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About The Hood River news. (Hood River, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 7, 2015)
Gorge Columbia River Business February 2015 Review Covering Gorge Business TD Chamber Distinguished Citizens: Man, Woman of the Year Page 6 Volume 7, No. 2 SPECIAL SECTIONS INSIDE Annual Hood River County Chamber Banquet Page 3 W EEKEND E DITION Vol. 109, No. 11 Official Newspaper, City of Hood River and Hood River County HOOD RIVER, OREGON ■ SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2015 75 cents 4 Sections, 38 Pages www.hoodrivernews.com Ordinance to revise ‘unusual’ BOCC land use review process Hearing on proposed ordinance Feb. 11 By BEN MITCHELL News staff writer SCOUTS remove dumped tires from an ac- cess road near Bennett Pass. It took about an hour and then they returned to the fun of snow camping. Photo by Dave Slover Scouts show tireless ‘can-do’ By KIRBY NEUMANN-REA News editor Lack of snowpack exposed an ugly mountainside scene, but a group of Scouts quickly dealt with it. Troop 282, Venture Crew 282, Troop 378 and Troop 398 were on a snow camping trip to Bennett Pass last weekend, and discovered an il- legal dump of 88 tires along a trail about a quarter-mile up a service road. The scouts, all 50, plus adults, rolled, carried and sledded the tires to a waiting Les Schwab truck. “Leave no trace is the outdoor code we all go by, and this was a way to reinforce that,” said Scout- master Jeff McCaw. “It’s just un- fortunate that people would do that.” “They just jumped in and did it. They truly have gotten to that point that when they see stuff, they want to take care of it,” he said. Assistant Scoutmaster Dave Slover said once the tires were dis- covered, they decided to call Les Schwab, who had a truck there within two hours. “Many hands were primed for a service project, the trail was cleaned up inside of an hour and we continued on our overnight ad- venture,” Slover said. “Leave no trace is the outdoor code we all go by, and this was a way to reinforce that.” JEFF MCCAW, SCOUTMASTER “When we get a chance for ser- vice we are quick to get to it,” he said. “We saw the tires and it was a natural for our group to clean them up. It is pretty awesome!” Michael Becker, assistant Scout- master, took the group up Saturday morning to set up, and they found the tire dump. McCaw said Becker had taken a group of Scouts to the same loca- tion in August and the tires were not there. Les Schwab responded with “no questions asked,” McCaw said. “We really appreciated their support. It cost them time and gas, and the cost of disposal.” “The Scouts have a ‘go get ‘em’ attitude, and we could have had five times the tires. That’s what’s pretty cool, the attitude they have about it,” McCaw said. The winter trip, emphasizing survival skills and also known as Photo by Dave Slover LES SCHWAB employee Ron Solomon drove up to collect the tires, which nearly maxed out the truck. With him are scoutmasters Michael Becker, cen- ter, and Jeff McCaw. Snowmageddon, is a favorite and always well attended, Slover noted. “Usually we ski or snowshoe, but this year we just hiked on the lim- ited hard snowpack. It is great for young people to know they can be comfortable on a cold rainy/snowy winter night outdoors,” he said. “Our troop tries to have a campout every month of the year. We do all kinds of fun things like backpack- ing, rafting on the Deschutes and John Day and canoeing at Lost Lake and Timothy Lake.” S p o t l i g h t a t u r d a y The Hood River Police Depart- ment has arrested a 17-year-old ju- venile male they say is responsible for a recent vandalism spree on the west side of the city of Hood River. Hood River Police Chief Neal Holste reported that a juvenile was arrested in the early morning hours of Feb. 4 in connection with the crimes, which involved “ap- proximately 22 Hood River resi- dents having their vehicles and property vandalized” with gold- colored spray paint. Safeway employees were the first to report the vandalism to their vehicles and after officers searched the area for the suspect, they found “several more vehicles with similar vandalism” located outside homes immediately south of Safeway. Holste said property was found damaged in a path start- ing from the storage units adjacent to Safeway, going down Cascade, south on 20th Street, and then east on Prospect Street to the Hood River Middle School. Holste reported that the juvenile lived in the vicinity of where the damage occurred and was contact- ed on a “hunch” because HRPD “had dealt with the juvenile on dif- ferent incidents over the last month.” When asked for a possible motive, Holste said the 17-year-old told police that he was “mad at the world.” The juvenile was booked on Please see POLICE, Page A10 A weekly series about a day in the life ... Tom Yates begins a new path at an old career BY TRISHA WALKER News staff writer Photos by Trisha Walker Tom Yates is going through a bit of a transition at Provi- dence Down Manor, where he’s worked as community rela- tions coordinator for almost two years. He’s decided to cut back on his hours and has taken a new position that begins this Sunday: activities and transporta- tion assistant for Providence Down Manor and neighboring Providence Brookside Manor. “I like my job,” said Yates. “I like helping senior people. I just turned 66, so I’m like, ‘Tom, you’d better start liking yourself,’” he joked. Yates has been with Providence for the past seven years, and this is not the first change he’s made, having started as assistant administrator at Brookside. But more on that later. As community relations coordinator, Yates is in charge of outreach — or, in his words, “bringing people into the build- ing.” He described the job as “full time, just being out in the community and letting people know the good things about Down Manor.” Please see TOM, Page A7 Three To Go A2 — Legislative Update A3 — Entertainment A4— Viewpoint A5 — This Week at HRVHS A6 — Obituaries, Building Permits A7, 8 — Sports A9 — Legals, Happenings A11 — Business GC — Classifieds 05105 97630 Please see ZONING, Page A10 Police arrest juvenile in Feb. 4 vandalism spree TOM YATES is transitioning from his role as community relations coordinator at Providence Down Manor to activities and transportation assis- tant, which will also include neighboring Providence Brookside Manor. Here, Yates visits with residents during lunch hour in the center’s dining room. LOOK INSIDE 7 The Hood River County Plan- ning Commission will hold a hear- ing next week to decide whether it should amend an “unusual” zon- ing ordinance that currently does not allow the Board of County Commissioners to modify land use decisions made by the planning commission. The public hearing is one of the first under new Hood River Coun- ty Planning Director John Roberts and is an attempt by the county to clarify language in its zoning laws as well as streamline the process by which county commissioners review land use appeals. The Wednesday evening hearing is prompted in part by the findings included in an Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) case published two years ago regarding a dispute over Barrett Park be- tween the Hood River Valley Parks and Recreation District and Hood River County as well as local or- chardists Fritz and JoAnn von Lubken. HRVPRD’s appeal stemmed from a 2012 county com- mission decision to overturn the planning commission’s approval of a needed park permit due to con- cerns it was out of compliance with state land use laws. LUBA’s brief stated that the county made errors when review- ing the application and sent it back to the planning commission. And although it wasn’t listed as an error, LUBA also noted that the county’s ordinance governing the process for reviewing land use ap- peals was “unusual, resembling the kind of limited review con- 3 Fort Dalles Museum seeks volunteers The cruise ships are coming! Fort Dalles Museum needs volun- teers to help welcome tourists to The Dalles. Learn about local his- tory while meeting and greeting national and international travel- ers. The first cruise ship arrives March 4. Call today 541-296-4547 (leave a message) or email fort- dallesmuseum@gmail.com. The Fort Dalles Museum and Anderson Homestead complex is located at 500 W. 15th and Garrison streets. Second Punchbowl forum Tuesday The next public forum regarding a plan to create a county park at Punchbowl Falls will take place Tuesday, Feb. 10 at 6 p.m. in the County Business Administration Building at 601 State St., Hood River. Hood River Valley Residents Committee and other stakeholders will review the pub- lic input received so far, then begin turning that input into a plan, discussing habitat conservation, recreation access for fishing and paddling, trails, safety and maintenance. HRVRC plans to post iterations of the plan online for public review. School superintendent holds ‘Listening Sessions’ Hood River County School District Superintendent Dan Goldman will be holding two community listening sessions with the public in the month of February. He will share information regarding the district’s budget for the 2015-16 school year and district programs and he will be collecting feedback from parents, staff and community members regarding the information shared. The first listening session will be held on Feb. 12 at the Hood River Valley High School Media Center. The second listening session will be held on Tuesday, Feb.17 at the Wy’east Middle School Auditorium. Both ses- sions are from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Spanish translation will be provided at each forum.
