A4
V IEWPOINT
Hood River News,
Saturday, July 11, 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
Safe to Home
E
arly summer has been a tragic time on local
highways.
In the past two weeks, four people have died
in vehicle crashes, including two in the past
week in Hood River County, and others in Ska-
mania and Multnomah counties.
In two other crashes, residents have survived roll-overs
and head-ons, including one near Odell in which an Ore-
gon State Trooper said he was “surprised” no one was se-
riously injured.
It is important to take a moment to consider the pre-
ciousness of each life lost, and our sympathies go to those
families.
Fatalities and serious crashes mean the most to loved
ones because it is individuals we speak of, but what hap-
pens also affects everyone: the highways are perhaps our
most public of places. We use them to go to work and back,
to visit family, to shop, to deal with our everyday needs.
These situations must serve as reminders of three
basic prevention measures: be mindful of what other vehi-
cles are doing — “look out for the other guy,” as the old
PSAs used to say; avoid behavior that influences our abili-
ty to operate a motor vehicle; and … slow down.
None of us can say we don’t sometimes get in a great
big hurry behind the wheel.
Furthermore, it is summertime, and we have many
visitors who are unfamiliar with local roads. Out of
town drivers will do things such as turn on red lights
when signage clearly tells them not to, or mistake a one-
way grid for two-way and drive into oncoming traffic.
Locals do that kind of thing, too, but the issue this time
of year is volume of traffic and the increasing likeli-
hood of trouble. All it takes is one careless driver. Let’s
all take our time and think about how much other peo-
ple want us to arrive safely home.
Vacation homes
boost economy
We’ve recently returned from our
third annual visit to Hood River
over Independence Day. We very
much appreciate what the area has
to offer for activities, amenities and
the general “vibe” of the place,
which has led to the repeated trips.
While there we have stayed at a “va-
cation rental,” so I read with inter-
est your paper’s article “a founda-
tion for affordability.”
I previously lived in Whistler,
Banff and currently live outside of
Calgary. Affordable housing is not a
new topic to me.
I think what your article and in-
terviewee miss as the greatest pres-
sure on affordable housing is a vi-
brant economy. A strong economy
should not be seen as a curse but
must be worked with. The home we
stayed in by no means would be
deemed “affordable housing.”
I do not believe affordable homes
were demolished to build it either.
While there we had 10 people
through each for an average stay of
five or six nights. We employed a
local fellow known as “Chef Bob”
for some of our meals. We dined at
Pourhouse, Romul’s, the Trillium
Cafe, Full Sail, The Taqueria and my
favorite, the Subterranean. Art (and
beer) were also purchased in Park-
dale, a mountain bike and acces-
sories for $3,000 plus windsurf
lessons, rentals and other shopping.
The home is managed by a company
that employs staff and cleaners.
All of this has an impact on the
area economy and should be consid-
ered carefully. A big part of why we
come is the home we stay in. Our
group is not interested in staying in
a hotel and I am sure many are sim-
ilar. Looking around Parkdale,
Mosier and White Salmon I doubt
they have the same “affordable hous-
ing” pressures. I also doubt they
offer the same job opportunities.
Housing and affordability is a large
picture and takes more considera-
tion than skewed surveys and statis-
tics or a quick leap to find a culprit.
It is usually tied to a vibrant econo-
my which must be considered as
part of that bigger picture and man-
aged together.
Jim Uffelmann
Cochrane, Alberta
Canada
ter they would all leave if he contin-
ued to accept the slow student.
The Master told them to leave.
One student asked why he would
lose 100 students because of one stu-
dent. He calmly said “If I don’t teach
him, then who will?”
Dennis Cullington
Hood River
Parade thanks
Thank you for the respect we re-
ceived in the 4th of July parade. It
was not fun being a G.I. during the
Vietnam era. I got goose bumps.
Hood River has a plethora of vol-
unteers, the most per capita of any
place I’ve seen.
That reminds me of a story: a
Karate Master had 101 students.
There was one student that was very
slow and took up a lot of the Masters
time.
The rest of the class told the Mas-
ABOUT LETTERS
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Unsigned letters, letters signed
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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.
EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK
Independence Eve broadcast brought communities together via Radio Tierra
By KIRBY NEUMANN-REA
News editor
A real good time in real time.
That was Independence Eve, the
July 3 live radio broadcast from
Bingen Theater on Radio Tierra
(95.1).
For two hours friends and neigh-
bors gathered at Bingen Theater for
an unusual evening of entertain-
ment. Nothing quite like it had
been done locally, at least not in
memory. The room was certainly
warm but organizers provided plen-
ty of ice water and the vibe was so
good no one really noticed the heat.
About 50 performers and another
75 or so audience members gath-
ered for the benefit event (see page
8 for photos). Before the evening
was over, the spotlight and micro-
phone went to Heidi Venture of the
Next Door’s outreach to foster
youth, Gary Young on behalf of
food banks in Washington, and
Peter Marbach for relief efforts to
Kumari, Nepal.
I’m not sure when the
three local mayors have ever gone
on the radio together, but on July 3
Betty Barnes of Bingen, David
Poucher of White Salmon and Paul
Blackburn of Hood River spoke
brief welcomes, Blackburn in Eng-
lish and Spanish. The program
was a bilingual balance. The bridge
from Bingen to Hood River was not
the only one present; “Indepen-
dence Eve” stood as a solid span be-
tween cultures.
I was invited to present tongue
twisters and give a plug to Start
Making A Reader Today, the local
literacy program I’ve been involved
with for 13 years. Every February
we do a Tongue Twister Tourna-
ment, and the show organizers felt
like they would be a good thing to
do on the radio, even framing them
as “verbal fireworks” — an apt
phrase. And they were right. We
had great fun with them and I truly
appreciate the chance to present
them. I am humbled that they were
made part of it. The cool thing, as
far as went my part of the evening,
was this: it took on an improvised
quality that really worked. What
happened Friday night bore little re-
semblance to what I had originally
envisioned, and it was far better.
Also, the Friday night show was
greatly different from the Thursday
night rehearsal. Hosts Leti Valle
and Humberto Calderon, along with
Los Temerosos musicians Jesus and
Antonio, took the tongue twisting in
Spanish and ran with it, after
Mayor Poucher, Heidi Venture and
Phoebe Wood gamely stepped up to
try tongue twisters live. It all had a
self-propelled feel to it, and I felt an
echo of it in the night’s finale, when
Jesus and Antonio guided the band
through a rollicking set where they
looked to be having the best time of
anyone, and the audience was hav-
ing a GREAT time. Los Temerosos
just kept playing, reaching what felt
like two crescendi only to keep it
going a few minutes longer, like
they were simultaneously remem-
bering songs or variations they had
half-forgotten, and plunged forward
for a few minutes more ... and then a
few minutes more before winding it
up with a big and satisfying finish.
The blending of Los Temerosos
and the Columbiaires quartet was
polished yet spontaneous. They
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
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Joe Petshow
Publisher
President, Eagle Newspapers
(541) 386-1234
JPetshow@hoodrivernews.com
Chris Stenberg
Bookkeeper
CStenberg@hoodrivernews.com
tried numbers in rehearsal and then
worked them up in less than 24
hours for the entertaining live per-
formance. Harmony of the Gorge
set the scene for the evening with
their flawless, heartfelt set of patri-
otic songs, Alonzo Garbonzo wove
his guitar work into between-acts
and announcement segments before
tearing it up with his own song
“Now,“ a wake-up call to us all, a
tear-inducing “City of New Or-
leans” (Steve Goodman wrote it,
Arlo Guthrie made it famous) and
Alonzo’s wife, Jana Castanares, did
Edith Piaf justice with her sweet
version of “La Vie en Rose.” On a
night with Spanish and English bal-
ancing each other, that soupcon of
French was like herbal drizzle spic-
ing up a well-mixed salad.
Tom Burns provided a stirring
reading of the Declaration of Inde-
pendence, punctuating the text in
ways that forced you to think of it
not just as a historical document
but as a guide to living today in
these United States.
My only real criticism is over the
poems by William Stafford: they
were too short. Luke McMillan’s ele-
gant baritone was just getting going
with the short poem he read and
then he stopped. Same with William
Thayer-Dougherty, who deftly found
the mischief Stafford infused in his
works, and Debbie Dobbs intro-
duced Stafford’s works and in a few
short words gave us an understand-
ing of a man who through his work
remains a true conscience.
■
I’ve spoken on KIHR before, as a
representative of SMART, but I’d
never been involved in a live broad-
News:
Kirby Neumann-Rea
Editor
HRNews@hoodrivernews.com
Ben Mitchell
Front Office/
Classified Advertising:
Stacey Methvin
Classifieds/Receptionist
HRNClass@hoodrivernews.com
SMethvin@hoodrivernews.com
cast like this and it was exhilarat-
ing, both in knowing that what we
were doing was heard by people in
their homes or cars or places of
business, and in the simple act of
putting something together with
people you’d never met.
The show could not have hap-
pened without the emcees and the
rest of the staff of KZAS, theater
owner (and well-known local musi-
cian) Rod Krehbiel, Harold McBain,
Kathy Williams, Adrian Chaton,
Gary Young and probably others I
am forgetting.
Watching live radio in a former
movie theater was a sort of step
back in time, to those days before I
was born when radio was the main
form of American entertainment,
but also a step back to a more recent
LisaAnn Kawachi
News/Features
LKawachi@hoodrivernews.com
Kirsten Lane
Advertising Sales
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
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Trisha Walker
News/Features
TWalker@hoodrivernews.com
time when the single-screen movie
theater, like Bingen Theatre had
been, was the main type of cinema
facility in any town. The interior is
greatly changed from those days,
but the facade and labyrinthine
lobby, concession stand, and balcony
(balcony!) retain that feel. It took me
back to my youth, and the single-
screen palaces of The Danz in Belle-
vue, The Venetian in Albany, and
The Mack in McMinnville. It is af-
firming to see such a place as the
Bingen reborn.
If you ever have a chance to hear
live music or other event at Bingen
Theater, go to it, and if you have a
chance to hear Los Temerosos, take
it — especially this summer. It’s hot
weather music, and air conditioning
for the ears.
KLane@hoodrivernews.com
Patrick Mulvihill
News/Features
PMulvihill@hoodrivernews.com
News/Features
Circulation:
Esther K. Smith
Circulation Manager
(541) 386-1234 Ext. 205
ESmith@hoodrivernews.com
Photo by Kirby Neumann-Rea
LOS TEMEROSOS mariachi band, based in Hood River, played three sets and
shared the stage for other high energy musical pairings at Bingen Theater.
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
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