‘Kettles’ of Fun
Top Ten
‘Follies’
return this
weekend
– B1
A newcomer eyes the
Community Ed catalog – A5
HOOD RIVER, OREGON
Official Newspaper, City of Hood River and Hood River County
■
M IDWEEK E DITION
Vol. 109, No. 28
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8, 2015
Pressing
issues
In town hall, Merkley
blasts budget, calls for
‘action now’ over
climate change
By KIRBY NEUMANN-REA
“T he Politics of Climate
Change” will be the focus of a pre-
sentation this Wednesday, April
8, featuring former White House
staffer Dr. Johannes Loschnigg at
Springhouse Cellars in Hood River.
Doors open at 7 p.m., and the pre-
sentation is at 7:30 p.m., followed by
questions and answers.
This event is a fundraiser for
Hood River County School District
middle and high school science pro-
grams. A $5 donation will be invit-
ed at the door.
Dr. Loschnigg served as senior
policy analyst at the White House
Office of Science and Technology
Policy from 2009 to 2013. As part of
the Environment and Energy Divi-
sion, he helped develop federal pol-
icy for renewable energy, climate
change, aerospace and earth satel-
lite observations.
Previously, he was staff director
for the Subcommittee on Space and
Aeronautics of the Committee
on Science in the U.S. House of
Representatives, overseeing NASA
and U.S. civil space programs.
Springhouse Cellars is located at
13 Railroad Street, Hood River.
News editor
Port plans to
close on Lower
Hanel land buy
By PATRICK MULVIHILL
News staff writer
See PORT, Page A11
2 Sections, 22 Pages
www.hoodrivernews.com
‘Politics of
Climate
Change’
speaker
today
The Port of Hood River is taking
final steps to close on the purchase
of a 9-acre property in Odell, the
former lower Hanel Mill site. The
vacant lot could become a valuable
property for the Port as early as
July.
The property sits just off High-
way 35 north of Odell at 3289 Neal
Creek Mill, near the tracks of Mt.
Hood Railroad — a potential spot
for businesses in need of rail and
highway access. The Port is inter-
ested in subdividing the 9.3 acres
into several parcels for light indus-
trial use.
“We’ve got a pretty clear path to
finish the work we need to do to
close,” said Port Executive Director
Michael McElwee.
The Port originally voted to pur-
chase the site from Hanel Develop-
ment Group in May of 2014 at the
price tag of $850,000, subject to a
five-month due diligence process.
However, the commission decided
it needed more time to assess the
property for “surprises” such as
environmental contaminants, said
McElwee.
“The commission wasn’t com-
fortable with that price with those
risks,” said McElwee. “So essential-
ly the purchase and sale agreement
expired but we remained interested
in it.”
The port underwent extensive
environmental analyses before
agreeing to renew their sale con-
75 cents
Photo by LisaAnn Kawachi
B EARING B LUE
Quinn Carloss, left, and Casey Beaman, both 9, reach high to attach blue ribbons on trees on Oak Street Saturday,
some of 3,000 in Hood River County prepared for the 24th annual Blue Ribbon Campaign during National Child Abuse
Awareness Month in April. The Child Abuse Advocacy Center hosts a fundraiser on April 19; learn more about that and
the Blue Ribbon Campaign on page A12.
High school students had the
first and last words at Sen. Jeff
Merkley’s town hall Monday night
at Hood River Middle School, call-
ing for action on immigration and
climate change.
Merkley, a Eugene Democrat,
told HRVHS senior Christina Gar-
cia he would
kee p work-
ing to revive
immigration
reform, say-
ing “our sys-
tem is bro-
ken,” and he
retur ned to
j u n i o r
C h a rl e y
Boonstra’s
concer n by
speaking to
c l i m a t e
change in his
Jeff Merkley
summing up
before the au-
dience of 75 people.
“We all have to tackle this to-
gether,” he said, pointing to a new
carbon reduction agreement with
China that he finds encouraging.
In the town hall, Merkley said he
supports the Iran nuclear frame-
work agreement and will work to
prevent Congressional opponents
from stopping it, and said revisions
are on the horizon in federal educa-
tion law, replacing No Child Left
Behind (NCLB).
Hood River Education Associa-
tion President Kelvin Calkins told
Merkley, “There are many ways to
assess (student progress). We don’t
have to test every student, every
grade, every year.”
Merkley told him, “No Child Left
Behind went way off track with
high stakes testing and the sham-
ing of schools, rather than support-
ing schools that need help. The
shaming of schools has not
worked, anywhere,” he said of
See MERKLEY, Page A11
Blossom Time: Cider Fest, Studio Tour and more
By KIRBY NEUMANN-REA
News editor
Blossom Time bubbles up this
weekend with the kickoff event,
the second annual Hard Pressed
Cider Fest, at Mt. Defiance Fruit on
Stadelman Drive in Odell, noon to 7
p.m. Saturday.
Also happening this weekend is
the annual Gorge Artists Open Stu-
dio Tour, April 10-12, throughout
the Gorge. This self-guided tour
provides visitors the chance to
meet and talk with artists in their
studios. A total of 38 artists will be
on hand from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. each
day.
Detailed maps are available at
www.gorgeartistist.org and at area
Chambers of Commerce, and Co-
lumbia Center for the Arts.
This year’s artists feature works
in a variety of media including
Submitted photos
OPEN STUDIOS tour: works in-
cluding photographer Leah Hed-
burg (cherries) and ceramist
Aimee Herring Brewer (vase)
highlight the April 10-12 event.
painting, drawing, jewelry, glass,
sculpture, photography, textless,
fiber, and more.
Hard Pressed Cider Fest is open
to all ages. Admission is $5 (ages 18
and under are free), and $5 for a
tasting cup and four tokens. Look
for more parking this year; admis-
sion is limited to 3,000 mug holders.
A total of 21 cideries from Hood
River and the Gorge as well as Port-
land and Washington state are ex-
pected (see list, page A11), and
there will be food, music, and a
kids’ area.
The monthly Second Saturday at
Western Antique Aeroplane and
Automobile Museum will host a
mini-car show featuring Dodge
Brothers automobiles on April 11.
WAAAM will have its 1916 Dodge
Brothers Roadster out to take part
in the retrospective of Dodge
Brothers vehicles. The restoration
shop will also be open for a tour at
1 p.m. and some airplanes from the
museum’s collection will be out get-
ting some exercise too.
Three weekends make up Blos-
som Time. The centerpiece on
April 18-19 will be the Blossom
Craft Show and the Blossom Fest
Quilt Show, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The fairgrounds are located in the
midst of orchard country at 3020
Wy’east Road, near the community
of Odell. Admission and parking
are free.
See BLOSSOM, Page A11
Four To Go
Panorama: April 11
Panorama, Hood River News’
four-part annual special section,
is coming. Panorama is your
guide to Blossom Time events
this month as well as the panora-
ma of pleasures of living in the
Gorge and will be included in the
April 11 edition.
7
05105 97630
3
Get Thee
to the Library!
HRVHS cheer
holds Clinic Sunday
Stewards seek help
on Indian Creek
Hood River Library
hosts a passel of events for
Shakespeare Week, April
21-24; kids can pick up
bookmarks starting April
14.
Shoe Box stagecraft hap-
pens April 21; assemble
your own shoe box theater
and all the world’s your
stage. Portland’s Original
Practice Shakespeare
troupe on April 23.
Students 7-14 are invited to
Sunday’s cheerleading clinic at
HRVHS, 1 to 4 p.m., taught by two
juniors on cheer squad, for their
Extended Application project.
Cost is $10, with all funds going
to HRVHS cheerleading. Learn
dance, chants, motions, jumps
and crowd-working tips. For de-
tails call Kelsey at 541-399-6634 or
Skylar at 490-7441. The camp is
recommended for any eighth-
grader planning to try out for fall
squad.
To celebrate Earth Day, Indian Creek
Stewards will replace blackberry and
other noxious weeds on Indian Creek.
Volunteers are needed on April 18 to
spread mulch to discourage noxious weed
infestation.
Meet on Broken Tree, west of Indian
Creek Golf Course; work goes from 9 a.m.
until about 1 p.m.
Bring a wheelbarrow, rake, or shovel;
coffee and snacks will be provided. For
details, contact Megan Saunders or at 541-
386-6063 or megan@hoodriverswcd.org.