflecting the national trend,” House said. Making the roads safer In a community poll on the Chief’s website that asked whether people were concerned with driver safety on Highway 30, one hundred percent of respondents answered yes, a reflection of the community being troubled about accidents. House said that ODOT is trying to address driver
safety issues in a variety of ways. Some are engineering changes to promote driver safety, like basic maintenance of pavement, signs, striping, reflectors, guardrails, signals, lighting, and other infrastructure. Others involve federally funded message campaigns on speeding, DUI, distracted/ drowsy driving, seat belt use reminders, etc. ODOT also has incident response crews stationed across the state to respond
to crashes along with law enforcement and medical teams. Those crews direct traffic around crash sites and repair any damage to highway safety infrastructure. “In addition to statewide projects such as pedestrian crossing, bicycle safety, and ADA curb/pedestrian crossing improvements, this year we have done some work on visibility for drivers: refreshed striping on U.S. 30 in September, replaced reflectors on delineators, and cleaned signs and delineators,” House said. “Those are important safety features for driving at night and other low-light conditions.” House said that ODOT keeps comprehensive data in order to identify problem areas and find solutions. The causes of a “problem area” can vary. “Usually something changes in local traffic, traffic volume exceeds the capacity of a location built decades ago, new development changes traffic pattern and volume, etc. We can identify those changes and work toward the engineering side,” House said. “In this sense, this stretch of highway does not stand out but is unfortunately reflecting the national trend in speeding and crashes.” While ODOT is working to try and address issues with driver safety on Highway 30 and around the state, House said the drivers themselves have an important role to play in keeping themselves, their passengers, and those they are sharing the road with safe. • Slow down for road and traffic conditions • Never use a phone or other mobile device while driving • Never drive impaired or drowsy • Always use your safety belts and child safety seats • Watch for wildlife such as deer and elk when driving on highways going through their habitat House said it’s especially important in winter conditions as the days get shorter, and the roads get wet and potentially icy.