6
Wednesday,June30,2021
Columbia Gorge News
www.columbiagorgenews.com
Days shorten as summer begins
and look for bright Venus. The
bright planet will be hard to miss,
about 15 degrees above the horizon.
If you have a pair of binoculars, see
if you can spot Mars, located right
next to Venus, below and to the
right of the bright planet, at about
Jim
the 7 o’clock position from Venus.
White
Now look above and to the left of
Venus, and find the faint crescent
Moon, about the width of your
ULY, OUR FIRST FULL MONTH extended fist from Venus.
The solar system’s largest planets,
of summer, is here. Days are
Jupiter and Saturn, are moving back
beginning to grow shorter, and
into the evening sky in July. They
nights longer, as the seasons prog-
will be quite low at the start of the
ress. At the start of July, day length
month, but by the end of July will be
will be quite long, with sunset
coming at about 9 p.m. and sunrise above the horizon by 10 p.m. Look
at about 5:20 a.m. By the end of the for them low in the east after sunset.
Early in July they will not rise until
month, the Sun will set about 25
11:30 p.m. or a bit later.
minutes earlier at 8:35 p.m., and
Our Moon will begin the month
sunrise will be about 27 minutes
in the morning sky. On July 5, if
later at about 5:47 a.m. July (and
August) can be excellent months for you are up early, you may see a
beautiful crescent Moon just to the
stargazing, as nights start to come
right of the Pleiades star cluster. The
earlier, but weather is pleasant for
Moon will be above the bright star
viewing the night sky.
Spica on July 16, and above Antares
An interesting sight to put on
on July 19. The Moon will be to
your calendar occurs on July 12.
the right of Saturn on July 23, and
After sunset, look low in the west,
What’s
in the
Sky
J
below Jupiter on July 26.
Some of you may have been able
to visit the Goldendale Observatory
in May and June, when the State
Park held limited attendance, with
afternoon solar viewing. I was able
to attend in early June. I enjoyed
a presentation about our Sun,
and a view of our star through the
facilities’ 6-inch refractor. In July,
evening presentations (Saturday
and Sunday only, 9 p.m. to mid-
night) will also be started. As with
the afternoon solar presentations,
attendance is limited, and you must
reserve a spot in advance, on the
observatory’s web page. Visit www.
goldendaleobservatory.com for the
latest.
If you are interested in sup-
porting the observatory or one of
the other Goldendale-area State
Parks (Maryhill, Brooks Memorial,
Columbia Hills), a group is being
formed to provide volunteer assis-
tance. If this piques your interest, let
me know (jwhite.stargazer@gmail.
com) and I can provide you with
information.
An interesting bright star in the
July sky is Altair, the southernmost
star of the “summer triangle” and
the brightest star in the constel-
lation Aquila, the Eagle. Look for
Altair below the bright star Vega,
and below the constellation Cygnus,
also known as the northern cross.
You can use the Milky Way to find
Altair — Vega and Cygnus will be
on one side of the Milky Way, with
Altair on the other.
Altair is the 12th brightest star
in our sky, and one of the closest
to our solar system, being only
about 16.8 light-years distant.
Altair is about twice the diameter
and 1.7 times the mass of our Sun.
Amazingly, the star rotates in about
10 hours, making it bulge at its
equator, and thus has an oblate
shape, bulging out at its equator.
Check out the “eye” of the Eagle!
Enjoy July’s night skies!
Three fawns reunited with mom
Neita Cecil
■ By Columbia
Gorge News
hovering around. “It doesn’t
take much of a hole for them
to be able to sneak out.”
A call was placed to BPA for
Last Tuesday was Hallie
Clark’s second day interning someone to open the locked
with the Oregon Department gate to let the fawns in. But as
of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), luck would have it, a woman
who lives across the street
and she spent part of it
herding three speedy, skittish was heading to work — with
the company that does lawn
fawns to safety along a busy
maintenance for the BPA site.
road.
Dani Lawson, who works
The three fawns, likely
for FLI Landscaping, had
a set of twins and a fawn
seen people standing around
from another doe, found
themselves outside the fence and grew curious, so she
headed across the street.
surrounding the Bonneville
Power Administration facility Turns out she had a key to
the gate, and she carefully
on West 10th Street while a
doe wandered around inside approached it, as two of the
three fawns cowered in a
the enclosure.
corner nearby.
ODFW was quickly called
Those two fawns quickly
to the scene, as one of the
entered the enclosure after
fawns squealed in distress.
the gate opened, but a third
Clark arrived with district
fawn proved problematic
wildlife biologist Andrew
Meyers, whose sole objective and continually escaped after
was to get the fawns into the getting herded to the gate by
Meyers, Clark, Lawson and a
BPA enclosure with the doe
and away from the busy road. reporter.
Meyers told the bystanders
Clark said the doe and
to walk slowly, with arms
fawns would eventually
wide, to herd the fawns.
figure out a way out of the
This wasn’t Meyers’ first
enclosure once they weren’t
wildlife-herding rodeo, but
being stressed by people
Tyler Stone, administrative
officer with Wasco County,
confirmed the county is
Details being
continuing to work with
worked out
both Google and Mid-
Continued from page 1 Columbia Fire and Rescue to
“bring the SIP agreement to
conclusion.”
The Strategic Investment
also is continuing to move
Program (SIP) is a state pro-
forward, Mays said.
In addition, developers
gram overseen by Business
and Mid-Columbia Fire and Oregon. It provides up to 15
Rescue continue to work on
years of partial tax abatement
the best way to provide fire
for a project and is similar to
protection for the new facili- an Enterprise Zone, also a
ties. Although Mays is not di- state program, under which
rectly involved with the work previous data centers were
of the fire department, as he built.
It involves agreements
is with the SIP agreement, he
between the developers,
said progress is being made
city and county. Developers
and the work appears to be
must also work out a fire
going well. “I’m fully confi-
protections strategy with the
dent things will get worked
fire department.
out,” he said.
In early march, Stone told
Design LLC is also working
Wasco County commission-
to obtain the necessary
permits from a host of state
ers a final decision on the
and federal agencies, Mays
agreement would be delayed
added, and that has also
while details are worked out.
slowed the process.
“These things are compli-
Mays said given the pace of cated, especially once we
current negotiations, he an- start to get the details of the
agreement,” Stone said,
ticipates the completed SIP
agreement will come again
before the city and county in
three months, if not sooner.
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Magazine celebrates
summer in the Gorge
NEWS IN BRIEF
GOOGLE
Mike
Ellsworth
Ron Kurahara
Lorena
Salgado
Mike Ellsworth
Rachel
Lorena Herman
Salgado
Ron
Kurahara
James
Nygren
he did say it took a bit longer
than his other efforts to herd
wild animals to safety.
After one escape, the er-
rant fawn briefly darted onto
10th Street, but all ended
well on the third attempt to
shoo it through the gate.
Meyers said a key message
to the public is to not pick up
seemingly abandoned fawns.
They are just staying put
while mom goes off to feed.
“This happens every year
when fawns are dropping,”
he said. They are born
between late May and mid-
June. He estimated these
fawns were about a week old.
When people pick up
fawns, “their hearts are in the
right place but the best bet
for the fawn to have a normal Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) district wildlife biologist Andrew Meyers and ODFW
life is to leave them there.”
intern Hallie Clark attempt to herd a fawn through a gate as Dani Lawson, right, looks on.
He said in a good year,
Neita Cecil photo
which depends on a lot of
factors, 60 percent of fawns
make it through their first
where she is majoring in fish
Meyers said twins are not
settles and people clear out
winter. “They are very sus-
uncommon for deer, but
of the area, she’ll come back and wildlife.
After noting it was just her
and try to find them.”
ceptible at that time and a lot “triplets are super rare. So it
second day, Clark said, “It’s
Clark, the intern, is a
of them do die,” he said. “And could’ve been that those be-
been very eventful here.”
we don’t see most of that.
longed to a different mother Portland resident who is
entering her senior year
But it happens all the time in that was nearby and she got
nature.”
spooked away. After the dust at Oregon State University
hoodrivermortgage.com
Mt. Hood Railroad lot purchased
In a foreclosure sale, the Mount Hood Capital Investments
group came in and bought the lot that housed the Mt. Hood
Railroad company.
Spokesperson and Fruit Company CEO Scott Webster
said in a statement: “Our foremost priority is to pledge our
ongoing full support to the Mt. Hood Railroad, its employees
and the many customers it serves in our community.”
The sale was finalized on June 16 at the Hood River
Courthhouse.
CCA call to artists: ‘Fever Dream’
Columbia Center for the Arts has announced the call
to artists for “Fever Dream: Abstract Interpretations of
Dreamscapes and Nightmares,” happening this October. For
this show, the focus will be on artwork that is inspired by the
artists’ abstract interpretations of their personal dreams-
capes and nightmares. Work in all mediums will be accepted
including painting, drawing, printmaking, fiber, photogra-
phy, glass, ceramics, sculpture, and new media.
This show will be curated by Tom Lehmann of Blue Collar
Agency in Hood River. Application deadline is Sept. 1.
BIPOC, LGBTQ, and people with disabilities encouraged to
apply.
For more information on how to apply, visit feverdream.
pages.ontraport.net/apply or www.columbiaarts.org/
Hood River runner ultra-
runner Mark Chamley and
Columbia Hills State Park
are featured on the cover of
the newest issue of “Gorge
Magazine.”
The Summer 2021 issue
of the magazine, which can
be found at multiple venues
throughout the Columbia
River Gorge, features
Chamley’s “ultimate chal-
lenge” — running a 200-mile
race in mid-September.
Additional articles look
at summer exploration at
Mount Hood Meadows Ski
Resort on Mount Hood, the
plein air regional outdoor
landscape painting event
and CultureSeek, a project
helping underserved youth.
A Goldendale sheep ranch is
also featured.
The magazine is widely
distributed, and can also be
found at Columbia Gorge
News offices in Hood River
and The Dalles.
is Hiring
Mt Hood Forest Products
compensation and benefits
include:
Competive wage
Paid Time Off
Medical/Dental/Vision/Prescription
Insurance offered
Life Insurance
401K Traditional/Roth
Up to 4% 401K company
contribution match
Mt Hood Forest Products LLC is an
Equal Opportunity Employer
Mt Hood Forest Products lumber facility in Hood River,
Oregon is expanding additional shift production. We are
looking to fill multiple positions in our fast paced lumber
mill for both day and night shifts. If interested in any of
these positions please apply:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
DLI Operator
Twin Horizontal Gang
Gang Edger Operator
Single Resaw
Single Resaw Helper
Tipple Operator
Tipple Helper
Hula Saw
Planerman
• Planer lnfeed Helper
• Sorter Bin Chaser
• Stacker
• Strapper
• Forklift Driver
• Log Yard Operator/
Equipment Operator
• Millwright/Mechanic
• Chain Puller
Full job descriptions and required application
can be obtained at the main office located at
4865 Hwy 35 Hood River, OR 97031.
Job postings can also be found on Indeed.com