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FRIDAY, JULY 21 2023
VOL. 132, NO. 11 Serving the Lower Columbia Region since 1891
4-H fun at the County Fair and Rodeo WILL LOHRE Country Media, Inc.
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he Columbia County Fair is back in full swing, and the ultra-popular Columbia County Rodeo will return this weekend, bringing unbridled action to the county for its 108th year. The theme this year is “Spurring Up Summer Fun,” and the fair will offer a host of activities, including carnival rides, 4-H livestock shows and auctions, food, drink, and of course, the rodeo. One of the staples of the fair each year is the Columbia County Youth Livestock Auction. It provides an opportunity for people to purchase livestock that is raised by Columbia County 4-H Livestock Club members and get high-quality meats while supporting youth and their agriculture projects. “This is a huge fundraiser for our youth, we hope you’ll take the time to go over and purchase an animal or simply watch the process. These youth have done a great job raising and caring for these animals, and they will be the first to tell you, they are very proud of what they do,” the fair website states. Benefits of 4-H Four industrious youths from
Clatskanie are participating in the 4-H Livestock Club and hope to sell their swine at the auction on Saturday. James Kujala (12), Rhiley White (12), Gavin (14) and Logan Larson (12) have all taken on the task of raising pigs this year and are ready to reap the rewards of months of hard work. While the goal of raising livestock is always to sell it, it can be hard to say goodbye to the animals the youths have raised. “This is my first year, but my father did 4-H for many years, and my grandma also had some involvement in 4-H. My pig Webby, she was the runt of the litter, so she missed weight by a little bit, so I need to find people to sell her to,” Kujala said. “I’m going to be a little upset that Webby is gone. It’s going to be a mix [of emotions]. I’m going to be a little bit happy about the money and excited to do it next year.” Gavin Larson has been involved with the Clatskanie 4-H Livestock Club auction for the last two years, and this year will be his third year raising chickens and his first year raising a pig. Last year, Gavin raised Grand Champion market chickens, the highest possible placement. Raising pigs has been a bit different. “It’s been much more eventful than my previous years just doing chickens. It’s definitely been a lot more work than chickens; chickens
are just a breeze,” Gavin Larson said. “I like doing pigs. Again, they’re difficult, but not so difficult that they’re overwhelming.” Gavin got his pig when it was just eight weeks old, and it was born in January of 2023. Since taking charge of the pig, Gavin has needed to feed the pig each morning, ensure they have water, and clean out their pens when they get dirty. “It’s a pretty simple process out loud, but it’s eventful sometimes,” Gavin Larson said. With more than 6 million members, 4-H is the largest out-of-school youth program in the United States, according to Oregon State University Extension Association website. 4-H empowers young people to find what sparks their curiosity, learn skills and leadership, and impact their communities. 4-H is over 100 years old and began as a way for new agricultural developments to be shared with young people in rural communities. For Rhiley White, this is his second year raising a pig for the 4-H auction, and he’s really appreciated the opportunities that the 4-H program has afforded him. White says that people have some misconceptions about 4-H. “I’m glad that you guys are getting an inside view of it to see that
See FAIR Page A6
Will Lohre / Country Media, Inc.
Front, left to right, James Kujala, Logan Larson, and Rhiley White. Behind, Gavin Larson.
Community offers support after tragic fire WILL LOHRE Country Media, Inc.
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Courtesy photo from Westport Fire and Rescue
The blaze began around midnight on Monday, July 10.
he community of Westport is coming together to support Jeff and Ronda Hazen after a structure fire destroyed their home and took the life of their beloved dog. Six minutes after midnight on Monday, July 10, Westport Fire was notified of a structure fire on Old Mill Town Road. Clatskanie Fire and Knappa Fire were also notified, according to Westport Fire Chief Greg Brody. “We got there a little while later, and we had a fully involved structure fire that was extending into a nearby carport; it was on fire, a car was on fire, the trees around the structure were on fire, there was a lot of fire,” Brody said. Brody said they began fighting the fire, and more crews and
resources arrived to support. The fire was brought under control around 1 a.m. The next day, a fire investigation team came and investigated the cause of the fire; the cause is unknown at this time. Jeff Hazen is a Volunteer Firefighter and was not home at the time of the blaze, but he traveled from St. Helens to be with his wife following the news of the incident. While the fire claimed many of the Hazen’s possessions as well as their terrier, Ronda Hazen was saved by the courageous quickthinking and actions of her neighbors Breanne Hendricks and Alec Hansen. Ronda Hazen was awoken by her fire alarm and battled through the flames to get to her front porch, where she collapsed and began screaming for help. “A resident that lived across the street, a young woman by the name of Breanne Hendricks,
heard her screaming and ran across the street to the house and found her, basically, on the front porch, under the flames, in intense heat, grabbed right onto her and dragged her away from the house,” Brody said. A short time later, Hansen arrived and assisted Hendricks in getting Ronda Hazen away from the house. Hansen then attempted to reenter the house and save the family dog but to no avail. Hendricks was awoken by the distant sounds of screaming that night. When Hendricks heard Ronda Hazen yelling for help, she jumped into action, moving to save her without hesitation. “She was still crying for her dogs, and she didn’t want to leave without grabbing them, but I just had to get away from the house,” Hendricks said. “Then I started
See FIRE Page A5
Citizens speak up at Merkley town hall WILL LOHRE Country Media, Inc.
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en. Jeff Merkley held a town hall at Lewis and Clark Elementary School in St. Helens to connect with Columbia County residents to take their questions and hear their concerns. Merkley opened the meeting by inviting people to express their feelings and ask questions but requested that attendees listen to opposing perspectives and be civil during the
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Contact The Chief Phone: 503-397-0116 Fax: 503-397-4093 chiefnews@countrymedia.net 1805 Columbia Blvd., St. Helens, OR 97051
discourse. The event was held Saturday, July 15. Merkley holds town halls in every county in Oregon, and the event at Lewis and Clark Elementary was his 539th town hall. Merkley said that the benefit of the town halls is to better understand the issues different communities in the state face. “If I didn’t do all these town halls in very remote parts of the state, I wouldn’t get to talk to a lot of the smaller community newspapers. And I certainly wouldn’t hear firsthand about how the issues differ in different parts of the state,” Merkley said. “We have different economies, different cultures, different wildlife, you know. So it is valuable to hear directly from constituents to hear what they wrestle with.” Merkley’s town hall drew about 40 members to the audience in the school gym at Lewis and Clark Elementary and fielded questions on a variety of topics, including the cost of pharmaceuticals, railway safety, diverting water from the Columbia River to California, the Supreme Court, climate change, plastics, and other more local issues. When discussing diverting of water to California from the Columbia River, Merkley stated that there are no concrete plans to enact the plan and said it would happen “Over my dead body.” In response to a question from a retired pharmacist about the rising costs of pharmaceuticals, Merkley referenced his End Price Gouging for Medications Act bill, which would ensure that the maximum price the United States pays would be the same price as other developed countries like Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Canada, Australia, Spain, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Sweden.
Will Lohre / Country Media, Inc.
Senator Jeff Merkley addresses attendees of his 539th town hall meeting.
“Whatever the lowest price is they charge those countries; we get the same price. I think that’s going to help us with that. It would make a huge huge difference,” Merkley said. In response to a comment about support for railway workers and avoidance of railway disasters, Merkley voiced his backing for improving safety for railways and support for increasing relief for rail workers’ benefits and worker’s compensation. Regarding the Supreme Court, Merkley said that the politicized nature of the court needs to be changed. Merkley said that he wants to find a way to change the way the Supreme Court is staffed. A potential solution he offered would be instituting an 18-year service term on the court for justices before they step back into a “senior status” classification, where they would then serve in a capacity supporting circuit courts. This would be an alternative to adding more seats to the court. Merkley also said that there needs to be more accountability within the
Supreme Court in light of the increasing issues of conflict of interest between justices and political parties. When asked about climate change, Merkley said that snowpack is decreasing, and the result of diminishing glacier runoff is less water but also increased fire risk, among other consequences. Merkley also said that the increased numbers of climate chaos incidents are a result of increasing carbon levels. “The test of humanity is whether we can stop going up. Right now, we’re actually going up faster than we did ten years ago. And ten years ago, we were going faster to the top than we did twenty years ago,” Merkley said. Merkley said that despite all the discourse surrounding global warming and climate chaos, the planet is actually doing worse. Merkley said he is trying to hold the Biden administration accountable for all the fossil fuel-based projects they have been involved with. One of the final issues Merkley
spoke about for some length was the issue of plastics and microplastics. When asked whether the government was considering higher tariff rates for importers using plastic packaging, Merkley said that was an option he considered but would look into. According to Merkley, the issue of plastics is a high-priority concern. Merkley said that United States citizens consume about a credit card’s worth of plastic every week through drinking water, eating food, and breathing air. Merkley said that Congress is working on solutions to put safety regulations in place to limit the environmental impact of plastics. Interview with Merkley Prior to the town hall, The Chief had an opportunity to sit down with Merkley for an interview to catch up on what the senator has been working on this year and to touch base on some of the ongoing commu-
See MERKLEY Page A4