A CTIO s N !
Top sport
moments
of 2014
T HANKS
Community partners A11
M IDWEEK E DITION
A7
Vol. 108, No. 1
Official Newspaper, City of Hood River and Hood River County
HOOD RIVER, OREGON
■
SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2015
75 cents
2 Sections, 18 Pages
www.hoodrivernews.com
2014 in review
Land use squabbles, marijuana dispensaries, budget woes, and a historic win for
the HRVHS soccer team were just some of the many stories the Hood River news
reported on in 2014. Here’s a look back at some of the top stories from each
month. Stories are categorized by the month in which they were published.
By BEN MITCHELL
welding facility, and the en-
gineering department was
slated to get new computers,
3-D printers and 3-D ma-
chines, and computer-aided
milling machines, along
with new Solidworks, 3-D
software to design and build
parts with.
Update: The components
are in place and students are
using them to learn.
■ A concert and event am-
phitheater planned for the
old mill site in Dee receives
a flurry of feedback from
local residents who were ei-
ther pleased at the an-
nouncement or upset about
potential noise and traffic
impacts. The developer,
Jason Taylor, ultimately
ended up scaling down the
proposal from 3,095 parking
spaces to 437, but the coun-
ty’s decision to approve the
scaled-down application was
appealed to the Hood River
County Planning Commis-
sion by the Hood River Val-
ley Residents Committee.
The appeal was heard in De-
cember and failed due to a
News staff writer
January
■ With H1N1 flu (swine
flu) cases on the rise, Provi-
dence Hood River Memorial
Hospital institutes visiting
restrictions in attempt to re-
duce the spread of the virus
in the county. The restric-
tions allowed patients to
have no more than two visi-
tors at time and restricted
children under the age of 18
from entering certain wings
of the hospital due to their
higher rates of exposure to
the flu.
Update :
Providence
staffers reported in Febru-
ary that flu impacts ended
up being “lighter than antic-
ipated.”
■ Hood River Valley High
School receives a $438,000
grant from the state as part
of its Career and Technical
Education Revitalization
program. The funding was
planned to give the welding
shop a complete makeover
with a new state-of-the-art
deadlock.
Update: As of the Dec. 30
appeal deadline, nothing
was filed.
February:
■ A weather-related land-
slide lets loose more than
3,000 cubic yards of debris
about a mile west of Hood
River, resulting in the shut-
down of all eastbound lane
of Interstate 84. No mo-
torists were injured by the
falling debris, although a
driver from Summerville
badly damaged his rental
car due to the landslide.
Crews worked round-the-
clock and had all lanes of I-
84 open within a few days.
■ The U.S. Forest Service
approves Mt. Hood Meadows
to construct an 878-car park-
ing lot, referred to as the
Twilight Lot. The lot is to be
located east of Elk Meadows
trailhead and west of the
Ore gon De par tment of
T ranspor tation mainte-
nance yard off of Highway
35 near the entrance to the
Hood River Meadows lot.
S p o t l i g h t
a
t
u
r
d
a
y
March
■ The Oregon Depart-
ment of Fish and Wildlife re-
leases a report that wolf
Please see REVIEW, Page A5
2014 News file photos
HIGHLIGHTS FROM 2014 include (top left to bottom right) a deci-
sion on the controversial Barrett Park property, an historic state soc-
cer championship, a mayoral runoff between Greg Colt and Paul
Blackburn, a precarious Gorge Fire between Rowena and The Dalles,
the county’s first same-sex marriage and school district budge woes.
A weekly series about a day in the life ...
Megan Spears brings Disorder 2 Order
By TRISHA WALKER
Photos by Trisha Walker; submitted
MEGAN SPEARS, CPO, works with home and
business clients on a variety of projects, from
paper and desk organization to pantries and spare
bedrooms. She began Disorder 2 Order in 2004.
News staff writer
New year, new series
Megan Spears is not a naturally or-
ganized person.
“I sense that people think it’s easy
for me (to be organized) or that I don’t
struggle or that my house must be
completely organized,” she said.
But what she does have is a knack
for organization, setting up systems
and completing projects. It’s what led
her to start her Hood River-based pro-
fessional organization business, Dis-
order 2 Order, in 2004.
“I see the rewards. I see the benefits
of setting up the right systems to
process things. It makes such a huge
difference,” said Spears, a Certified
Professional Organizer (CPO). “You
can draw disorganization to the actu-
al point when it started, some life
With
Megan
Spears we begin
“Saturday Spot-
light,” our new
weekly feature, suc-
ceeding Slice of Life.
“Spotlight” will
focus on how local
people spend their
days. Do you have a
person in mind for
Spotlight? Send
ideas to Trisha Walk-
er at twalker@
hoodrivernews.com.
Please see ORDER, Page A2
Three To Go
LOOK INSIDE
A3 — Entertainment,
Happenings
A4 — Viewpoint
A5 — Worship Directory
A6 — Obituaries, Sheriff Log
A9 — Sports
A9 — Legals
A12 – Senior Calendar
GC – Gorge Classifieds
7
The decision drew some con-
troversy from those who felt
the plan would impact near-
by Nordic skiing trails.
Update: Meadows say
Twilight Lot likely won’t be
developed for a couple years.
■ Hood River County Cir-
cuit Court Judge Paul Crow-
ley announces his retire-
ment after serving over 20
years on the bench, 15 of
which he served as the pre-
siding judge of the Seventh
Judicial District. Judge
John Olson was named pre-
siding judge by Thomas
Balmer, Chief Justice of the
Ore gon Supreme Court.
Judge Karen Ostrye was ap-
pointed by Gov. John
Kitzhaber in June to fill the
vacancy and Ostrye later
was elected to the position
in November, defeating op-
ponent Timothy Farrell.
05105 97630
3
School resumes Monday
City, County swear in officlals Monday
Roman Ortega is the year’s First Baby
Classes resume Monday
after winter break for stu-
dents in the Hood River
County School District and
in area private schools; par-
ents are reminded that the
county district schools are
on scheduled one-hour late
start on Mondays for staff
in-service.
The first meeting of the
county school board for 2015
will be Jan. 14 at 6:30 p.m. at
the Hood River Valley High
School library.
New mayor Paul Blackburn will take the
oath of office in Monday, along with newly-
elected City Councilors Susan Johnson,
Peter Cornelison, and Becky Brun. It hap-
pens during a 5 p.m. City Council special
meeting Monday at City Hall. Leaving office
are Ed Weathers, Brian McNamara and Car-
rie Nelson.
County Board of Commissioners will also
meet Monday at 4:30 p.m., at the county ad-
ministration building, to swear in Council
President Ron Rivers and commissioners
Karen Joplin and Bob Benton. All were re-
elected in uncontested races in November
2014.
“A good start,” is how Fernando Orte-
ga described the feeling of being parent
the first child born in the new year.
Roman Isaac Ortega was the first
baby born in Hood River County in
2015, at Providence Hood River Memori-
al Hospital. Roman arrived at 12:07 p.m.
Thursday. His mother is Alexis Davila,
and Roman’s brother is Fernando, 5.
The family lives in The Dalles.
“It was a little tough, but we’re doing well,” Alexis said
Thursday evening.
Area merchants sponsored a variety of prizes to help wel-
come the first baby to the world; see the Jan. 7 Hood River
News for details.