Travelogue
Rivers and mountains of Peru
HOOD RIVER, OREGON
Official Newspaper, City of Hood River and Hood River County
M IDWEEK E DITION
B1
Vol. 109, No. 6
■
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015
P U N C H L I S T
News staff writer
A call for public input on a plan to de-
velop a county park around Punchbowl
Falls has been warmly received by area
residents, hundreds of which have al-
ready provided feedback on what the fu-
ture should hold for the popular water-
fall near Dee.
Approximately 60 people turned up to
a public forum held in the County Busi-
ness Administration Building on Tues-
Heather
Staten
Josh Kling
News staff writer
A music venue planned for construc-
tion in Dee can now move forward after a
local land use watchdog group made the
decision to not continue pursuing an ap-
peal it had filed against the project.
DeeTour, a concert amphitheater and
event space that is to be located at the old
mill site in Dee, had been the subject of
an appeal by the Hood River Valley Resi-
dents Committee, who had raised con-
Speakers call for
continued efforts
to fulfill Dr. King’s
vision of justice
By KIRBY NEUMANN-REA
News editor
Photo by Kirby Neumann-Rea
SINGER EVELYN CHARITY leads the Community Gospel Choir in the spiritual “Oh, Freedom,” during
Monday’s Martin Luther King Day event at Riverside Community Church. Readings and music filled the ec-
umenical service, attended by about 200 people.
lowing a potluck, about 250
people filled the sanctuary of
the church.
Mayor Paul Blackburn wel-
comed the cong re g ation,
speaking first in Spanish.
“If he were to look around
in 2015, Dr. King would be
proud at what we have done
and crestfallen at the ongoing
challenges,” Blackburn said,
citing police violence and dis-
proportionate African-Ameri-
can male prison population,
marriage inequality, health
insurance inaccessibility,
challenges to legal residency,
and human impacts on cli-
mate.
“We are challenged by our
nightmares, but our dreams
live on,” Boonstra said,
adding his hopes that citizens
will continue to dream of love
between brothers and sisters,
peace between the ways of
nonviolence and the sources
of power, and for a healthy
planet.
He cited the nightmares of
families separated, immi-
grants who must drive illegal-
ly to get to work and take their
children to school, peaceful
communities shattered by too
easy access to drugs, neigh-
bors unable to access afford-
able health care, gun violence,
and “a groaning planet.”
“I hope you remember any-
thing at all about tonight is
that the person sitting next to
you is a dreamer just like
Please see KING, Page A2
WALDEN TOWN HALL
U.S. Rep. Greg Walden listens as high school stu-
dents urge him to put a high priority on climate
change, during Saturday’s town hall at Hood River
Adult Center, attended by about 75 people. HRVHS
junior Charley Boonstra, in purple shirt, spoke, and a
group of about 20 adults from the Columbia Gorge
Climate Change Network stood in silence holding
symbols of nature. Immigration and health care
were other hot topics at the town hall, Walden’s first
in Oregon this year, and second in Hood River in the
past two months. Hood River News will carry a re-
port on the town hall in the Jan. 24 edition.
Photo by Kirby Neumann-Rea
A3 — Entertainment
A4 — Viewpoint
A5 — Greater Gorge
A6 — Obituaries, Police Log
A7-8 — Sports
A10 — Family Dinner Project
B2 — Maija Yasui
B6 —Happenings
B7 — Classifieds, Legals
05105 97630
cerns over “deficiencies” in the project
application that the organization felt
weren’t properly addressed, particularly
stormwater and traffic issues.
The appeal was heard by the Hood
River County Planning Commission in
December, where it stalled after the com-
mission was unable to arrive at enough
votes to make a decision. HRVRC could
have continued to the next step of the
Please see DEE, Page A9
Benton, Hamada
named 2014
‘Hearts of Gold’
It’s been said that cer- uals in our community.
■
tain individuals have a
Dr. Hamada changed
“heart of gold.” These
people make a difference the lives of people in our
and enrich the communi- community through more
ty through their good than 40 years of service as
works and selfless dedica- a physician in Hood River.
tion. They act from the In 1970, he was one of just
eight physicians
hear t and are
practicing in
driven to help
our area. There
others.
are now more
Each
year,
than 100. He
Providence
helped establish
Hood
River
an emergency
Memorial Hospi-
room, intensive
tal Foundation
care unit and
honors a com-
other services
munity member
and was the only
and a health care
internist in the
professional
whose golden Dr. Paul Hamada C o l u m b i a
Gorge, serving
hear ts shine
brightly. This year’s recip- patients as far away as
ient are Don Benton and Yakima and Bend. For
many years, he took calls
Dr. Paul Hamada.
The annual Hearts of 365 days per year. His pa-
Gold Celebration benefits tients had a unique care
an expansion of cancer experience, as Dr. Hamada
services offered at Provi- and his wife and office
dence Hood River Memor- manager, Cathy, served
ial Hospital. Hearts of them like family.
■
Gold happens 6 p.m., Sat-
The Hearts of
urday, Mar. 7, at
Gold Celebra-
Best Wester n
tion is open to
Hood
River
the public and is
Inn,1108 E. Mari-
known as one of
na Way, Hood
Hood River’s
River
finest events. In
Benton is well
addition to hon-
known in the Co-
oring Hearts of
lumbia Gorg e
Gold award win-
for volunteering
ners, guests will
his time. After
be treated to a
26 years in the
Don Benton
lovely evening
Navy and 10
featuring a cock-
years working
civilian jobs, he decided to tail reception with hors
continue working – just d’oeuvres, a classic din-
not for money. He joined ner, live music and a short
his first non-profit board program from the founda-
in 2001 and now is a mem- tion. A limited number of
ber of more than a dozen tickets ($75 per person) are
non-profit boards and ad- available and can be pur-
visory committees for chased by calling 541-387-
such organizations as The 6242. All proceeds benefit
Next Door, Inc., Opportu- the expansion of cancer
nity Connections, Helping services at Providence
Hands Against Violence Hood River for patients
and United Way. He truly and their families. Phil
gives his time, talent and Hukari and Dr. Stephan
treasure to improve the Coffman were the 2013 re-
quality of life for individ- cipients.
Three To Go
LOOK INSIDE
7
T w o U p p e r V a l l e y
L a n d U s e P r o p o s a l s
By BEN MITCHELL
‘Our dreams live on’
In music, in readings, and
in a challenge to keep on
working for justice, a capaci-
ty congregation celebrated
the life and work of Dr. Mar-
tin Luther King Monday at
Riverside
Community
Church.
“We celebrate dreams that
are sometimes challenged by
nightmares,” Rev. John
Boonstra said, invoking the
“I have a dream” speech in
1963 by King in Washington,
D.C.
In what is now an annual
event, the Community
Gospel Choir sang and led
songs by the congregation,
adults and children read
words of Dr. King, and John
Lennon’s “Imagine” was
sung a capella by HRVHS stu-
dents AnneLise Acosta,
Olivia Newcomb, and Caitlyn
Fick. It was a reprise of their
2014 performance at the same
event, billed as “MLK’s
Dream Lives on: Building a
Community of Justice for
All” and organized by Gorge
Ecumenical Ministries. Fol-
www.hoodrivernews.com
Developer says timeline for music venue TBD
day night that was led by Hood River
Valley Residents Committee, a local
land use watchdog group, and West-
ern Rivers Conservancy, a Portland
conservation group that owns the
land around Punchbowl Falls.
In addition to the forum, Heather
Staten, executive director of HRVRC,
said that within the first week, over
400 people had completed an online
Please see PARK, Page A9
2 Sections, 22 Pages
DeeTour can proceed
Punchbowl Falls park idea
sees a flurry of feedback
By BEN MITCHELL
75 cents
3
Mid Valley community
meeting Jan. 22
Mid Valley Elementary staff, par-
ents and community members are
invited to the school library on Jan.
22 at 6:30 p.m. to discuss the qualities
and attributes they would like to see
in the school’s next principal.
Principal Dennis McCauley will
retire at the end of June. He came to
the Hood River County School Dis-
trict, and to Mid Valley Elementary,
in August 2004.
Superintendent Dan Goldman will
lead the evening forum.
Author Molly Gloss reads Jan. 25
United Way packets available now
Waucoma Bookstore and the Friends of the Library
are hosting Molly Gloss for an author reading at the
Hood River Library on Sunday at 2 p.m. Gloss will dis-
cuss her new book, “Falling
From Horses.” Books will be
available to purchase at the
event.
In a new novel from the best-
selling author of “The Hearts of
Horses “and “The Jump-Off
Creek,” a young ranch hand es-
capes a family tragedy and trav-
els to 1938 Hollywood to become
a stunt rider. The presentation is
free and open to the public.
The 2015 United Way of the Columbia
Gorge (UWCG) Allocations Application Pack-
ets will be available through Feb. 12 from the
United Way of the Columbia Gorge office.
Any non-profit 501(c)(3) human service pro-
gram addressing basic human needs in Hood
River, Klickitat, Sherman, Skamania and
Wasco Counties is welcome to apply. All appli-
cations must be completed and mailed to the
UWCG office by Feb. 13, to be considered for
funding.
For more information or to request an elec-
tronic copy of the application please contact:
Alison Church, Campaign/Allocations Man-
ager, United Way of the Columbia Gorge, 541-
386-6100, or alijchurch@gmail.com.