2012-13 WINTER SPORTS PREVIEW SHHS boys basketball . . . . . . . . . . B1 SHHS girls basketball. . . . . . . . . . .B2 SHHS swimming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B2 SHHS wrestling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B2 SHS boys basketball. . . . . . . . . . . B3 SHS girls basketball. . . . . . . . . . . .B3 SHS swimming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B3 S S B3 S
Wednesday November 28, 2012
WINTER SPORTS PREVIEW: Read all about the basketball, wrestling and swimming teams at St. Helens and Scappoose high schools, B1
The Chronicle
Retirement costs soar for public agencies BY SHARI PHIEL The Chronicle
In just a few short weeks it will be time for budget managers at every city, county and state agency to sharpen their pencils and break out the calculators as they ready for 2013-14 fiscal year budget cycle. One line item that’s sure to add a few headaches this year will be Oregon’s public employee retirement system. Rising PERS costs, which are anticipated to be substantial for many agencies in the 2013-14 budget year, has been the subject of much debate and was at the center of the recent race for state treasurer. Former candidate Tom Cox, who ran under the Republican Part, campaigned solely on PERS reform. “The system is horribly broken, unsustainable, and its impact on Oregon's budget will soon create pressure to drastically raise taxes and cut critical services,” said Cox. His dire predictions may soon become a reality in Columbia County. According to Columbia County officials, the change in PERS will add an additional $600,000 to the county’s expenses for the coming fiscal year. For most of the two dozen agencies in Columbia County, the increase to the employer contribution rate for Tier1/Tier2, general service and police/fire payroll tiers averages between 3–5 percent. But that’s only the average. Some employers, like the Rainier Cemetery District, which See PERS, Page A3
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Legacy Health technology helps saves lives BY SHARI PHIEL The Chronicle
SHARI PHIEL / The Chronicle
Legacy Health has become the first hospital system in Oregon to launch the LIFENET System to improve care and outcomes for patients who experience heart attacks. The Portland-based health system is donating LIFENET to all regional Emergency Medical Service response agencies from Scappoose to Canby. Although the system will be rolled out region-wide over the next several months in Portland, Canby, Molalla, Gresham, and Lake Oswego it has already been implemented at Scappoose Rural Fire District and Columbia River Fire & Rescue. In fact, the new system likely
Scappoose EMT Brian Heuer is ready to send vital patient data simultaneously to the emergency department, catheterization laboratory, cardiologist and others thanks to Legacy Health’s new LIFENET system.
helped save the life of a patient its first day in service. The first successful 12-lead ECG was transmit-
ted to Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center on Nov. 14 from the Scappoose Fire District – just 10 hours after LIFENET officially went live. According to Scappoose Division Chief Chris Lake, the first emergency dispatch after installation was for a patient, James Decker of St. Helens, in cardiac arrest. Decker’s ECG was successfully transmitted from an
ambulance while en route to the hospital. Dr. Shawn Patrick, Medical Director of Cardiovascular Services for Legacy Health and the physician on the receiving end of the transmission at Legacy Good Samaritan, said he could immediately see the patient's condition necessitated activation of the catheterization laboratory. As a result of developing a care plan while the patient was being transported to the hospital, cath lab staff were ready. The patient had a door to balloon time - the time from patient arrival at the hospital to inflation of the balloon catheter in the patient's blocked artery - of just 17 minutes. The national standard for door to balloon time is 90 minutes and See LEGACY, Page A3
2012 Harpo Productions, Inc./Photographer George Burns Oprah Winfrey surprises 30 military spouses, all finalists in the Military Spouse of the Year Award, with her favorite things in Washington, D.C.
Oprah makes the season brighter for Scappoose spouse
Takin’ it to the streets
BY SHARI PHIEL The Chronicle
SHARI PHIEL / The Chronicle
Firefighters, EMTs and other personnel from Columbia River Fire & Rescue hit the streets in St. Helens on Black Friday for the agency’s annual “Fill the Boot” fundraiser. Although exact numbers aren’t in yet, the fire district raised an estimated $10,500. Funds raised support the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
Public Health making vaccines available BY SHARI PHIEL The Chronicle
Whooping cough, also known as pertussis, is once again at the forefront of public health concerns. Statewide, there have been 838 reported cases of pertussis. That’s compared to just 300 at this same time last year. And in Washington, the number of cases skyrocketed from 655 cases in 2011 to more than 4,500 this year. To help reduce the outbreak of pertussis, the Public Health Foundation of Columbia County has implemented a new program to help uninsured adults get vaccinated. So far, a total of 55 adults have taken advantage of the Public Health Foundation program but there are far more adults out there that need to be vaccinated. And Public Health says it has the Tdap vaccine ready and available. “This is a one-time adult booster,” said Mary Altenhein, immunization coordinator for the Public Health Foundation. The program, which kicked off earlier this fall, offers free vaccines to uninsured adults between the ages of 19 and 64 in response to increased numbers of whooping cough cases in Oregon and Washington this year. Altenhein said adults who have already – or expect to have – close contact with an infant under the age of 1 should be vaccinated to protect the child as pertussis is typically more severe in children than adults. “Prevention is the best defense against this disease,” said
Columbia County Public Health Administrator Karen Ladd, “Not being current on vaccinations clearly puts people at risk of contracting pertussis.” Caused by the Bordatella pertussis bacteria, whooping cough typically starts with a runny nose, sneezing, cough and a fever. The cough worsens, frequently comes in fits, and can last six weeks or longer. It is also highly contagious. “Pertussis is known for uncontrollable, violent coughing which often makes it hard to breathe. After fits of many coughs, someone with pertussis often needs to take deep breaths, which result in a ‘whooping’ sound,” says the Centers for Disease Control information. According to Altenhein, the tiniest children have such small airways that when racked with whooping cough – sometimes for weeks on end – they may struggle to breathe and may also have trouble eating or drinking. “Children should see their doctors if they have a cough longer than two weeks,” she added. Public Health officials note that by protecting themselves, older children, parents and grandparents can form a “cocoon of protection” around the babies in their lives that may be too young to be fully protected by vaccine. See VACCINE, Page A3
Stock photo by John de Rosier
SCAPPOOSE — For much of the past decade, TV maven Oprah Winfrey has surprised and stunned audience members on her “Oprah’s Favorite Things” show with more than a dozen gifts, often worth thousands of dollars. The show was brought Vanderwerf back this year, but with a bit of a difference. Winfrey and her team chose to honor with Oprah military spouses from each branch of the Armed Forces, enlisting help from famous designers Michael Kors and Tory Burch, celebrity chef Curtis Stone and others to find the season’s hottest, newest and most wanted gift items. Among those in the audience was Scappoose resident Laura Vanderwerf. “OWN invited myself and 29 other military spouses to come to what we thought was an advance showing of ‘Married to the Army, Alaska,’” said Vanderwerf. “Oprah and her staff hand chose each of us from Military Spouse Magazines ‘Military Spouse of the Year’ top five nominees between 2010-2012.” Vanderwerf was the 2011 Coast Guard Spouse of the year and was a nominee for Military Spouse of the Year. Last year, she and four other nominees from the remaining military branches traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with First Lady Michelle Obama. She is married to the 11th Coast Guard District’s Command Master Chief Petty Officer Terence Vanderwerf. Vanderwerf was nominated because of her continued volunteer efforts as an ombudsman – someone who serves as a link betweena Coast Guard command and the families of the command – since 1994. “We arrived, only to discover that it wasn't an advance showing, but that Oprah had revived her Oprah's Favorite Things show, with the 30 of us being the recipients,” said Vanderwerf. “To sit in a room, with my fellow military spouses...hearing their stories, of what they are doing not only for their own family, but for the military community at large was awe-inspiring – from the spouse that founded a company that helps Wounded Warriors, the spouse that helps military vets find jobs, the spouse that advocates for our special needs children, the spouse that is working to help other spouses fund their education, or the spouse that works tirelessly to make sure not only her husband (a wounded warrior) gets the medical services he needs, but other wounded warriors as well, it made me feel proud to be counted among them, yet at the same time See OPRAH, Page A3
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