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B6
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A6
Smoke and fire plague
Gorge over the
Labor Day holiday
weekend.
Page A8
WEATHER
HIGH 90S IN THE DALLES,
COOLER BY MONDAY
Powerful Pickleball: Fundraiser
spurs competition.
Page B1
Columbia Gorge News
HOOD RIVER | THE DALLES | WHITE SALMON
Wednesday,September9,2020 Volume1,Issue23
Rangers focus on water safety
Rangers at Bonneville
Dam and Locks
emphasize simple
safety guidelines
■ By Jacob Bertram
Columbia Gorge News
The Columbia River Gorge is
known to be an attractive site for
visitors. Beyond the recent holiday
weekend, the area is expected to re-
main busy, with parks open during
the pandemic.
Because of this, government
agencies, such as the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers at Bonneville
Lock and Dam, are asking visitors
to public parks and recreation areas
to follow a small set of tips for safety
at recreation areas and especially
on the water.
Park rangers with the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers are reminding
the public to be aware of these
important tips for water safety:
■ Plan ahead. With the ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic and the en-
suing shutdowns, parks around the
area are providing different level
of services to the public. This may
include restrooms, play structures,
swim beaches, and life jacket loan-
er boards. Call ahead and look up
your destination online to confirm
your access to services at different
parks.
■ Bring your own supplies,
including hand sanitizer and face
masks.
■ Overcrowding is a concern
some weekends because not all
parks have reopened.
■ Wear a life jacket. “Life jackets
save lives. Wear if for your family,
for your kids, for your dog! Go
home safe!”
■ If someone is drowning and
needs help: Reach, Throw, Row,
Columbia Gorge News
Don’t Go.
■ Respect active burn bans (and
plan ahead by researching if there
is an active burn ban in the area
you are visiting).
■ Leave it better than you found
it and pick up your trash.
■ Respect park closures.
•••
“We’re fortunate here in Oregon
to have all sorts of beautiful re-
sources, not least of which is the
Columbia River. It’s a great place for
friends and folks to have fun, enjoy
it with their friends and family
but unfortunately there’s some
risks associated with enjoying that
resource and so we want to make
sure that people come out and have
a good time and not have anything
SeeSAFETY,page11
Voters will be deciding once
again whether to increase the
maximum amount Hospital
District No. 2, consisting of Skyline
Health’s facilities, can levy at the
General Election in November.
According to the proposition filed
with the Klickitat County Auditor,
it would further fund upgrades
to Skyline Health’s infrastruc-
ture, equipment, and services if
approved by voters. The proposal
is identical to the one which failed
by a slim margin in the election
last year.
The bid proposes a lift on max-
imum allowable property taxes
levied by the district in 2021, from
$.30 per $1,000 of assessed value,
to $.68 per $1,000 of assessed val-
ue. For a house in the district with
an assessed value of $350,000, the
levy increase of approximately
SeeLEVY,page8
Long-
time auto
dealer dies
Above top, natural resource specialist Mason Scharpfe shows how to use a life
jacket, and says there are many different life jackets that suits your needs.
Above, KOIN 6 video journalist Karl Petersen frames a shot aboard the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers patrol boat.
Jacob Bertram photos
Safety concerns are primary reason; council
to make formal decision next week
■ By Emily Fitzgerald
Columbia Gorge News
Chamber has closed its visitors center. Sept. 30. Online visitor services will con-
tinue. October's Harvest Festival has been canceled — details on page 3.
Kirby Neumann-Rea photo
HR County
Chamber
announces
major changes
■ By Kirby Neumann-Rea
Columbia Gorge News
The Hood River County
Chamber of Commerce has closed
its physical location and is in the
process of extensive reorganization
in the face of a major decline in
revenue.
The chamber (HRCCC) and the
Visit Hood River Council (VHR)
have conducted a multi-month
review of the vision, mission,
business model, strategic plan,
structure and governance of the
organization to address the reality
of economic challenges facing
the business stakeholders and
community as a result of COVID-19
Skyline
levy on
ballot
■ By Jacob Bertram
TD council tentatively
denies ‘The Grove’
Visitor center at
port has closed
$1.00
impacts, the organization an-
nounced in a press release. In de-
veloping a clear path for continued
success, the board has approved a
revised operations plan to manage
resources efficiently and effec-
tively, according to Grant Polson,
Hood River County Chamber of
Commerce chairman of the board.
The organization has named
Ashley Huckaby May, former di-
rector of Visit Hood River, to serve
as the interim director. May said,
“HRCCC and VHR have undertak-
en a detailed review over multiple
months to ensure the organization
will remain proactive in continu-
ing to deliver upon its vision and
mission for Hood River.”
With the decline in key revenue
SeeCHAMBER,page3
The Dalles City Council has ten-
tatively voted to uphold an appeal
against “The Grove” subdivision
but will wait until their regular
Sept. 14 City Council meeting to
make a final decision.
The appeal hearing centers
around The Dalles Community
Development Department’s
decision to approve Legacy
Development Group LLC’s
application to build 69 “dwelling
parcels” and a 11,724 square-foot
community park on a 6.92 acre
lot located at 2845 E. 12th St. City
Council was to determine whether
or not the application fulfills all
of the City’s code requirements,
and decide whether to uphold
the appeal — meaning that the
City would rescind its approval of
Legacy Development’s application
— or to deny the appeal, which
would mean that the application
maintains its City approval.
While the tentative decision
to uphold the appeal was unan-
imous, Council Member Darcy
Long-Curtiss stated that she was in
favor of denying the appeal.
“I believe the (application)
criteria has been met, but in the
interest of not rushing things, I
will vote in favor of this motion,”
said Long-Curtiss during the City
Council’s Aug. 31 appeal hearing.
The meeting was the City Council’s
second on the appeal; the first took
place on Aug. 24 and was contin-
ued to a later date.
During the public comment
section of the appeal hearing, 18
The Dalles residents gave verbal
testimony against the proposed
subdivision, and two residents
gave testimony in favor.
The Grove development has been pro-
posed for The Dalles property above,
viewed from 12th and Richmond
streets.
Mark B. Gibson photo
“It’s always a problem when
you have public sentiment in this
regard,” said Mayor Rich Mays at
the end of the public comment
section of the hearing. “The public
sentiment on this particular
subdivision is running probably
100 to 1. Many people are against
it. Unfortunately with a quasi-judi-
cial hearing … popularity is not a
valid or an appropriate reason for
upholding an appeal — nor should
it be.”
Comments in favor of “The
Grove” centered around the
need for affordable housing in
The Dalles; most who spoke out
against The Grove cited concerns
about pedestrian safety on the sur-
rounding streets — particularly the
intersections of Richmond St. with
10th St., 12th St. and Old Dufur
Road — and overcrowding at the
nearby Dry Hollow Elementary
School, as well as concerns that
the high-density development
would be incompatible with the
surrounding rural neighborhood.
“It would be irresponsible in
my mind to allow developments
without severe infrastructure
SeeGROVE ,page2
Bob Stone, long-time owner of
Freeway Autocenter in The Dalles,
has died.
Stone retired and sold the
Subaru dealership in 2014. The
dealership received more awards
and honors from Subaru of
America than any other dealership
in the region. In 2007, the dealer-
ship was honored by Subaru for
being the “Best Place in America”
to buy a new Subaru based on
customer surveys done by the
company. In 2010, Stone’s dealer-
ship was honored by Subaru for
being first in market penetration in
the continental U.S.
“This staff has gone above
and beyond expected industry
standards to deliver personal
attention and service to each
customer,” Stone told a The Dalles
Chronicle reporter at the time of
his retirement.
Stone was also the first dealer-
ship in Oregon to achieve Subaru
Stellar Care Award status in 2012
and went on to repeat that distinc-
tion again 2013 and 2014.
With his success, Stone made
significant contributions in sup-
port of the community, including
financial support to local military
families, emergency first respond-
ers, local schools and sponsor-
ships of numerous community
events including The Cherry
Festival Parade, the Hood 2 River
Relay, Kiteboarding 4 Cancer, the
Hood River Hops and Harvest
Festivals.
SeeSTONE,page8
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