4
Wednesday, June 23, 2021
Columbia Gorge News
www.columbiagorgenews.com
OPINION
The opinions expressed in the letters below are “your voice,” and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Columbia Gorge News, its staff, publisher or advertisers.
YOUR VOICE
Constitutional
attack
In regards to the H.R.1/S.1 bill,
some information: Same bill is a di-
rect attack on the U.S. Constitution
because it:
1) Cripples voter I.D. laws mak-
ing it easier for non-citizens to vote
illegally.
2) Forces states to unconstitu-
tionally give felons the right to vote
the moment they leave prison.
3) Institutes same day voter regis-
tration causing massive voter fraud
and election day chaos.
4) Prevents election officials from
removing ineligible voters from
voter rolls.
5) Lines the pockets of politicians
by publicly funding campaigns and
loosening regulations on campaign
expenses.
6) Strips states of their consti-
tutional roles in drawing congres-
sional districts and gives same to
unaccountable “independent”
commissions run by Democrats.
7) Abolishes your fist amend-
ment right to free speech and to
criticize the government.
Look at Nevada for an example:
A) Not legally registered ballots
jammed through, required signa-
ture matches ignored and ballots
created after election day.
B) At least 9,000 people not living
in Nevada voted there, and
C) More than 100,000 people
were sent ballots even though they
moved or were dead.
If passed, H.R.1/S.1 will take the
Nevada model of voter fraud and
cram it down the throats of all states
nationally! This evil bill is not fair
nor right. Don’t let it pass, stand
with these senators who are against
this bill and encourage them.
Bruce and Nikki Amoss
Snowden
EDITOR’S NOTE: According to the
Nevada Secretary of State, no evidence
was found to support allegations of
widespread voter fraud in the 2020 elec-
tion in Nevada, as described above.
What’s next
Does Donald Trump, as a civil-
ian, want to replace our flag?
All this after a lot of veterans,
both men and women, lost their
lives and/or became disabled as I
have!
This is un-American and it hurts.
Trump needs to go to another
country where nobody has freedom
of speech or movement. Donald
Trump is only a dictator and wants
to be king of all!
A proud American veteran,
Steve Cochenour
The Dalles
Misunderstood
symptom
For months I have been pon-
dering a local lawn sign which
reads “Pray to End Abortion.” In 55
years, I have yet to hear or read any
pro-choice thoughts which suggest
abortion is something good like a
hot fudge sundae or surf and turf
dinner. Abortion has been present-
ed as a black and white issue as to
whether or not the government
has the right to tell a woman and
her doctor what to do. I believe our
country is looking at the issue from
a completely incorrect perspective.
The large number of abortions in
the U.S. suggest they are merely a
symptom of a much large problem.
As a healthcare provider, I
propose that many abortions
performed in the U.S. are the result
of unwanted pregnancies caused
by deeper psychosocial and psycho
emotional issues. Specifically,
women who seek abortions have
often been abused in some way.
Considerable professional research
suggests drug and alcohol abuse
and engaging in promiscuous
behavior is often tied to issues of
abuse. Poor choices caused by
low self-worth lead to bad results,
including unwanted pregnancies.
I wonder how many of the rough-
ly 1 million annual abortions in the
U.S. would be performed if all the
religious, social, and legal efforts
to eliminate them were redirected
Coyote Flower
A coyote looks out from a lush green field along Fifeteenmile Creek Road south of The Dalles. “They seem to pop up and bloom everywhere,” he said of the small, dog-
like predators.
Photo courtesy Gary Elkinton
toward ensuring young women
were not abused, raped or treated
as second-class human beings. I
bet we wouldn’t be talking about
abortion.
Steven Kaplan
Hood River
regulate local laws regarding home-
less camping on public spaces. This
bill would allow the homeless to
camp and live on public property.
It says that such local laws must
be objectively reasonable as to time,
place and manner as applied to
homeless persons. This means that
the activities cannot be outright
banned or restricted! They can only
be reasonable regulated as to where
We were recently in Walla Walla, or when or how.
This has two huge effects on cities
enjoying dinner at Walla Walla
Steak, celebrating our 51st wedding and counties. It allows a person to
challenge the reasonableness of the
anniversary. There was a table of
law, and receive attorney fees if they
young ladies next us, moms and
daughters, attending a sports event are successful in that challenge.
A challenge for cities or counties
in the city. When we asked for our
could be very costly in attorney
bill, the waiter said it had been
taken care of. After bribing her, she fees and the cities/counties ability
to regulate “tent cities” such as
indicated it was the ladies seated
those that are plaguing Portland is
next to us. I hope they read this
diminished.
newspaper to find out that they
The term “objectively reason-
made a very special evening even
more special. With all the strife and able” is vague, and can be subject
dissension going on in the world, it to interpretation depending on
really comes down to people, who
geographic locations and courts.
are good everywhere. Thank you
Homeless camping on public
very much for your very personal,
property poses a danger to nearby
very appreciated gesture.
neighborhoods because many of
Rick Peenstra the homeless suffer with men-
Kennewick, Wash. tal illness and substance abuse.
Communities are forced to “put up”
with the garbage, crime and bad
As Juneteenth becomes a federal behavior of those who are homeless
campers.
holiday, it’s amazing to watch one
This bill is no solution to the
of the corner stones of our consti-
tution in action. That all people are problem! It places yet another
costly burden on tax payers and
created equally. For a large part of
is detrimental to communities
our history, that was not the case,
and neighborhoods around
with African Americans enslaved
and brought to the U.S. against their the state. Contact your District
will. It’s something I can’t compre- Representative and Senator and
hend as my family history does not ask them to vote against House Bill
3115. Lets find a better, long term
include that level of pain.
solution to the problem of home-
Continuing to live up to the
ideals of those enduring words “All lessness, substance abuse and men-
are created equal” will only make
tal illness that doesn’t endanger the
us stronger and more cohesive as
livability of cities and communities
a nation. There’s still a lot of work
across Oregon for the majority of
ahead but it’s good to celebrate our Oregonians. Representative Anna
shared victories.
Williams District 52, 503-986-1452,
It’s frankly one of the most patri- Senator Chuck Thomsen District 26,
otic things I can imagine to be able 503-986-1726, Representative Greg
to see the federal declaration of the Smith, 541-676-5154.
Kari Goben
Juneteenth National Independence
Cascade Locks
Day Act. I’m not fully sure how to
commemorate the day yet other
than to continually educate myself
to the complex history of African
Americans in the U.S.
This letter is to respond to the
Black Lives Matter!
May 19 paper that raised concerns
Avery Hoyt about the PAC (Political Action
White Salmon Committee) that Heidi Parr formed
when she ran for Hood River
County School Board.
The author was concerned that
Residents of Hood River, Wasco
by virtue of having a PAC, that
and Sherman county, take note!
Parr was controlled by “outside
Oregon House Bill 3115 is being
interests” and that these interests
considered by the Legislature to
Good people
everywhere
“should not bring their agendas to
our schools."
Oregon law requires that any
candidate that runs for office is re-
quired to form a PAC if they exceed
$750 in campaign contributions
or expenditures. The fact that Parr
simply complied with Oregon law
(did her opponent?) has nothing
to do with origins of her support or
outside agendas.
If the writer is really concerned
about PACs and their influence on
the school district she need look
no further than current school
board member Chrissy Reitz.
Chrissy maintains a PAC (Chrissy
for Oregon — Orestar) that has a
balance of more that $24,000. Its left
over from her unsuccessful run for
State Senate.
The PAC was funded by a myriad
of outside interests, including tens
of thousands of dollars from teacher
unions.
Does this special interest slush
fund influence Chrissy’s actions
on the board? Could it have been a
contributing factor to the generous
Take note
Missing birds?
For the first time in memory all
the little birds that visit our feeder
in Odell have disappeared for the
last six weeks. Are others noticing
the absence of little birds (sparrows,
chickadees, goldfinches)? What has
Continued next page
Want to write
a letter?
Created equally
Political funding
contract that the board just ne-
gotiated with district teachers?
A contract with significant pay
and benefit increases for teachers
who remained employed during
the COVID year, while our local
private sector experienced finan-
cial distress due to shutdowns and
restrictions?
Maybe the letter's author will
join me in requesting that Chrissy
Reitz dissolve her PAC while she sits
on the school board to remove the
appearance of outside influences
bringing their agendas into our
district.
Rick Larson
Hood River
Columbia Gorge News encourag-
es readers to submit letters to the
editor for the weekly opinion page.
Letters on all topics are welcome.
Writers must include their name
and hometown (for publication)
and daytime phone number (for
verification, not for publication).
Letters from an agency or group
must be credited to the author or a
contact person.
Anonymous or “name with-
held by request” letters are not
accepted.
Letters must be 350 words or
fewer; generally, the briefer the
message, the better. Opinion pieces
longer than 350 words may be
published as a guest commentary
at the discretion of the editor.
Letters are published as space
allows, and efforts are made each
week to provide as much space as
possible.
Deadline for letters is noon on
the Friday prior to publication.
We reserve the right to edit all
letters:
Letters must be civil.
Vulgar or inappropriate lan-
guage will not be considered, nor
Regional news for the Gorge
malicious, false or misleading
statements.
Letters attacking an individual,
rather than an opinion, are not
acceptable.
Letters criticizing a particular
business over a particular com-
plaint or grievance will not be
considered.
The opinions expressed in
letters are “Your Voice,” and do not
necessarily reflect the opinions of
the Columbia Gorge News, its staff,
publisher or advertisers.
Letters may be submitted online
at www.ColumbiaGorgeNews.com:
Scroll to the bottom of the page and
select “Submission Forms,” then
select “Letter to the Editor.”
NEW — Letters also may be
sent via email to Letters@
gorgenews.com.
Or mail your letter
“attention editor”
to any of the Post
Office boxes listed
at bottom of this
page.
Mailing Addresses:
PO Box 1910, The Dalles, OR 97058
PO Box 390, Hood River, OR 97031
PO Box 218, White Salmon, WA 98672
Columbia Gorge News
HOOD RIVER | THE DALLES | WHITE SALMON
Columbia Gorge News (ISSN 0747-3443)
Published every Wednesday.
Known offices of publication: (Open by appointment)
1800 W. 10th Street, The Dalles, OR 97058
600 E. Port Marina Way, Suite B, Hood River, OR 97031
Elba Offices, 288 E. Jewett Street, Suite 650
White Salmon, WA 98672
Periodical postage is paid at The Dalles, Oregon.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to
P.O. Box 1910, The Dalles, OR 97058
CONTACT US
The Dalles
541-296-2141
Hood River / White Salmon
541-386-1234
ColumbiaGorgeNews.COM
Publisher
Chelsea Marr
chelseam@gorgenews.com
Editorial:
Mark Gibson, Editor
Trisha Walker, Lifestyle Editor
LisaAnn Kawachi, Copy Editor
Jacob Bertram, Reporter
Kelsie Cowart, Reporter
Alana Lachner, Reporter
News Tips/Press Releases
Markg@gorgenews.com
Trishaw@gorgenews.com
LisaK@gorgenews.com
JacobB@gorgenews.com
KelsieC@gorgenews.com
AlanaL@gorgenews.com
News@gorgenews.com
Billing/Office:
billing@gorgenews.com
Classifieds:
classifieds@gorgenews.com
Advertising:
Niki Piacente, Digital Ad Director
Kim Horton, Sales
Rachel Harrison
sales@gorgenews.com
NikiP@gorgenews.com
KimH@gorgenews.com
RachelH@gorgenews.com
Legals:
Oregon:
Washington:
ORlegals@gorgenews.com
WAlegals@gorgenews.com
Subscriptions:
Shania McElravy, Supervisor
Subscribe@gorgenews.com
ShaniaM@gorgenews.com
Obituaries:
obits@gorgenews.com