Letters
- Jury Duty is Important
- Thanks to Art Project Coordinators
- Soccer Camp Appreciated
- Thanks from Community Club of Prescott
- Railroad Crossing a Great Improvement
- Patrol Vehicle Purchases Explained
Jury Duty is Important
Dear Editor,
Jury service is an obligation and a privilege. It most certainly is a necessity in our legal system, and a trial before an impartial jury of our peers is a basic civil right. Your service is most appreciated by the trial court judges, clerks, and administrators of the courts in this county.
Those who do not participate, without being properly excused by a judge, could be prosecuted and found guilty of a misdemeanor. Here is another reason to respond….. to avoid a new and ominous potential for fraud which recently surfaced.
Fraud has been reported in eleven states so far relating to a jury duty scam. The caller claims to be a jury coordinator advising that a warrant was issued for failure to respond to a jury summons. The perpetrator requests personal information to "verify" identity, in order to "cancel" an alleged warrant. The caller bullies citizens over the phone pretending to be connected to the court system.
If you receive such a call, please report it to the Columbia County Sheriff, (509) 382-2518, the Superior Court Clerk, (509) 382-4321, and the District Court Administrator, (509) 382-4812, and DO NOT GIVE OUT PERSONAL INFORMATION! One way to know, with absolute certainty, that this type of call is a scam…….report for jury duty.
Court workers will not telephone to say you have missed jury duty, ask for social security, bank account, or credit card numbers. To verify service after receipt of your summons call (509) 382-3197. This is a twenty four (24) hour number that, by recorded message, informs jurors of scheduled trials and status of trials-whether jury services are needed. If you have questions, leave a message and your number(s) on the recorder.
Diane Dill, Jury Coordinator
G. Scott Marinella, Judge
Dayton
Thanks to Art Project Coordinators
Dear Editor,
The Dayton Community Art Project wishes to report that our fundraising efforts for the Stationmaster Project have reached $30,000. When the Depot Board was considering whether to embark on this project, we decided that we could not do it alone. We took our idea to the Dayton Development Task Force, who has an excellent track record of successful projects, and they agreed to partner with us. There is a small group made up of members of both the Depot Board and the Task Force that have been working diligently on this project. They include Jennie Dickinson, Dianne McKinley, Marcene Hendrickson, Bette Lou Crothers, Cheryl Ray, Bob Warren and myself. Both Boards are 100% contributory with a total contribution of $7,390. To date, our grant writers have written 6 grants. We have received 3 for a total of $5,500. Three are still pending. They plan to submit 7 more to help us reach our goal. Thank you Columbia County for your support.
Ginny Butler
Dayton
Soccer Camp Appreciated
Dear Editor,
I would like to thank DJ Frame for taking the time out of his busy life to put on a soccer camp for our kids. He and his team did an excellent job providing our kids of Dayton with some soccer skills and a lot of fun to learn the game. Also, I want to thank his company for the T-shirts. That was a bonus. Kensy and Lowe love getting T-shirts.
As a parent, I appreciate all they do for our community youth.
Stacy Klingenstein
Dayton
Thanks from Community Club of Prescott
Dear Editor,
The Community Club of Prescott would like to thank all of you who joined us for breakfast at the Lions Hall in Prescott this summer. With your support, we were able to make a sizeable donation to the Prescott Lions Club to help with their projects. We plan on helping make our Community Christmas party special for our kids. Thanks again and we hope to see you again next summer.
Jeanne McIntyre
The Community Club of Prescott
Railroad Crossing a Great Improvement
Dear Editor,
I want to thank the Port of Columbia for finding the money to take care of our miserable railroad crossings. As a resident who has lived on the north side of the tracks for over 30 years, I am so grateful for this improvement to our city. It was a little inconvenient for a few weeks, but we are also very fortunate to have more than one crossing within a block of each other. It shouldn't have been much of a hardship for anyone. As for those who complained, I just want to say, any improvement is going to cause a bit of inconvenience and what we have after that inconvenience is something much better than we had before. Can we just be grateful for a change and not complain to those who are making our town a better, nicer place to live? If you don't understand what's going on, then call and ask politely what is going on.
I am glad to be a citizen of this great city and am always happy to see improvements. It isn't always easy to come up with the financing for everything and sometimes it takes a long time. But when the money comes along it was well worth the wait. Thank you for the great job Port of Columbia.
Kathy Berg
Dayton
Patrol Vehicle Purchases Explained
Dear Editor,
I was approached by a concerned citizen that made the comment that the Columbia County Sheriff's office does nothing, but they (the Sheriff's Office) always buy new cars. I would like the public to know that the vehicles we use are purchased through the Equipment Rental and Revolving Fund, managed by the Columbia County Engineer's Office.
This means the vehicles are purchased for the Sheriff's office and we rent them for a designated period of time. That period of time is generally four years, and the vehicles that are not used for routine patrol are five or more years. In that four-year period, the vehicles usually accumulate over 100,000 miles. After the vehicle has traveled more than 100,000 miles, they are no longer dependable for use as a patrol vehicle.
The citizens of Columbia County deserve a Sheriff's Office that can and will respond to all crimes in progress, medical assists, investigation and follow-up of any crime that has been committed. None of which could happen without up-to-date and reliable equipment. We are also trying to keep our equipment up to date by making our equipment purchases through the Traffic Safety Grants, Byrnes Grants, and others.
If there are questions the citizens of Columbia County have about their Sheriff's Office, they can direct any and all questions to me, and I will answer them to the best of my ability or find the information needed. My office is always open and my phone number is (509) 382-1100.
Walter J. Hessler, Columbia County Sheriff
Dayton