Brewery Bloom
Full Sail
employees
approve
sale – A2
In Schools
‘Work Day’ seeks sponsors – A9
School sports has sprung – A7
HOOD RIVER, OREGON
Official Newspaper, City of Hood River and Hood River County
■
W EEKEND E DITION
Vol. 109, No. 21
SATURDAY, MARCH 14, 2015
75 cents
2 Sections, 18 Pages
www.hoodrivernews.com
Positions open
for the asking?
As March 19 ballot filing deadline nears,
many elected positions have no candidates
By KIRBY NEUMANN-REA
But if the election were held to-
morrow, most races would provide
Wanted: water, sanitation, port no choice – and possibly no candi-
dates at all.
and transportation direc-
The deadline to file is
tors.
VACANT
March 19, at the County
The May 19 Special Dis-
Elections Division. For de-
SEATS
tricts election will call on
tails, call 541-386-1442.
List, page
voters to choose who will
Based on filings so far,
lead the boards and com-
A11
voters will have races be-
missions that oversee spe-
tween Chris Reitz and Rob
cial taxing districts all
over the county, including several Brostoff for the School District,
that cover the entire county.
See ELECTION, Page A11
News editor
Exhibiting Potential
Photo by Kirby Neumann-Rea
MAY STREET PARENT Rita Britt signs a letter in support of increased K-12 funding Thursday night at May Street, where
she attended the Teddy Webber Scholarship Night with her daughter, Tia, 3, and son, Talon, 6. “I’m a Hood River native and
I went through these schools, and now I have two children and I want them to have a good education,”Britt said.
Schools raise funding alarm
By KIRBY NEUMANN-REA
News editor
A rush-order letter writing cam-
paign is underway at the urging of
Hood River County School District
officials.
The Oregon Legislature is slated
to decide as early as Tuesday on a
2015-17 biennium funding package
for K-12 school support, and under
the $7.325 billion package, the low-
est and most likely to pass, Hood
River would look at $1 million in
cuts.
(See hoodrivernews.com for a full
version of this story.)
A second formula, $7.5 billion,
would provide “fragile stability”
for most districts including Hood
River, according to superintendent
Dan Goldman, who re por ted
Wednesday to School Board follow-
ing his visit to Salem earlier in the
week.
He said that while both are larg-
er than the current biennium, “nei-
ther option adds back anything cut
in the last 10 years.”
Saying “a more thorough discus-
sion on the Oregon education bud-
get proposal is necessary,” Gold-
man put out a call on Tuesday, after
his visit to Salem, asking district
patrons to let the Legislature know
they support increased K-12 fund-
ing.
“Put bluntly, the $7.235 billion
state budget is on the fast-track for
adoption in Salem and will equate
to an approximate $1 million reduc-
tion for our school district next
year,” Goldman said.
“The status quo does nothing for
fixing the fact that we (Oregon) are
the second highest in class sizes
(nationwide) and the fact that we
are near the bottom of the barrel in
See SCHOOLS, Page A2
S p o t l i g h t
a
t
u
r
d
a
y
THREE FIGURES AND THEIR
IMPACTS
According to Goldman, highlights
(or lowlights) of the three main
funding proposals include:
■ $7.235 million — “Could
equate to the elimination of teach-
ing positions raised class sizes, re-
ductions in athletics, and other
extra-curricular activities, or other
program reductions.”
■ $7.50 billion — “This funding
level would allow us to maintain
current class sizes, maintain curricu-
lum and technology infrastructure.”
■ $7.875 billion — This would
allow the district to make “targeted
investments” in instructional time,
lowering class sizes, career and tech-
nical education, Advanced Placement
offerings, engineering and arts.”
Museum welcomes
new director
By PATRICK MULVIHILL
News staff writer
After nearly a year in execu-
tive limbo, the History Museum
of Hood River County found a
new director in Megan Shue-
mate. The Wisconsin native
comes to the job with enthusi-
asm, experience and a drive to
put the museum back on the pub-
lic radar.
Shuemate, who stepped in
Monday, filled a vital position in
the museum that was vacant
since last May when former di-
rector Connie Nice resigned for
medical reasons.
Heritage Council chair Dottie
Gilbertson, who had assumed
managerial duties during the
void, was excited to welcome
Shuemate. “We’ve been without
a director for a long time,” said
Gilbertson. “I’ve been acting
kind of as an interim director
because we didn’t hire one as
fast as we wanted to.”
The museum director is the
only full-time, paid member of
Megan Shuemate
staff. With the title comes heavy re-
sponsibilities include planning
events and exhibits, coordinating
with local businesses and drum-
ming up public involvement for the
museum’s cultural initiatives.
According to Shuemate, literal
heavy duties are also a part of the
job. She cited “heavy lifting” as an
unexpected challenge in setting up
See MUSEUM, Page A11
A weekly series about a day in the life ...
Craftsman David McClure ‘builds’ life in HR
BY TRISHA WALKER
News staff writer
Photo by Kirby Neumann-Rea
Photo by Trisha Walker
BUILDER AND CRAFTSMAN David McClure has
lived and worked in Hood River for 22 years and is
a regular at local networking events, like Thursday’s
Small Business Showcase held at the Butler Bank Building
in downtown Hood River. One of his many specialties: Making
efficient, elegant use of space.
David McClure, of the Dave McClure, Co., and its sub-
sidiary Hood River Woodworking, has made a name for him-
self over the past two decades he’s lived and worked in Hood
River.
McClure is a builder and craftsman, and these days, the
bulk of his company’s work is in cabinets. He does a little bit
of everything, though, because the Gorge is a hard place to
have a specialty.
“There’s no shortage of specialized subcontractors, so you
have to do it all,” he explained. “I’ve been here for 22 years —
most of that time, I’ve worked as the David McClure Compa-
ny, doing remodeling. But we built our cabinet shop (Hood
River Woodworking) in 1998 and since then, an increased
amount of our work has become cabinets and other wood-
working things.”
He hasn’t built a house since 2012, though it’s something
he would consider depending on the design — if it’s energy
efficient — and the customer.
“I’ve done a lot of luxury homes, which can get pretty
See DAVID, Page A11
Four To Go
Climate Action Network
holds stencil party Monday
Sheriff beefs up enforcement
on St. Patrick’s Day
Columbia Gorge Climate Action Network meets
at 6 p.m. Monday at Riverside Community Church
over a potluck supper and then will participate in
a “stencil party” at 7 p.m. With help from artist
Janet Essley, participants will create new sten-
ciled artwork on t-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, tote
bags and cloth for banners to express concerns
about the coal and oil rail transport through the
Gorge National Scenic Area. Tools and paint pro-
vided. If you plan to attend please RSVP to Peter
Cornelison,
541-490-8473.
Hood River County Sheriff Office is
participating in a DUII enforcement
effort on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17,
funded through the National Highway
Transportation Safety Administration
and administered by the Oregon De-
partment of Transportation. The goal
is to reduce driving under the influ-
ence of intoxicants, through enforce-
ment and visibility.
If you have information about an
impaired driver or are concerned
about someone, please call 911 and re-
port it.
7
05105 97630
3
Bridge closure
scheduled next week
Dog poisoned at Event Site
After the reported injury of a dog that had
visited
the Event Site beach, Port of Hood
The Port of Hood River an-
River maintenance crews found animal poison
nounces that the Hood River-White
in an isolated area of the beach on the after-
Salmon Interstate Bridge will be
closed from midnight, March 16 to 6 noon of March 11. Crews cleaned up all prod-
uct that was found, and have since conducted
a.m. March 17 (for a total of six
hours) to make needed repairs to the two thorough sweeps of the entire waterfront
area. No other product was found during those
lift span gates. Crossings during
these hours will be allowed for emer- sweeps.
Warning signs have been posted at the Event
gency vehicles only, and must be co-
Site
beach. The Port urges all waterfront visi-
ordinated through 911 dispatch.
For more information, contact the tors to keep dogs on a leash at all times, and to
notify the Port immediately if they see any
Port of Hood River office at 541-386-
other poison pellets in the area by calling 541)
1645 or via email to
386-1645 or via email to porthr@gorge.net
porthr@gorge.net.