INDEX
Local election candidates —
A11-15
Classifieds
B8-9
History
B6
Kegler'sCorner
A8
KidScoop
B1
Obituaries
A7
Opinion
A4-5
PublicNotices
B10-13
SeniorLiving
B3
Sports
B4-5,B14-15
ThroughtheEyesofanElder B16
What'sHappening
B7
Track and field results
— B5
Senior News — B16
Weather
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The Dalles senior accepted to
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Columbia Gorge News
HOOD RIVER | THE DALLES | WHITE SALMON
Wednesday,May5,2021 Volume2,Issue5
Grand View
Schools, union
reach contract
settlement
A man with a motorcycle pauses to admire the view of the Columbia River from "The Hook at Hood River," which gives
access to the river at the west end of the Hood River waterfront.
Mark B. Gibson photo
HOOD RIVER — Hood River
County School District (HRCSD)
and Hood River Education
Association (HREA) reached a
tentative settlement on a new
three-year collective bargaining
deal in the early hours of Thursday,
April 22, during its third meeting
with a state-assigned mediator.
The HRCSD Board of Directors
reviewed and unanimously ap-
proved of the contract at the April
28 public meeting.
The teachers’ union held a vote
earlier that day and voted to ratify
the contract.
Superintendent Rich
Polkinghorn began the April 28
board meeting with the news.
“We’ll start with some good
news to share with you all and our
community, that we’ve reached
a tentative settlement agreement
with the Hood River Education
Association,” he said.
HRCSD and HREA agreed
upon a readjusted salary sched-
ule that will benefit teachers
new to HRCSD and the teaching
profession in the 2020-21 school
year. They also agreed upon a
Affordable housing proves elusive
Walker Sacon
■ By Columbia
Gorge News
is … for example, right now in Hood
River they’re talking about the
middle housing and a lot of people
are referring to that as affordable
Joel Madsen directs both Mid-
housing and it’s affordable housing
Columbia Housing Authority
for that income bracket but it’s not
and Columbia Cascade Housing
Corporation. The two organizations technically ‘affordable housing,’”
Naramore said.
have separate but related roles
Madsen oversees 389 units of
working towards a single goal: pro-
housing spread between 23 prop-
moting and administering afford-
erties from Cascade Locks, Ore.
able housing in the Gorge.
to Roosevelt, Wash. and adminis-
Affordable housing is defined
by the U.S. Department of Housing ters rent assistance through state
programs and the federal Housing
and Urban Development (HUD)
as housing costing no-more-than
Choice Voucher Program, com-
monly known as “Section 8.”
30 percent of an occupant’s gross
The rent assistance program
income. For local groups like
Madsen’s, Washington Gorge
makes up the difference between
what someone can afford before
Action Programs (WAGAP) and
Mid-Columbia Community Action being burdened and the cost of
Council, an affordable unit doesn’t their housing, Madsen said.
A shortage of inventory at all
“rent-burden” a person or family
making a “low income,” defined by levels of the region’s market makes
finding a rental to assist with diffi-
HUD as those at-or-below 80 per-
cult, even when funding is secured,
cent of the area’s median income.
WAGAP director Leslie Naramore Madsen said.
“We still need to have a healthy
makes a distinction between “af-
housing market where there are
fordable housing” and “workforce
units available to rent in order to
housing,” though the two are not
have that public private partner-
mutually exclusive and both are
lacking in the region.
ship,” Madsen said. “We need land-
lords who will engage with us, and
“I think the way it gets muddled
2.5 percent increase for both the
2021-22 school year and 2022-23
school year. Furthermore, the
contract includes a monthly district
contribution of $75 to a Tax-
Sheltered Annuity for all educators.
Part of the wage increase includes
extending the teacher’s contract
year by two days. In negotiations
discussions, HRCSD and HREA
prioritized keeping a competitive
wage and benefit package to attract
and support the best staff.
In addition to salary, another
key financial agreement related to
insurance plans. The school district
will continue to provide teachers
a $500 deductible insurance plan
with the Group HRA with a $117
monthly employee premium share
for the life of the contract.
HRCSD will also increase the
number of credits available for
reimbursement for continuing
education. Additionally, HRCSD
will provide a salary differential
for bilingual staff. The school
district also will provide monetary
recognition for educators who hold
SeeCONTRACT,page3
Rezoning
delayed
Jacob Bertram
■ By Columbia
Gorge News
WHITE SALMON — A public
hearing will continue next month
for the Klickitat County Board of
Commissioners to decide whether
to approve a rezoning proposal
to redesignate an 80-acre forestry
parcel in the Trout Lake Valley as a
General Rural zone.
County planning commission-
ers made the recommendation at a
March 15 meeting for county com-
missioners to approve the rezone,
which would allow for agricultural
Mid-Columbia Housing Authority director Joel Madsen stands outside Hood
River Crossing's playground on April 22.
Walker Sacon photo
we need the housing stock to be
existing where we can use that rent
assistance to support lower-income
households.
“Our whole region is under-
producing in the global housing
stock, and that impacts us across
the whole socio-economic strata,”
Madsen said.
Mid-Columbia Community
Action Council, the non-profit
community action agency for Hood
River, Wasco and Sherman coun-
ties, is directed by Kenny LaPoint.
LaPoint’s previous job was with
Oregon’s Housing and Community
SeeHOUSING,page2
GORGE LOCAL — EDUCATOR SPOTLIGHT
Bus drivers pick up odd jobs, extra routes
Walker Sacon
■ By Columbia
Gorge News
drivers once again “start the kids’
day off right with a smile and good
morning,” Drew said.
Hood River County School
Drivers cycle through the lounge
District’s bus drivers — around
in the bus barn each morning,
24 of them, not counting the two
grabbing yogurt, fruit or coffee and
mechanics who also drive when
chatting about kids on their routes,
needed — lost a lot of work in the
family at home and spring turkey
past year.
hunts — Drew filled his tag last
With school buildings closed,
week.
kids didn’t need to be picked up
They check their brakes, lights,
or dropped off. Drivers picked up
hours delivering lunches, painting, tires and engine fluids and hit the
road. The earliest route’s driver
weeding and cleaning, interim
Transportation Supervisor Ed Drew leaves the lot just after sunrise.
When the weather gets tough,
said.
Custodial Supervisor Todd
They appreciated the district’s
efforts to find work for them to do, Rainwater gets out on the road ear-
ly — often by 3 a.m. — to help the
driver Jennifer Springer said, but
district make a decision on delaying
they were ready to get back on the
or canceling school for the day.
road.
Drew said drivers’ profession-
“I’m done pulling weeds and
painting, I just want to drive, drive, alism has shown through in their
ability to follow “COVID protocols”
drive,” Springer said.
with their backs to students while
With buildings back open and
buses back to normal capacity, the keeping their concentration on the
$1.00
SeeREZONING,page9
Suit alleges
breach of
contract
By Walker Sacon
■ Columbia
Gorge News
Last Stop Saloon in The Dalles
was one of six plaintiffs in a lawsuit
filed against the Oregon Lottery
in Marion County Circuit Court
on April 19, 2021, according to
the plaintiffs’ petition for judicial
review.
The suit alleges the lottery com-
mitted a breach of contract in the
course of terminating plaintiffs’
contracts. Last Stop’s contract was
terminated on Jan. 29 and lottery
SeeSUIT,page3
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Stay connected
Tammy Ambers checks her bus before heading out April 27.
road.
Rick Meyers’ niece Debbie
Meyers recommended he join
her driving for the district after an
on-the-job injury ended his career
Walker Sacon photo
driving for construction companies.
School bus driving offered Rick a
change of pace from the solitude of
SeeEDUCATORS,page3
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