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About The Hood River news. (Hood River, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (June 10, 2015)
Lacrosse takes the Cup Finale for ’15 – B1 – A9 M IDWEEK E DITION Vol. 109, No. 46 Official Newspaper, City of Hood River and Hood River County HOOD RIVER, OREGON ■ WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10, 2015 75 cents 2 Sections, 24 Pages www.hoodrivernews.com Champs! Photo by Ben Mitchell HRV BASEBALL COACH Erich Harjo lifts the OSAA 5A State Championship trophy high as he and the Eagles ride atop a fire truck in a victory parade Saturday evening through downtown Hood River. Earlier that day, No. 7 HRV defeated No. 1 Liberty, 2-0, in the title game in Keizer. The game concluded HRV’s phenomenal playoff run, in which the team shut out every one of its opponents. For coverage of the game, turn to Sports on page A9. Preschool options expand in Odell and Pine Grove BY TRISHA WALKER gual, with all instruction, stories, etc., spoken in both English and Whether it’s a new school in an Spanish. “Kids who don’t know English old location or an old program with a new teacher, preschool op- will lear n English, and vice tions have expanded in the middle versa,” she said. “Fully bilingual is a challenge … because you con- valley. tinuously go back and Longtime Mid Val- forth, but I like a good ley Bilingual challenge.” Preschool teacher T he cur riculum Socci Galve z will will be similar to that open Blossoms Bilin- at Little Learners and gual Preschool in the focus on social and Pine Grove Elemen- academic learning. tary building — Robledo has home to Hood River worked with a variety County School Dis- of age groups for 30 trict’s Early Inter- years, including in vention program — the Kids Corner at the with classes begin- Hood River Sports ning this summer. Club and with The Jovita Robledo of Socci Galvez Next Door, Inc. She’s Little Lear ners also served as a Preschool, located at translator. Hood River Valley “She’s going to be a High, will become the really nice addition new director and to the site,” said Lit- teacher at Mid Valley tle Learners director Bilingual this fall. and teacher Angela Robledo was a part Klein. “She has ties time teacher at Mid to the Odell commu- Valley Bilingual dur- nity, is easy going, ing the 2013-2014 and is knowledgeable school year, moving about kids. She’s to Little Learners as grown a lot in the a full time teacher for year she’s been here.” 2014-2015. She plans Robledo will host to keep the school’s Jovita Robledo an open house in late extended hours, but August; details will is waiting on enrollment numbers and parent suggestions before set- be announced closer to the date. Mid Valley Bilingual Preschool ting the schedule. The school’s general structure will not change, follows the Hood River County and there will be no lag in in- School District schedule. For struction, with the first day of more information or to enroll, school coinciding with the Hood contact Klein at 541-387-5723 or an- River County School District start gela.klein@ hoodriver.k12.or.us. “I’m going to miss Angela and date of Sept. 8. The school will be fully bilin- See PRESCHOOL, Page A7 News staff writer Photo by Kirby Neumann-Rea AT THIRD AND STATE, Mayor Paul Blackburn shakes hands with Stoner Bell of Bell Construction, after cutting the ribbon on the Urban Renewal Project. At right center is Hood River resident Eric Kerr of Crestline Construction, and Hood River City Manager Steve Wheeler. Below: a 2013 photo of a century-old stairwell that had been located at center in photo above. The ‘Reset’ on State Street City celebrates Urban Renewal completion By KIRBY NEUMANN-REA News editor The new street trees added need- ed shade as the City of Hood River formally dedicated the 18-month State Street Urban Renewal Project on the warm evening of June 5. Crestline Construction and Bell Design Company, lead contractors on the $5.4 million project, provid- ed free barbecue as well as the plaque that is in place at Second and State streets on the wall of the new elevated sidewalk between Second and First streets. The ribbon cutting by the Cham- ber of Commerce was just one part of a busy First Friday in downtown Hood River. “We are here to celebrate the fact that millions of dollars of work have been accomplished here in the core of our city,” Mayor Paul Black- burn said to the crowd of about 50 people assembled at the re- stroom/bike plaza at Third and State streets. “From the computers all the way to the asphalt they made it happen, they did the ‘think three times, measure twice, and cut once’,” Blackburn said. The redevelop- ment brought new streets and wider sidewalks, benches and amenities, and undergrounded utilities on State from Sixth to Front and on Front Street and Oak Street from Front to First streets. “I’d like to give a huge shout out to State Street businesses,” Black- burn said. “That wasn’t fun for us when we had a couple of winters of dirt roads. It felt like we were back in the old west. When you’re dig- ging up the main street of town it takes a while, you have to fill it back in, and it was tough and we made it through and look at what we have.” Blackburn recognized “the army of orange shirts,” present on Fri- day, the employees of Peterson Brothers Concrete, and Schuep- See STATE, Page A7 Four To Go GO! Green Drinks June 10 Gorge Owned (GO!) Green Drinks happens June 10 from 5:30-7 p.m. at Trellis Fresh Flowers and Gifts, 165 E Jewett Blvd., White Salmon, and will be co-hosted by Neff Designs. Browse Trellis’ inventory of home furnishing and gifts, and learn tips for summer home and garden decorating. Beer from Everybody’s, wine from Major Creek Cellars, and food from Pioneer Pizza. Green Drinks is a monthly networking event that aims to raise awareness of environmentally- friendly business practices while providing a quality networking opportunity for members of the commu- nity. Cost is a $5 sug- gested donation and free to GO! mem- bers. 7 05105 97630 3 Community Action offers energy assistance Parkhurst Place Gorge magazine plans honorary bench ready for reading The Mid-Columbia Community Action has received additional funding for LI- HEAP (Low Income Home Energy Assis- tance Program). Even though these funds have come very late in the heating assis- tance season, the agency would like to help more households with energy assis- tance. Funds are available for all three of service area counties, Hood River, Sher- man and Wasco. People who have not re- ceived assistance yet this year are invited to call The Dalles office at 541-298-5131 or Hood River at 541-386-4027 to schedule an appointment. Parkhurst Place on West May Avenue will unveil a combination bench and community library on June 25 with a free breakfast for the community. The Gene Lease and Ken Jernstedt families are sponsoring the bench. If you would like a veteran’s name inscribed on the bench, call Terri Hansen at Parkhurst, 541- 387-4660. The resurgence of paragliding, the growth of Gorge dis- tilling, and the ‘high tech boom’ of the re- gion are just three of the features found in the Summer 2015 edi- tion of The Gorge magazine, available at Hood River News and at local businesses. Last week, the Summer edition of the debut publication Savor The Gorge also hit the news- stands.