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About The Hood River news. (Hood River, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 31, 2015)
A4 V IEWPOINT Hood River News, Saturday, January 31, 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. Services denied Closer look needed My brother, Keith Dunn, has been a member of this community all his life. He has developed dementia and has been living in a group home for the past few months. His disease has developed to a point where the group home can no longer care for him. There is an Extended Care Services bed available in Hood River. Howev- er, the powers in Salem have decided that, as he is developmentally dis- abled, he does not qualify for it. He will be placed in a care facility in Hillsboro, away from his family and friends. As usual, the powers in Salem seldom make good sense. R. Dean Dunn Hood River 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 Road suggestion 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 Sunday drinking Keep The Beast on the field; after halftime, pass the dessert F ootball fans around Oregon are gearing up for this weekend’s Super Bowl match-up on Sunday as our neighbors to the north defend their title in the big event. According to National Highway Transporta- tion Safety Administration, impaired drivers contribute to Super Bowl Sunday becoming one of the most danger- ous days on the road. Nationwide, approximately 48 per- cent of traffic fatalities on Super Bowl Sunday involve a driver or motorcycle operator with a blood alcohol con- centration (BAC) of .08 percent or higher. OSP, local sheriff and police departments will be on the lookout for impaired drivers and encourage everyone to place the designation of a sober driver at the top of their Super Bowl game plan. Before choosing to drink, choose a sober designated driver. If you’re attending a Super Bowl party or watch- ing the game at a sports bar or restaurant: ■ Designate your sober driver before the party be- gins. ■ Avoid drinking too much alcohol too fast. Pace yourself. Eat plenty of food, take breaks, and alternate with non-alcoholic drinks. ■ Make sure your ride is sober before letting him/her drive you. ■ If you don’t have a designated driver, ask a sober friend for a ride home; call a cab, friend, or family mem- ber to come and get you; or if possible stay where you are for the night and don’t drive until you are sober. ■ Use your community’s sober ride program. (Gorge Yellow Taxi works with Hood River bars, tav- erns and pubs to offer free rides.) ■ Never let a friend drive drunk. Arrange a safe way for them to get home. ■ Always buckle up. It’s still your best defense against other drunk drivers. If you’re hosting a Super Bowl party: ■ Make sure all of your guests designate their sober drivers in advance, or help arrange ride-sharing with sober drivers. ■ Serve plenty of food and non-alcoholic beverages at the party. ■ If you plan to stay sober, offer to drive guests home. ■ Encourage guests to pace themselves. ■ Host your party like they do at the stadium. Stop serving alcohol at the end of the third quarter of the game. The fourth quarter is perfect for serving coffee and dessert. ■ Keep the phone numbers of local cab companies on hand and take the keys away from anyone who is think- ing of driving drunk. ■ Remember, you can be held liable and prosecuted if someone you served ends up in a drunk-driving crash. Support zero tolerance for impaired driving by re- porting impaired drivers to 9-1-1 or OSP at 1-800- 24DRUNK (1-800-243-7865). OSP and ODOT understand that not everyone will be in front of a TV watching the game, so those traveling are urged to “Know Before You Go,“ monitoring media reports for weather forecasts and keeping up-to-date on road conditions at www.TripCheck.com. Considering the statistics, what we know as a culture, and the advice above, on this — or any other — there is no reason for anyone to drive while impaired. Keep your drinking, or those of your guests, from getting to Beast Mode — leave that to Marshawn Lynch. Last time I called it a travesty. This time I call the Cascade to Mt. Adams to Wine Country to Country Club roads just stupid design. I sug- gest a solution — reopen the access to Country Club and turn the whole new interchange into a (one way) round-about of sorts. A quick sketch on an envelope shows the easy con- version: Freeway on and off traffic flows NON-STOP to town and out; businesses maintain full, if not im- proved access; west side users of Country Club make one right turn into traffic and go with the flow ... not drag racing across two lanes. And while you are at it, put in a REAL bike lane with barriers and maybe encourage ... but that’s anoth- er letter. Dan Baxter Hood River W HERE TO E-MAIL For letters to the editor, guest columns, news items and press releases, the e-mail address is: HRNews@hoodrivernews.com For e-mail letters to the editor, please include your name, address and daytime telephone number. Chelsea Marr General Manager CMarr@hoodrivernews.com Founded in 1905 419 State Street Hood River, OR 97031 P.O. Box 390 Phone: (541) 386-1234 Fax: (541) 386-6796 Operations: Joe Petshow Publisher President, Eagle Newspapers (541) 386-1234 JPetshow@hoodrivernews.com Chris Stenberg Bookkeeper CStenberg@hoodrivernews.com Front Office/ Classified Advertising: Stacey Methvin Classifieds/Receptionist HRNClass@hoodrivernews.com SMethvin@hoodrivernews.com Circulation: Esther K. Smith Circulation Manager (541) 386-1234 Ext. 205 ESmith@hoodrivernews.com For the past three decades, we have seen a disturbing trend to- wards increasing inequality in in- come and wealth. Wages are flat, the middle class is shrinking, and families see the dream of a better world for their children slipping away. As we pivot towards the 2016 elec- tions, both parties are looking to tap into concerns over inequality. It will be interesting to see if Democ- rats can move beyond gender and identity politics to address the con- cerns of middle-income workers who have left the party in recent years. Republicans face the more difficult choice of continuing to push an agenda tilted towards the wealthy or pursuing policies that benefit the poor and working class. The first signs from a Republican Congress are not hopeful. The re- cent rule change requiring the Con- gressional Budget Office to use “dy- namic” scoring to determine the budget impact of tax reforms opens the door for politically driven ma- nipulation. Consider the words of Bruce Bartlett, former adviser to Presi- dent George H.W. Bush: “In prac- tice, dynamic scoring is just anoth- er way for Republicans to enact tax cuts and block tax increases. It is not about honest revenue-estimat- ing; it’s about using smoke and mir- rors to institutionalize Republican ideology into the budget process.” A rigged “dynamic” scoring of tax proposals, based on the “supply side” myth that “tax cuts pay for themselves,” will worsen economic i n e q u a l i t y, i n c r e a s e Fe d e r a l deficits and increase pressure to make cuts to Social Security, Medicare and other programs. Vot- ers need to look through the “pop- ulist” rhetoric of both parties to the actual impacts of tax and bud- get proposals on middle and lower income families. Richard Davis The Dalles Pioneer descendants Kudos to Abby Walker for her essay in Young Voices! It was inspir- ing to read a true telling of pioneer- ing ancestry from a young person in the local community. Family seems to be a very real structure in the overcoming of adversity. The same model could be used in modern times. We each have a path through this world, and our families are an in- valuable part for each individual. Mike Teems, Jr. Parkdale Go Seahawks God gave us the remote so on Super Bowl Sunday we could avoid hours of mindless analysis, inane interviews, dumb questions to play- ers, dumb answers from players, opening ceremonies and coin flip, another disrespectful rendition of our National Anthem, commercials, inane sideline commentary, half- time analysis, and the half-time show. Go Seahawks! Let’s eat! Jerry Giarraputo Hood River W HERE TO WRITE President — Barack Obama, White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington D.C., 20500 E-mail: president@whitehouse.gov U.S. Senators — Jeff Merkley, SDB-40B, Dirk- sen Senate Office Building, Washington D.C., 20510. Phone: 202-224-3753; E-mail: ore- gon@merkley.senate.gov; Ron Wyden, 717 Hart Office Building, Washington D.C., 20510. Phone: 202-224-5244.Web address: www.senate.gov/member/or/wyden/general/ 2nd Congressional District Representative — Greg Walden, 14 N. Central Ave., Suite 112, Medford, OR 97504. Phone: 541-776-4646; E-mail: www.walden.house.gov/contactgreg Governor — John Kitzhaber, 254 State Capitol, Salem, OR 97310. Phone: 503-378-3111; E-mail: www.governor.state.or.us/email.htm District 26 State Senator — Chuck Thomsen, 900 Court St. N.E., S-307, State Capitol, Salem, OR 97301. Phone: 503-986-1726; E-mail sen.chuckthomsen@state.or.us District 52 State Representative — Mark Johnson, 900 Court St. N.E., Bldg. H-385, State Capitol, Salem, OR 97301. Phone: 503-986-1452; E-mail: rep.markjohnson@state.or.us Hood River County Board of Commission- News: Kirby Neumann-Rea Editor HRNews@hoodrivernews.com Trisha Walker News/Features TWalker@hoodrivernews.com ers — Chair Ron Rivers, Vice Chair Maui Meyer, members Les Perkins, Bob Benton and Karen Joplin, Hood River County Courthouse, Hood River, OR, 97031. Phone: 541-386-3970. County Administrator — Dave Meriwether, Hood River County Courthouse, Hood River, OR, 97031. Phone: 541-386-3970. Hood River City Council — Mayor Paul Blackburn, members Laurent Picard, Mark Zan- miller, Kate McBride, Becky Brun, Peter Cornelison and Susan Johnson Hood River City Hall, Hood River, OR, 97031. Phone: 541-386-1488. E-mail: cohr@gorge.net Hood River City Manager — Steve Wheeler, Hood River City Hall, Hood River, OR, 97031. Phone: 541-387-5252. Cascade Locks City Council — Mayor Tom Cramblett, Glenda Groves, Jeff Helfrich, Richard Randall, Bobby Walker, Bruce Fitzpatrick and Dean- na Busdieker Cascade Locks City Hall, 140 S.E. WaNaPa, Cascade Locks, OR, 97014. Phone: 541- 374-8484. Cascade Locks City Administrator — Gor- don Zimmerman, Cascade Locks City Hall, 140 S.E. WaNaPa, Cascade Locks, OR, 97014 Phone: 541- 374-8484. Production: David Marvin Production Manager Adam Lapierre Ailene Hibbard Archivist DMarvin@hoodrivernews.com News/Features Advertising: Jim Drake ALapierre@hoodrivernews.com Jody Thompson Advertising Manager JThompson@hoodrivernews.com Production/Commercial Printing Liana Stegall Advertising Sales LStegall@hoodrivernews.com Production/Commercial Printing Ben Mitchell News/Features BenMitchell@hoodrivernews.com Jim Drake Entertainment JDrake@hoodrivernews.com Kirsten Lane Advertising Sales KLane@hoodrivernews.com JDrake@hoodrivernews.com Andy Taylor ATaylor@columbiagorgepress.com Allen Diers Commercial Printing ADiers@hoodrivernews.com 419 State Street Hood River, OR 97031 P.O. Box 390 Phone: (541) 386-1234 Fax: (541) 386-6796 Tony Methvin Plant Manager (541) 386-1234 TMethvin@columbiagorgepress.com Andy Taylor Commercial Printing/Production ATaylor@columbiagorgepress.com David Marvin Commercial Printing/Production DMarvin@hoodrivernews.com