A8 Wednesday, February 12, 2020
HOOD RIVER NEWS | Hood River, Ore.
hoodrivernews.com
TRAIN: High-centered trailer on tracks causes accident
continued from A1
accident.
“I was turning up the hill go
to home and he (Castro) was
out of his truck and I saw him
turn to go back towards his
truck, and then I just saw the
train smash through. It went
‘bam!’
“Then I turned around to see
if he was okay. He had been
out of his truck and I turned
around and came back and
just checked on him to be sure
he was okay because by then
he was sitting in his truck. I
thought, ‘Oh, my, God was he
in it?’ But he hadn’t been and
he was okay, and I stayed with
him until some people showed
up for him.”
Hughes said the trailer “high
centered” on the tracks and
was unable to move for about
10 minutes after getting stuck,
when the eastbound Union
Pacific train came, “and he
(Castro) did not have enough
room to stop and hit it.”
Union Pacific spokesman
Tim McMahan said, “The lead
locomotive was damaged to
the point where it’s not road
worthy, although it can be safe-
ly moved to a repair facility.”
He added that rail traffic was
routed around the scene.
The impact of the train
caused wood chips to spill
along the bank for about 70
feet, and uprooted the north
rail crossing bar; the south one
was undamaged.
On the north side of the
train, however, lay about two-
thirds of the trailer.
About 20 people employed
at businesses on the north
side of the tracks were unable
to leave the area, because the
train blocked two access roads,
for about 45 minutes until the
Port of Cascade Locks opened
a gate at the entrance of a pri-
vate driveway connecting to
Forest Lane, east of the crash
site. Responders were able
to route Forest Lane vehicles
around the scene.
The truck and train were ex-
pected to be in place for about
two hours while preliminary
investigations at the scene
were carried out by Federal
Railraod Administration, ac-
cording to Hughes. Hughes
said no traffic citation was
issued.
Photo by Kirby Neumann-Rea
TRAILER remnants along the Union Pacific siding shortly after the crash; visible between engines is the larger portion of the trailer.
FLOODING: State of emergency declared in three counties
continued from A1
erty at tinyurl.com/w4838tq.
This information will be used
by the county to capture im-
pacts of the flood to request
support from the state and
federal government.
The search and rescue op-
erations will transition to an
assessment process to deter-
mine the extent of the dam-
age. Umatilla County crews
will evaluate roads and the
damage to county equipment,
and ODOT will continue to
inspect and repair roads and
structures and assess poten-
tial damage, and is working
on I-84 but there is no time-
line for reopening the second
eastbound and westbound
lanes. Umatilla County crews
will inspect and assess dam-
age to Walla Walla River Road
and Mill Creek Road.
Crews will continue re-
covery efforts throughout
the area, including damage
assessment and planning/
constructing repairs.
“... I am grateful
for all of our first
responders for their
efforts to keep our
families safe since
the waters began
rising.”
Gov. Kate Brown
Emergency declared
Brown declared a State
of Emergency on Friday in
three Oregon counties due
to severe flooding, increased
snowmelt, landslides, and
erosion. This declaration
comes at the request of local
legislators and is based on
the recommendations of the
Oregon Office of Emergency
Management (OEM).
“Fast-moving, severe floods
have required the evacuation
of residences and shut down
critical roads in northeastern
Oregon. I am grateful for
all of our first responders
for their efforts to keep our
families safe since the waters
began rising,” Brown said.
“This emergency declara-
tion ensures state resources,
emergency response per-
sonnel, and equipment can
be activated to complement
critical local resources as this
situation progresses.”
Brown’s declaration di-
rects OEM to coordinate the
deployment of the Oregon
National Guard, Oregon De-
partment of Transportation,
Oregon State Police, Ore-
gon Water Resources Depart-
ment, Oregon Department of
Human Services, and Oregon
Health Authority to support
local communities as needed.
OEM will facilitate the ac-
cess and use of state resourc-
es, personnel, and equip-
ment to protect communities,
property, and the environ-
ment, and aid in the recovery
from flooding. The State of
Emergency will remain in ef-
fect for 30 days.
BREEZEBY: Electronic tolling intended to ease impact of heavy summer traffic
continued from A1
can fix, but overall, it’s going
great,” Vollans said. “I’m very
pleased with the partnership
and where we’re at right now
with it.”
The Port of Cascade Locks
signed an intergovernmental
agreement with the Port of
Hood River back in Octo-
ber for use of the BreezeBy
system. Because the Port of
Hood River owns the Breeze-
By system, the Port of Hood
River will provide back of-
fice services for the Port of
Cascade Locks and The Port
of Hood River will retain 13
cents per crossing to cover
operational costs.
Electronic tolling is expect-
ed to speed up transactions
across the Bridge of the Gods
and ease the heavy backlog
the bridge sees over the sum-
mer months, said Jess Groves,
Port of Cascade Locks Com-
mission president.
Ultimately, the Port of Cas-
cade Locks hopes to add a
second lane to the toll-booth
area so that BreezeBy cus-
tomers don’t have to wait in
the same line as cash-paying
customers. “The goal is to
have enough of traffic breez-
ing through to help those
lines,” Groves said. That addi-
tion is at least a few years out,
but Vollans said that he has
already noticed an improve-
ment in bridge traffic during
morning and evening com-
mutes. However, they have to
wait until summer traffic hits
to see how effective the sys-
tem really is for easing traffic
backups on the bridge.
“I think the big test will be
when we hit May and June,”
Vollans said. “We’ll have
more people with transpon-
ders by that point; hopefully,
we’ll be close to 50 percent
transponders by that point.”
Approximately 70 percent
of traffic on the Hood River
Bridge is currently using
BreezeBy, Kowell said, but
that percentage drops to
about 60 percent during the
summer months because of
the influx of visitors.
The Port of Cascade Locks
gave bridge-users until Feb.
3 to phase out their cou-
pon books and local stickers
that previously provided dis-
counted tolls; Vollans said
that he expects a surge of new
BreezeBy customers once
those are no longer accepted
for toll payment.
Cascade Locks Commis-
sioner Joeinne Caldwell has
been taking BreezeBy appli-
cations to local businesses to
help them with registration,
and said that she hopes to
get all of the local trucking
companies and the Oregon
Department of Transporta-
tion’s motor-pools onto the
BreezeBy system.
“I found everybody really
thrilled that they can do Hood
River and the Bridge of the
Gods both,” she said, adding
that that people’s biggest
problems with registration
are figuring out what class
their vehicle is, and where
they’re supposed to put the
transponder on their vehicle.
(See sidebar for information
on BreezeBy registration.)
Vollans and the Cascade
Locks commissioners specif-
ically thanked Port of Hood
River staff for helping with
the educational component
of BreezeBy implantation
in Cascade Locks; staff and
commissioners from both
ports said they were happy
with how well the ports
have been working together
through the implementation
process.
“I think it’s a great partner-
ship all around,” Vollans said.
How do I register for BreezeBy?
New BreezeBy accounts can be created online at portofcascade-
locks.org (click BREEZEBY, then click the BreezeBy logo, then click
“New Account”) or at csc.portofhoodriver.com/accountsignup. There
is no required personal identification to open an account, but each
transponder is linked to a specific vehicle, so the make, model, color,
year, and license plate number is required.
Customers can also register at either the Port of Hood River or Port
of Cascade Lock’s physical offices, located at 1000 E Port Marina Drive,
Hood River, and 427 Portage Road, Cascade Locks, respectively. Both
offices are open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. New accounts
cannot be created at the toll booths due to traffic flow and safety
concerns.
Port of Cascade Locks customers can redeem any unused bridge
coupons for credit of their value into a BreezeBy account at either
port office during regular business hours. There are no fees to open
an account, and each account receives one transponder for free; each
additional transponder costs $5.
Current Port of Hood River BreezeBy customers don’t need to do
anything to be able to use their transponders on the Bridge of the
Gods: BreezeBy customer account statements will depict which bridge
was crossed for each charge to the account balance.
GENDER: ‘We need to continue to have this conversation’
continued from A1
who a person is on the gen-
der identity spectrum unless
we ask. The takeaway is that
gender identity is really big,
we all have one, and making
assumptions on folks and who
they love isn’t going to get you
a lot of places.”
Winn said it’s always okay
to ask a person their pre-
ferred pronouns, and that if
you mis-gender someone, it’s
important to simply apologize.
“Don’t make the experience
about you,” she said, “about
how sorry and devastated you
are. You’re not helping anyone
in the room. Apologize and
move on.”
Even if someone shares their
preferred pronouns, it’s im-
portant to get permission be-
fore using those pronouns in
other situations.
“Maybe someone is sharing
a piece of themselves, but
they’re not ready for everyone
else to know,” she said.
Winn shared resources for
kids, including the Human
Rights Campaign, Teaching
Tolerance and GLSEN, all of
which support youth and/
or can train teachers. There
is also the website Therapy of
the Gorge, which can point
kids and parents to therapists
trained in gender issues.
“We need to continue to
have this conversation,” Winn
concluded. “If you’ve learned
something new, please share
it. And if you’ve learned some-
thing about someone’s iden-
tity, please have permission
before you share.”
Library Assistant Director
Arwen Ungar said that, while
this is the last in this series of
Lunch and Learn presenta-
tions, it will begin again at the
end of May. Topic suggestions
are welcome.
About Columbia Gorge
Pride Alliance
Plans are underway for the
annual Pride event, which is
Columba Gorge Pride Alli- typically held the last Saturday
ance is an all-volunteer orga- of June. “Our hope is to contin-
nization working to provide ue to expand and reach more
a safe environment for the parts of the Gorge,” said Winn.
LGBTQ community. The group
For more information, visit
formed in 2016.
columbiagorgepride.com.
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