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The Chronicle
Wednesday, October 2016 Renew12, = Replace + Renovate
Strong Schools = Strong Community
Strong Schools = Strong Community
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Vol. 134, No. 41 26 Pages
www.thechronicleonline.com
Magruder, Mayo to meet in public forum
Courtesy photos
Left: Margaret Magruder. Right: Wayne Mayo
Two candidates for Columbia County Commissioner will face off at a political forum on Oct. 20 in Rainier. Clatskanie resident Margaret Magruder and Scappoose resident Wayne Mayo will answer questions and give their perspectives on a range of issues at a public forum sponsored by the Rainier Chamber of Commerce. Mayo and Magruder are vying for the seat vacated by retiring commissioner Earl Fisher. After a relatively stable sixyear period, voters are replacing two commissioners currently up for re-election. In May, voters ousted incumbent Commissioner Tony Hyde, replacing him with political newcomer, Alex Tardif. Hyde served as commissioner since 1997. Magruder and Mayo emerged as the two frontrunners in a field of five candidates that ran for Position One on the May primary ballot. The candidate who receives the majority on the November ballot will become commissioner January 2017. The Oct. 20 forum will be moderated by Don Patterson, publisher of The Chronicle newspaper. Doors open at 5:30 and the forum begins at 6 p.m in the green building behind Rainier City Hall. The address is 103 West C Street.
CODY MANN/The Chronicle
Kimberly J. Brown, also known as Marnie Piper of the Halloweentown films, was the star attraction this past weekend in St. Helens.
St. Helens S Marnie puts a spell on St. Helens Bond Me Wonât change BY CODY MANN cmann@countrymedia.net
The Spirit of Halloweentown was fully charged when Kimberly J. Brown, also known as Marnie Piper, stepped in front of the crowded plaza in St. Helens to light the big pumpkin. Speaking the magic words of a spell and waving her wand, Brown whisked the enchanted audience back to Halloweentown. Brown starred in three Halloweentown films, the first of which debuted in 1998. The premise focused on a town where it was Halloween every day of the year and a young girl who discovers she is a witch. St. Helens played the part of Halloweentown in the first film, one of the earliest Disney Channel Original Movies. The films are still widely available.
This was the second year Brown attended the Spirit of Halloweentown event in St. Helens. âItâs so fun to meet fans of the movie, and some people travel so far to come out here,â Brown said. She said she met fans from as far away as New Jersey and Hawaii in St. Helens. Greeted by a mob of enthusiastic fans at the pumpkin lighting ceremony, Brown said it was incredibly flattering and humbling to know people still get exited about the films. âI live in Los Angeles and I still get recognized almost every day for the movies, but itâs so fun to come to a place that doesnât have the entertainment industry so deeply involved in it and see the town and how excited they all get â itâs just incredible,â she said. Among the duties of her visit, Brown judged the Creatures on
the Catwalk costume contest. âIt was amazing,â she said. âThere were some amazing costumes and I love that everybody put them together themselves with so much detail.â Brown said her one regret was not having more prizes to give with so many great submissions. In the end, the winner was chosen for detail, inspiration and execution of their costume. Honorable mention was given to a Venus flytrapheaded costume. The runner up was a young boy with a Mad Max-themed character from St. Helens. The big winners were related, a headless horseman child and his dragon-riding mother from LaCenter, Wash. City Council Keith Locke presented Brown with the key to St. Helens, a ceremonial token decorated with the cityâs logo. Dressed in the regalia of a shipâs
captain, Locke told Brown she was welcome to return to St. Helens whenever she would like. âEverybody I have presented one to, they just love it, and itâs a big deal to them because it doesnât happen very often,â Locke said. âWhen we have good entertainment out here, we need to reward them and make them ambassadors of the city and make sure they keep coming back.â Brown said it was enriching on a personal level to see the turnout and reaction from the crowd. âIt makes me incredibly happy to make other people happy,â Brown said. âIâve been acting since I was five and I love it so much, but a huge highlight of doing what I do is having people come up to me so excited â a couple of people have completely burst into tears â itâs so touching.â
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Clatskanie disbands police department, contracts with sheriffâs office BY JEREMY C. RUARK jruark@countrymedia.net
The Clatskanie City Council has voted to disband its city police department in favor of contracting law enforcement services with the Columbia County Sheriffâs Office. The official vote came Wednesday night, Oct. 5, during the regular Clatskanie City Council meeting. The action followed several months of public discussion and public hearings about the cost of operating the city police department. During the Oct. 5 meeting in which about 25 people attended, Clatskanie City Manager Greg Hin-
kelman presented a power point slide show detailing the advantages and cost savings of contracting with the Columbia County Sheriffâs Office for city law enforcement. Following the presentation, Hinkelman recommended the council approved the contracting out contract. Council David True voted against the contract plan. âWe didnât explore any other options,â True said following the council meeting. âI just think we didnât do our due diligence as a city council.â True said the contract is a good option, but the council needed to look at retaining the Clatskanie Police Department and funding it in house with a reduced force. âWe will be using city tax money to fund what has even been called a North County Substation and its going to include coverage outside our normal patrol boundaries,â True said. âWe are going to fund a larger area for folks that arenât paying city taxes and we are also paying for sheriffâs services, so we are paying it twice.â True said he believes the councilâs vote was meant to get rid of the police department because of some issues. âThatâs my personal belief,â he
said. âWhether thatâs valid or not I canât prove it, so there was never any effort to look at other options, even restructuring. Next Step Hinkelman said the current Clatskanie police officers, a sergeant and patrol officer, will be transferred to the Columbia County Sheriffâs Office within the next few weeks. Two sheriffâs deputies will assume patrols in Clatskanie on Nov. 1. âThere will be 97 hours of coverage a week,â Hinkelman said. âWith 71 hours of standby a week. The staffing level will be adjusted with what the call level looks like.â Hinkelman said the stand by provision in the contract allows deputies to answer calls basically 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Cost Savings Hinkelman said the contract also gives the City of Clatskanie cost savings. âThe Sheriffâs contract will cost the city $413,615 this year,â he said. âSo we are looking at a savings of approximately $332,000 per year.â Hinkelman said that savings would be impacted by the increase in PERS and some one time costs, such
as the transfer cost, $41,790 of sick and vacation time, of the two police department employees. Hinkelman said the contract provides a significant cost savings for the city and adequate law enforcement services in light of decreasing city revenues to fund the city police department. Councilor Kathy Engel asked
Hinkelman to see if remaining money in the cityâs enterprise zone, she estimated that to be approximately $65,000, could be set aside for a startup to reestablish the city police department and that a portion of the city budget be added to that fund for the next three years if the council ÂÂÂÂ
See POLICE, Page A6
JEREMY C. RUARK/The Chronicle
Clatskanie City Manager Greg Hinkelman, far left, presents his report and recommendations to the Clatskanie City Council to disband the city police department in favor of contracting law enforcement services with the Columbia County Sheriffâs Office.
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