A2 Wednesday, February 5, 2020
HOOD RIVER NEWS | Hood River, Ore.
hoodrivernews.com
GREATER GORGE
Columbia Basin Care volunteer named
‘Distinguished Citizen’
Eunice Denudt, a volunteer
at Columbia Basin Care, has
been named Volunteer of the
Year by The Dalles Area Cham-
ber of Commerce and was
lauded in January at the annual
Distinguished Citizens Award
Banquet.
It’s her second award in just
two months.
In November, Denudt was
named Volunteer of the Year
by the Oregon Health Care As-
sociation, the largest long-term
care trade association in Ore-
gon. In January she earned the
Distinguished Citizen honor.
As a volunteer, Denudt, 84,
has crocheted over 150 blan-
kets for sick and elderly resi-
dents at Columbia Basin Care,
a nursing home located in The
Dalles.
“I had a stroke a few years
ago and I couldn’t walk or talk
or do anything for myself,” she
said. “I was given a handmade
blanket and it meant so much
to me.”
Following the stroke, De-
nudt spent months regaining
the ability to walk and talk.
Once recovered, she was de-
termined to repay the kindness
she had received. Though she
is on oxygen, has arthritis and
has little space in her budget
for the cost of yarn, the dedi-
cated volunteer takes the time,
effort and money to crochet
colorful blanket wraps, then
loads up her car to deliver the
blankets to Columbia Basin
Care.
“Eunice does not sit idly, and
always has the need to serve
others,” Lisa Farquharson, ex-
ecutive director of the Cham-
ber, said at the awards ban-
quet. “She’s admired because
of her strong faith in God, and
she is a woman who firmly
believes that she is here for a
purpose and a vision — to help
others.”
The Distinguished Citizens
Awards are bestowed annually
by The Dalles Area Chamber of
Commerce to those who make
a difference in community.
Founded in 1964, Columbia
Basin Care is the region’s only
independent not-for-profit fa-
cility for short-stay rehabilita-
Photo by Lisa Griswold
VOLUNTEER Eunice Denudt, right, was recently awarded Vol-
unteer of the Year by The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce.
With her is Corliss Marsh, the previous year’s award-winning
volunteer.
tion and long-term care. The
care center offers an in-house
geriatric nurse practitioner,
along with a team of physi-
cal, occupational and speech
therapists who provide com-
prehensive rehabilitation and
‘Women of
Sorosis’ Feb. 8
“The Women of Sorosis:
Social ‘Influencers’ of Their
Day” is the topic of the Feb.
8 program at the Original
Wasco County Courthouse,
410 West Second Place in The
Dalles.
Saturday’s program begins
at 1:30 p.m. and is second in
a month-long series of pre-
sentations.
Even before women re-
ceived the right to vote, con-
tributions of the Sorosis Club
to the development and pres-
ervation of The Dalles was far
reaching. said a press release.
Speaker Denise Dietrich
Bokum volunteers at Fort
Dalles Museum, which was
founded by the women who
also gave their name to So-
restorative services.
Columbia Basin Care is lo-
cated at 1015 Webber St. in The
Dalles. For more information,
call 541-296-2156 or visit col-
basin.com.
rosis Park. She is a native of
Pennsylvania.
Admission to the program
is free, but donations are wel-
come.
A TV monitor will be placed
on the ground floor of the 1859
courthouse to serve those un-
able to climb the stairs.
Coffee and cookies will be
served after the program.
Don’t miss
our
Happy
Hour!
5:00 p.m.
to
6:00 p.m.
Stonehedge
Gardens
Gardens
3405 WINE
COUNTRY AVENUE
HOOD
RIVER
HOOD RIVER
541-386-3940
Washington cities, Klickitat County
sign affordable housing agreement
By JACOB BERTRAM
White Salmon Enterprise
The Cities of Bingen and
Goldendale were the latest of
four local government entities
to sign a Memorandum of
Understanding that Klickitat
County would participate in a
recently-enacted legislation,
Substitute House Bill 1406,
which provides a new optional
revenue stream to help local
governments produce afford-
able housing.
The MOU states that it is the
intention of the four entities
for Klickitat County to adopt
the legislation, while the three
cities neglect to opt-in.
The two city councils ap-
proved the MOU at their latest
council meetings on Jan. 21.
White Salmon City Council
also agreed to sign the docu-
ment at their Jan. 15 meeting,
while Klickitat County had
signed their portion a day
prior.
A new revenue stream to
provide affordable housing
does not mean an increase in
the sales tax rate for consum-
ers, a Municipal Research and
Service Center (MRSC) write-
up on the bill notes. Instead,
the tax option would be cred-
ited against the state’s 6.5%
sales tax.
White Salmon Mayor Marla
Keethler explained it as a real-
location of sales tax people are
already paying in the county or
city back to that county or city
and dedicating it to affordable
housing goals that the govern-
mental entities identify.
The cities also passed res-
olutions stating their intent
not to implement the bill.
According to an agenda memo
from the City of White Salmon,
“in speaking with representa-
tives of the Washington State
Department of Revenue, they
would like cities and/or coun-
ties to also take formal action
stating that it is their intent to
not adopt legislation imple-
menting (SHB) 1406.”
Presenting the MOU to the
White Salmon City Coun-
cil, City Clerk/Treasurer Jan
Brending explained that be-
cause of the way the legislation
was written, the cities part-
nered with Klickitat County
agreed the County should be
the sole entity to implement
the legislation in order to max-
imize revenue.
“If the three cities and Klick-
itat County were to implement
this bill separately, it would
result in less money and it’s
because of the complexity
of the way the bill’s written,”
Brending said.
“The money can be used
for acquiring, rehabbing or
constructing affordable hous-
ing, including new units of
affordable housing within an
existing structure, or for facil-
ities that provide supportive
housing services. It can be
used for funding the operation
and maintenance cost of those
new units or it can be provided
for rental assistance to the ten-
ants,” Brending said.
“The four entities … agreed
that the highest and best use
was for the acquisition, reha-
bilitation or constructing of
new units for either affordable
or supportive housing,” Brend-
ing said, acknowledging that
the allocation of the funding
will be a collaborative effort
between the three cities and
the county.
The MOU states that the
funds collected from this bill
“must be used to assist per-
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sons whose income is at or
below sixty percent of the City
and Klickitat County’s median
income.”
The MOU also acknowledg-
es the funds would “be best
used by existing organizations
— Washington Gorge Action
Programs and Columbia Cas-
cade Housing or other future
qualifying organizations that
provide housing services, in-
cluding ‘supportive housing’ in
Klickitat County.”
As such, the bill allows local
governments to finance loans
or grants to nonprofit organi-
zations or public housing au-
thorities to carry out the bill’s
intentions and pledge the reve-
nue collected from the new tax
system to repay such bonds.
The Klickitat County Board
of County Commissioners ap-
proved the MOU at their Jan.
14 meeting. A public hearing
has not yet been scheduled,
but will be held in tandem with
the board’s effort to adopt the
legislation. Governing bodies
have until July 27 to adopt the
legislation to participate in the
tax share.
Phone Marcy
509.637.4689
New event space opens in Bingen
The Garage, a new event-
space in Bingen, will host a
grand opening on Feb. 8 from
noon to 4 p.m. The festivities
will begin with drinks and
small bites, then music, and is
open to all.
Owners Kay Endres and Jack
Fisher spent over a year putting
their heart, soul, and savings
into building The Garage to
be a destination event space
with easy highway access, said
a press release. Formerly an
auto repair shop, the building
was transformed into a 1,200
square foot event space with
vaulted ceilings, wood fur-
nishings and modern concrete
floors.
“We professionally designed
The Garage to accommodate
both intimate gatherings
and business events with us-
er-friendly elements, such as
easy to move furniture pieces,
storage options, and multiple
outlets to charge devices. We
Another Chance
R ESA LE & MORE LLC
Antiques, collectibles,
furniture & thrift store
Going out of Business!
envision so many events here,
from wine tastings, chef din-
ners, art showings, and busi-
ness presentations to meet-
ings, where it’s easy to have
productive working lunches
that clients or employees find
inspiring,” the owners said.
Visit www.thegaragebingen.
com/ or contact thegarage-
bingen@gmail.com for more
information.
This week’s Sudoku is presented by:
BRIEN D . GIBSON
CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT
You’re Invited
to the
Columbia River Gorge
Night To Shine Prom
For folks with special needs, ages 14 and up
Friday, Feb. 7 th • 6 to 9 p.m.
That’s right...beginning February 1st,
2020, most all store inventory will
be 40% or more off. Way too much
inventory left unsold! Everything
must go! Displays will be selling as
they empty out. All sales final.
The prom includes flowers, walking the
red carpet, food, dancing, activities, photo
booth, and crowning each special guest king
or queen of the prom. This year we also
have a couple of surprise guests coming!
409 East 2nd St. | Historic Downtown
THE DALLES, OREGON
GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH
Monday-Friday | 10:30ish-6pm
Saturdays | 10:30ish-4pm
SUDOKU
3 4
1 2
5 6 7
2
4
6
6
8 2 9
3
1
5
6 9 4
5
3
6
7
8
9 7 2
5 1
4 3
© 200 Hometown Content
Fill in all 81 squares on the puzzle with numbers 1 to 9. You can
use each number 1-9 only once in each nine square section, in each
horizontal line of nine squares, and in each vertical column of nine
squares. The puzzle is completed when you correctly fi ll every square.
FREE to special guests and parents/caregivers
1280 W Jewett Blvd, White Salmon
To register or for more info please visit
www.NightToShineColumbiaRiverGorge.com
or email CRGNTS@outlook.com
BRIEN D . GIBSON
CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT
T: (541) 226-3503
F: (503) 331-3904
E: briencpa@gorge.net
L: 1814 BELMONT AVE.
HOOD RIVER, OR 97031