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Girls lax
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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.)