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About The Hood River news. (Hood River, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (June 20, 2015)
A2 Hood River News, Saturday, June 20, 2015 Sheriff urges caution at Eagle Creek area The USDA Forest Service Columbia River Gorge Na- tional Scenic Area and the Hood River County Sheriff ’s Office would like to remind visitors to recreate responsi- bly this summer at Eagle Creek Recreation Area. Hood River County Sheriff ’s Office responds to an aver- age of 10 search and rescue calls a year in this area, and in 2013 the total was 17. The majority of search and rescue calls are centered on visitors jumping of f Punchbowl Falls, which has resulted in serious injuries and fatalities. In 2011 the Forest Service enacted a closure order for jumping or diving off the falls, which serves a three hundred dollar fine for viola- tors. The closure order was enacted to provide for visitor safety and to reduce adverse impacts to the Sheriff ’s Of- fice and to search and rescue personnel. Despite signage and pa- trols, the closure order con- tinues to be violated and recreating visitors are being seriously injured. Visitors who have jumped off the 80-foot waterfall suf- fer neck and back injuries, and succumb to dangerous undercurrents and water that is shallower than it ap- pears. While a body of water is tempting in warm weath- er, many visitors do not real- ize how cold the water stays here year round. The multiple search and rescue operations at Eagle Creek drain valuable re- sources at the Sheriff ’s Of- fice and have led to difficulty getting volunteer searchers to help. “We want people to enjoy the numerous outdoor activities our county has to offer but that comes with a level of personal responsibil- ity,” said Hood River County Sheriff Matt English. “Too often, the search and rescues we respond to are avoidable and have resulted from reck- less, irresponsible behav- ior.” The Sheriff ’s Office says that it is imperative that visitors educate themselves regarding trail restrictions and closures and abide by them. “Jumping from Punchbowl Falls is prohibit- ed for good reason,” English added “Yet we continue to see tragic, avoidable inci- dents at that location every year.” Both agencies also remind visitors that dogs at Eagle Creek trail and parking lot must be leashed at all times. Several pet rescues have oc- curred here in recent years and these efforts put volun- teer rescuers at risk. Violators will be cited. Both agencies are asking visitors to recreate responsi- bly in the Eagle Creek Recre- ation Area by not taking un- necessary risks and obeying all closures and regulations. Visitors should not rely on electronic GPS devices or cell phones and always leave an itinerary with someone. G ERARDO that the old dealership across the street had a space for rent. It took six months before Mercado Guadalajara would open, but “since the first day it’s been busy,” Bobadilla said. He started with six em- ployees; he now employs 22. His day starts at 6 .m. with tortilla deliveries — yes, he still delivers on his Gruma route, but now just in Hood River. From there, he’s “on the phone all day long,” talking to suppliers. He generally gets to the store by noon and is home in The Dalles around 10 p.m. “Without my wife, I’m not able to do it,” he said. “It’s 50-50 here. She takes care of the kids, house, paperwork, bills. What I do is the physi- cal work, or the ideas.” The market isn’t quite his dream store — this one is 3,000 square feet, and he’d like 10,000 — but it’s filled with close to 3,000 Mexican items. He strives to “have everything in one store for the Hispanic community,” but sees a lot of crossover business. “Whatever we put out on the shelf, we sell,” he said. He’s in the process of a small expansion, which will allow him to increase his of- ferings. More space also means he can buy in bigger quantities, which lowers the price on his end and thus lowers the price for his cus- tomers — an important point for him, because his customers work hard for their money, he said. But his success has come with a high personal price. “It’s been hard to put everything on balance,” he said. “Where I grew up was very poor. Part of my suc- cess, I see where I was when I was a kid. My father teach me how to work, how to be successful.” He feels lucky to have been brought to the U.S. by his parents because, though they didn’t have a lot beyond essentials, he did have his parents “24/7.” “I changed that history with my kids,” he said. “They don’t have me but they have everything. They’re not happy — they want me more. For them, to have what they have, they don’t have me at special times. “If I had the option to stay with the kids, I’d stay with the kids.” Continued from Page A1 horse expertise. After a month in high school (he got tired of daily discrimination), he quit and began a five-year rotation of planting trees for the U.S. Forest Service a few months out of the year nationwide, and then pruning trees and picking fruit for a local or- chardist. It was during one of those shifts in the orchard that in- spired him to change course. “I heard this guy tell me he didn’t want to see me no more. He said, ‘That’s not why you come to the U.S.; you come for success, to be somebody. This is the histo- ry we’re creating — you guys have to change this. That’s why I ask you not to come back again,’” Bobadil- la said. Those words stuck with him. One day, while shop- ping at The Dalles Safeway with his wife, Guille, he re- alized he wanted back in produce sales. Guille en- couraged him to apply, but only checkout clerk posi- tions were available. So that’s where he started. It only took a few weeks be- fore he was transferred to produce. His work ethic got him promoted, and soon he was offered the produce manager position. But he didn’t take it. There were many reasons why he didn’t, but ultimate- ly it came down to remem- bering what he had been told by the older man in the orchard. He ended up purchasing a tortilla distribution route with Gruma (who own Mis- sion, Guerro and Calidad brands) in the Gorge, with help from his family while still employed at Safeway. Slowly his profits grew and he was able to quit his pro- duce job and concentrate on his route. That, too, grew. He moved his family — he had two children now, daughter Kim- berly and son Gheraldy — from The Dalles to Vancou- ver, but they were unhappy. Bobadilla knew how much his tortillas were sold to stores, and how much the stores charged in turn, and started thinking about open- ing his own store. One day, while delivering tortillas to Rosauers, he saw Photo by Kirby Neumann-Rea FISH O RIENTATION FISH board chair Marianne Durkan leads a tour of the new FISH food bank facility Thursday for about 20 non-profit representatives learn- ing about the community kitchen/meeting room at the facility on Tucker Road. Durkan stands in front of the facility’s centerpiece, a paint and mosaic mural depicting the growth, harvest and provision of locally-grown food. The mural was done by Hood River Middle School students, and fish figures on the wall represent the 600-plus donors to the $1 million project, which opened May 4. Thursday’s orienta- tion described protocols and requirements for using the space for meetings and nutrition-based outreach. The community is invited today as the organization celebrates with a ribbon cutting and open house, followed by a dance, from 1 to 4:30 p.m. The site is located at 1130 Tucker Road, across from Orchard Lanes and next to Our Redeemer Lutheran/Asbury United Methodist Church, on land donated by the church. Parks-Rec hosts community meeting June 24 on ballfields development By KIRBY NEUMANN-REA News editor Hood River Valley Parks and Recreation Dis- trict hosts a community meeting Wednesday on sports field and park de- velopment, with an em- phasis on potential acqui- sition of an 8.29-acre par- cel located just south of City Limits near Tucker Road. An offer has been made on the property, but nothing has been signed; the precise location will be described at the meet- ing. The meeting will be at 6 p.m. at the Port of Hood River conference room, 1000 E Port Marina Drive Hood River. Call 541-386- 5720 with any questions. ‘”The district would like to invite the commu- nity to come and share your support, ideas or concerns about a poten- tial 8.29 acre spor ts- field/park development on property zoned for light industrial use, and what amenities are most needed in our communi- ty,” said district director Stirn said. “We realize it is not an ideal property but it’s rel- atively flat, and not high value farm land,” Stirn said. She said the District has a willing seller and has met with County Planning to discuss apply- ing for a conditional use per mit to develop the property. “We’d like to take the el- ements we had planned at Barrett Park — a shelter, fields, perhaps bocce courts,” Stirn said, refer- ring to the attempted cre- ation of ballfields on property it bought farther southwest, on Bar rett Drive at Alameda, on what was previously farmland. The District abandoned the idea of using the park for ball- fields after legal chal- lenges by orchardists in the area along with Hood River Valley Residents Committee. If the idea new ball- fields park proposal gains public support, and the conditional per mit process goes smoothly, the facility could be ready for use as early as this fall, ac- cording to Stirn. “The goal is develop in phases without having to go for a capital bond levy,” she said. The projected cost, in- cluding land acquisition, is $2 million. The key funding piece would be State Parks’ $494,000 “Local Gover nment Grant” originally desig- nated for the Barrett Park site. The district would also look at funds from systems development charges, which are utility- related fees used for pub- lic projects that are charged for new construc- tion. “We would be meeting part of the match for the grant through volunteer labor and donation of ser- vices,” Stirn said. T he state g rant re- quires extensive public input including a natural resource review (there is a small wetland on the property) and “quite a lot of legwork” to comply, Stirn noted.\ Puff Factory buys final property piece CL Port hands signs deal with Jaqueline Alexander By PATRICK MULVIHILL News staff writer The keys to Puff Factory are in Jacqueline Alexan- der’s hands. The Port of Cascade Locks has sold off the final piece of land necessary for Alexan- der, an Odell Orchardist, to launch her dream startup company: Puff Factory. On Wednesday, Alexander bought a long vacant 4-acre plot in the Port’s Business Park, which will become the site of Puff Factory, an $8 million freeze-drying plant. Puff Factory’s mission: to turn pears and other fruit in the Hood River Valley into packaged snacks. The company has worked closely with the OSU Food Innovation Center in Port- land to develop and test mar- ket a new fruit drying project that turns unwanted fruit from orchards, or “culls,” into organic “puffs” which can be packaged and sold to a wide market. Operations will start in a small flex 7,500 square-foot flex building on Herman Creek Lane, which Alexan- der is leasing from the Port. The Port handed over the Radio Amateurs plan annual Field Day The local “Ham” radio club, Radio Amateurs Of The Gorge, invites the com- munity to its Field Commu- nication Area at the rear of the Wal-Mart parking lot from 11 a.m. June 27 to 11 a.m. June 28. Operators will be commu- nicating with amateur radio operators in all States, Cana- da and Mexico. Adults and children are welcome to try talking to people in many lands and even a ship at sea. Plenty of other hands-on activities are planned on the hour, all day June 27. No license is required to get on the radio; all volun- teers will be accepted. keys to the flex building at a meeting with Alexander last week. As par t of the deal, Alexander gets free rent for several months while she moves into the small build- ing, as well as free utility in- stallations, said Paul Koch, Port of Cascade Locks inter- im general manager. “In the contract we have $100,000 for tenant improve- ments: water, sewer and elec- tric. We’re capped out at that,” said Koch. Alexander locked down a 10-year lease on the small light industrial building, which will serve as her com- pany’s launchpad. The proposed plant itself — a sprawling 26,000-square- foot structure — will cost $7- $8 million to build. Construc- tion is slated for completion by next summer. Puff Factory plans to em- ploy 30-50 people once the plant kicks into gear. Koch said the plant likely won’t be visible from the highway. It will be accessible via a new road off Cramblett Way called East Columbia Gorge Way. The property, just north of Bear Mountain, is at a slight- ly higher elevation than downtown Cascade Locks. “It overlooks the river, has a great view,” said Koch. Puff Factory marks the first large scale startup busi- ness in Cascade Locks since the 1980s. Joined the River City Team! 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