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About The Hood River news. (Hood River, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (May 13, 2015)
SPORTS CONNECTIONS Girls lax wins playoff game – Family Visiting program starts – A8 M IDWEEK E DITION Vol. 109, No. 38 75 cents 2 Sections, 22 Pages A7 HOOD RIVER, OREGON Official Newspaper, City of Hood River and Hood River County ■ WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2015 www.hoodrivernews.com Council says utility rates going up By KIRBY NEUMANN-REA News staff writer Monday’s City Council meeting proved to be like a syllabus of sum- mer work for Hood River City staff, council, and even citizens. Three efforts will receive heavy attention: increases in sewer and water rates, policy changes relating to affordable housing, and training and preparation for oil trail derail- ment. The key points are these: ■ Sewer and water — Rates will go up in 2016 to pay for needed im- provements, including replace- ment of harmful lead water pipes or joints, aged and inefficient clay sewer pipes, and in the fast-grow- ing west part of the city, for in- creased water pressure necessary for health and fire suppression. ■ Affordable housing — Aug. 29 is the city’s deadline to complete its updated policies pertaining to af- fordable housing, including zoning and building requirements, and the first opportunity for public input will be July 6, before the Planning Commission. Policy recommenda- tions will be the basis for impend- ing changes to code intended to en- courage an increased supply of housing in the city that is afford- able to low- and moderate-income residents. Most of the changes will be designed to maximize available land within the Urban Growth Boundary and encourage high-den- sity construction. ■ Oil trains — Oil train Fire chief Devon worries Wells announced Greater that his department Gorge — participated in a re- A2 gional training last month on emer- gency response to spills or fires caused by oil train derailment, and another Northwest regional train- ing is planned in association with the federal Environmental Protec- tion Agency sometime this fall in Bonneville; the training will table- top and in-water containment boom drills. In addition, a June 10 sharehold- ers meeting of local agencies and property owners will take place on June 10 and include White Salmon Fire Department, which has had training in dealing with flammable Bakken crude oil. See COUNCIL, Page A10 ‘Rejection is really just an opinion’ ‘Rejection Proof’ author at HRV BY TRISHA WALKER News staf f writer Photo by Kirby Neumann-Rea F ASTEST T UTUS I N T HE W EST Don’t let your fear of rejection hold you back. That was the message given to Hood River Valley High School stu- dents on May 4 by author and speaker Jia Jiang, who was on tour in support of his recently released book titled “Rejection Proof.” “My life mission is to build a world where people are not afraid of rejection anymore,” he said. This was his first visit to Hood River, and his first speaking en- gagement at a high school. He was invited by Sarah Wood, teacher at Klahre House Alternative School. She heard Jiang on a podcast and, after reading “Rejection Proof ” and learning he was coming to Port- land, asked him to make a stop in Hood River, too. “It’s based on his experiences challenging himself to be rejected 100 times because people are afraid of rejection,” Woods said. “He was not doing so many things because of the fear of rejection. Now, he’s a rejection coach.” Jiang told the students how his fear of rejection began — during his first school holiday party at age six, which “turned into a public roast” — and how it conflicted with the self who, at 14, decided he was going to be the next Bill Gates after the real Bill Gates visited his Bei- jing high school. His was a constant battle be- tween his 6- and 14-year-old selves, with the 6-year-old often winning. But he seemed to be on that en- trepreneurial path until a large in- vestor backed out of his fledging startup (with a one-line text mes- See AUTHOR, Page A8 A determined Lila May Schow, 4, left, turns on the jets with her friends in the kids’ race at Lila May’’s Tutu Trot. Turn to page B1 and B12 for story and photos. Helping Hands invites community on Thursday Many hands help the organiza- tion Helping Hands Against Vio- lence, and now they want to give back. The fifth annual Helping Hands Honoring Our Community event is Thursday, 6-8 p.m. at Spring- house Cellars in Hood River, and will feature wine and beer and gourmet appetizers, and music by Noah Tauscher and friends. The free event is all ages, and anyone is welcome to attend. The occasion will be one of general ap- preciation for community sup- port, in addition to some specific thank yous. They will go to Cathy Butter- field and Hood River Hotel, Gary Hebner and Mosier Grange, Ed Freysinger and Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital, Lisa and James Matheson and Spring- house, and Kirby Neumann-Rea and Hood River News. “It is our chance to have some fun, with some food and refresh- ments, and some music, and we in- vite anyone who has given in any way, or even if they haven’t, and want to learn more about the or- g anization,” said director Stephanie Irving. High profile events for Helping Hands include the Eat Dessert First Pie Contest in October. Year- round — 24/7, in fact — the agency provides shelter, counseling and other services to women in crisis situations. T he pro g ram, at www.helpinghands.com, is now in its 27th year. Photo by Trisha Walker JIA JIANG describes the powerful impact of Olympic rings formed by fresh donuts. YOUNG VOICES HRVHS Speech and Debate team takes second at state BY DAKOTA BICKLE This year, 11 members of Hood River Valley High School’s Speech and Debate team took a trip to Western Oregon University April 23-25. In the end, they attained second in the 5A school division, the best showing ever from the team. These students had all placed either first or second place at district competition, and were com- peting at the state level. Five members of the team made it to semi-finals, due to stellar perfor- Submitted photo mance. Sophomore Olivia Acosta, ju- HRVHS STUDENTS show off their second-place plaque at State Speech niors Darrian Thomas, Claire Hama- and Debate. From left are Olivia Acosta, Hannah Hart, Claire Hamada da, and Hannah Hart, and senior Lucas Campos-Davis all made it to the and Lucas Campos-Davis. semifinals in at least one event, some even in two. All of the people in speak- ing events made it to finals. Most of them placed as well; Campos-Davis got fourth in Radio Commentary, Hannah Hart and Claire Hamada received fourth as a Duo pair, and in the solo Poetry event, Hart placed third. Coach DeLona Campos-Davis said, “Winning second place in the 5A schools division is the best a Hood River team has ever done at the State tournament and is a testament to the hours of practice and preparation the students dedicate to perfecting their events.” Hannah Hart, a Speech cap- tain, said, “State was an amazing ex- perience. It was really fun to watch students from Hood River walk up on stage because I know they had worked hard.” The Speech and Debate team had a lot of new entrants this year, and many of them went to state, despite being so new. “The team had a very successful year due to combination of returning, experienced students and some talented newcomers,” said Cam- pos-Davis. “Upper class team mem- bers worked extra hard this year to help new members lear n their events.” The team is recruiting for the next year already, and hopes to do even better. Four To Go Bridge lane closures scheduled The Port of Hood River announces that the Hood River-White Salmon Interstate Bridge will have single lane closures for the entire week of May 11-15 between the hours of 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. each day. Com- muters using the bridge during those hours should expect up to 15 minute de- lays. For more info contact the Port office at 541-386-1645 or via email to porthr@gorge.net. 7 05105 97630 3 Parking restricted on State Street May 7-15 Spring into fun at History Museum Mount St. Helens slide show May 13 A section of sidewalk will be removed and replaced on the south side of State Street in front of the State Street parking lot until May 15. During this time there will be no parking on the south side of State Street in front of the parking lot. Permitted parking will be allowed only on the south side of the parking lot. There will be no parking on the north side of the lot. Vehi- cles with parking permits issued for the north side of the lot will be allowed to park in marked spaces throughout the downtown area during the construction period. Spring has sprung and so has a new ex- hibition at the History Museum of Hood River County. Have you ever wondered what the first wind surfing board looked like? The “Darby Board,” Newman Darby’s iconic “wind sailing” invention, is on display during the History Museum’s exhibition, Outdoor Recreation: The Heart of Hood River County. Learn how Hood River County’s many trails were formed, how Timberline was built, what to pack for a hike and much more. This limited en- gagement exhibition runs from May 16 through August 29. Local photographer Daryl Lloyd will pre- sent “Remembering the Year 1980” at Ska- mania Lodge in Stevenson on May 13, at 6:30 p.m. The presentation is part of the Mount St. Helens Institute’s Volcanic Views and Brews Scenic Pub Lecture Se- ries, which is celebrating the 35th anniver- sary of the mountain’s eruption. Lloyd will show about 50 slides that he took of Mount St. Helens over the course of several years. The community is invited to share mem- ories or just enjoy the program. Visit www.msinstitute.org. (This corrects an in- correct web address in Saturday’s paper.)
