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About The Hood River news. (Hood River, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 21, 2015)
A4 V IEWPOINT Hood River News, Wednesday, January 21, 2015 O ur readers write JOE PETSHOW Publisher/President, Eagle Newspapers, Inc. CHELSEA MARR General Manager JODY THOMPSON Advertising Manager DICK NAFSINGER Publisher, Emeritus (1933-2011) TOM LANCTOT Past President, Eagle Newspapers, Inc. KIRBY NEUMANN-REA Editor TONY METHVIN Columbia Gorge Press Manager DAVID MARVIN Production Manager Subscription $42 per year in Hood River trade area. $68 outside trade area. NATIONAL NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION Printed on OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION recycled paper. Official Newspaper, City of Hood River and Hood River County Published Every Wednesday & Saturday by Hood River News, P.O. Box 390, Hood River, Oregon 97031 • (541) 386-1234 • FAX 386-6796 Member of the Associated Press Board work Elected or appointed, public service opportunities abound N o matter where you live in Hood River Coun- ty, opportunities to serve are right at hand. As described on page A2, a variety of ap- pointed and elected service opportunities are on the horizon with a variety of local public agencies. But there will be much more to come. The filing deadline for local special districts is March 19 for measures to go on the May 19 county spe- cial districts election ballot, but by later this week County Elections will have an updated list of open board positions, on its website co.hoodriver.or.us/elec- tions. County Elections coordinator Kim Kean has been compiling those positions on water, fire, sanitation and other special districts. These will include positions that naturally come open on a rotating basis, as well as some instances of seats that are unfilled because of resignations — and in some cases that have been vacant since the last election. Hood River News will continue a running update on positions that are up for election, as well as the on- going need for people to serve on budget committees and other roles. (Budget committees are a particular need at this time of the year, as agencies including Hood River County School District are setting their calendars and gearing up for that vital work that starts in March and continues in earnest in April and May prior to adoption of budgets in June. There is, to be frank, homework involved in serving on a budget committee.) Some boards call for an area of expertise or per- sonal or professional background, and such experi- ence can certainly be helpful, but in most cases not having those elements on your resume is not an obsta- cle to being selected. Serving on a fire or water dis- trict requires no particular expertise, just a commit- ment to serve the public. There is no getting around the fact that there is a high responsibility placed on special district elected officials, because these are agencies that derive tax revenue to provide vital services. But just about any- one with a concern for the community, and with some time to spare — or the willingness to make that time — can find a way to be an effective servant. Consider doing so now. Your community needs you. Warmest year on record The earth has a fever. 2014 has been ter med the warmest year of the century and perhaps even in 2000 years, there has been no pause. Some say hu- mans are too insignificant to change the climate. A virus or bac- teria would seem just as insignifi- cant, but they have killed millions of people throughout history. In- terestingly, it’s often their wastes and the body’s reactions to them that causes the disease. Our wastes include carbon diox- ide and a great variety of chemi- cals. Carbon dioxide is not just a greenhouse gas but also creates a weak acid. These wastes have cre- ated huge dead zones at the mouths of rivers and the oceans are show- ing signs of becoming acidic. The ocean has been absorbing both the excess heat and carbon dioxide. Saltwater life is incredibly sensi- tive to acidic conditions and dies quickly as the water becomes acid. Sea life is also sensitive to temper- ature changes; if you understand this, then you’ll understand that we are very close to creating a great die off of sea life. Through global warming and ocean acidification, we are creat- ing a situation similar to the im- pact of an asteroid on the earth. One asteroid is thought to have re- sulted in the extinction of the di- nosaurs. Our civilizations aren’t any tougher than them. Gregg Morris Hood River Know options I want to thank Kelvin Calkins and Karen Ford for their letters re- garding the Common Core stan- dardized tests. It’s important for all parents and members of the community to become aware of the increasing test load on children. A s yo u m i g h t e x p e c t , t h e strongest advocates for standard- ized testing are people farthest from the action: policy-makers, leg- islators, education officials, and consultants. In other words, the folks turning up the heat for more testing are the ones farthest from the fire. In the meantime, children are being tested for weeks every year and testing will increase dramati- cally with the Common Core stan- dardized tests. Classroom-based assessments help inform teachers of the acade- mic levels of their students and guide instruction, but standard- ized tests don’t help guide instruc- tion in real time. In public education, what is best for children must always be our first concern. I hope that parents and community in Hood River will weigh in on assessment practices in our schools. Ask questions and consider your options as a parent. For more information, e-mail optouthoodriver@gmail.com, or visit OptOutOre gon.org, and fairtest.org. Mark S. Reynolds Hood River ‘In this together’ I want to commend you for your “Greater Gorge” page, featuring news from all our Gorge communi- ties. I work in Hood River County, Wasco County, and Klickitat County and I read papers from all of them. From my perspective, we live in one place, not many. I see people from all over the Gorge working together to get things done. In every community in the Gorge, kids and families face the same challenges, and in every com- munity, people stand up to help. When our communities cooperate and collaborate, we all benefit. When we compete, and when we don’t trust each other, we all suffer. We are in this together. Your Greater Gorge page is evidence. Heidi Venture The Next Door Hood River Justify raise Why is Columbia Gorge Commu- nity College paying for their presi- dent’s $35,000 per year pay raise on the backs of their students with a 6 percent rise in tuition? Because the president is in need of two of those students’ entire year-end earnings. What is the justification for such a raise? Michael Hope Gresham ABOUT LETTERS Hood River News reminds letter to the editor writers that shorter is better. Concise letters are not only better-read, they are more likely to be published because limited space is available. Almost any point can be made in 350 words or fewer, so this is set as an upper level for length. Thank-you letters are no longer accepted, neither are unsigned let- ters, letters signed with fictitious signatures and copies of letters sent to public officials. We limit letters on a subject when we feel it has been thorough- ly aired, to the point of letters be- coming repetitive. Also rejected are letters that are libelous, in bad taste or personal attacks on individuals or private businesses. Writers must include addresses and telephone numbers. These are for identification pur- poses only, and will not be pub- lished. Ten years after tragedy, fond memories endure I By LAURIE JONES t is hard to believe that 10 years ago a horrible plane crash claimed the lives of three young men from the Hood River community: my husband Chris Jones, who owned Son-Rise Development, Paul Linck, the pilot of our plane, and Brook Campbell, who owned Rockin’ the Gorge, a local drywall company. I remember the night of Jan. 20, 2005. It was my son Matthew’s birthday and I was in Portland out to dinner with Matt, my daughter Kim and my son Jeff. I was driving back to Hood River and by Viento Ridge around 8:10. I called Chris at 8:11 and no answer. He always answered the phone when he was flying. I under- stand now that the plane went down around 8:14. Paul was a very experi- enced pilot. When we hired him as our pilot, we sent him to re- ceive training specifically for the Cirrus. He was a “by the book and never take any chances” pilot. There were times when Chris really needed to get to one of our job sites and Paul would not take off due to weather. There was never a doubt in my mind that there was no way that Paul was at fault for this crash. Even though the rumors out there were that Paul was scud running (fly- ing under the clouds) and the Na- tional Transportation Safety Board eventually ruled that the cause of the crash was pilot error, I knew in my heart that this was not true. After many years of investigation into the cause, it was discovered that it was a malfunction of one of the instruments in the plane that caused the crash. ■ Jan. 20, 2005, was a long night. I contacted the Hood River Police and we drove out to the plane hangar to see if the plane was there and some- thing else had pos- sibly happened. The hangar was empty. I went back home and just sat there. I called all three of their phones. No answers. Finally Jenny, Kara and I started to call each other. Jenny called the FAA and the search began. I stayed awake all night not allow- ing myself to think the worst. Our plane had a parachute so that if the pilot was in trouble all he had to do was deploy the parachute and they would glide to safety. In my mind, it was just a matter of figuring out where they landed. I still hadn’t contacted anyone except the other two wives and the police. I received my first phone call around 6:30 that morn- ‘I think about how my life is forever changed. I think about the amazing community of Hood River.’ ing from a friend who was on his way to Portland. He said he heard on the news that a plane was missing that had left Salem en route to Hood River. I knew at that moment I had better start making some phone calls to fami- ly. This made it too real for me. So, around 6:45 I started calling family. I called my daughter. Jan. 21 was her birthday; she turned 30 that day. I called my sons, Chris’s brother, a few close friends and then just sat there. People starting coming to my home. The phone was ringing nonstop. Food was being brought over. It was surreal. I kept thinking how strange it was that everyone was coming over. Didn’t they know that we are going to find them because they parachuted to safety? I really only wanted to talk to Jenny and Kara. Then Sheriff Joe Wampler was in constant communication with me and I would then call the other two wives. They knew they were going to be okay too! It is amazing how your mind works. I got the phone call around 4:30 that they had located the wreck- age. Then around 8:30, Sheriff Wampler was at the door and my whole world came crashing down. ■ I think about how we have all made it through. I think about how my life is forever changed. I think about the amazing commu- nity of Hood River. I think about all the people searching for Chris, Paul and Brook. The Crag Rats, The Wind River Searchers, Civil Photo courtesy of Laurie Jones THE LATE Chris Jones in the Cirrus, Mt. Hood in the background, in 2004. Air Patrol, the many people who used their own planes to search, the helicopters, the boats on the Columbia, all our friends and family and all the volunteers from the community helping, searching and supporting. I moved out of Hood River three years ago to be closer to my family. I miss the closeness of Hood River. I miss my friends, my church and the feeling of commu- nity. I will forever be grateful for my time in Hood River. I have continued to build since Chris’s death. We loved building homes for people. Chris took pride in the quality and construction of each and every home he built. What a blessing to have that passion. Son-Rise Development built over 150 homes in Hood River and loved every minute of it. It has been 10 years of building without Chris, my partner, and I have made the decision to retire. It gave me satisfaction to continue what Chris had started but also sadness that he wasn’t working beside me. Thank you, Hood River! The best years of my life were spent living and working alongside my husband Chris in such a beautiful town! ■ Laurie Jones now lives in Tigard.
