Get on bikes

While celebrating the National bike month of May readers of these pages should be spared the sanctimony of an earlier writer who claims all bicycle use is for pleasure and all auto use is for work or errands.

Everyone knows that when people go skiing, fishing, hunting, hiking, snowmobiling, water skiing, golfing, sightseeing, windsurfing, or to the movies or a ballgame or many other leisure pursuits they usually go in an automobile. Some cycling is for recreation, some auto use is for recreation.

Further, most cyclists also drive autos. This means that most cyclists are already paying fuel taxes used for road maintenance. Few would disagree that all the bicycle traffic in Oregon barely leaves a scratch on the state’s roads while a couple of autos with studded tires rips the pavement to shreds.

Those riding bicycles needn’t pay extra road fees unless the funds would help widen the roads to accommodate more bike lanes and keeping them swept so they can be used. It sometimes seems that non cyclists resent cyclists because the cyclists are getting or have something the non cyclists don’t.

The benefits of cycling are endless. Ease of parking, access to places autos can’t get to, fuel savings, lower carbon output, reduced traffic and better fitness is just a partial list. The weather is improving and daylight lasts from 5:30 a.m. to past 8 in the evening.

The week of May 11-15 is National Bike to Work Week and May 15 is National Bike to Work Day. Please consider joining the regular pedalers on their commutes this month.

Cary Mallon
Sandy/Hood River/Odell

Vote for Davies

Wow! I am really happy that Jon Davies decided to run for the open Position 2 on the Hood River Port commission.

He is a person of excellent character, has no particular agenda, and is willing to talk over issues and listen to the people of the port district. He is a man with good common sense who has prepared himself well for this job. He has a strong commitment to work to ensure that all development on the waterfront and on all port properties is wisely done

Without reservation I recommend and support Jon Davies for Position 2 on the Port Commission and urge you to mark your ballot for him. We are fortunate to have a man of his caliber running for this office.

Don Hosford
Hood River

 ‘Shred’ kudos

Saturday, April 25, was the first After-Tax Shred Fest for Hood River! This was a fund-raising event for our local Special Olympics, which has experienced a 30 percent drop in funding this year.

All funding for Special Olympics is by private companies and individuals, and they do not receive any public monies to support their activities. Individuals and businesses were able to bring up to four boxes of their confidential documents to be shredded on-site for free, and additional boxes were only $4 per box.

Thanks to the Hood River Special Olympians who were on hand to help customers with carrying their shreddables and were a wonderful help to everyone! We were able to raise more than $700 during our four-hour event to help Special Olympics!

I want to extend a special thank you to all those businesses who helped with our shred fest: Rite Aid, who donated space for us; Rosauers, who provided doughnuts, soda and chips; New York Sub Shop, who brought sandwiches for the workers; Print It! who helped us with our signage; Don Lucas, Gorge Winds Properties, who brought his pop-up event cover and made sure it didn’t fly off in the wind; Your Party Center, who donated the table and chairs; Mike and Rene’ Chadwick for their technical assistance; Kirby Neumann-Rea with the Hood River News for helping us get the word out; and numerous businesses who took the time to post our flyer in their windows or on their Web sites.

Also, this event would not have been possible without Tom Jensen, with AccuShred NW from Gresham, who generously donated their shred truck and manpower! Thank you to all our staff at Gorge Winds Properties, thank you to all the individuals and businesses that participated, and thank you, Barbara Langer, our local Special Olympics director, for letting us help you raise much-needed funds for your athletes!

Geri Murray
Hood River

Great tunes

Hard to believe so much fun and talent could be stuffed into the Hood River Middle School! But we were there, loving every minute of it!

Fiddle Fest 2009 was just great! Thank you Denise and Mike McCravey, you did it again! Hope you recover in time to put together the 2010 event.

Maria and Paul Kollas
Hood River

Take on turbines

The predominate north-looking view from Hood River could soon include more than 80 wind turbines that are being proposed by SDS Lumber Company. The 425-foot-tall spinning white pinwheel turbines with aircraft warning lights located on the ridgeline will degrade the scenic tourism resources of the area.

Many readers might not care, or might welcome this insult to those who do care, but the cost to us all of losing scenic resources is more than “artistic.” And in fact, around here there are more tourists and residents who like to see magnificent scenery than not.

The real problem with siting turbines in scenic areas is that those multitudes who DO care about scenery will turn away from renewables. If we allow such a valuable local scenic and economic resource to be degraded so early in the nation’s path toward energy self reliance, many people (tourists, area residents who did not act to re-site it, etc.) will take away the impression that these technologies have too high a price, and we will head straight into more coal burning, nuclear, or simply imported petroleum.

An investment in renewable energy has never been more important, but this is an example of implementing the project with the highest cost first. There are miles and miles of better terrain locally that should be employed before we trade in the current scenic and timberland assets which currently sustain our economy.

Please plan to comment on this project next week at one of two meetings: May 6 at 6 p.m. at Rock Creek Center in Stevenson or May 7 at 2:30 p.m. at the Underwood Community Center in Underwood.

John M. Wood
Hood River

McBride for Port

We’d like to encourage everyone to vote for our neighbor, conscientious citizen of Hood River and most importantly, our friend. To put it simply, Rich is honest, open-minded and integrity-based. If these three qualities are important to you, then be sure to vote Rich McBride for Port.

Tad and Jacque Johnston
Hood River

Cut at top

As I sit and read about the cuts for the Hood River County School District I always wonder why, when they cut teachers and programs we never read about district office staff being cut.

Assuming there is a reason for this I for one would like to know why. Why do we always cut at the bottom and never the top.

Just call me a concerned tax payer.

Roy Fleming
Odell

UAVs save lives

In response to the “Stop Profiteering” letter (April 28) I would like to respond since the writer, Rollean, is completely mistaken and misinformed regarding Insitu and its values.

Here are the facts: There are far more markets available in the private market arena than in the military use of UAVs. The only reason this hasn’t been the mainstream use is because the FAA is not allowing UAVs in public airspace yet.

Did you know that Insitu’s first plane was for the use of locating fish in the ocean for fishing vessels? Did you know that flying a plane with no one in it is safer? Did you know that Insitu UAVs have already saved countless lives both military and civilian?

Did you know that your comparison of the past world conflicts to the use of UAVs is like comparing civil War military line ups with video surveillance methods? They used to just stand in line and shoot each other and then wait to be shot.

Can you not see the logic in the use of UAVs here? Insitu has created something that limits expense, limits casualties, limits waste, limits need for military human deployments. What more could we possibly ask for that is not being invented and reinvented by that fine company? It is the closest thing to peace we can hope for in our current military situations.

I wish you could see in your mind’s eye the lives that have been spared because some of our local Gorge men and women put their bright and determined minds together to create something that will save countless lives the world over, not just U.S. lives.

Please step into the future and open your mind to the possibility of safer, more responsible use of human lives in the arena of UAVs. There are articles all over the place that outline why the private markets are not open yet. Google http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ha8RvErzxxZh6lD5UlADk-m0qstAD97OT03O0,

Mark F. Brennan
Hood River

Felicitous couple

Harrison Ford, Brendan Fraser and Keri Russell are filming a movie in Portland called “Crowley” and have indeed been traveling through the Gorge. Keri and her husband, Shane, had dinner at Stonehedge Gardens in Hood River last week. They were the nicest people in the world and they couldn’t stop talking about the beauty of Hood River and the Gorge.

He called on the phone while viewing our Web site from his local hotel and asked if there was a quiet, romantic table still available.

I had been “tasting” some wine earlier and I laughed at his question and said, “Dude, it’s April in Hood River; you can have the whole restaurant.” He laughed and said he hadn’t had a romantic meal with his wife in weeks and he didn’t want to blow his one night to get away with her. I told him if he brought her to Stonehedge and got a bottle of local pinot noir and a rack of lamb he’d be a rock star. He laughed and said we’re on our way.

When they showed up it was like we’d known each other for a while because of the good phone banter. He looked at me and said, “Mike?” and I held out my hand and said, “What’ya think, Shane, is this going to work?” gesturing to the building. He laughed, looked at Keri and asked her if he did okay. She smiled and laughed and said, “You did really good. This looks perfect.“

That’s when I realized who she was and I understood his quest for privacy and romance. I never said a word or geeked out but I remember mentioning my wife was the pastry chef when discussing desserts and Keri said, “Oh, yumm, you’re very lucky.” And I said, yeah, I married way up. And her husband, Shane, almost choked and said, “meee toooo,” emphatically. It was a classic moment.

I hope to see them again sometime; they were truly wonderful people. I felt like asking them if they’d seen the Seinfeld episode where Jerry takes a lie detector test about watching Melrose Place.

Because I surely never watched “Felicity.“

Mike Caldwell
Hood River