INDEX
Home and Garden — Inside
Classifieds
B7-8
History
B6
KidScoop
B14
Obituaries
A7,9
Opinion
A4-5
PoliceLogs
B5
PublicNotices
B9-11
SeniorLiving
B3
Sports
A8-9,12-15
What'sHappening
B5
Glenwood, Lyle news —
B2-3
Gorge economy recovering
from pandemic — A10
Weather
Stillsurfingtheheatwave-
stayhydrated.Daytimetemps
expectedtostayaround100,
withnightsinthehigh60s.
TD grad headed to film school
— B12
Columbia Gorge News
HOOD RIVER | THE DALLES | WHITE SALMON
Wednesday,June30,2021 Volume2,Issue13
$1.00
Sheriff’s threats of arrest raise
concerns in Klickitat County
Commissioners,
government employees
fire back at Sheriff
Songer’s statements
Jacob Bertram
■ By Columbia
Gorge News
WHITE SALMON — A statement
released by Klickitat County Sheriff
Bob Songer — which called for the
arrest, detainment and recom-
mendation for prosecution of
governmental officials he unilater-
ally believes are acting outside the
bounds of the constitution — drew
pushback from county commis-
sioners, who said they and county
employees felt threatened and
intimidated by the messaging.
Posted on the Klickitat County
Sheriff’s Office Facebook page
and forwarded to local media
organizations, Songer’s June 17
statement sent ripples in county
circles.
It impacted the day-to-day oper-
ations of the county health depart-
ment and weakened the feelings of
security of many county residents
who work in local government, said
county commissioners, leaving the
Board of County Commissioners
to respond officially with a letter to
the sheriff on the constitutionality
and the impacts his outspoken
politics has had on elected officials
and county staff.
The Board of County
Commissioners responded to the
sheriff following a candid discus-
sion last Tuesday by approving
a written response condemning
Songer’s public statement for in-
validly interpreting laws, a duty not
prescribed to him in his official role
as sheriff, and for putting county
staff’s safety and security at risk.
During the discussion, Board
Chair Dave Sauter said upon
examining the letter over and over,
he concluded that the letter is not
limited to focusing on the gover-
nor’s mandates on the COVID-19
emergency. “The more I read it, it
upsets me more, because… that
is a general statement about any
bureaucrat or government official,
mayor, commissioner, whoever,
that is perceived by a single indi-
vidual, namely the sheriff, to be
violating somebody’s constitutional
rights, (and) is subject to arrest and
detainment.”
“That is a chilling thing to say,”
Sauter said. “That is the path to
authoritarian regimes.”
The letter from the board reads:
“While we truly appreciate you and
your dedication to the citizens of
our great county and for your love
and respect for the Constitution,
we cannot sit by and say nothing
regarding your statements that the
board, county residents and county
employees find threatening and
intimidating.
“Your statements were construed
as threatening and intimidating
to elected officials and county
employees,” the county staff-pre-
pared letter read, which was signed
by all three commissioners and
sent to the sheriff. “Your comments
implied the arrest, detention and
recommended prosecution for
following state mandates and laws
that you may disagree with, without
going through the court process
and judicial system as deemed by
the Constitution.
“We do live in a nation of
laws bound by the Constitution;
SeeLETTER,page2
Old Dee Mill site for sale
Oberst
■ By For Gail
Columbia Gorge News
Mill land that once supported the
small community of Dee for more
than 80 years is for sale, according
to a listing with real estate broker
Maui Meyer of Cooper West, in
Hood River.
Surrounded by orchards, farms
and forest and with East Fork Hood
River frontage, the former Dee
Mill’s 21 acres of industrial-zoned
land is on Highway 281, about 10
miles southwest of Hood River.
The land has been a source of
land-use controversy for the past
eight years as the current owners
had proposed, in varying applica-
tions and configurations, to build
an event venue and hotel on the
rural site. The would-be developers
are a collection of local investors
including some Dee natives operat-
ing as Apollo Land Trust, LLC. After
filing five contested building permit
extensions, the owners failed to be-
gin construction at the site before
permits expired. The owners have
withdrawn their applications and
are selling the land. The lengthy
process inspired recent changes
in Hood River County’s permitting
process, limiting extensions.
The owners are asking $1.5
million for the 21-acre parcel, and
$136,000 for a separate 1.04-acre
parcel, both at the same 4661 Lost
Lake Road, Parkdale, address.
An unrelated small craft mill now
operates as Dee Lumber nearby. It
Gorge gets
ready to
celebrate
Fourth of July
Trisha Walker
■ By Columbia
Gorge News
Sunday is the Fourth of July
holiday, celebrating the signing of
the Declaration of Independence
of the United States in 1776.
Most events are back after last
year’s COVID-19 shutdowns,
including parades, fireworks and
a fun run.
Hood River
The Hood River Fourth of July
parade begins at 10 a.m. at Pacific
Avenue and 12th Street on the
Heights and ends at the Hood
River Aquatic Center. There is a
$10 entry fee for those wishing to
participate in the parade. A “bring
your own picnic” event is happen-
ing at Jackson Park afterwards that
will include music. For more infor-
mation or to register for a parade
entry, visit hoodriverfireworks.
SeeFOURTH,page2
The old Dee Mill site, above, is for sale. Find a picture of the old mill on the history page, B6.
is not for sale. The small mill’s web-
site, www.thedeemill.com, includes
a history of the land, summarized
from the Oregon Encyclopedia.
The original Dee Mill was
established in 1906 by the Oregon
Lumber Company. The name
“Dee” was a nod to Thomas Dee, a
stockholder and company officer.
The lumber company logged in
the region and operated the mill
until 1959, adding a hard-board
facility in 1951. During its heyday in
the first 20 years, up to 250 people
lived in Dee, working at the mill.
The company town once included
a two-story hotel, a store, and small
houses. Hines Lumber Company
purchased the mill and town
property in 1958, dismantling the
houses. The post office closed in
1960, but wood products opera-
tions continued at the site under
Champion Lumber and then Dee
Forest Products. In 1996, a fire
destroyed most of the buildings.
More than 300 people continue to
live in the vicinity of Dee Mill and
the adjacent Dee Flats.
Panel discusses reality of recycling
Trisha Walker
■ By Columbia
Gorge News
What are today’s recycling
realities?
That was the question posed at
the April 29 virtual panel discus-
sion co-hosted by Columbia Gorge
Climate Action Network and Mt.
View Grange and emceed by Peter
Cornelison and Ruth Olin.
Three local recycling experts
shared their perspectives and in-
sights with the 28 participants who
logged in to listen to the presenta-
tion: David Skakel, program coordi-
nator for the Tri-County Hazardous
Waste & Recycling Program; Ruby
Irving, Solid Waste director for
Klickitat County; and Julie Tucker,
founder and owner of the sus-
tainable materials management
company Emerald Systems LLC.
Skakel said that recycling today
is confusing because there is such a
myriad of packaging. During World
War II, recycling was a matter of na-
tional defense, and everyone took
Fireworks display at Fort Dalles Fourth.
CGN photo/file
part — but there were only three
types of packaging at that time:
Glass, tin and cardboard.
“Fast forward to today, where
we have an unbelievable diversity
of packaging,” Skakel said. “I’m a
everything into one bin and relying
on material recycling facilities
(MRFs) to sort it out.
“That has really carried some
inherent flaws in contamination,
when you take all that tin and
paper and all this increasing array
of plastics, and just bundle them all
together,” he said. “And throw on
top of that what we call the ‘realm
of the wishful recycler’ — put it in a
bin and we’ll figure it out.”
Compounding the problem
was the 2018 enactment of China
Sword, which limited the amount
of contaminates allowed in each
bale of recyclables to .5%.
“It’s a very strict, almost ban,
on import of most recyclables to
China that has sent massive ripples
Trisha Walker file photo globally creating great disruptions
in the past couple of years,” he said.
recycling professional and I’m con- “That’s the background on how we
came to be today.”
fused because it’s complicated.”
Irving said she sees China Sword
And whereas that glass, tin and
as an opportunity for the Gorge to
cardboard were historically sepa-
rated from each other, today we rely
on co-mingling — that is, tossing
SeeRECYCLING,page3
Talks
continue
on Google
deal
Mark Gibson
■ By Columbia
Gorge News
THE DALLES — Wasco County
and the city of The Dalles con-
tinue to work on a tax abatement
agreement for new Google server
facilities in The Dalles.
“I’m still confident this will
happen,” said The Dalles Mayor
Richard Mays when asked of
the ongoing pause in public
discussions.
He said early timelines on the
SIP agreement process were opti-
mistic, and lawyers on both sides
have been working with the broad
agreement proposal, “crossing the
‘T’s and dotting the ‘I’s,” Mays said.
The city is continuing to work with
developers regarding water service
to the facilities as well, and that
SeeGOOGLE,page6
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