www.hoodrivernews.com
Hood River News, Wednesday, May 13, 2015
L ETTERS
Continued from Page A4
tendance and sales at the markets. Her insights were very ex-
tremely valuable.
I also know Chris as a parent and have volunteered with her
in our children’s classroom. She is always up for any task that
needs to be done and gets the job done. Our schools need help
making tough decisions in the light of budget cuts and full class-
rooms. Chris will put our kids first and will work with other
board members to reach creative solutions to complex prob-
lems. Chris is the right choice and I encourage you to give her
your vote.
Todd Dierker
Hood River
Fenner running
My name is Guy Fenner, and I am running against incum-
bent Charlotte Arnold for a seat on the Columbia Gorge Com-
munity College Board. I believe that access to higher education
is an important step toward success. I have Bachelor’s and Mas-
ter’s Degrees in Engineering, and have worked for 32 years de-
signing satellites. y wife is an educator, and we have two sons
now attending Wy’east Middle School; I hope that they will at-
tend CGCC in the future.
The recent financial difficulties at CGCC have been well doc-
umented.
Community colleges like CGCC exist to help a wide variety of
students, including those with limited financial resources, de-
veloping English skills, and/or poor academic success in high
school. It is CGCC’s responsibility to provide these students
with the support services they need to achieve their academic
goals. Unfortunately, student services have been among the first
to suffer from the current budget cutbacks at CGCC. The offices
of Financial Aide and Student Advising have been particularly
hard-hit.
If elected to the Board, I plan to address the lack of sound
long-term financial planning, as well as the breakdown of trust
between the faculty and the Board/President. I will strive to
make the work of the Board more transparent to the public so
that “surprises” such as the announced closing of the Hood
River campus are avoided in the future.
In recent years, the leadership and management of the col-
lege has not been up to the standards deserved by this commu-
nity, with the exception of Stu Watson, who has been the lone
voice of dissent in many critical issues.
Hold the current Board — with the exception of Stu — ac-
countable by voting for candidates with a new vision: Fenner,
Watson, and Fairchild.
Guy Fenner
Hood River
Disrespectful
I recently learned that Hood River Valley High School’s prom
has been the same weekend as Mother’s Day for the last several
years. I can understand this being an occasional unfortunate ac-
cident, but the annual conflict with Mother’s Day baffles me. I
don’t have children, but even I understand how this is incredi-
bly disrespectful to our local moms.
Prom is a big deal to most high schoolers. Choosing the dress,
renting the tux, ordering corsages or boutonnieres, deciding
where to have dinner, renting a limo (or wishing for one), being
asked, being turned down, or not being asked at all — the whirl-
wind that is Prom results in an exhausted kid the next morning,
on the one day that is supposed to be All About Mom.
Only it’s not. For the moms whose children are seniors, this
is their last year of having a Mother’s Day at home with their
child, a nearly grown child who is now worn out, cranky, broke,
and either wants to talk about Prom nonstop, or not talk at all. I
see my friends’ disappointment. I would expect the adults at the
high school to recognize this conflict, and to realize that the
moms — many of whom have volunteered at the school in
countless ways for hundreds of hours — deserve more respect.
Perhaps the annual Prom/Mother’s Day conflict has been an
accident, with those planning the prom having no way to know
when Mother’s Day is going to happen. Please let me help. At-
tention HRVHS Prom Committee: Next year, Mother’s Day is
Sunday, May 8. Please show some respect for your mothers and
do not plan your prom for May 7. You may not understand until
many years from now, when you finally taste the sentimental
sweetness that is Mother’s (or Father’s) Day for yourself. Trust
me, the apparently intense sacrifice of having your prom on
May 14 or April 30 next year will be worth preserving Mother’s
Day for the women — the women raising teenagers — who de-
serve to be celebrated.
Julie Hatfield
Hood River
Valle for board
Please write-in Leticia Valle for Transportation Board.
Born and raised in Hood River, my current work and focus in-
cludes efforts in eliminating health disparities and serving the
most vulnerable people in our community. I’m proud to work on
bringing our county’s Latino and Anglo communities together.
We NEED more Latino involvement in governance and I am
your willing candidate.
My team and I have met with various community members
about the transportation problems our elderly, low income pop-
ulation and Hispanic/Latino neighbors face in Hood River
County. We learned many things, including that the local bus
service is far from what it could be. We also learned that only
two people were running for three slots for the county’s trans-
portation board, so that means a write-in candidate can also be
elected.
I am asking for your help. If you haven’t yet voted and you’re
open to this recommendation, would you please:
* Go to the second box down in the middle column of your bal-
lot — it’s labeled “Hood River County Transportation District —
Director — Four Year Term”
* You’ll notice only two names listed, with lines below for a
write-in name
* On the top empty line write Leticia Valle — I am currently
a Community Health Worker for The Next Door
* Be sure to fill in the oval to the left of my name
* Please spell my name correctly — misspellings do not count,
and if you use my nickname (Leti), that will be recorded as a dif-
ferent person.
Thanks very much. I look forward to giving a voice to the His-
panic/Latino community on these issues.
Leticia Valle
Mt. Hood/Parkdale
Need new GOP formula
For Republicans with a high energy conservative bent, there
is hope for winning back the presidency. But not with a candi-
date that’s still in a “moderate malaise-daze.” That failing for-
mula allowed the Democrats to win the White House twice. It’s
time to get behind and fully support a tried and true conserva-
tive to finally reverse the curse of the GOP losing trend. Other-
wise, those Republicans still miserably mired in that “moderate
Malaise-daze” will repeat … after another defeat … “the awful
ode to failure.” It goes like this: “It’s 2016 … and again we lose …
our apologies, Ben Carson … our apologies, Ted Cruz.”
Bill Davis
Hood River
No to self-service
What ever happened to “we the people” deciding whether
we wanted to pump our own gas? I for one don’t want to. I
never buy gas in Washington for that reason. Now it looks
like I will have to buy gas in Gresham on my way through in-
stead of buying locally. It does not make gas less expensive. I
hope those of you in charge will reconsider this. It takes jobs
and money out of our town.
Myrna Holmes
Mt. Hood
No to fluoride
Putting fluoride into drinking water is a debated issue.
Some of my concerns are: fluoride works by having it cover
your teeth, not by consuming it; some people are sensitive to
it and with fluoridated water, you cannot control the dose
each person receives; bottled-fed babies get the highest dose;
and, over time, fluoride accumulates in tissues, bones and in
the pineal gland.
My largest concern is that the chemicals used to fluoride
Fundraising Opportunity
W ATSON
Continued from Page A4
and layoffs.
New courses and certificates announced in November have
been shelved to balance the budget. How will that increase en-
rollment?
The person who led CGCC fund-raising efforts for eight
years? He quit in January, out of disgust.
It’s distressing to me that the rest of the board seems to
care little about this. I do. That is why – once privately on
Nov. 24, and again publicly at the March board meeting — I
have asked Dr. Toda to resign. And it’s why I am running for
re-election. It’s time to get this school back on track to “build-
ing dreams, transforming lives.”
■
Stu Watson has been on the college board since 2007. Before
that he served on the Budget Committee and Annexation Com-
mittee.
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Hood River Weather Forecast
Date
Today May 13
Thurs. May 14
Fri. May 15
Sat. May 16
Sun. May 17
Forecast
AM Showers
Partly Cloudy
Partly Cloudy
Partly Cloudy
Partly Cloudy
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Daytime / Overnight
High / Low (°F)
65° / 48°
71° / 51°
74° / 52°
70° / 50°
74° / 52°
water are not pharmaceutical grade, but instead are mostly
by-products from the fertilizer industry. Putting fluoride into
the water seems risky and it is questionable if it even helps.
The largest survey ever conducted in the US (Hileman 1989)
with over 39,000 people in 84 communities by the National In-
stitute of Dental Research showed little difference in tooth
decay among children with fluoridated and non-fluoridated
water. I am glad our county voted against it.
Pamela Larsen
Hood River
Stu has vote
Stu Watson is running for Columbia Gorge Community Col-
lege Board of Directors and he will get my vote. The college has
been going through a rough time and Stu Watson is the only
board member who is standing up and calling for change.
Brushing trouble under the rug is not a solution. Please cast
your vote for Stu Watson and send a message that change is
needed for our Community College to grow and succeed.
Rich McBride
Hood River
Idea for center
I would like to open a senior center not associated with any
government agency. One that uses natural health- foods. A place
to go when the AMA has no answers. A place where seniors are
in control.
Would like others, so we can start a board etc., naturopathic
doctors.
Paul Nevin
Hood River
Hold town halls on Nestle
Let’s have a conversation about what’s best for Cascade
Locks.
In a May 6 letter to the editor, Ruth Turner writes that she
finds it “really tiring” to read opposition pieces to Nestlé’s pro-
posal for a water bottling plant in Cascade Locks. In an April
10th article in the Oregonian, Gordon Zimmerman, the city ad-
ministrator of Cascade Locks, hopes that a pending water ex-
change deal with ODFW will get us “down the road” and says,
“I’m sure there’ll be opposition, but it (the deal) narrows the
scope of opposition.”
As a resident of Cascade Locks, it saddens me to read what
both these individuals have to say. This is not a time for becom-
ing tired and dampening voices. Opposing viewpoints very
often provide valuable perspective, and we need to listen to
them, not narrow the scope and quite possibly our critical
thinking. The issue is just too important, for everyone.
In the first paragraph of the “Nestle Fact Sheet,” which is on
the city’s website, Gordon Zimmerman writes, “We are proud of
our community’s long standing commitment to water steward-
ship, and recognize the need to fairly consider and evaluate any
major new business opportunities that could provide a much
needed economic boost to our community.” Having reviewed
this fact sheet and standing witness to my city’s courting of
Nestlé, I do not feel that Nestlé’s proposal has been fairly con-
sidered and evaluated.
I respectfully request that both the City and the Port establish
a series of non-Nestlé run town hall meetings for residents to
safely voice their opinions and concerns around this proposal.
I, also, request that the City and Port bring in a skilled indepen-
dent facilitator to guide these discussions and to capture them
for others. A city-wide survey would be helpful as well.
We do not live in a vacuum, and Cascade Locks will not be
successful as a city until it sensitively listens both to its citizens
and, just as importantly, to the voices of “outsiders,” who often
bring important perspective. We need to keep speaking our
minds and asking questions. If we don’t, we may get stuck with
something we didn’t envision at all.
Edward del Val
Cascade Locks
Apr. 18th
Newport
47° | 51°
Salem
47° | 57°
May 21 • 1 pm & 6 pm
Utah/OR/WA: $80.00 or Oregon only: $45
Best Western Plus Hood River Inn
OR / Utah: (Valid in WA) $80
or Oregon only: $45
FirearmTrainingNW.com
FirearmTrainingNW@gmail.com
360-921-2071
Humidity 80%
Wind Speed WNW 3 G 9 MPH
Barometer NA
Dewpoint 46°F (8°C)
Visibility NA
Pendleton
44° | 65°
Bend
36° | 51°
Ontario
48° | 74°
Eugene
46° | 55°
Last update 11 May 7:00 am PDT
IDAHO
North Bend
48° | 52°
Medford
39° | 60°
Klamath Falls
32°
| 53°
CALIF.
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Today’s Forecast
Mon. May 18
Tues. May 19
Partly Cloudy
AM Showers
541-386-1123
76° / 54°
A 50 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high
near 61. West wind 5 to 7 mph. New precipitation amounts
between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
72° / 54°
@gVc #& JVRcd
6iaVcZV_TV
3140 W. Cascade, Hood River
Ac`WVddZ`_R]]j
EcRZ_VU EVTY_ZTZR_d
Utah
- (valid 35-states)
Washington-Utah
Best Western: Red
1419
W Main
Ground
McMinnville
Lion:
2535 St.,
NE Battle
Cumulus
Ave
WASH.
Portland
50° | 56°
CONCEAL CARRY
CONCEALED
CARRY
PERMIT CLASS
CLASS
PERMIT
Oregon
Oregon-
Jan.
5 pm
1pm 7th
or · 6pm
Oregon Weather Map
Astoria
49° | 56°
A5
7RTe`cj
BfR]Zej ARced
Actual High / Low
AGRIMET HOOD RIVER OR
Lat: 45.6842 Long: -121.5181 Elev: 510
http://uspest.org
May
May
May
May
May
May
May
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
64/42
60/43
61/40
73/35
79/40
82/42
75/46
Updated Monday, May 11
at 9:00 a.m. PST
Data from www.weather.com
3Vde 3cR\V
HRccR_ej