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About The Hood River news. (Hood River, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 5, 2020)
Kaleidoscope Bus to Meadows Page B1 HOOD RIVER, OREGON • Wednesday, February 5, 2020 Official Newspaper, City of Hood River and Hood River County MIDWEEK EDITION $1.00 Vol. 114, No. 11 2 Sections, 20 Pages www.hoodrivernews.com CAT announces new annual ‘GOrge Pass’ Transit agency sells limited-time $30 passes Now there’s an easy and afford- able way to travel from the Gorge to Portland and back — and other points of interest in between. As part of their expanded Columbia Gorge Express (CGE) InterCity service, CAT (Columbia Area Transit) is of- fering an annual GOrge Pass good for unlimited rides on fixed route services: ■ Columbia Gorge Express (Port- land, Multnomah Falls, Cascade Locks, Hood River, The Dalles) ■ Gorge-To-Mountain (Hood River, Odell, Parkdale, Mt. Hood Meadows) ■ Upper Valley (Hood River, Odell, Parkdale) ■ Hood River City Route For a limited time, annual GOrge Passes are available at the introduc- tory price of $30/pass for adults, and $15/pass for children 17 and under and Hood River Community ID holders. These prices are available from Feb. 4 to May 18. Starting May 19, GOrge Pass pricing may increase, according to a CAT press release. A regular fare from Portland to the Gorge is $10 each way. Photo by Kirby Neumann-Rea STEELHEAD member Cameron Amer explains the “inverse assembly” concept the team developed for its robotics tasks, at Rotary last week. Super Qualifier at HRVHS Saturday By KIRBY NEUMANN-REA News EDITOR Student engineers from the Steel- heads robotcs team showed just how well they stack up to the Hood River Rotary group in its lunch program last week. The demonstration was a run-up to Saturday’s First Technology Challenge Super-Qualifier at Hood River Valley High School. The event is open to the public; see page B10 for related photos. On Feb. 8, 25 teams from all over Oregon will compete, including four of the 10 teams from HRVHS. Steel- head won the Mid-Columbia League on Jan. 18, also at HRVHS. FTC has been a program at HRVHS for 11 years, and the teams have gone to Worlds four of those years under engineering teacher and program founder Jeff Blackman. The associ- ated First Robotics Championship teams have gone to Worlds both years since they were started in 2018. “For a small town to have the largest robotics classes in the state of Oregon is pretty amazing,” Blackman said. “To make that happen, I have a lot of volunteers. “It’s not all about the robot,” he said. “These guys do an amazing job for me and for the community — lots See FTC, page A9 Employers may buy passes for their employees, and senior centers and senior organizations may purchase printed passes for their residents and customers. CAT is also offering companies and individuals the op- portunity to purchase GOrge Passes for low-income Gorge residents and is working with the local organizations to facilitate this project. Those wish- ing to purchase and donate passes can visit rideCATbus.org/gorge-on- the-go, or call Amy Schlappi at 541- 386-4202. The GOrge Pass is valid on all fixed-route services CAT provides, in- cluding the CAT run Columbia Gorge Express service to Portland and the Gorge to Mountain that serves Mt. Hood Meadows. CGE offers eight trips per day on weekdays and six trips per day on weekends (approximately every hour- and-a-half) between Hood River and Portland’s Gateway Transit Center. The upgraded CGE service includes stops in Cascade Locks, Multnomah Falls, and Troutdale. From the Portland Gateway Transit Center riders can easily transfer to TriMet’s MAX Redline to connect to the Airport, the MAX Blueline to go to downtown Portland, Beaverton and Hillsboro, and the MAX Greenline to reach Clackamas Town Center. See CAT, page A10 HRVHS students earn state Scholastic awards Lunch and Learn tackles the American dream By TRISHA WALKER News staff writer Hood River Library hosted its fourth Lunch and Learn conversation Jan. 30, titled “Mi Sueno Americano/ My American Dream.” About 20 gath- ered in the down- stairs meeting room for the presentation by Nubia Contre- ras, whose parents immigrated to the United States more than 30 years ago. Nubia Contreras She was born and raised in Hood River, attending Hood River County public schools. She is a certified prevention specialist with Hood River County, a DJ and board member at Radio Tierra and the new community liaison for Columbia Center for the Arts. Contreras also led the Jan. 23 “Crossing the Border/ Cruzando la See LUNCH, page A9 One hundred and two Hood River Valley High School art entries in drawing, 2D and 3D art have received Gold Key, Silver Key or Honorable Mention in the Oregon State level of the Scholastic Art Awards 2020. They are students of HRV art teach- ers Carol Birdsell, Matthew Gerlick, Gabrielle Iversen and Amirra Malak. State level Gold Key winners will go on to the national Scholastic Art competition to compete for medals and a chance to attend the medal award ceremony at Carnegie Hall in New York if they win a Gold Medal after the second round of judging. National awards will be announced in March. Hood River’s state Gold Key win- ners’ work will be displayed at a special exhibit in the lobby at the Columbia Center for the Arts for the month of February. Students who have won Gold Keys will be honored at an award ceremony at the gallery on First Friday, Feb. 7 at 6 p.m. All are welcome to come and meet the artists. For more information on the Scho- lastic Art Awards, visit artandwriting. org. Follow the Hood River Valley High School art department on Insta- gram and Facebook @hrvhsfinearts to view all award winners’ work soon. Isabella Gibson, Kalvin Young, Luka Paider, Niko Swihart, Sierra Lavoie and Teddy Parkinson Silver Key winners Brooklyn Williams (2 Silver Keys, 1 Senior Portfolio Silver Key), Fiona Rand (3), Claire Bokovoy (2), Ione Walker (2), Abigail Lannoo, Amy Fowl- er, Ellieana Bounds, Isabella Gibson, Jack Grim, Jocelyn Grajeda, Josephine Stenn, Julian Yue, Kalvin Young, Lena Parsons, Marisa Rigert, Niko Swihart, Patricia Pacheco, Rose Siragusa and Tate Hixson Honorable Mentions Patricia Pacheco (5), Brooklyn Wil- liams (4), Luka Paider (3), Amy Fowler (2), Claire Bokovoy (2), Ella Colliander (2), Ione Walker (2), Lillian Piatt (2), Mildred Del Angel (2), Niko Swihart (2), True Becker (2), Abigail Lannoo, Aiden Wood, Bridgette Bonglam- phone, Claudio Gutierrez, Erika Caza- rez, Faith Ocheskey, Fiona Rand, Hai- ley Betts, Jessica Galvez, Kalvin Young, Kendall Posey, Lena Parsons, Madisyn Quary-Cattani, Marcos Cisneros, Max Jones, Maya Corcoran, Nate Schutt, Reed Mamuska, Rose Siragusa, Sean Arpag, Sydney Campbell, Tate Hixson, Teddy Parkinson, Vivian Olson, Yese- nia Rosales Gold Key winners Kathryn Guadagnuolo (1 senior portfolio Gold Key, 8 Gold Keys), Claire Bokovoy (4 Gold Keys, 1 Edito- rial Cartoon Gold Key sponsored by the Herb Block Foundation), Edgar Luna, Erika Wellenstein, Fiona Rand, Page A4 Claire Bokovoy’s Gold Key editorial cartoon appears on the Viewpoints page. Image courtesy of Kathryn Guadagnuolo A PIECE from Kathryn Guadagnuolo’s Gold Key winning portfolio. Local man sentenced on rape, burglary, strangulation and coercion charges A local man pled guilty last week to charges related to the abuse of an ex-girlfriend over a 22-month period. Jose Antonio Avila Torres, 27, pled guilty on charges of Rape in the First Degree, Burglary in the First Degree, Strangulation and Coercion during Jose Antonio Avila Torres his sentencing hear- ing in Hood River Circuit Court on Jan. 28. He received 100 months’ jail time, 20 years’ probation and a total $1,300 fee for the Rape charge; 36 months of jail time Classifieds Death Notices Entertainment Greater Gorge Happenings Kaleidoscope Legal Notices periods run concurrently, for a total of 100 months’ jail time, with credit for time served, and 20-years’ probation for all charges. Avila Torres is also required to register as a sex offender. The convictions cover four separate incidents that occurred between Au- gust 2017 and March 2019. The first incident occurred on or around Aug. 1, 2017, when, accord- ing to circuit court documents, Avila Torres attempted to assault the vic- tim in the presence of her child. He pled guilty to Assault in the Fourth Degree in November 2017 and re- ceived 18-months’ probation, which included the condition that he have no offensive contact with the victim. See CRIME, page A10 BRIEFS B6 A6 A3 A2 B3 B1 B5 Opinion Sports Yesteryears A4 A7 B2 “We used to have 30 minutes to respond to a house fire ... we (now) have three minutes.” — Daniel Leavell, B2 3 INSIDE and a $200 fine for the Burglary charge; 180-days of jail time and a $100 fine for the Strangulation charge; 18 months’ jail time, 36 months’ probation and a $200 fine for the Co- ercion charge; and 180-days’ jail time for an Assault in the Fourth Degree conviction he received in 2017 that was related to the other charges. All prison sentences and probation Tobacco support group Firewise Landscaping Tax Aide begins Providence Hood River Memo- rial Hospital is hosting a free eight-session tobacco educa- tion and support group begin- ning Feb. 5 from 4-5:30 p.m. See B3 for more information. OSU Extension hosts Firewise Landscaping Feb. 8 from 1-4 p.m. at Valley Christian. Spon- sored by Central Gorge Master Gardeners. More at 541-386- 3343 ext. 38257. The Tax Aide program runs Mondays at the Hood River Library and Thursdays at the Hood River Valley Adult Center from 2-6 p.m. The service is free; see B3 for more. 05105 97630 News staff writer 7 By EMILY FITZGERALD
