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Wednesday,April21,2021
Columbia Gorge News
www.columbiagorgenews.com
Semi turns over near Rowland Lake
Jacob Bertram
■ By Columbia
Gorge News
A bee entered the cabin
of a 40-year-old semi-trailer
truck driver and stung him,
according to the account he
gave Washington State troop-
ers for why his rig ended up
top-down, twisted around a
guardrail on an embankment
situated between State Route
14 and Rowland Lake last
Wednesday afternoon.
The truck went veering off
into the western shoulder
and scraped against a guard-
rail several hundred feet until
it entered the embankment
and flipped over. The driver
and his truck full of cheese
were en route from Idaho to
Tillamook when the incident
occurred around 3:40 p.m.
Wednesday, April 14.
'Lucky' is how troopers
and crew members work-
ing on the truck’s recovery
described the event, which
saw driver Joshua Young
basically unharmed, save
for some bumps, bruises, a
bee sting and a citation from
state patrol. No one else was
involved in the incident, said
state patrol officials.
Crews from
Washington Department
of Transportation and
specialized environmental
clean-up crews from Bishop
Towing and Repair were
still working mid-afternoon
Thursday on unloading the
trailer before rotating the
rig upright. While some of
the trailer’s load of cheese
had been ejected across the
surface of the highway and
below the wreckage onto an
embankment and into the
lake, much of the product
remained in the trailer.
“It’s going to be a long
process,” one crew member
told Columbia Gorge News.
The key issue here, they said,
is preventing more product
from offloading into the lake.
Single-lane closures were
expected through Friday,
with intermittent closures of
both lanes.
Washington State Trooper
Will Finn said it may take
another couple days before a
full recovery of all the debris.
The incident caused a
diesel spill but crews were
able to stop the leak before
it entered the water. State
Department of Fish and
Wildlife and Department of
Ecology officials were noti-
fied of the event, said Finn.
EMS and fire officials
responded to the incident,
as well as agents from
Washington State Patrol and
Klickitat County Sheriff’s
Office.
Above left, an upside-down semi straddles the guardrail along
Highway 14. Above, Washington Department of Transportation
crews hitch the trailer mid-day Thursday as they work to re-
move it. Specialized environmental clean-up crews from SMAF
Environmental LLC and Bishop Towing and Repair worked method-
ically to unload the trailer before rotating it upright.
Jacob Bertram photos
Superintendent candidates named
Jacob Bertram
■ By Columbia
Gorge News
White Salmon Valley
School District officials re-
leased the names of the three
final candidates for the su-
perintendent position ahead
of the April 22 marathon
interview event.
The three finalists will visit
each campus on Thursday
and attend an interview with
the school board and observ-
er panel, and will participate
in a student-led and commu-
nity-led forum.
A full calendar of the day’s
events can be found on the
White Salmon Valley School
District web page.
Out of the 20-odd can-
didates discovered by
recruiters NW Leadership
Associates, three candidates
made it to the final stage,
listed below: Keith Harris,
assistant superintendent of
Dickinson Public Schools
from Dickinson, S.D.; Sean
McGeeney, executive
director of P-12 Programs
from Yakima, Wash.; and
Edward Murray, Director
of Personalized Learning
and Public Relations from
Laurens, S.C..
Keith Harris
Keith Harris has been
assistant superintendent of
Dickinson Public Schools
since 2018, according to his
resume. Having received his
undergraduate degree from
Weber State University in
1996, Harris began teaching
social studies a year later in
Driggs, Idaho, eventually
becoming pre-K-5 principal
at Driggs Elementary School
in 2001, according to his re-
sume. In 2004, Harris began
work as the K-12 Principal in
Afton, Wyo., where he stayed
until 2015, when he became
the curriculum director for
the Big Horn School District
No. 1 in Cowley, Wyo.
Following a two to three year
stint there, Harris found his
current position in South
Dakota. One achievement
listed in his resume boasts
a “100 percent high school
graduation rate for 11 con-
secutive years" during his
time in Afton.
Sean McGeeney
Sean McGeeney be-
gan his teaching career at
Hamilton Creek K-8 School
in Lebanon, according to
his resume. After nearly
four years, McGeeney was
named interim principal
while transitioning between
administrators. He later
served as assistant principal
at Highlands Elementary
School in Renton, Wash., and
then principal of Crescent
Heights Elementary School
through 2018. According
to his resume, in his role as
executive director for P-12
programs at Yakima Public
Schools, McGeeney provided
leadership for 12 teaching
and learning departments,
ranging from music to Highly
Capable to mentoring new
teachers to Migrant and
Indian Education pro-
grams. McGeeney received
his doctor of education in
Educational Leadership from
George Fox University.
Edward Murray
Edward Murray has most
recently served as the direc-
tor of Personalized Learning
and Public Relations, a
position he started last year.
In that role, according to
his resume, Murray said he
served as acting superin-
tendent at board and civic
meetings, while orchestrating
operational, administrative,
and fiscal processes. Murray
also spent some years as
assistant principal and dean
of students in North, S.C.,
and as an adjunct science
professor at the University of
Phoenix. Murray received his
undergraduate degree from
California State University,
and later received two mas-
ters from National University
and University of Texas.
According to his resume, he
is currently a doctoral stu-
dent at Clemson University,
studying Educational
Systems Improvements
Science.
Join us for this
Earth Day Event
Gorge Community Recycling Pop Up Depot
A PILOT P ROGR AM IN THE GORGE
Saturday, April 24th
10AM - 3PM
at the Gorge Rebuild-it Center
995 Tucker Rd. Hood River
Please make sure your recyclables are clean.
This is a FREE event sponsored
by the Gorge Rebuild-it Center.
STOP BY & MEET US. Learn the facts about plastic and recycling!
Mother Earth Thanks You!
For event questions contact Cindy at womaninthehood@gmail.com