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About The Hood River news. (Hood River, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (April 15, 2015)
‘Voice’ star concert Blossom Time Entertainment features Taylor John Williams Craft Show, Quilt Fair B2 M IDWEEK E DITION Vol. 109, No. 30 A3 Official Newspaper, City of Hood River and Hood River County HOOD RIVER, OREGON ■ WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2015 75 cents 2 Sections, 24 Pages www.hoodrivernews.com ODFW approves water rights swap with CL Action paves way for Nestlé plant By PATRICK MULVIHILL News staff writer The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has agreed to trade water rights with Cascade Locks, which puts the city one step closer to bringing Nestlé’s proposed water bottling plant to its business park. The city of Cascade Locks and the state agency filed joint paper- work to the Oregon Water Re- sources Department last Friday. If approved by the department, the city would transfer 0.5 cubic feet per second (cfs) — 225 gallons per minute — of its ground water right in exchange for 0.5 cfs of ODFW’s water right to Oxbow Spring, locat- ed near Oxbow Hatchery on the east side of Cascade Locks. The city would then sell the spring water to Nestlé for bottling in its proposed 25,000-square-foot plant. In exchange, ODFW would use the city’s ground water for the Oxbow Fish Hatchery, sustaining its salmon tenants with a more con- sistent water source year-round. The first 30-day comment period for the cross trade began Tuesday, according to Oregon Water Re- sources Department Senior Policy Coordinator Racquel Rancier. Dur- ing this time, the department will review the cross transfer applica- tion and hear public input, then issue a decision in mid-May. From there, another 30-day comment pe- riod will commence. If there are no further legal challenges, the final transfer could be approved in June. Originally, the city and ODFW planned to enter a gallon-per-gallon “water exchange” without altering their respective water rights. How- ever, due to ongoing legal pressure from environmental groups, both the city and Nestlé sought out a way to speed up the process: a cross water rights transfer. According to a staff report earli- er this year from the city of Cas- cade Locks, the cross transfer is projected to be quicker than the ex- change, now taking an anticipated two years instead of four. This option bypasses a public in- terest review and instead progress- es to a review process conducted by OWRD. Bark, one of the environmental groups opposed to the partnership, expressed frustration at ODFW for filing for the cross transfer. Bark di- rector Alex Brown called ODFW’s cross land transfer decision “disap- pointing.” “This is the state telling (citi- zens) your concerns don’t matter,” See NESTLÉ, Page A9 blossom time is here A11: WEEK TWO EVENTS A12: PLENTY OF NEW Submitted photo FLAMES DEVOURED a cabin in Cascade Locks Saturday, leaving its residents without a home or possessions. CL home incinerated, family displaced BY PATRICK MULVIHILL News staff writer CIDER MAKER Christina Nance of Rack and Cloth in Mosier serves a glass of Stony Pig during Saturday’s Hard-Pressed Cider Fest. Clay in hand, artist Laurel Marie Hagner talks to visitors to her Glassometry studio Saturday during Gorge Open Artists Studio tour; turn to page A10 for more photos. FULL DETAILS on these and other events are in the Hood River News’ four-part special section Panorama, available at the News, 419 State St., and at the Chamber Visitor Center. (Hagner’s glass artwork is shown at the top of this page.) By KIRBY NEUMANN-REA News editor Blossom Time started with the cider spectrum — from clear to cherry red — enjoyed by an esti- mated 2,000 people at the second annual Hood River Hard-Pressed Cider Fest in Odell (see page B6 for photos). Art-lovers also made the circuit in the week- end-long Gorge Artists Open Studio Tour (pho- tos on page A10), which included a peek inside the cozy painting shed once used by the great- g randf ather of two artists on the tour. Blossom Time is just getting started. The cen- terpiece on April 18-19 will be the Blossom Craft Show and the Blossom Fest Quilt Show, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Hood River County Fair- grounds. Admission and parking are free — turn to page B2 for full details. One of the longest standing Blossom events is the 22nd annual Park- See BLOSSOM, Page A11 Two adults and one child were displaced Saturday by a fire that destroyed their home in the 700 block of Northwest Forest Lane in Cascade Locks. Christina Fehd, Shane Barron and 13-year-old son Logan Barron lost their home and roughly $60,000 in personal possessions in the fire. Cascade Locks Fire Department, Hood River Fire Department and Stevenson Fire Department re- sponded to the scene Saturday evening. The fire destroyed the cabin and nearby trees before fire fighters could subdue the flames. The fire was contained before it could spread to a neighboring apartment complex. No injuries were reported, but the family lost nearly all of their possessions and may have lost their cat, which vanished after the fire, said Fehd’s daughter, Ariel Ontiveros. “We had just the clothing on our back,” said Fehd. Ariel Ontiveros said she wit- nessed the fire and alerted the fam- ily after calling 911. “We started hearing stuff blow up inside,” said Ontiveros. “By the time I called 911, flames came out of the win- dows … it just engulfed.” The American Red Cross of the Cascade Region responded to the scene and provided food, clothing and temporary lodging at a motel in Cascade Locks. The family stayed there for three days before relocating to a friend’s travel trail- er. The 40-year-old cabin was built by Barron’s family, and was well known in the community accord- ing to Ontiveros. A donation fund to help the fam- ily has been set up at the Riverview Bank in Stevenson. Cash donations can be made at the Barron fund at Riverview bank in Stevenson or online at www.gofundme.com/rnq3bfc. For more information, contact Linnea Prowett 503-888-0589. Young Voices “The statement ‘you only live once, eat local,’ shows how our choices can affect the way our body functions work properly.” Klahre House students pay tribute to local agriculture, in words and pictures, in this week’s Kaleidoscope, which runs on pages B1 and B12 . Four To Go Chamber hosts Coffee Clatter April 17 Saddle Club fundraiser April 17 Internet Cat Video Fest is Saturday at Arts Center HRVHS invites ‘19 students to open house April 15 The April Chamber of Commerce Coffee Clatter will be 8-9 a.m. April 17 at Cascade Acupuncture (5th near Cascade), which is celebrating its 10th anniversary. Coffee, goodies, and networking available. Business windows are bound to stand out this week — the Chamber’s first Blos- soms window display contest is on at local Chamber businesses; judging took place April 10. The Hood River Saddle Club (Country Club and Belmont roads) will host its annual spaghetti feed fundraiser on April 17, from 5-8 p.m., serving all you can eat spaghetti, garlic bread, salad, beverage and dessert. Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for children ages 6-12. Funds raised will support the Mt. Hood Pony Club and scholar- ships for local high school se- niors. For more information, call Helen Hansen at 541-386-5913. Columbia Gorge Cat Rescue and Columbia Center for the Arts present the Internet Cat Video Festival from the Walker Art Center, Sat- urday at the center, Third and Cascade streets. Activities include a raffle, face painting, cat photo contest, local cat videos, silent auction, and more. The Walker’s Internet Cat Video Fes- tival is a traveling show that features an 80- minute reel of clips culled from 10,000 submis- sions. Tickets, available online or at the Center, are just $10 for adults, and children 11 and under are $5. The event starts at 6 0p.m. and films begin at 7:30 p.m. Students and parents of the Class of 2019 are invited to Hood River Valley High School’s Open House on April 15 to tour the school and learn about the academic programs and re- quirements, meet the counselors and adminis- trators, and learn about the many clubs and athletic teams offered at HRV. Students will turn in completed forecast sheets, and enroll- ment and locker request forms. For those incoming freshman students who do not attend a Hood River County middle school but are interested in attending HRVHS, there will be an informational meeting prior to the Open House at 5 p.m. in Room E20. 7 05105 97630 3