A4
V IEWPOINT
Hood River News,
Saturday, June 20, 2015
JOE PETSHOW
Publisher/President,
Eagle Newspapers, Inc.
TOM LANCTOT
Past President,
Eagle Newspapers, Inc.
CHELSEA MARR
General Manager
KIRBY NEUMANN-REA
Editor
JODY THOMPSON
Advertising Manager
TONY METHVIN
Columbia Gorge Press Manager
DICK NAFSINGER
Publisher, Emeritus (1933-2011)
DAVID MARVIN
Production Manager
Subscription $42 per year in Hood River trade area. $68 outside trade area.
NATIONAL NEWSPAPER
ASSOCIATION
OREGON NEWSPAPER
PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
Printed on
recycled paper.
Official Newspaper, City of Hood River and Hood River County
Published Every Wednesday & Saturday by Hood River News,
P.O. Box 390, Hood River, Oregon 97031 • (541) 386-1234 • FAX 386-6796
Member of the Associated Press
O ur readers write
ON THE AGENDA
These are the regular meeting times of governing bodies
for these agencies:
Cascade Locks
Cascade Locks City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall Council
Chambers, 140 W. WaNaPa St., second and fourth Mondays
of the month.
Cascade Locks Planning Commission, 7 p.m., City Hall
Council Chambers, 140 W. WaNaPa St., second Thursday of
the month.
Cascade Locks Port Commission, 6 p.m., City Hall Coun-
cil Chambers, 140 W. WaNaPa St., first and third Thurs-
days of the month.
Hood River
City of Hood River Planning Commission meeting, 5:30
p.m., Hood River City Hall Council Chambers, 211 Second
St., generally the first and third Mondays of the month.
Place and dates subject to change.
Hood River Port Commission, 5 p.m., 100 E. Port Marina
Drive, board room, first and third Tuesdays of the month.
Hood River City Council, 6 p.m., Hood River City Hall
Council Chambers, 211 Second St., second and fourth Mon-
days of the month.
Hood River Valley Parks and Recreation District, 6 p.m.,
Aquatic Center, 1601 May St., third Wednesday of the
month. Place subject to change.
Hood River County
Hood River Soil and Water Conservation District Board
of Directors meeting, 4 p.m., OSU Extension Service
Building, 2990 Experiment Station Road, first Thursday of
the month.
Hood River County Board of Commissioners regular
session, 6 p.m., 601 State St., first floor conference room,
third Monday of the month. Time subject to change.
Library District Board meeting, 7 p.m., 502 State St.,
conference room, third Tuesday of the month.
Hood River County Planning Commission meeting, 7
p.m., 601 State St., first floor, generally second and fourth
Wednesdays of the month.
Hood River County Water Planning Group, 2 p.m., 601
State St., first floor conference room, generally first
Wednesday of the month.
Hood River County Commission on Children and Fami-
lies Board meeting, 5:15 p.m., Providence Hood River
Memorial Hospital boardroom, generally first Tuesday of
the month.
Hood River County School Board, 6:30 p.m., meets at
schools and district facilities on a rotating schedule (visit
hoodriver.k12.or.us for location), second and fourth
Wednesdays of the month unless school vacations or other
holidays interrupt the schedule.
Hood River County Transportation District, 9 a.m.,
Hood River County Transportation District Board Room,
224 Wasco Loop, second Wednesday of the month.
Chelsea Marr
General Manager
CMarr@hoodrivernews.com
Founded in 1905
419 State Street
Hood River, OR 97031
P.O. Box 390
Phone: (541) 386-1234
Fax: (541) 386-6796
Operations:
Joe Petshow
Publisher
President, Eagle Newspapers
(541) 386-1234
JPetshow@hoodrivernews.com
Chris Stenberg
Bookkeeper
CStenberg@hoodrivernews.com
ODOT praise
As ODOT projects go, painting the
white fence along the switchbacks on
the Columbia River Road across
Highway 35 leading to the Hatfield
Trail was not one of the largest or
most significant projects ODOT has
attempted. However, sometimes
small efforts reap big benefits as this
one has. Driving by that newly pres-
sure washed and painted fence each
day is uplifting and sends a message
that Oregon pays attention to its by-
ways. This is a route frequently used
by cyclists, hikers and bikers who are
locals as well as visitors to the area.
That small project enables the com-
munity to put its best foot forward.
So painting the wooden fence and
thus sprucing up Columbia River
Road may not equal the size and
scope of any of ODOT’s 75 other pro-
jects this summer, but it certainly
means a whole lot to members of
this community. We are grateful for
ODOT’s efforts.
Rebecca T. Kirkland, MD
John L. Kirkland, MD
Hood River
Keep parade safe
July 4 is nearly here and a few
people have asked me about distrib-
uting candy during the parade. We
stopped allowing candy to be thrown
or distributed for several reasons.
For many years when candy was
thrown from the parade entries, the
children went so far out into the
streets that it became dangerous for
them and troubling for the Hood
River Lions Club, which is required
to take out insurance for the parade.
Then, for two years in a row, we
tried to have people hand candy at
Stacey Methvin
Classifieds/Receptionist
HRNClass@hoodrivernews.com
SMethvin@hoodrivernews.com
Recycling trailer
serves community
I want to thank the Hood River
Lions and Hood River Supply for
making available a convenient way
to recycle bottles and cans on the
Heights.
The trailer is very professional,
attractive and makes possible a way
ABOUT LETTERS
Hood River News reminds letter
to the editor writers that shorter is
better. Concise letters are not only
better-read, they are more likely to
be published because limited space
is available.
Almost any point can be made in
350 words or less, so this is set as an
upper level for length. Letters ex-
ceeding 350 words will either be
edited to 350 or returned to the
writer for editing and resubmis-
sion.
Unsigned letters, letters signed
with fictitious signatures and
copies of letters sent to public offi-
cials are not accepted.
We limit letters on a subject when
we feel it has been thoroughly aired,
to the point of letters becoming
repetitive.
Also rejected are letters that are
libelous, in bad taste or personal at-
tacks on individuals or private
businesses. Writers must include
addresses and telephone numbers.
These are for identification purpos-
es only and will not be published.
Win prizes in Envirogorge ‘coffee cup challenge’
The Hood River information and
advocacy group Envirogorge invites
the community to join the “coffee
cup challenge”.
When you go to your favorite spot
to get a cup of coffee, ask for a mug
or bring your own.
If you snap a photo of it and send
it to Envirogorge, they’ll enter you
in a weekly drawing to win a gift cer-
tificate to a favorite coffee shop. You
could win it for yourself or ask us to
donate to the food bank. Send photo:
text 321-236-8476 – Instagram or
Facebook: @envirogorge
Envirogorge founder Susan Hess
said “We care because paper cups,
stir sticks, paper sleeves or second
cups, and lids are a lot of waste. The
worst part is, for the most part it’s
not recyclable
“ Those paper cups are lined with
wax or plastic, and though it’s tech-
nically recyclable few facilities have
the capability to remove the layers,”
Hess said. Recyclers in the gorge do
not accept disposable coffee cups for
recycling. And those single-use cups
take a lot of energy to produce.”
According to the Environmental
Defense Organization, the U.S. could
power 53,000 homes with the energy
we consume through our paper cup
consumption.
News:
Kirby Neumann-Rea
Editor
HRNews@hoodrivernews.com
LisaAnn Kawachi
News/Features
LKawachi@hoodrivernews.com
Photo: LuluSoso.com
Kirsten Lane
Advertising Sales
KLane@hoodrivernews.com
Patrick Mulvihill
News/Features
PMulvihill@hoodrivernews.com
News/Features
Production:
David Marvin
Ailene Hibbard
Archivist
Production Manager
Jim Drake
Advertising:
Jim Drake
Entertainment
Jody Thompson
Advertising Manager
JThompson@hoodrivernews.com
Production
BenMitchell@hoodrivernews.com
JDrake@hoodrivernews.com
Circulation:
Esther K. Smith
Circulation Manager
(541) 386-1234 Ext. 205
ESmith@hoodrivernews.com
to recycle deposit bottles and cans
without dealing with the machines
at the grocery stores. It is also great
that the Lions take the proceeds
from this project and return them to
the community.
Opportunity Connections also
benefits from the project by being
compensated for sorting and storing
the containers. I understand the
Lions hope to expand to other loca-
tions within the community creat-
ing a convenient way to recycle your
containers.
Tony White
Hood River
BRING YOUR OWN CUP
Ben Mitchell
Front Office/
Classified Advertising:
the curb as they walked with their
entry. Unfortunately, more people
opted to continue to throw the candy
from their vehicle. We also had some
hot rodding of vehicles and people
riding on top of a vehicle’s cab, so
we decided to write some parade
rules as part of an application. That
year the kids weren’t in the street
but were watching the parade. There
was almost no litter on the streets,
which ODOT requires the Lions to
make sure the street is cleaned after
the parade.
Also that year, with the generosity
of about eight businesses and the
Hood River Rotary Club, we were
able to have ice cream for the chil-
dren along with face painting and
balloon artistry. Since then two
bounce houses have been added. We
are looking for a balloon artist for
this year’s event.
I’m looking forward to another
great parade and a fun time in the
park with delicious food from the
Hood River Fire Department and
other vendors. For more details look
for posters distributed at businesses
throughout Hood River, Odell and
Parkdale. Parade applications are
available at www.gorgelions.org.
Tom Yates
Parade Chairperson
Hood River
Trisha Walker
News/Features
TWalker@hoodrivernews.com
Liana Stegall
Advertising Sales
LStegall@hoodrivernews.com
DMarvin@hoodrivernews.com
JDrake@hoodrivernews.com
Allen Diers
Commercial Printing
ADiers@hoodrivernews.com
419 State Street
Hood River, OR 97031
P.O. Box 390
Phone: (541) 386-1234
Fax: (541) 386-6796
Tony Methvin
Plant Manager
(541) 386-1234
TMethvin@columbiagorgepress.com
Lisa Becharas
Commercial Printing
LBecharas@columbiagorgepress.com