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M IDWEEK E DITION
Vol. 109, No. 50
HOOD RIVER, OREGON
Official Newspaper, City of Hood River and Hood River County
■
75 cents
2 Sections, 24 Pages
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 2015
www.hoodrivernews.com
City takes first look at housing ideas CL holds town
By KIRBY NEUMANN-REA
News editor
The figure 2,000 hasn’t been as im-
portant since we hit the millennium.
That’s the projected number of new
housing units needed in the city of
Hood River in the next 20 years in
order to keep up with growth and de-
mand.
The overall message on affordable
housing is to make sure there is a mix
of types within whatever number of
units are built, City Council and Plan-
ning Commission heard Monday.
Planning director Cindy Walbridge
and consultant Beth Goodman pre-
sented a detailed and comprehensive
Housing Needs Analysis to a joint
meeting the council and commission.
Nate DeVol
The report follows a five-month
process involving staff, Goodman
ECONorthwest of Portland, and a citi-
zen-based Technical Advisory Com-
mittee (TAC).
“Your existing need is big. Your fu-
ture needs will be bigger. You need to
do something,” said Goodman, who
has done similar studies for more than
10 other cities.
City Council in November 2014 iden-
tified affordable housing as its top
goal, and in January approved Good-
man’s hiring. In May, it allotted $70,000
to next year’s budget to pay a consul-
tant to work with planning staff in
strategy implementation, which over-
hall on Nestlé
By PATRICK MULVIHILL
News staff writer
The city of Cascade
Locks is hosting a town
hall meeting Thursday,
facilitated by a neutral
party, to hear questions
and comments from the
public regarding Nestlé’s
proposed water bottling
plant.
The meeting will be at
6:30 p.m. at the gym of
City Hall at 140 SE WaNa-
Pa St. in Cascade Locks.
Nestlé’s proposed plant
would bottle 100 million
gallons of spring water
annually from Oxbow
Springs, east of Cascade
Locks, and sell it around
the Northwest.
To make the deal possi-
See NESTLÉ, Page A11
See HOUSING, Page A9
Heat is on: Local law, fire leaders urge safety
By PATRICK MULVIHILL
News staff writ er
It’s going to be a scorcher.
Highs in the 90s Thursday will climb
into the triple digits over the weekend.
Saturday will be the least merciful, with
an expected high of 107 degrees.
Even with that daunting temperature,
Hood River is luckier than its eastern
neighbors. The Dalles faces a predicted
110 degrees Saturday, an all-time high for
June according to a Weather.com report.
With an anticipated surge of locals and
tourists hitting the Columbia River and
other natural water playg rounds
throughout Hood River County, local law
enforcement and safety officials are urg-
ing caution.
Hood River County Sheriff Matt Eng-
lish named water recreation safety as top
concern marine deputies will be honing
in on. English said the forecasted hot and
windy conditions could draw in more vis-
itors than usual this weekend.
“There’s gonna be a lot of people out
on our river, and on our lakes,” said Eng-
lish. “We’re really making a push with
the safety on non-motorized watercraft.”
Many people don’t realize that water
safety rules apply to kayaks, paddle-
boards and surfboards as well as motor-
ized boats. Life jackets or personal flota-
tion devices are mandatory on all vessels,
as are sound-making devices like whis-
tles or air horns.
On small boards and watercraft as well
as motorized boats, all children 12 and
See SUMMER, Page A11
Photo by Kirby Neumann-Rea.
YOUNG SWIMMERS enjoy the Columbia River at a designated swim area on the Hood River Waterfront.
Swim areas like this offer a fun escape from the summer heat, and a safe one.
Busy weekend:
Beach Bash, Sternwheeler,
Garden Tour highlighted
The Upper Valley Garden Tour is
one of three big community events
covering plenty of ground this
weekend.
Hood River’s waterfront, and
other places around town, will fill
up with “Beach Bash”, covering
four days and including a free con-
cert, gear demos, and “Beach
Party” on Sunday. It all starts with
Thursday’s “Pray for W ind” din-
ner at Stonehedg e Restau-
rant..Activities will include a fully
catered dinner (tickets for sale at
the door are $10-20), live music,
cash bar, and loads of auction and
raffle items to raise money for the
CGWA kids pro g ram, Gorg e
Groms.
See page A12 for details on the
Central Gorge Master Gardeners
Upper Valley Tour.
Cascade Locks celebrates its 40th
annual Sternwheeler Days Festi-
val, presented by the Columbia
River Lions, June 26-28, celebrating
the Gorge by showcasing vendors
from local area and surrounding
regions. Event times are Friday
noon to 9 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 9
p.m., Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The rendezvous of the Mountain
Men will be back on Thunder Is-
land, depicting fur trading camps
of the 1830s and ‘40s. There will be
live demonstrations during the
event, including firing the cannon
and ax throwing.
Live entertainment featuring
Saturday night The Angle Bouchet
band, food and craft vendors, Walk
on Waterballs are also planned, and
a dunk tank with the Hood River
County Sheriff, Bingo, and the
Ducky Derby; get your duck before
See EVENTS, Page A11
Photo by LisaAnn Kawachi
‘WOOF’ FOR LIFE
Colleen Mason from Dirty Paws Grooming pampers her dog Charlotte with a pedicure at Saturday’s “Bark for Life” ben-
efit for Columbia Gorge Relay For Life at Hood River County Fairgrounds. Bark for Life, is a sub event for the Relay for life,
the July 18 fundraiser organized by the American Cancer Society. All the proceeds of Saturday’s event go towards Hood
River Relay for Life teams. An agility course, a scavenger hunt, pet portraits, a barbecue, costume and best trick contest,
a silent auction and even a doggie boutique where dogs could get their nails clipped and painted were the activities pro-
vided at the third annual Bark for Life held at the Hood River County Fairgrounds Saturday. According to Elizabeth Lynn,
community manager for Portland’s chapter of the American Cancer Society, unlike the Relay for Life, the Bark for Life event
allows participants to include their pets. “We understand the canine companionship aspect,” she said. “We want to honor
the caregiving qualities that our pets provide and raise some money for the cause.” See page A8 for more about getting
involved in Relay for Life.
Submitted photo
GARDEN TOUR on Saturday includes a stop at Jude and David Russell’s garden
on Cunningham Road. (Details, page A12.)
Four To Go
‘Ham’ field day June 27-28
Song Circles start at Rooster Rock
KB4C returns July 10-11
County drought meeting is today
Radio Amateurs of the Gorge is hosting
a Ham Radio Field Day starting at 11 a.m.
June 27 and running through 11 a.m. June
28 in the rear area of the Walmart parking
lot. Members will be communicating with
amateur radio operators in all states, Cana-
da and Mexico. Kids are invited to bring
their parents to get on the air and talk to
kids and adults in many lands, or even at
sea. Field Day is open to everyone — no li-
cense required. Volunteers accepted.
Oregon State Parks invites the public to
enjoy all-ages campfire songs and stories
this summer at a series of free Song Circle
events on select Fridays at Vista House and
Rooster Rock State Parks, starting June 26 at
Rooster Rock, 7-9 p.m. These old-fashioned
campfire events, hosted in partnership with
Portland FolkMusic Society, will revive the
art of communal song circles and story-
telling. Sing along, play along, or just sit
back and enjoy folk and campfire songs, es-
pecially those relating to Gorge natural and
cultural history. A special children’s sing-
along event is scheduled for Aug. 28 with mu-
sician Jory Aronson.
Part endurance race, part festival, part
fundraiser, Kiteboarding 4 Cancer (KB4C)
presented by Patagonia is an action-packed
event with a goal that lifts everyone’s spirits:
Help young cancer survivors find hope and
healing through outdoor adventure. Set for
July 10-12, in Hood River, KB4C features
something for everyone, including music, a
pop- up art studio, local food carts, a beer
garden hosted by Full Sail and of lots of kite-
boarders showing off their moves. On July
11, the Columbia becomes the stage for the
KB4C Kite Derby, North America’s largest
amateur kiteboarding race, drawing 200 am-
ateur and professional kiteboarders.
The Hood River County Board of Com-
missioners will meet Wednesday to con-
sider making a formal drought declara-
tion to the state. The public meeting will
be held at 10 a.m. at Westside Fire Dis-
trict’s Rockford Station at 4250 Barrett Dr.,
and will invite local leaders in water man-
agement, forestry and fire.
The goal of a drought declaration would
be to increase flexibility managing local
water supplies, and to qualify the county
for state and federal emergency relief
funds, said Hood River County Adminis-
trator Dave Meriwether.
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05105 97630
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