www.hoodrivernews.com
S UMMER
Continued from Page A1
younger must wear a life
vest.
Failing to wear a life vest
can get you a fine. English
said marine deputies have
required some people to turn
around and go back to shore
when they don’t follow the
rules.
“It’s been a constant edu-
cation process. Particularly
on non-motorized stuff,” said
English.
Another concern English
pointed out was boaters
“consuming alcohol on the
river.” According to the state
marine board, intoxicated
boaters could face fines of up
to $6,250 and up to a year in
jail, as well as suspension of
their boating privileges.
The river is not the only
dangerous waterway in Hood
River County.
The USDA Forest Service
of the Columbia River Gorge
Hood River News, Wednesday, June 24, 2015
and the Sheriff ’s Office put
out a notice two weeks ago
urging safety at the lakes,
creeks and swimming holes
throughout Hood River
County. Especially danger-
ous is Punchbowl Falls on
Eagle Creek, where people il-
legally jump off the 80-foot
waterfall every year — and
often suffer neck and back
injuries.
The Sheriff ’s Office re-
sponds to an average of 10
search and rescue calls to the
area every year. In 2013, the
total was 17 calls.
“Jumping from Punch-
bowl Falls is prohibited for
good reason,” English said.
“Yet we continue to see trag-
ic, avoidable accidents that
location every year.”
The Sheriff ’s department
will be increasing weekend
patrols through July and Au-
gust.
Local fire departments are
also encouraging safety pre-
cautions in the face of a blis-
tering summer. The fire dan-
ger level had been raised to
Photo by Kirby Neumann-Rea.
NOT SO SAFE, kids jump from the Mt. Hood Railroad trestle into
the Hood River. The spot is private property and is off limits.
E VENTS
Continued from Page A11
the race Saturday afternoon.
Also featured this year will
be a beer garden all week-
end. The parade will be Sat-
urday morning at 11 a.m.
down WaNaPa, and the 5k
and 10k walk/run will be at 9
a.m. Saturday morning and
Church in the park at 10:30
a.m. Sunday.
The Lions club will be giv-
ing away free Sternwheeler
ride tickets every two hours
during the Ster nwheeler
Days Festival; you don’t need
to be present to win, sign up
at the Lions information
booth near the pavilion.
Overnight camping spots
overlooking the Columbia
River are available through
the Port of Cascade Locks.
Call 541-374-8619 for more in-
formation.
Cruises on the Ster n-
wheeler “Columbia Gorge”
will be available all weekend.
Call 541-374-8427, 800-643-1354
or
visit
www.sternwheeler.com for
more information.
If you would like to spon-
sor the event, sign-up for a
vendor booth, get more infor-
mation, or volunteer at the
Sternwheeler event please
contact Samantha Ver-
schuren at 971-258-7348
■
“Beach Bash,” the annual
celebration of the Gorge
wind and water lifestyle, cov-
ers four days next week with
events including a concert,
barbecue, swap meet, and, of
course, racing.
Columbia Gorge Wind-
surfing Association (CGWA)
presents its new and im-
proved four-day festival
Thursday through Sunday,
Event Basics
Garden Tour – June 27 –
upper valley beauty, see page
A12 for ticket information.
Beach Bash – June 25-28 –
water sports for all levels,
music and more, Event Site
Sternwheeler – June 26-28
— parade, music, history,
Marine Park, Cascade Locks
June 25-28.
The popular windsurf
event will include a live con-
cert, a community barbecue,
an all-sports gear swap, the
“Never Ever Windsurfed Be-
fore Race” and fun relays,
plus two days of watersports
gear demos.
CGWA offers two different
watersports hands-on gear
demo days for windsurfers,
StandUp Paddle boarders
(SUP) and spectators.
Throughout the weekend,
CGWA hopes the events will
“high” in most of Hood River
County, and a bur n ban
comes into effect on July 1.
Starting then, campfires and
controlled burns will only be
allowed in protected areas,
and even then only with a
burn permit.
West Side Fire Marshal
Jim Trammell said a lack of
rain or moisture has raised
concerns.
“The biggest fear is dry
lightning. Generally, on
human caused fires they’re
somewhere you can drive to.
But Mother Nature — she’ll
put it somewhere it’s hard to
get to,” said Trammell.
The fire department draws
from the local domestic
water supply, with about 170
hydrants in the West Side
district — a 25-square-mile
patch with 3,000 residences.
That water comes from un-
derground springs, so this
year’s drought, and lack of
snowpack and river water
levels, haven’t endangered
the fire department yet.
Local fire officials report-
ed a lack of any major fires
thus far.
“So far it’s been fairly
quiet,” said Trammell last
week.
The Hood River Fire De-
partment responded Satur-
day night to a brush fire
along Interstate 84 west-
bound, nine miles west of
Hood River. T he blaz e
prompted Oregon Depart-
ment of Transportation offi-
cials to close off the right
lane at 9:21 p.m. Though it
burned roughly 500 feet of
ground and foliage along the
Columbia River, no struc-
tures were harmed.
ODOT reopened that lane
at about 11 p.m.
The lane closure wouldn’t
have been a traffic concern if
it weren’t for a deadly crash
on the other side of the Co-
lumbia that night. A pickup
and a minivan collided on
Washington State Route 14 in
Stevenson around 8 p.m.,
killing four and injuring two.
While emerg ency crews
cleared the wreckage, traffic
was diverted to I-84 and sy-
phoned through one lane for
an hour and a half span.
appeal to everyone, from
those who have never surfed
or SUP’ed to those with plen-
ty of experience.
“Beach Bash is all about
having a good time in the
Gorge, on and off the water,”
said CGWA Executive Direc-
tor Greg Stiegel, “This year’s
event builds on the legacy we
have built with Windfest and
is designed to include more
of the community, so every-
one can have a good time,
We’ve rebranded and rein-
vigorated the lineup this
year.”
More Beach Bash events
include:
■ June 26 — New this year
from 6-10 p.m., is a live out-
door concert at the Hood
River Waterfront Park’s
newly built amphitheater,
featuring Tim Snider out of
Portland, with Smoke on the
Water opening. Presented by
10 Barrel and supported by
Naked Winery. Free entrance
and open to all ages.
■ June 27 — The Beach
Party, hosted by Big Winds.
This is an action packed day
of fun in the sun for the
whole community. Activities
include windsurf and SUP
gear demo (the latest and
greatest gear) at the Hood
River Event Site for $5-10 all
day.
For up to date information
on Beach Bash visit
GorgeWindsurf-
ing.org/events/beachbash.
UNIQUELY GORGE ADVERTISING WORKS
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“Give me a call today and let’s
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best advertising for your business.”
541.386.1234 ext. 220
lstegall@hoodrivernews.com
COOL WATER flows for Jeff McCaw of Print It/SignMedia, right, and Shortt Supply’s Brian Shortt. Any-
one may come into the store and fill their cup or bottle during business hours.
‘Hydration Station’
opens downtown
By KIRBY NEUMANN-REA
News editor
Water pours freely at the
new “hydration station” at
Shortt Supply at Second and
Oak streets.
It’s the second new source
of public water to open in
downtown Hood River in re-
cent weeks, along with the
drinking fountain at the new
public restroom/bicycle hub
facility at Third and State
streets.
Owners Brian and Karen
Shortt opened hydration sta-
tion Friday, and hope that
not only will people come in
and use the service, but that
other businesses might fol-
low suit.
Hydration Station is a sen-
sor-activated water dis-
penser built into the wall at
the front of the store. Any-
one may come in during
N ESTLÉ
Continued from Page A1
ble, Cascade Locks and the
Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife filed a cross
water rights transfer with
the Oregon Water Resources
Department in mid-April. If
approved and finalized by
the department, the city
would transfer 0.5 cubic feet
per second (cfs) — 225 gal-
lons per minute — of its mu-
nicipal ground water right in
exchang e for 0.5 cfs of
ODFW’s water right to
Oxbow Spring, located near
Oxbow Hatchery on the east
side of Cascade Locks.
The city would then sell
the spring water to Nestlé for
bottling in its bottling facili-
ty.
For the town hall discus-
sion, Barbara Briggs will be
the facilitator. Briggs, a long-
time Hood River business
consultant and former Hood
River County commissioner,
will lead the public comment
portion of the evening.
“This is a listening session
for the (City) Council and
store hours and fill up their
cup or water bottle at no
charge. Bottles are available
for sale, including powder-
coated versions that carry
the Shor tt Supply lo go,
etched by engineering de-
partment students at Hood
River Valley High School.
The Shortts contracted with
the department to etch the
bottles using a laser-etcher at
the school; a portion of each
sale goes to the program, and
the students who did the
labor will also get a cut.
Hydration fits the store’s
mission of promoting fit-
ness, according to Brian
Shortt. Asked why they de-
vote valuable store space to a
free service, Shortt said:
“There isn’t a physician or
personal trainer out there
who will say Americans
drink enough water. Here’s a
way to promote that with
easy access to water. It helps
promote digestion, keeps the
body fluids going. This whole
area (of the store) is about
flexibility and balance, and
flexibility is based on hydra-
tion, and without it you are
basically a set of tires on
brakes.”
He said the amenity has an
environmental component,
reducing the number dispos-
able bottles, and an economic
component.
“We sell more water bot-
tles, so it’s good for the store,
but we have the relationship
with the high school and it
helps the students. We look
at this as g ood for the econo-
my, and about health and
awareness.”
The water dispenser is
flanked by two chalkboard
surfaces, installed by Print
It/Sign Media of Hood River.
Port Commission to hear
what the concerns are,” said
Gordon Zimmerman, Cas-
cade Locks City Administra-
tor. “There will be other
town halls as we try to an-
swer those concerns.”
The cross water rights
transfer and proposed plant
have drawn concerns from
environmental
g roups
across Oregon. Members of
local environmental groups,
including the “No Nestlé in
Cascades Locks” coalition
and the Local Water Al-
liance, are planning to attend
the Thursday meeting, ac-
cording to their public Face-
book pages.
The groups have argued
that state water resources
should not be sold into cor-
porate ownership, and that
the plant could increase
truck traffic and pollution
from discarded plastic bot-
tles in Cascade Locks.
The first item of discus-
sion Thursday will be the
city’s current Water System
Improvement Project. Zim-
merman said the project in-
volves building a new water
storage reservoir on Moody
Street and installing a main
12-inch water passa g e
throughout downtown and
down a portion of Forest
Lane.
“We will also put in a 12-
inch main into the industrial
park for future g rowth
there,” said Zimmerman.
The industrial park is
where Nestlé hopes to set up
shop.
After reviewing the water
project, Zimmerman will
give a presentation about the
City’s status regarding the
Nestlé project, and lay out
“what we know at this
point.”
Briggs will then open the
floor for questions. Atten-
dees will be encouraged to
write down their questions
and post them on a series of
posters about the different
topics.
For years, City and Port
leaders in Cascade Locks
have attempted bring the
Nestlé plant to town in order
to boost the local economy
with a fresh source of jobs
and tax income. Nestlé has
said that the deal would cre-
ate up to 50 jobs, and boost
the city’s total tax revenue by
67 percent. The city’s unem-
ployment rate is nearly 19
percent.
Create to Heal Workshop
Wednesday, June 29, 10:30 am
with lunch at 12 noon
Please join us for a creativity class that uses
art, music, creative writing and meditation
to explore your journey with cancer.
Family members are welcome!
(Facilitator: Patricia Varga)
Classes are FREE and sponsored by
Providence Hood River Cancer Services
For more info or to RSVP
please contact Patricia Varga (626) 403-7575
or pv@womenwwings.org
hoodrivernews.com
April 2015-July 2015
541.386.1234
Liana Stegall
419 State Street • Hood River, OR 97031 • 541.386.1234
hoodrivernews.com
A11
Providence Hood River
810 12th St.
Please check in at front desk
for Conference Room 9
Lunch will be served,
family members are welcome