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About The Hood River news. (Hood River, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 28, 2015)
A4 V IEWPOINT Hood River News, Saturday, Februrary 28, 2014 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. It goes both ways KIRBY NEUMANN-REA Editor Thanks to our capitalist economy and the Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United, the Koch Brothers can spend hundreds of millions of private and corporate dollars to af- fect elections and push their agenda for the Keystone Pipeline and unre- stricted petroleum exploration. Bill Gates, perhaps one of the greatest innovators of our genera- tion, is choosing to use the privately- earned wealth he achieved through our capitalist economy to fund an education agenda whose purpose is the betterment of our children, cul- ture, and economy. Man, what a jerk. Steve Kaplan Hood River 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 OREGON NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION Printed on 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 Boiling Frogs Filing Time March 19 deadline nears to enlist for Special Districts ballot S tan Benson of Hood River quietly exited the Hood River County Planning Commission this week after 25 years of service. Benson deserves thanks for a quarter-century of service in what is largely a thankless role. Communities rely on people serving in appointed po- sitions, such as Planning Commissions for cities and the county, and in elected ones, ranging from county-wide ju- risdictions such as Transportation, Library or Parks, to location-specific bodies such as water and fire districts. The filing deadline is approaching for a busy ballot on the May 19 Special Districts election. It’s a long list, with plenty of opportunities for any- one interested in trying their hand at public service. Does anyone expect a typical board member to last for 25 years? It’s unusual, though not rare, but credit goes to anyone who serves with dedication for a term or two in these volunteer positions. The filing period ends March 19 for the Special Dis- trict election. Potential candidates can find the filing form on the Hood River County Elections website, hoodriver.co.us/elections. All applications must be in the Elections office no later than 5 p.m. on March 19. For details contact the Hood River County Elections office at 541-386-1442. Here is the complete list of open positions scheduled for the May 19 ballot: ■ HRC Transportation District Director 1 — unexpired 2- year term Directors — three 4-year terms HRC School District Position 1 — 4 year term Position 3 — 4 year term Position 5 — 4 year term Parkdale RFD Directors — three 4 year terms Westside RFD Directors — three 4 year terms Wy’East RFD Directors — two 4 year terms Crystal Springs Water District Commissioners — three 4 year terms Ice Fountain Water District Commissioners — two 4 year terms HRC Library District Board Members — two 4 year terms HRV Parks and Recreation Board Members — three 4 year terms Port of Cascade Locks Commissioners — three 4 year terms Port of Hood River Commissioners — two 4 year terms Odell Sanitary District Director — one 4 year term Parkdale Sanitary District Director — one 4 year term Directors — two 2 year unexpired terms I always thought that was a funny story, the one about the boiling frog — put a frog in boiling water, he’ll jump out, but if you put him in cold water that is slowly heated, he will be cooked to death. And scientists have shown this to be true. That poor, foolish frog! Ooooh, wait a minute, that sounds familiar. Scientist tell us that planet is warming, that the result will be catastrophic. Feel the heat? So long salmon . . . birds . . . water . . . our children’s future … Of course, Greg Walden could turn down the burner. It’s as simple as people speaking up. Demanding he take action. Like introducing a bill that charges a carbon fee at its source and passing the revenue to us (see citizensclimatelobby.org). But that froggy feeling is good — the warmth is so soothing . . . I can’t be bothered, it’s too complicated, Greg’s my friend, it’s a big conspira- cy . . .. Bubble, bubble . . . Lawrence Jones Hood River Increase oil train reporting The Hood River News needs to up its journalism game with its oil train reporting. There is no bigger threat to our way of life right now; an oil train derailing would do to our economy what the BP spill did to the Gulf Coast. Re the story in the Feb. 21 issue: Headline says the issue is “heat- ing up again.” This implies it had cooled off. The only thing that cooled off was the HRN’s attention to the threat. The story’s second graph: “... last week Oregon Public Broadcasting reported...” That’s basically the story, that OPB did a story. It should have been the HRN’s story to break, not OPB last week. It was over the discovery that Union Pacific is running 7 to 10 mile- long trains full of tar sands oil through the Gorge. Apparently, shockingly, neither the railroad nor the oil companies are required to in- form the states of Oregon or Wash- ington when these trains are coming that might have a “propensity to ex- plode during derailment.” That’s Bakken crude from North Dakota, which is also coming through. Tar sands oil from Canada sinks, to remain a black toxic blob in the river forever. The HRN says the OPB report doesn’t say how many of these trains are coming through. “Spill planners” for the states, ac- cording to the story, didn’t know there has been an increase since No- vember. Somebody knows how many of these trains are coming through, and whether they are carrying ex- plosive oil or toxic goo. The Hood River News needs to chase these questions. It’s the issue of our time, and the newspaper needs to lead. Sam Moses White Salmon Reform chemical safety The need for chemical safety re- form is growing increasingly ur- gent. Most chemicals have never been tested for possible health im- pacts, even as research shows that babies in the womb typically carry dozens of toxic chemicals and pollu- tants in their bodies. We have outdated legislation at the federal level (TSCA, the Toxic Substances Control Act), and indus- try spends untold millions yearly to prevent updating. TSCA makes it so difficult to prove harm from a chem- ical that, since it was passed in 1976, companies have only had to test about 3 percent of the 85,000 chemi- cals available for commercial use. Because of this failure at the fed- eral level, it is up to individual states to pass legislation to protect the pub- lic. Children are known to be espe- cially vulnerable to the adverse ef- fect of chemical exposures, yet they have exposures to both known and unknown toxicants in everyday products they play with, chew on, bathe with and sleep on. The value of prevention should be obvious. It is far wiser and less ex- pensive to prevent exposure to un- safe chemicals and air pollution than to have to treat the serious health problems that they can cause. For all of these reasons, I’m en- thusiastic about a bill recently intro- duced in the Oregon Legislature to better regulate toxic chemicals to which children are exposed. Toxics Disclosure for Healthy Kids Act (SB478) would require manufactur- ers to disclose chemicals of concern in children’s products and to phase out the use of toxic chemicals in cer- tain products. We all want what’s best for Ore- gon kids. I know Mark Johnson and Chuck Thomsen do too, and I urge them to protect kids’ health by pass- ing SB 478. Bonnie New (MD, MPH) Hood River Nestlé and water This letter is a continuation of the letters from David Michalek’s and Ryland Moore’s views on Nestle’s construction of their water plant in Oregon in the local area. If you look up the word “nestle.” it means “to lie in an inconspicuous manner.” We just pronounce it “ness-lee.” So the name of the company itself raises suspicions for me. I took a look on the label of one of their water bottles a short time ago. It said on there that they bottle water from a “municipal” in California. That is just a fancy way of saying they bottle “city water” there and sell it. Individuals are not companies, and fall under even more laws. Let’s not get things out of context. Nestle is a giant corporation. They are not just under Oregon laws; they are an international company. My humble opinion is to be cautious about al- lowing a giant like Nestle to come in and bring their international ways with them. However, if I remember correctly, the construction of this plant is more about JOBS than any- thing else. Maybe I am wrong? Mike Teems Jr. Mt. Hood-Parkdale A non-solution A response is needed to the article on Feb. 25, “Charge for that carbon.” Two students asked for a fee to busi- nesses, releasing carbons into the at- mosphere. They want a carbon tax for the State of Oregon. But the truth is that the sun is the main driver of climate, not man nor carbon dioxide. Such a tax would be a non-solu- tion for non-problem. Don Rose, MD Hood River W HERE TO WRITE President — Barack Obama, White House, 1600 Pennsylva- nia Ave., Washington D.C., 20500 E-mail: president@whitehouse.gov U.S. Senators — Sen. Jeff Merkley, 313 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510, phone 202-224-3753 Sen. Ron Wyden, Dirksen Senate Office Building 221, Washington, D.C., phone 202-224-5244 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 — Kate Brown, 254 State Capitol, Salem, OR 97310. Phone: 503-378-3111; E-mail: www.governor.state.or.us/email.htm 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 News: Kirby Neumann-Rea Editor HRNews@hoodrivernews.com Trisha Walker News/Features TWalker@hoodrivernews.com 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
