A2
Hood River News, Saturday, January 24, 2015
CGCC, OSU host information night
B RIDGE
Columbia Gorge Communi-
ty College and Oregon State
University host an event on
Jan. 28, 6 to 7:30 p.m. at CGCC
in Hood River that will help
students and their parents
learn about OSU programs.
Information will be provided
for high school students and
families, CGCC students con-
sidering transfer options and
community members looking
for opportunities at both OSU
campuses – Corvallis and
Bend — as well as the growing
degree options through OSU
Ecampus.
Continued from Page A1
edying the out-of-balance span
was “too early to know, but
much less than originally
thought.” The port’s previous
bridge contractor, HNTB, had
given estimates that ranged
from $50,000 to $500,000. McEl-
wee said the port had allocat-
ed $350,000 to fix the problem,
but said the re-tensioning was
“obviously going to be a lot
less than that.”
According to McCurry, the
process to balance the lift
span would require making
slight adjustments to the cable
connections and then check-
ing the cable tension “until
code specified conditions are
met.” Although HDR is early
in the design and planning
process for the project, Mc-
Curry expected that work on
the bridge would begin in the
summer and would involve
“very minimal impacts, with
the possibility of most of the
traffic impacts occurring at
night, and intermittent short
delays during the daytime.”
G ORGE
Continued from Page A1
exactly what happened. In its
budget request, the Gorge
Commission asked that each
state double its contribution
to the agency’s funding so
that it could rehire its plan-
ners to reduce a backlog of
scenic area permit applica-
tions and complete other pro-
jects that had languished due
to staff reductions. The re-
quest came armed with a
joint study completed by
Portland State University
and the University of Wash-
ington, stating that the
Gorge Commission had only
25 percent of the resources
needed to do its job. Oregon
Gov. John Kitzhaber re-
sponded by increasing the
commission’s budget by 89
percent, but Washington
Gov. Jay Inslee committed to
only a 7-percent increase in
his proposed budget.
Gorge Commission Execu-
tive Director Darren Nichols
has been critical of Washing-
ton Gov. Jay Inslee’s budget
— which he highlighted as
an example of a “long term
pattern of orchestrated dis-
investment” in the commis-
sion — as well as the “outdat-
ed system” used to deter-
mine the agency’s budget.
Nichols welcomed Huffman’s
bill, calling it an “unprece-
dented and cooperative effort
between the states to support
the National Scenic Area and
the commission’s work.”
However, Huffman’s bill
won’t go anywhere if its
counterpart isn’t passed by
the Washington State Legis-
lature, where it is expected to
be introduced by Rep. Liz
Pike (R-Camas). Additional-
ly, Pike has also introduced
HB 1453, which would pro-
vide funding for the Gorge
Commission to hire two full-
time planners to reduce the
backlog of land use applica-
tions, with the requirement
that the backlog be eliminat-
ed by July 1, 2017. In return,
the commission must imple-
ment improvements to its
land use application review
process, as well as provide
progress reports to the state
every six months.
Huffman says the bills are
part of a perennial battle to re-
mind Pacific Northwest politi-
cians of the importance of the
Gorge and the federal legisla-
tion that governs it.
W ALDEN
Continued from Page A1
Photo courtesy of HDR
A WORKER from HDR uses a gauge to determine the cable wear
on one of the bridge’s sheaves — essentially a pulley that carries
the cables over the top of the bridge’s towers.
“Nearly seven and a half
years in legislature has con-
vinced me that Salem and
Olympia know little about the
Columbia River Gorge Na-
tional Scenic Area, the federal
act, the work of the (Gorge)
Commission, the Bi-state
Compact, etc.,” he said in an
email. “Every odd year we
head into the long budget ses-
sion having to educate our col-
leagues about the commission
and the work they have been
tasked with and that defund-
ing the commission is not
only not an option, but would
bring development to a
screeching halt.”
Huffman added that even
those legislators who were
aware of the Gorge and its ac-
companying legislation often
view the act through a “25-
year-old lens” and could do
with a refresh.
“I believe things have
changed, AND, the adminis-
tration of the Gorge can be
fresh and innovative, IF,
enough of us will partner to
change the old thinking that
remains too prevalent,” he
said in the email.
The “old thinking” Huff-
man is referring to are people
— both politicians and pri-
vate citizens — who view the
National Scenic Act a “con-
servation only” law, accord-
ing to Huffman, and are miss-
ing the other key provision of
the law that requires “allow-
ing future economic develop-
ment consistent with re-
source protection” as per the
text of the act. Huffman
hoped the taskforce could cre-
ate a “framework for a plan
and pattern of knowledge,
communication, and collabo-
ration” and help provide a
foundation for the “develop-
ment of transportation plans
and other systems to keep the
Gorge running smoothly…”
The bills come at a time
when an increasing number
of public and private entities
are banding together to pro-
mote the whole Gorge not
only as a geographic unit, but
as a political one, with shared
concerns and interests. An ex-
ample of this is One Gorge, a
new advocacy group The En-
terprise reported on last
month, whose goals are to in-
crease lobbying efforts to “in-
crease awareness of Gorge
priorities in Olympia, Salem,
and Washington, D.C.,” in
order to help grow and sup-
port the economy.
During a joint meeting of
the Port of Hood River and the
Port of Cascade Locks that
was held in Hood River this
week, members of the respec-
tive commissions echoed sim-
ilar desires and concerns, fo-
cusing on the need to work to-
gether to further common in-
terests — in this case, promot-
ing both the Bridge of the
Gods and the Hood River
Bridge as essential to the re-
gional economy.
Both ports advocated work-
ing with the Gorge Commis-
sion on the issue, and Paul
Koch, general manager for the
port of Cascade Locks, noted
that the commission needed to
be better funded in order to
adequately foster the econom-
ic side of the National Scenic
Act — something he felt had
been neglected.
“Stevenson has 16-percent
unemployment — what are we
going to do about that? Cas-
cade Locks has 16-percent un-
employment — what are we
doing about that? Underfund-
ing the one agency who could
do a lot to help us? That does-
n’t cut it,” he said.
WALDEN ON STATE
OF THE UNION
“Having come off seven
town halls this weekend in
Eastern Oregon, I can tell you
while the economy’s better,
it’s not where it needs to go,”
Greg Walden said following
President Barack Obama’s
Jan. 21 State of the Union ad-
dress.
“And people are expecting
those of us elected to go to
Washington and get the job
done, to get America back on
track. To pass policies that
will actually grow jobs that in
our part of the world will ac-
tually improve forest man-
agement, create jobs in our
rural communities, help our
farmers and ranchers, help
those in timber communities,
so that we can be self-sus-
taining.
“We need new, fresh ideas
— not these old, top-down,
Washington-knows-best,
failed liberal policies that just
haven’t worked.
“The election in November
was a referendum election on
a lot of the president’s poli-
cies, which were rejected.
“Together, though, we’ve
got to figure out how to
make America stronger, how
to help middle-class America
get better jobs and move for-
ward. So, you know, the op-
portunities await us, and so
are the responsibilities ahead
of us.”
“We will also discuss the
Degree Partnership Program
and how it can help students
access services from both the
community college and OSU
as well as take classes at both
schools,” said Ann Harris,
OSU Open Campus Coordina-
tor, who will be on hand along
with a representative from
OSU and CGCC representa-
tives to discuss transfer de-
grees, financial aid and schol-
arships. Harris has been
working with CGCC instruc-
tors and administrators to
transferable course offerings
at OSU and other universities.
This fall, CGCC added new bi-
ology (BI 211, 212 and 213) and
chemistry (CH 221, 222, 223)
courses specifically for stu-
dents who plan to transfer to
STEM bachelor’s degree pro-
grams. They have also in-
creased the number of high-
level math courses that are of-
fered, according to Harris.
OSU could be a great option
and there is still time to make
the Feb. 1 deadline to be con-
sidered for scholarships and
Fall admission, according to
Harris.
tion of SSA, saying that while
it does not directly impact
Hood River — “we’d love to
have some of that money, but
we’re okay,” Rivers said —
several southwest Oregon
counties are going bankrupt
and eliminating virtually all
services as their timber rev-
enue sources dry up; Rivers
noted that Skamania County
is facing a similar dire out-
look. The SSA legislation,
which formally expired in
2014, provides federal school
and public works funding to
counties that traditionally
had a heavy timber industry
base.
Walden led off with another
forestry issue, and returned to
it twice in the town hall, tying
to climate change proposed
legislation for expanded forest
restoration and fire protection
management. Walden believes
the legislation is critical not
only to Oregon’s forest and
wildland health but that it
would also be a significant
economic boost to allow com-
panies to harvest and process
downed timbers and other
biofuels. The materials are
prevalent in private as well as
public lands throughout Ore-
gon, in many places acting as
fuels for wildfires if left on the
forest floor. According to
Walden, managing these af-
fected lands would do much to
address fire dangers and re-
sult in reduced potential for
release of harmful carbons,
the chief contributor to global
warming.
“Hopefully in conjunction
with forest (management) leg-
islation, which passed biparti-
san, we can fund schools and
roads, and deal with what I
think is the underlying
threat,” Walden said, refer-
ring to the smoke from wild-
fires.
Later, junior Charley Boon-
stra stood and told Walden
that students are forming a
Climate Action Club at
HRVHS. With her were ju-
niors Emilia Gendreau and
Marelie Vorster, and Boonstra
pointed to the silent standing
adults, saying, “I stand with
all my friends and all others
who hold what they love. This
is an issue that is not being
talked about, that is being
swept under the rug. We need
to realize our earth is falling
apart.
Swing by for
HAPPY
HOUR
5-6 PM Every Day
Grab gift certificates
for your employees
541-386-3940
Stonehedge Gardens
Cascade Yoga
at Cascade Locks School
300 Wa Na Pa Street
Intro to Yoga
Gentle, beginner-level class.
Tues. & Thurs. - 3:45-5:00 pm
Yoga for Everyone
All-levels Hatha Yoga class.
Tues. & Thurs. - 5:30-6:45 pm
Register at
www.hrcommunityed.org
(Classes/Adult/Health &
Wellness)
$72/month or $12/drop-in
Tomme Fent, RYT-200
tommesyogaforlife@gmail.com
712-490-6417
Volunteers in Action -
Providence Community Caregivers
Volunteer Training
9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 31, 2015
Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital
Top Dog Grooming
VIA-PCC offers non-medical volunteer assistance to older adults
and those with chronic illness in Hood River and Klickitat Counties.
is BACK!
If you have an hour a week or an hour a month,
you can be someone’s “good neighbor.”
$10 OFF
Volunteer tasks might be taking someone to the doctor, picking up a prescription,
friendly visits, grocery shopping and or other assistance.
(New Customers Only)
Call for Appointments
541-436-4253
1408 13th St.
(Use Alley Entrance)
www.ThePetbiz.com
Call to register or find out more,
call 541-387-6404
or email clare.black@providence.org
APPLE VALLEY BBQ
HOOD RIVER RESTAURANT
RIVERSIDE AT THE HOOD RIVER INN
Cherry wood smoked pulled pork, meatloaf, pork ribs, chick-
en, burgers, awesome salads & vegetarian options. Smoked
Prime Rib on Friday & Saturday night! Local draft beers, wine
and hard cider. Full service catering available! Full menu
online!
Open Wed-Sun: 11-8
4956 Baseline Dr, Parkdale
541-352-3554 • AppleValleyBBQ.com
Chinese and American dishes. Golden Rose Lounge with our
Famous Scorpion! Try our lunch specials and great dinner
combinations! Banquet facilities available.
Open Every Day: 11:30 am to 10 pm
108 Second St., Hood River;
541-386-3966 • VISA, MasterCard
Enjoy panoramic river views and casual dining from Chef
Mark DeResta’s menus featuring fresh, all-natural ingredi-
ents for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Live weekend enter-
tainment and happiest hours in town, Mon. - Fri., 4-6pm at
Cebu Lounge.
BEST WESTERN PLUS Hood River Inn
1108 E. Marina Way, Hood River
541-386-4410
Open every day 6 am to 9 pm
GRACE SU’S
CHINA GORGE RESTAURANT
HOOD RIVER TAQUERIA
MEXICAN RESTAURANT
Serving the best Szechuan and Hunan Chinese food in the
Gorge. Healthy dining. All food prepared fresh, no MSG
added. Lunch and dinner. Dine in or take out. Beautiful view
& convenient parking.
2680 Old Columbia River Dr, Hood River
541-386-5331
Featuring fine authentic Mexican food and cocktails.
Spacious outdoor seating.
Open seven days a week:
Sun. - Thurs. 9:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.,
Fri. - Sat. 9:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.
1210 13th St., on the Heights, Hood River
541-387-3300
ADVERTISE YOUR RESTAURANT HERE!
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Mon - Fri: 8am - 5pm
541.386.1234 • HoodRiverNews.com