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About The Hood River news. (Hood River, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 10, 2015)
Big Sky statement W HAT ’ S G OING O N Hawks roll – Entertainment A3 Happenings A9 W EEKEND E DITION A10 Vol. 109, No. 3 Official Newspaper, City of Hood River and Hood River County HOOD RIVER, OREGON ■ 75 cents 2 Sections, 16 Pages SATURDAY, JANUARY 10, 2015 www.hoodrivernews.com ‘Grow a row for us’ Non-profit’s members look at challenges and opportunities in goal of feeding the Gorge By KIRBY NEUMANN-REA News editor Gorge Grown, champion of local grow- ers and improved nutrition and access to quality food in the region, hosted a wide- ranging discussion on “feeding the Gorge” Thursday. At the second monthly “Community Conversation” on local agriculture, Rebec- ca Suits of Oregon State University asked the producers to “Grow a row for us”: set aside a portion of their fields to grow food that can be used in nutrition education programs in the schools. Suits noted that this month, OSU nutri- tion educator Lauren Kraemer served stu- dents onions, caramelized and in high de- mand — last month it was carrots — and Suits said students responded well to con- suming healthy foods. Kraemer is always looking for local food to serve to kids at “tasting tables” that demonstrate how de- licious healthy, whole food can be. Suits added that the Hood River County School District is amenable to increasing purchase of locally-grown food, as long as they can get it fresh — just one opportuni- ty mentioned in Thursday’s gathering at Springhouse Cellars. About 70 people attended, more than Gorge Grown director Sarah Sullivan ex- pected, prompting a second run for pizza, as the group weighed in on challenges as well as opportunities to local food produc- ers. Please see GROW, Page A2 Photo by Kirby Neumann-Rea “CHANGE HAPPENS from the ground up,” Gorge Grown director Sarah Sullivan told members Thursday. Groups seek public input on Punchbowl First of two public meetings on park proposal held Tues. By BEN MITCHELL News staff writer Park visioning meeting: Tuesday, Jan. 13, 6-7:30 p.m., County Business Administration Building, 601 State St., Hood River. For more information, contact Heather Staten at 541-490-5225 or heather@hrvrc.org. Punchbowl Falls online survey: S p o t l i g h t www.surveymonkey.com/s/punchbowlfalls. Photo courtesy of Western Rivers Conservancy PUNCHBOWL FALLS will be the subject of discussion during a public forum held next week to gather input on a plan to turn 102 acres of land around the falls into a public park. The meeting will be held Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the County Busi- ness Administration Building, 601 State St. a t u r d a y Kirk Miller enjoys the challenges of Ski Patrol By TRISHA WALKER Photos by Trisha Walker; submitted News staff writer New year, new series Kirk Miller has a day job — he’s a software designer at Insitu — and, with his 50 hour work weeks, you’d think that would be enough to keep him plenty busy. Spoiler alert: It’s not. This is Miller’s fourth year as a vol- unteer member of the Mt. Hood Ski Patrol. Unlike pro patrollers, who cover all resort locations on Mount Hood year round, volunteers commit to working at Mt. Hood Meadows one day every other weekend — for Miller, that’s Sunday — during the season, which generally runs November through May. Ski patrol serves as “a release from my normal day to day routine, so it’s a nice break for me,” he said. “How- With Megan Spears we began “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 KIRK, Page A7 Three To Go A2 — The Ale List A3 — Entertainment A4 — Viewpoint A6 — Obituaries, Public Records A8 — Adopt-A-Pet A9 — Legals, Happenings A10 — Sports GC — Classifieds 05105 97630 Please see LAND, Page A2 A weekly series about a day in the life ... This is Kirk Miller’s fourth season on the Mt. Hood Ski Patrol, a volunteer position he maintains because he enjoys the comradery of the team. Pic- tured are, from left, instructor John Gastineau, Miller, and Beau Dickey. LOOK INSIDE 7 Hood River County and conser- vation groups want to turn an area around a popular waterfall near Dee into a public park and are look- ing to the public for input on the plan. On Tuesday, a meeting will be held in Hood River to discuss a pro- posal regarding the development and management of a public park at Punchbowl Falls, located just north of Dee off Punchbowl Road. The 10-foot-high falls are created by the West Fork of the Hood River tumbling over pillars of columnar basalt, from which swimmers often leap on a hot summer’s day. Though it is a popular place for swimming as well as other recre- ational activities, the land is cur- rently private property. Portland nonprofit Western Rivers Conser- vancy bought 20 of its 102 acres along Punchbowl Falls from Longview Timber in 2006 and the remainder from PacifiCorp in 2010 for the purpose of preserving the land for public access as well as for fish habitat. The land under WRC’s ownership includes land south of the falls and stretches past a popu- lar sandy beach located north of the falls at the confluence of the East and West forks of the Hood River. WRC has been trying to sell its land to the county for years with the provision that it be used as a county park, but has not been suc- cessful. Early last year, WRC met with the county and offered to sell its land at half its appraised value of $1.1 million and offered to set up a development and maintenance fund for the proposed park. The county agreed and pursued a $578,000 Oregon State Parks Grant to purchase the park, but was de- nied, with the state placing the re- quest near the bottom of a list of 36 other projects around the state that were also seeking funding. Heather Staten, executive direc- tor of Hood River Valley Residents Committee, a citizens land use group that is helping with the pub- lic “visioning” process for the pro- ject, said that one of the reasons the state had ranked the project so low was because the county had not 3 May special districts election filing begins Rotary Ski Day returns Jan. 19 at Meadows The filing period has started for the Special District election on May 19, 2015. Filings for special district seats are accepted through March 19, which is also the deadline for districts to file a measure for the May election. Potential candidates can find the fil- ing form on the Hood River County Elections website. All applications must be in our office no later than 5 p.m. on March 19. For details contact the Hood River County Elections office at 541-386-1442. The best deal on skiing you’ll find all year will be Jan. 19 at Mt. Hood Meadows. The occasion is the annual Rotary Ski Day, for all the skiing you can do from 2-9 p.m. The price is $15 in advance, $20 at the gate. Go to: ski- hood.com/schedules and events to purchase your Rotary pass. Rotary devotes the proceeds to its scholarship program and other projects. In addition to the skiing, Rotary brings in singer-comedian Joe Stoddard for a show from 6-9 p.m. Food and drink is available for sale at the various Meadows outlets at the resort. Regular tickets and season passes will be in effect until 4 p.m., but after that you need a Ro- tary ticket to use the lifts on Jan. 19. Lions Club Christmas tree collection The Hood River Lions Club will be picking up Christ- mas trees inside the Hood River city limits today (Jan. 10) from 9 a.m. until noon, said Christ- mas Tree Pickup Project chairman Scott Thomson. To participate, simply leave your tree outside on the curb for club members to collect. There is no charge for the service; however, Lions members will go door-to-door to collect donations, and donation envelopes will left where residents are not at home.