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
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Phone: (541) 386-1234
Fax: (541) 386-6796
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419 State Street
Hood River, OR 97031
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Phone: (541) 386-1234
Fax: (541) 386-6796
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(541) 386-1234
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