A2 Hood River News,
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
G REATER G ORGE
www.hoodrivernews.com
Interest in early childhood education
sought for Lyle, Dallesport area
By AMBER MARRA
The Enterprise
Three entities are explor-
ing the possibility of bring-
ing an Early Childhood and
Education Assistance Pro-
gram (ECEAP) back to serve
the Lyle and Dallesport
area, but are in need of qual-
ifying parents to express in-
terest first.
The Mid-Columbia Chil-
dren’s Council (MCCC), Lyle
School District, and Educa-
tional Services District 112
have been working together
to reestablish Lyle and
Dallesport ECEAP.
That area’s ECEAP was
nixed when the arbitrary
and across-the-board cuts
known as the sequester took
effect in 2013-2014. Now that
the three entities are at-
tempting to form a partner-
ship to bring it back for next
school year, income-eligible
parents expressing interest
in taking advantage of the
program is vital to its re-
turn in Dallesport, accord-
ing to Matthew Solomon, ex-
e c u t ive d i re c t o r o f t h e
MCCC.
“One big ‘if ’ is if there is
enough income-eligible chil-
dren in that area. We need at
least nine-to-10 kids that are
eligible, or we can’t go to the
state to ask for the money
for (ECEAP) because we
can’ t justify the need,”
Solomon said.
To get the program start-
ed, there needs to be at least
10 income-eligible families
expressing interest as soon
as possible.
Income eligible parents of
3- or 4-year-old children
should contact Julie Larson,
parent-student community
engagement specialist with
the Lyle School District, im-
mediately if interested. She
can be reached at (509) 365-
2211.
When it comes to ECEAP,
“income eligible” means a
family has to be 110 percent
of the federal poverty level
or below. For example, a
family of four that makes
$26,235 per year would quali-
fy as 110 percent of the fed-
eral poverty guideline and
therefore be eligible for
ECEAP.
According to Larson, chil-
dren from outside the Lyle
and Dallesport area would
be accepted into the pro-
gram, but they might not be
eligible for transportation to
the ECEAP facility, if it
comes to fruition.
“Any child that’s in foster
care would be a priority,
children with disabilities
are welcome and we’d be
ready to accommodate them,
plus we would have bilin-
gual staff,” Larson said.
But all of that is depen-
dent on a few things. As pre-
v i o u s ly m e n t i o n e d , t h e
school district, the MCCC,
and ESD 112 need to know
that there is a need for the
return of an ECEAP in the
Lyle-Dallesport area, then if
10 or more families do ex-
press interest the three enti-
ties have to apply for the
funding from the state to
form the program and get it
going for next school year,
according to Solomon.
“There’s a lot of ‘ifs.’ If
the state of Washington and
the legislature provide us
with funding for expansion
of ECEAP we’d also have to
see which particular design
the funding could support.
We’re not sure if it would be
a three-day model, like we
run in Goldendale, or five
days per week, which is un-
likely unless they really in-
crease the amount of fund-
i n g we g e t p e r ch i l d , ”
Solomon said.
Larson said programs like
ECEAP and Head Start are
important for 3- and 4-year-
olds because it gets them
ready to enter a structured
learning environment.
“They develop really valu-
able social skills and they
learn to interact with their
peers and get a lot of really
good exercise and support
for their health, like meals,
and they learn basic acade-
mics, like the alphabet and
how to write their names,
how to handle books and
Photo by Amber Marra
POSEIDON ESSEX and Ella Zaugg explored the letter F by creating flowers in Shelly Spadaro’s kinder-
garten class at Dallesport Elementary last Thursday. The Lyle School District, Mid-Columbia Children’s
Council, and Educational Services District 112 are exploring options for bringing an Early Childhood
and Education Assistance Program (ECEAP) back to the Lyle and Dallesport area. ECEAP serves as an
environment where 3- and 4-year-olds can learn basic social and academic skills before entering the
kindergarten classroom.
that school and learning is
fun,” she said.
L a r s o n h o p e s t h at i f
ECEAP is established it can
be close to Dallesport Ele-
mentary School so the chil-
dren in the program can oc-
casionally get a taste for
what goes on in a kinder-
garten classroom before ini-
tiating their academic ca-
reer.
“Some kids are anxious
when they hear about school,
so it can reduce that. The
nice thing about being so
close to Dallesport Elemen-
tary would be that kids can
interact and get a sense of
what kindergarten will be
like, which is all part of
preparing them to be suc-
cessful in school,” Larson
said.
City, county officials restart riverfront park discussion
By SVERRE BAKKE
The Enterprise
Is a riverfront park in
White Salmon’s future?
City and Klickitat County
officials are in the initial
stages of discussing the pos-
sibility of a lease or a lease-
purchase ag reement for
some 800 feet of undeveloped
riverfront acreage that sits
between the Columbia River
shoreline and the BNSF Rail-
way main line east of the
Hood River Bridge.
Mayor David Poucher
made a new pitch to the
County Board of Commis-
sioners on Jan. 6 concern-
ing the narrow strip of land
that the county now holds
through tax foreclosure.
City officials wanted the
County Board to give the
city the land a few years
ago. Now, it wants the coun-
ty to entertain a lease or
lease-purchase agreement
for the property, contingent
on the city’s ability to se-
cure necessary agreements
for access to the water.
“What we would like to do
is some kind of long-term
purchase
a g reement,”
Poucher told The Enterprise
last week. “The City Council
likes the idea be-cause it
could offer a range of recre-
ational opportunities for the
residents of the community.”
According to the city’s
Shore-lines Master Plan, the
property in question is desig-
nated as a Conservancy En-
vironment, “and could only
be used for recreation,”
Poucher said.
City officials approached
the County Board a few years
ago with a request that the
county deed the property to
the city as the site for a fu-
ture park. The County Board
balked at giving the land
away because of the amount
owing in taxes to local junior
taxing district. Commission-
ers took the position that the
city had to pay the back
taxes, interest, and penalties
owing on the land. The city
declined the offer because it
did not have money available
to acquire the property.
Commissioner David
Sauter of Lyle said the Coun-
ty Board was “ambivalent to-
ward anything other than a
sale” when city officials first
broached the idea.
Since then, the County
Board has reconsidered and
has indicated to Mayor
Poucher that it is “open to
the idea of a lease or sale”
because “it would be nice to
get the taxes paid back.”
At this juncture of the pre-
liminary talks, “the ball is in
the city’s court,” Sauter said.
“But I’m pretty confident
something is going to happen
if the city can work out ac-
cess with the tribe and the
railroad.”
Poucher said City Admin-
istrator Pat Munyan Jr. will
be meeting on the ground
with BNSF representatives
in the second week of April
to discuss access through
BNSF facilities to the water-
front.
“T hat’s the big one,”
Poucher said, “Can we get
across the railroad side of
it?”
He said BNSF has prelimi-
narily indicated its interest
in working with the city to
resolve its access issues.
“What we’re hearing from
the railroad folks is, ‘You
know, this sounds doable.
Let’s go look at, scope it out,
talk about it, and see where
we can go,” Poucher noted.
“We’re keeping our fingers
crossed and trying to build a
relationship with BNSF to
help us get this done.”
Photo courtesy of Klickitat County
PHOTO outlines property where
the City of White Salmon would
like to put a riverfront park. Dis-
cussions with the county and
The North Bonneville Pub- enues from the store to sup- larly sends representatives take control of the debate BNSF are in preliminary stage.
First government-owned pot shop opens in North Bonneville
lic Development Authority
(NBPDA) announced the
opening of The Cannabis
Corner, the nation’s first gov-
ernment owned and operat-
ed recreational marijuana
store on March 7.
Operating under Washing-
ton’s marijuana law, I-502,
and licensed by the Washing-
ton State Liquor Control
Board, The Cannabis Corner
sells a wide variety of mari-
juana, marijuana-infused ed-
ibles and liquids, and related
glass paraphernalia. The
NBPDA will use the rev-
port public safety within the
city of North Bonneville.
North Bonneville Mayor
Don Stevens says, “The city
formed the NBPDA to ensure
that marijuana sales are
done in a way that maxi-
mizes the benefits to our
community while minimiz-
ing any ne gative conse-
quences.” While the city
looks to benefit from the en-
deavor, he says “the revenues
will certainly be helpful, but
our first priority is public
safety.”
Noting that the PDA regu-
to Skamania County’s drug
prevention committee,
Board President Tim Dudley
expressed his desire for the
NBPDA to be, “a strong pro-
ponent for responsible use of
marijuana through educa-
tion of our customers and an
alliance with drug treatment
efforts.”
Mr. Dudley went on to ex-
plain that “the NBPDA is an
entirely separate legal entity
from the city,” but that “it
can serve as a model for
other cities in Oregon and
Washington who want to
and situation rather than sit-
ting on the sidelines.”
The store will be open
seven days each week, from
11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
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