Wednesday,January13,2021
Columbia Gorge News
www.columbiagorgenews.com
3
Skills center, student
housing projects on track
Opening
planned for
fall term
Construction continues at
Columbia Gorge Community
College, which will open its
new workforce skills center
and student residential hall
on The Dalles campus by
Fall Term 2021. The two new
buildings represent the larg-
est expansion of the college’s
physical capacity since 2008,
when CGCC opened new
classroom buildings in Hood
River and The Dalles.
The 24,000-square-foot
skills center will support new
career-technical programs,
with design flexibility for
workforce needs of the fu-
ture. High-bay interior space
will be complemented by a
design lab, makerspace and
two conjoined classrooms.
The 12,000 square foot,
50-bed residential hall will
provide affordable on-cam-
pus student housing, with a
first-floor kitchen and sec-
ond-floor lounge overlooking
the Columbia Gorge.
The $16 million project
is made possible through a
$7.3 million commitment
from the Oregon Legislature,
matched in part by $3.5
million from the City of The
Dalles and Wasco County.
The college itself provided the
balance through a full faith
and credit bond; no local tax
measure was required.
Along with the new con-
struction, the college is devel-
oping three new career-tech-
nical programs.
Advanced manufacturing
and fabrication will expand
the college’s existing weld-
ing program with training
on plasma cutters, metal
bending, drill press and other
tools, together with CNC de-
sign software. In addition to
equipment operation and in-
dustrial safety, students learn
the math, communication
and blueprint skills neces-
sary for a variety of careers in
advanced manufacturing.
Likewise, a new con-
struction trades program
will integrate the tools of
carpentry with foundation
and framing techniques, and
basic building projects, all
with an emphasis on safety.
Students in both programs
will learn computer-assisted
design software.
A third new program
will be based at Columbia
Gorge Regional Airport
in Dallesport. This is an
aircraft maintenance tech-
nician program. Pending
approval by the Federal
Aviation Administration,
Columbia Gorge would join
Lane Community College,
Portland Community College
and several colleges in
Washington State in offering
“Airframe and Powerplant”
training. Aviation industry
leaders cite a continuing
Work on a new residential hall, in foreground above and at top, is well underway at Columbia Gorge
Community College The Dalles campus. The workforce skills center, in background above, is also on
track. Both are scheduled to open for Fall term 2021.
Flora Gibson photos
demand for aviation me-
chanics; with its new student
residential hall, Columbia
Gorge will be positioned as a
“destination institution.”
All three programs
currently are in the re-
view stage, subject to
approval internally and by
the Northwest Commission
on Colleges and Universities,
through which Columbia
Gorge is accredited.
The skills center and
student residential hall are
scheduled for completion
July 23, 2021. A webcam
shows construction prog-
ress via YouTube. Viewers
can locate it by search-
ing “Columbia Gorge
Community College con-
struction webcam,” then link
to the current YouTube site.
NEWS IN BRIEF
Bentz takes office
Partition approved
A request to partition an
existing 11.8 acre property
into three parcels of .84, .8
and 10.19 acres has been
approved by administra-
tive decision by The Dalles
Community Development
Department. The property
is located at 3819 Columbia
View Drive. Owners are
Chuck and Cathy Covert.
Lot adjustments
A request has been made
to replat five existing lots
to nine lots within the Ott
Springs Subdivision, located
in the 2300 block of W. 12th
St., The Dalles. The new lots
will range from 4,025 square
Congressman Cliff Bentz, right, was formally sworn in as a member of the 117th United States Congress
on Jan. 2. Bentz was accompanied by his wife, Dr. Lindsay Norman. Republican House Minority Leader
Kevin McCarthy, left, administered the oath. “It is an honor to represent the citizens of Oregon’s Second
Congressional District, and I humbly thank them for entrusting me with this responsibility,” said Bentz.
“I will fight every day to protect rural communities and stand up for Oregon values in Congress.” Bentz
is a third generation Oregonian, rancher, businessman, attorney, and a former state legislator. He was
elected to represent the Second Congressional District of Oregon on Nov. 3. The district includes all
or part of 20 counties across northern, eastern, central, and southern Oregon, including all of Wasco,
Hood River, Sherman and Wheeler counties.
Submitted photo
1631 Woods Ct
Suite 102
Hood River, OR
97031
541-386-0826
Joe Guenther
Financial Advisor
edwardjones.com
Member SIPC
feet to 4,921. Owner is Randy
Olmstead.
Public Hearing
The City of The Dalles
Planning Commission will
conduct a quasi-judicial
public hearing Thurday,
Jan. 21, 6 p.m. via Zoom.
StarTouch, Inc. seeks ap-
proval to provide wireless
backhaul in The Dalles area
by mounting microwave/
antennas to the rooftop of
Building 1 at CGCC.
EVOLUTION: BIOLOGICALLY IMPOSSIBLE #19
As anyone should be able to see with the teeth system it is quite
unreasonable to imagine that teeth would evolve in the mouth of any
animal over millions of years. You could look at many of the separate
biological systems that make up a functioning and operating body. Look
at the digestive system. Very complicated. Liver, gall bladder, spleen,
stomach, small and large intestines, colon and bile ducts. Remove one
of these organs and the system could easily shut down or the animal
would become very sick and not function properly. Is it fair to suggest
that these organs came along over millions of years to finally complete
a true proper operating digestive system? Let us not even include the
mouth and throat and saliva and of course teeth in this very complicated
digestive system to make it even more unreasonable to suggest this
system came along organ by organ over millions of years. How does
this happen? What does it mean scientifically that a liver or gall bladder
simply evolves within the body of a living animal? The raw fortunate
convenience that any of these organs just came into being to aid the
digestive system when it was not there before by evolving? How does a
liver evolve? What would appear in an animal that exists without a liver
and then this miraculous machine then begins to what, evolve? How
does an organ as complicated as a liver evolve piece by piece over millions
of years? Oh the hate.
g.d. fischer | zionman@netcnct.net | 541-296-8578
TRASH TALK
Q. I have Holiday string lights that no
QA
longer work. What should I do with
them? Tori, Wasco County
A. Tori, Those light strands are not recyclable at curb-
side. If you bring them to their Transfer Station in
either The Dalles or Hood River, they can be recycled
as ‘scrap metal’ because of the valuable copper
wire. Ask attendant. Remove any large bulbs. Also,
consider carefully saving boxes, paper and bows as
packaging for next season.
questions to:
(541)-506-2636 www.tricountyrecycle.com