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About The Hood River news. (Hood River, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (June 13, 2015)
www.hoodrivernews.com Hood River News, Saturday, June 13, 2015 A11 Windermere opens office on Oak Photo by Damian Wright FIREFIGHTERS WORK to douse the 7:10 a.m. Thursday fire at the Second Street overpass trail along Interstate 84. It took about 45 minutes to put down the fire, which burned the grass and shrubs along both sides of the trail. Windermere Real Estate, the largest regional real es- tate company in the Western U.S., has announced the com- pany has opened an office on Oak St. in Hood River. Located at 315 Oak St., it is the second office in Hood River for the Windermere af- filiate Windermere Glenn Taylor Real Estate. The com- pany’s office on Cascade Street has been open since the late 1990s. “We have a team of 50 top- tier real estate experts who value knowledge sharing and networking to better serve their clients. The office on Oak Street is designed with our brokers’ collabora- tive style in mind,” said Kim Salvesen-Pauly, owner of Windermere Glenn Taylor Real Estate, which also has offices in The Dalles, Bingen, and Stevenson. “Clients who work with Windermere brokers actual- ly have an entire team of pro- fessionals supporting them.” On May 1, the brokers’ team expand- ed worldwide. With mem- bership in the invita- tion-only Luxury Port- folio Interna- Kim Salvesen- tional pro- Pauly g ram, the brokers have global connections in a net- work of 200 market-leading real estate firms in more than 50 countries. “We are local. We are glob- al,” said Salvesen-Pauly. “With Luxury Portfolio, we have tremendous reach and can offer clients with high- end properties unparalleled exposure around the world.” Some of Windermere’s es- tablished brokers will move to the new Oak St. office, which includes space to allow for continued company growth. In keeping with the “We are local. We are global” mantra, the brokers have se- lected ar twork by local artists Angela Rouse and Rick Pauly of Stave Designs for office décor. The company will hold a grand opening celebration later this summer. The company’s office on Cascade Street will serve as the company’s headquarters. Salvesen also plans to rent out offices in the Cascade lo- cation, pointing out that there is a growing need among small businesses for space close to and in down- town Hood River. Wind stokes Thursday morning brush fire About 1,000 customers lost power after blaze next to freeway By KIRBY NEUMANN-REA News editor A wind-rocked power line apparently sparked and caused Thursday morning’s fire that resulted in about 1,000 electrical customers losing power. Hood River Fire Depart- ment and West Side Fire De- partment responded to the 7:10 a.m. fire at the Second Street overpass trail along Interstate 84. They needed about 45 minutes to douse the 20-by-100-square-foot fire, which burned a mix of dry grass and shrubs on both sides of the trail. The eight- foot concrete path runs east- west from Second Street, and then loops under the freeway about 100 yards down a slight incline. Power was fully restored by 9:30 a.m., according to Tom Gauntt, Pacific Power spokesman. Winds were blowing at about 45 miles per hour at the time, according to Hood River Fire Capt. Dave Smith. “The wind was definitely a factor,” he said. The fire burned in a mix of vegeta- tion, all of it dry, including blackberries, which Smith said look green and wet on top but are tinder-dry under- neath. Smith said the insula- tors atop the pole were clear- ly charred after two or more lines seemed to come into contact, causing the arc. Damage to the trail was min- imal, and the trail remains open. First on scene was the Hood River Fire engine, which staged on the east- bound on-ramp to the free- way. Firefighters placed an A-frame ladder over the chain link fence separating the trail and the on-ramp. Moments later, the brush rigs from West Side and Hood River arrived, and those vehicles were able to drive down the trail and apply direct hose access. Photo by Patrick Mulvihill CRAG RAT Paul Crowley presents Claudia Barros with a badge of honorary status as “Crag Rat for the day” Thursday, celebrating her rescue of a swimmer at Punchbowl Falls Sunday. B ARROS Continued from Page A1 school with Barros. Thomp- son invited Barros to speak at the Rotary meeting at the Columbia Gorge Inn on Thursday. Barros shared her story with the Rotarians, who re- sponded with enthusiastic applause. Then, Paul Crow- ley of the Crag Rats, also a Rotary Member, surprised her with a badge of hon- orary membership. Crowley said he checked L AST D AY O F S CHOOL C RUZ Continued from Page A1 Photos by Trisha Walker LINDA THORNTON, who retired on Friday after 36 years of teaching, gives her first grade stu- dents their report cards on the last day of school at Mid Valley Elementary in Odell. “I was in tears this morning,” she said. “I still love the kids, but I’m ready to go on the next adventure.” STUDENTS spent the morning working at stations, which included everything from puzzles to coloring. Above, Karen Bruno (left) and Giselle Romero play a game of Math Dots. His job at The Boys is to “make sure everything goes smoothly.” When he’s not pumping gas or helping cus- tomers, he’s busy stocking shelves. The Boys is a gas station, grocery store and deli, with burritos, gorditas, chicken strips, cheese burg- ers and corn dogs available in the hot case. They also sell pop, beer and, of course, Juanita’s items — another family business. But his favorite part of the job is the customers. “At my cooking job, I never see the public,” he said. “I only see the other cooks and servers.” That “cooking job” is at Romuls, located in down- town Hood River, where he’s also worked the past two months. He’s one of three of the restaurant’s cooks. “This (the store) is the exact opposite of that,” he said of The Boys. “I get to run all over the place and deal with the public.” And he gets to deal with the public a lot, because busi- ness is booming. S CHNEIDER Continued from Page A1 F IRE Continued from Page A1 was home to two adults and as many as five dogs, accord- ing to the Red Cross. Disaster volunteers from the Red Cross provided the victims with food, lodging, clothing, shoes and recovery informa- tion. The elderly couple lost their home, Payne said. They were unable to capture all of the dogs. One was scared and couldn’t be caught, she ex- plained. The burned home was well away from the former motel, where the fire started in a railroad tie close to the old Dinty’s Motel. Also burned in the fire, which started at 12:50 p.m., was an old antique store and former hotel. Payne said the fire burned about three miles to the east through brush and grass be- fore firefighters got it con- tained Wednesday night. At the peak of the flames, about 50 firefighters fought the fire, Payne said. Rufus, about five miles east of Biggs, was not threatened. A stretch of U.S. Highway 30 was closed temporarily. Crews from Klickitat, Gilliam, Wasco, and Sher- man counties and other agencies responded to the fire. Wednesday, June 3 in connec- tion with Muschaweck’s dis- appearance — two at a home in the same block of Clear Creek Road — but the link between the suspects and the victim’s death remains un- clear. The Schneider brothers are longtime friends of the Muschaweck family, said Jason’s mother, Sharon Muschaweck. Michael and Donald Schneider were charged with murder, burglary, theft, un- lawful use of weapon and the group’s bylaws and de- duced, “There’s nothing pro- hibiting me from making you a Crag Rat for the day.” The Crag Rats are a volun- teer team formed in 1926 that rescues lost and injured hik- ers in the greater Mt. Hood area. Nearly every summer, the team rescues people from the Eagle Creek Trail, a pop- ular tourist destination. “One of the places we do a lot of work is Eagle Creek. You actually saved us what we call a ‘call-out,’” said Crowley. “It was so cool what she (Barros) did, so heroic. She saved somebody’s life,” said Thompson. Thompson, who is a for- mer lifeguard, said water rescues are often dangerous for both parties, swimmer and rescuer. “It’s very com- mon for both people to die in a situation like this,” said Thompson. Barros is a Rotary Ex- change student who has lived with several host fami- lies in Hood River since Sep- tember, most recently Mike and Angela Schock. While at HRVHS, she participated in soccer and lacrosse. Barros plans to retur n home to Chile near the end of sum- mer. “Demand is g etting busier,” said Jaime Vira- montes, a cousin of Torres’ and longtime The Boys atten- dant. “Every day we strive for excellence in customer service.” “The hardest part is mak- ing it look easy,” joked Tor- res. “We try to be awesome,” Viramontes agreed. Part of “being awesome” is keeping prices low, Vira- montes explained. “We are the next Wal- mart,” he said. “We keep prices low for the communi- ty.” The low prices, both at the pump and in the store, bene- fit the business as well as the community. “The low (gas) prices help the store as a whole,” Vira- montes said, as does Miss O’s Coffee, a new drive-through coffee stand owned by Court- ney Harvey and situated on the property behind the pumps. Torres works seven days a week — this week, he put in six day shifts at both The Boys and Romuls. But he’s also looking to the future: His goal is to someday open his own food cart. “I’m working on a food trailer,” he said. “I’m trying to be entrepreneurial. My goal is to work for myself, making food.” He’s been a cook for five years, and has his associate degree in commercial foods and culinary arts from Mid Florida Tech, located in Or- lando. He plans to work on his chef ’s designation “prob- ably in the fall, when things start slowing down,” he said, adding that he has one year of schooling left. His food cart will feature barbecued, g rilled, and smoked foods. He’s been bar- becuing and grilling since before his years in Florida, but perfected his technique while there. His isn’t a tradi- tional southern barbecue, he said, because of the carcino- gens that can occur with that type of cooking. “You’ve got to cater to peo- ple’s health out here; they’re more health conscious,” he said. Working at The Boys and Romuls is good experience for this future endeavor. “Dealing with the pubic and having a good, positive report with the public, mak- ing a name, your work ethic … people see me and how we do things, and that becomes the expectation.” abuse of corpse in the sec- ond de g ree. Peter was charged with burglary and theft in the first degree. In court Wednesday, Os- trye set Donald Schneider’s next court appearance for Monday, June 15. Michael will appear the same day. Peter Schneider also ap- peared in court Wednesday, on screen from NORCOR. His attorney, Sheri Thorn- stad, called in and discussed options for Peter’s release from jail. Thornstad indicated that she would try to have Peter released at his next court ap- pearance, which is set for Wednesday. Peter’s bail is set at $5,000. Michael and Donald Schneider remain in jail without a bail-release option. The NORCOR online roster lists $8,000 as their bail — but paying that amount does- n’t cancel out a state issued “no bail hold” or guarantee release, said Bietl. If found guilty, all three Schneider brothers would face prison time. Michael and Donald Schneider would face 25 years to life for mur- der, a maximum of 20 years for first degree burglary and five years each for theft first de g ree, unlawful use of weapon and abuse of corpse second degree. Peter would face a maximum of 25 years in total if pronounced guilty of theft and burglary in the first degree.
