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MIDWEEK EDITION $1.00
Vol. 114, No. 7
2 Sections, 20 Pages
HOOD RIVER, OREGON • Wednesday, January 22, 2020
Official Newspaper, City of Hood River and Hood River County
www.hoodrivernews.com
West Side Student Firefighter of the Year
By TRISHA WALKER
News staff writer
Corbett Blackman, a senior at
Hood River Valley High School, has
been awarded West Side Fire Depart-
ment’s Student Firefighter of the Year
award. This is the second time he’s
received the distinction.
He will be recognized at the fire-
house’s annual awards ceremony in
February.
Blackman is president of the
HRVHS student firefighters club and
has been a student firefighter since
his sophomore year. Students must be
16 years old and have their drivers li-
cense before they’re able to volunteer.
“My mom is an ER doctor in The
Dalles,” he said, “and I’ve always been
exposed to first responder/ER life. It’s
always been interesting to me.”
The award is based on criteria such
as participation in calls, he said.
“Student firefighters can go on
all of the calls the fire department
gets aside from calls on I-84,” he ex-
plained. “Most of the calls we get are
medical — not as many are fire. We
get everything from public lift assists
to fully involved structure fires.”
Students are not allowed to leave
school to respond to calls; they are
additionally not allowed to respond
to any calls that happen at the high
school.
Blackman earned his Emergency
Medical Responder (EMR) certifica-
tion last winter and is now allowed to
more fully participate in calls.
“Starting off, especially my first
year when I hadn’t taken any classes,
it was more of a bystander role, watch
and learn and observe,” he said. “As
you participate more, you learn more
and are able to start helping more in
“It’s a great group of
kids who volunteer their
time to be part of the fire
departments.”
Wendy Herman
HRV Club Adviser
calls, instead of being there as extra
manpower.”
As president of the student fire-
fighters club, he leads meetings twice
a month during school hours. All stu-
dent firefighters in the area — includ-
ing those with Wy’East, Parkdale and
Cascade Locks — are members and
participate in various fieldtrips and
practice burns with advisers.
Last year, students went to Port-
land to tour — and ride — a fireboat.
This past fall, they participated in a
practice burn that included drills and
“pulling a house line” (setting up and
charging a hose and then spraying).
He sees his service as a student
firefighter as a way to give back to the
community.
“It can be very rewarding when
you run a call successfully,”
Blackman said. “And usually,
when we see people, it’s one
of the worst days of their
lives, so helping them can
be extremely rewarding
when we do a good job.”
HRV Club Adviser
Wendy Herman is grateful
to all of the fire depart-
ments for hosting and
working with student fire-
fighters — as well as the
students who volunteer in
See BLACKMAN, page A5
City water line leak causes water service outage; Boil Water Advisory
By EMILY FITZGERALD
News staff writer
The City of Hood River enacted a
Boil Water Advisory on Monday, fol-
lowing a leak in the city’s water main
Sunday evening.
The break happened around 6 p.m.
on Third Street near Union building
beneath a sink hole, said Hood River
Police Lt. Don Cheli, but the cause of
the leak is unknown, and the incident
is currently under investigation.
City Public Works will be investigat-
ing the incident and will report when
further information is forthcoming.
“We apologize for any inconvenience
and appreciate everyone’s patience,”
Acting Public Works Director Wade
Seaborn said in Monday morning
email. “We hope to have more infor-
mation to share soon.”
Much of downtown Hood River’s
central business district, as well as
some outlying areas within the city,
lost water service for approximately
an hour Sunday night, between 6 p.m.
and 7:15 p.m.
“Of course it’s not ideal with the
timing,” said Full Sail General Man-
ager Lisa Merkin of the water outage
Monday, referencing the holiday
weekend traffic, “but there’s nothing
we can do, so we have to do the best
we can for the customer and for the
business.”
Many businesses in the affected
downtown area closed up shop on
Monday, posting signs about the
water advisory, but some found ways
to keep the doors open: The Moth
Lounge confirmed they would be
open for their Monday evening music
act, the Hapa Hillbillies, with a Face-
book post stating they would have
bottled water and store-bought ice;
and, aside from not serving custom-
ers water and ice, Full-Sail Brewing
was business-as-usual.
While Providence Hood River Me-
morial Hospital lost water for about
50 minutes Monday evening, accord-
ing to spokesman Gary Walker, the
hospital’s operations were largely
unaffected by both the service outage
and the water advisory.
When asked by a reporter why the
city waited overnight to issue the ad-
visory, City Manager Rachael Fuller
said that they needed time to assess
the situation and determine the ex-
tent of the damage.
The advisory was issued as a pre-
caution in case of harmful bacteria
in the water due to the loss of water
pressure during the incident, or
Boil Water Advisory
Photo by Kirby Neumann-Rea
SINK HOLE at the east end of Columbia Street, location of the water line break,
taped off by the city.
excessive air in the water lines, said
a city press release, and remains in
effect until the city can confirm that
there’s no bacteria in the water.
Water samples were sent out for
testing Monday and were expected
back at noon on Tuesday, after press
time (updates will be posted online at
hoodrivernews.com).
The Boil Water Advisory applies to
those using city water in downtown
Hood River from Sherman to Columbia
avenues, east of Ninth Street, or any-
one who experienced a loss of water
pressure or discovered an excessive
amount of air in water lines, until it’s
confirmed there is no harmful bacteria
present and the water is safe to drink.
The City of Hood River advises those
affected by the Boil Water Advisory to
boil water for one minute before using
for drinking, brushing teeth and food
prep — including making ice or clean-
ing food contact surfaces.
Community
gathers to
honor MLK
‘Today will be about
raising the questions,
not finding answers.’
Todd Dierker
The Next Door, Inc.
Photo by Emily Fitzgerald
W OMEN’S M ARCH 2020
About 20 people braved winter weather and slushy sidewalks Saturday morning for the Hood River Women’s March. Protesters such as Karin Tauscher, far right,
rallied in front of Jackson Park before walking through town up to the Hood River Library. The Women’s March began as a worldwide protest following President
Trump’s inauguration in 2017, with the intent “to harness the political power of diverse women and their communities to create transformative social change.”
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A3
B4
A2
B3
B1
B5
Obituaries
Opinion
Sports
Yesteryears
A6
A4
A7
B2
“The biggest goal for us, between
the shops, is to keep people local.”
— Sam Benoit, B1
3
BRIEFS
CCA After Hours Wed.
Lunch and Learn Jan. 23
Red Cross Blood Drive
Head to Columbia Center for
the Arts Jan. 22 from 5:30-7:30
p.m. for CCA After Hours fea-
turing Robbi Kumalo with Tim
Mayer, Mike Turley and Mike
Grodner. All are welcome.
The Jan. 23, 1 p.m. Lunch and
Learn presentation at the Hood
River Library is “Crossing the
border/Leaving the ones you
love.” Lunch will be provided.
Free and open to all.
Oregon National Guard Armory,
12th and Belmont, hosts a Red
Cross Blood Drive on Jan. 28
from 1-6 p.m. Make an appoint-
ment today at RedCrossBlood.
org or call 1-800-733-2767.
05105 97630
Classifieds
Entertainment
Gatherings
Greater Gorge
Happenings
Kaleidoscope
Legal Notices
See MLK, page A5
7
INSIDE
Speakers, classes and a potluck
highlighted Monday’s Martin Luther
King Jr. holiday observance Monday
at Riverside Community Church.
Gorge Ecumenical Ministries and
the Somos Uno (We are one) orga-
nization organized the event. Todd
Dierker of The Next Door Inc., led
about 30 people in a discussion of al-
lyship — working with marginalized
groups for the mutual good — in
which he asked the mostly-Cauca-
sian group to allow themselves to
have their sense of white privilege
challenged. “Today will be about
raising the questions, not finding
answers,” he said.
See the Jan. 25 edition for more
coverage of the MLK Day events.
■
Hood River Chamber of Com-
merce in conjunction with The Next