G REATER G ORGE
A2 Hood River News,
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
www.hoodrivernews.com
Two West Linn students die
in Dog Mountain car crash
Skamania County EMS and
Rescue (SCEMS) responded to
a reported motor vehicle colli-
sion on Saturday, Feb. 21 at
11:42 a.m. that resulted in the
deaths of two West Linn High
School students, The Enter-
prise reports.
The three car collision oc-
curred near mile post 54 on
State Route 14, at the Dog
Mountain Trail Parking Area.
Emergency crews arrived to
find three vehicles involved in
a rear end collision with mul-
tiple patients and heavy rear
end damage to a mid-size
sedan.
A Chevrolet Cruze being
driven by an unnamed 17-year-
old boy missed the turn for the
Dog Mountain Trailhead and
stopped in the middle of SR 14,
according to a report by Wash-
ington State Patrol Spokesper-
son Lt. Will Finn. The second
vehicle involved, a 2006 Honda
Accord being driven by a 16-
year-old boy, stopped in time
behind the Cruze, but was
rear-ended by a Jeep Wrangler
being driven by Michael Calar-
co, 35, of Portland.
“Due to the speed and large
bumper, the (Wrangler’s)
bumper intruded through the
trunk and into the rear of the
passenger compartment,”
Finn’s report reads.
Cooper Hill and Antonio Ca-
ballero, both juniors at West
Linn High School, were killed
during the accident. One was
pronounced dead at the scene
of the accident while the other
was pronounced dead en route
to PeaceHealth Southwest
Medical Center, according to
Finn’s report.
Skamania County Prosecut-
ing Attorney Adam Kick was
called to the scene of the acci-
dent where it was determined
that Calarco would be cited for
second-degree negligent dri-
ving.
The driver and front pas-
senger of the Accord were
transported to a local hospi-
tal with non-life threatening
injuries, as was the driver of
the Cruze.
The investigation of the
crash also overturned “per-
sonal-use amounts of marijua-
na” and smoking devices in
the Cruze. The driver of the
Cruze and his passengers ad-
mitted to possessing the mari-
juana and charges for posses-
sion of marijuana and drug
paraphernalia were referred
to Skamania County Juvenile
Court.
Though marijuana was
found, none of the drivers in-
volved showed signs of im-
pairment.
SCEMS, Skamania County
Fire District #1, Klickitat
County EMS, Skamania Coun-
ty Sheriff ’s Office and Wash-
ington State Patrol were on
scene.
Gun range meeting NRA safety
standards coming to Dallesport
By AKASHA SPINO-BYBEE
For The Goldendale Sentinel
Gun enthusiasts of the Columbia
River Gorge will soon have a place to let
off some steam — or ammunition.
Thanks to the efforts of Klickitat County
Commissioner Rex Johnston, Klickitat
County Engineer Jeff Hunter, and sever-
al others, a gun range will be opening in
Dallesport this coming summer.
“This project is one that I’ve been
working on since I’ve been a commis-
sioner,” says Johnston. “It’s really some-
thing I love being involved in, because
there isn’t a gun range anywhere in the
Gorge for people to come shoot. We start-
ed the process months ago, using the run-
off material on Centerville Highway.
We’ll be using it as a backdrop for the
range.”
The range will meet the National Rifle
Association’s standards and will ulti-
mately be 500 yards, but it will be opened
as a 50-100 yard range. Johnston says that
very little county money will be going
into the project (about $25,000) and that
the overall cost will be more than $1 mil-
lion. The rest of the money paying for the
range is coming from grants received
from the Washington State Recreation
and Conservation Office. This money
will pay for the construction of the range.
According to Johnston, Hunter will be
handling the project. “Once the permits
are in place, construction begins (a three
to six month process). After it’s complete,
we’ll be looking for someone to run the
range on a daily basis. We hope to have it
complete by the end of June,” says
Hunter.
“This is a very popular hobby in the
county and in addition to this being a
public-access range, it’ll also be used for
the Goldendale, White Salmon, and Bin-
gen police departments to come train,”
says Johnston. Both Johnston and
Hunter believe this project will not only
benefit the county’s shooters but that it
will benefit the county’s economy as well.
“I envision it being a real draw for this
county because of things like cowboy
shoot-outs, for instance. This could also
be really good for tourism,” says John-
ston.
“It’ll be a positive thing for the com-
munity and attract people to the county,
it should be a great place for people to
go,” says Hunter.
■
For more information about the range,
call Klickitat County Public works at 773-
4612 or email Jeff Hunter at
jeffh@klickitatcounty.org.
Photo by AP Photo/Yakima Herald-Republic, Gordon King
IN A FEB. 10, 2015 PHOTO, Randy Knowles, a Klickitat PUD
commissioner, walks back from a rocky outcrop overlooking
the landscape east of Goldendale, Wash. where the PUD
wants to build a system of small reservoirs for power gener-
ation.The PUD is applying for a federal license for the project.
PUD: Gorge wind
farms could store
power in reservoir
AP — A small utility
plans a $2.5 billion water
reservoir system near
Goldendale as a way to
store energy generated by
Columbia River Gorge
wind farms.
The pumped storage sys-
tem would pump water up-
hill when there’s electrici-
ty to spare and release it
through turbines to gener-
ate power when it’s needed.
The Klickitat Public
Utility District has begun
applying for a license
from the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission,
Yakima Herald-Republic
re por ted last week
(http://bit.ly/1AOgcbk ).
With just 11,000 cus-
tomers, the utility doesn’t
need a facility of that size,
but it has the site to build
one. It would be located at
the site of an aluminum
smelter that closed more
than a decade ago. Major
Local chambers deny participation in travel video, magazine
By AMBER MARRA
The Enterprise
Chambers of commerce in
three areas in the Gorge are
advising members that they
are not participating or advo-
cating for a private company
selling advertising and time
slots in a travel video.
T h e C o l u m b i a R ive r
Gorge Travel Council, also
known as the Oregon Travel
Council, is a private, for-
profit business out of Idaho.
The Travel Council pro-
duced a video and online
magazine featuring busi-
nesses and scenes through-
out the Gorge last year and
has similar publications
and videos for areas in nine
states, according to the
council’s sales manager,
Charles Stanley.
Last year’s video features
businesses and sights start-
ing in Troutdale and contin-
ues to Cascade Locks, Hood
River, Stevenson, Goldendale
and The Dalles while the on-
line magazine offers points
of interest, various photos of
the Gorge, feature articles,
and advertisements.
According to Stanley, the
video is distributed at trade
shows all over the country.
“The website is a brand
new, innovative web design
using an e-magazine you can
flip through. It’s the world’s
first of that sort where
videos play along with the
magazine. The Columbia
River Gorge gets to be the
first area that has this kind
of click-and-play feature,”
Stanley said.
The Columbia River Gorge
Travel Council, which re-
cently began calling local
businesses again, contacted
local businesses to partici-
pate in last year’s video and
publication, both of which
can
be
viewed
at
http://columbiarivergorgetr
avelcouncil.com/index.html,
under the name “The Oregon
Travel Council.”
The Mt. Adams Chamber
of Commerce, Skamania
County Chamber of Com-
merce, and The Dalles Cham-
ber of Commerce have all no-
tified members that those
chambers do not endorse
The Travel Council, nor do
they intend on participating
in any videos or publications
produced by the business.
Casey Roeder, executive di-
rector of the Skamania
County Chamber of Com-
merce, said about 10 of her
members have been contact-
ed by the Travel Council so
far this year and that repre-
sentatives are falsely using
the chamber as a reference.
“My issue is that last year
I told them we didn’t want to
participate and this year
they’re saying we are refer-
ring them to members and
that’s just wrong. When one
member questioned them on
it they hung up on them,”
Roeder said. “I’m not saying
they didn’t perform like they
promised, but my concern is
that they’re using our name
as a reference.”
Maria Foley, executive di-
rector of the Mt. Adams
Chamber of Commerce, said
she has gotten similar re-
ports from her members, de-
spite the fact that the cham-
ber has never agreed to work
with the Travel Council.
“It is alarming to hear that
a group is purposely focus-
ing on our Gorge area busi-
nesses and misrepresenting
themselves to our chamber
members, looking to take ad-
vantage of good, honest peo-
ODFW considering 10K-acre land acquisition on Deschutes
In collaboration with the
Trust for Public Land (TPL),
the Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) is
considering acquiring about
10,000 acres in the Lower De-
schutes River Canyon in
Wasco County.
The property is known as
the Lower Deschutes River
Ranch. Its purchase by
ODFW would add to the ex-
isting 8,000-acre Lower De-
schutes Wildlife Area and
create 25,000 acres of con-
tiguous wildlife habitat and
public access on the west
side of the Deschutes River.
The parcel contains sever-
al key Oregon Conservation
Strategy habitats, including
the easternmost remnant
stand of oak woodlands left
in Oregon. ODFW staff are
working with TPL to estab-
lish a purchase and sale
agreement for ODFW to buy
the land from TPL.
Funds for the purchase
have been obtained through
the TPL and multiple outside
grant sources. ODFW would
also use internal mitigation
monies and other funds.
Members of the public
may come to a public meet-
ing Thursday, Feb. 26, 6 p.m.,
at The Dalles ODFW Screen
Shop, 3561 Klindt Drive, to
learn more and provide com-
ment. Comments can also be
emailed
to
odfw.comments@state.or.us,
f axed to 541-298-4993 or
mailed to ODFW, 3701 W. 13th
Street, The Dalles, OR 97058.
For more infor mation,
please contact Jeremy
Thompson at 541-296-4628.
They’re Back!
$
Prime Rib
Child rape charges filed in Skamania Co. 15
Fridays
Detectives with the Skama-
nia County Sheriff ’s Office ar-
rested a 37-year-old Tualatin
man Feb. 18 after they learned
he had come to Skamania
County with the alleged intent
of transporting a juvenile fe-
male back to Oregon to have
sexual contact with her.
SCSO says they believe Ed-
ward Blake Smith had been
utilizing the internet to com-
municate with the juvenile
victim and drove from his res-
idence in Oregon to Skamania
County to pick her up.
Using the victim’s internet
profile, detectives were able to
arrange to meet Smith at a
pre-deter mined location
where he was taken into cus-
tody. SCSO says the investiga-
tion has revealed there are at
least two female juvenile vic-
tims in Skamania County.
Smith was booked into the
Skamania County Jail in
Stevenson on the following
charges: Rape of a Child, 1st
degree; Rape of a Child, 3rd
PIPPA
-
t
p
Ado
A-
Pet
Your Business Here
degree; Attempted Rape of a
Child, 3rd degree.
SCSO says there may be ad-
ditional victims in two other
jurisdictions in Washington.
Detectives have contacted law
enforcement in those jurisdic-
tions and are sharing infor-
mation with them.
The investigation is ongo-
ing and detectives are report-
edly working with the Skama-
nia County Prosecutors Office
to determine if additional
charges are appropriate.
Would your
business like to
support local
shelter pets?
Call Kirsten, Liana, Jody or Chelsea at 541-386-1234
ple,” Foley wrote in an email
to The Enterprise. “They are
saying that they have worked
with our local Gorge cham-
bers (referring to several by
name)-but they have not
worked with our chamber,
nor have they been recom-
mended and/or vetted by our
chamber.”
Lisa Farquharson, execu-
tive director of The Dalles
Chamber of Commerce, also
recently sent out a notice to
her members explaining that
the chamber is not “partici-
pating or endorsing this pro-
ject.”
That said, Stanley feels
that the Travel Council does-
n’t need the chambers’ bless-
ing to work with businesses
here.
“The chambers are all sort
of out of date, so we’ll let
them take advantage of our
services if they want to, but
we don’t need them because
what we do is 10 times better
than what they do,” Stanley
said. “Our website and video
are first class and we defi-
nitely do not misrepresent
ourselves on purpose.”
The Tiger Lounge
is pleased to offer new
Specialty Cocktails, as
well as all of the Classics.
We have an excellent
selection of Beer and
Wines, to accompany our
Happy Hour appetizers
and Full Dining Menu.
Grace Su’s
Happy Hour
the
5-6 p.m. During
winter
Every Day
541-386-3940
Stonehedge Gardens
Restaurant
transmission lines are
nearby.
Although it’s near the
John Day Dam, the project
would have little impact on
the Columbia River. It
would be a closed system,
recirculating the water be-
tween one lower and two
upper reservoirs. The only
water needed would be to
replace evaporation.
The system will use
more electricity than it
generates. The advantage
is the ability to sell the
power when it’s in demand
and prices rise, project
leader Brian Skeahan said.
The PUD is hoping larg-
er utilities in Oregon and
California will invest in
the project.
Getting the backers, li-
cense and permits and fin-
ishing smelter clean-up
work is likely to be a long
process. The PUD hopes to
begin construction in 2020.
Joe Guenther
Financial Advisor
1631 Woods Ct
Suite 102
Hood River, OR
97031
541-386-0826
www.edwardjones.com Member SIPC
Queen Size
Mattress Sets
Starting at $ 249
MURRAY’S
FURNITURE &
SLEEP CENTER
981 Tucker Road • Hood River
(541) 386-3915
Recycle Tips
METAL
- Steel, tin and aluminum
cans, rinsed, do not flatten,
do not place lids loose (crimp
inside a can).
- Paper labels can be
removed and recycled as
scrap paper.
- Small metal items (bottle
caps, steel wool, paper clips,
nails, 2” or less in length):
Place inside a metal can and
crimp it shut.
- Aluminum foil (“balled up”)
and aluminum trays (clean)
- Large metal items up to 30”
x 8” and up to 30 pounds
- Empty aerosol cans, Re-
move cap but not nozzle. Do
not puncture or flatten can.
& Tiger Lounge
Open Tues.-Sun. 11am-9pm
Intersection of Hwys 30 & 35
(541) 386-5331 • Hood River
www.chinagorge.com
www.tricountyrecycle.com
541-506-2636
We can help you ®
with your home purchase and refinance needs
Molly Searcy
Agi Bofferding
Mortgage Loan Officer
NMLS ID# 116243
Mortgage Loan Officer
NMLS ID# 114602
541.490.1827 Mobile
866.789.9515 Fax
msearcy@stearns.com
541.380.0501 Mobile
844.878.9483 Fax
abofferding@stearns.com
• Stearns Lending, LLC • Hood River Office • Licensed in OR & WA • Branch NMLS# 1161812 •
• 208 Third St. Hood River, OR 97031 • stearnshomeloans.com/hoodriver - Contact us today!
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