Thank you, Jeff

Heartfelt thanks to a mentor and friend:

As of July 1, the emergency service and residents of both the City and County of Hood River will lose one of the finest and in my opinion one of the most respected firefighters this county has ever had.

Jeff Walker has been involved with Hood River County emergency services for more than 20 years. He has been a part of West Side, Odell, and most recently City of Hood River fire departments.

Unfortunately due to situations beyond his control, his position as the city’s fire marshal has been eliminated. Jeff has been instrumental in making each and every community he has worked in a safer place for its citizens. He helped start the first responder program at the high school, which now offers a career credit, college credit through CGCC, and the chance to become a state-certified first responder.

He has served as the county’s defense chief in regards to wildland fires and defense, and has been a part of many other behind-the-scenes actions that often go unrecognized. Along with many others in the valley, Jeff has been one of my mentors and heroes in my 13 years in the fire service.

Whether it was teaching first responder class at the high school or fire ground operations, his knowledge and skills were well received by his students. His dedication to helping people, teaching new recruits, or just offering a kind word was evident in everything he did.

I want to take this opportunity to say thank you, Jeff. Your leadership, dedication, and compassion to help your fellow man continues to inspire me in becoming a better firefighter and EMT. Your attitude toward the job is something each and every firefighter in this county, paid or volunteer, should remember.

We didn’t get into this profession for the fame, glory or the paycheck. We are firefighters and EMTs for two reasons: We want to help people, and make our community a better place to live.

Jeff, thank you for a job well done. You will be truly missed by many of your Hood River County emergency service brothers and sisters.

Aaron Dillenbeck, lieutenant
West Side Fire Department

The three types

The Anne Frank illustration (A4, June 17) was inspiring and hopeful. However, naïve.

In India they teach their children that there are three types of people in this world: people who will help you, people who won’t help you or hurt you, and people who will hurt you.

Given this information the children are wiser and safer throughout their lives.

Dee Dee Vallier
Hood River

Surf support

A huge thank you to everyone from the Columbia Gorge Windsurfing Association and Big Winds who made the second annual Big Brothers Big Sisters Windsurfing Clinic a success! The event was filled with lots of smiles and words of appreciation from the kiddos and their mentors.

A special shout out to three awesome youth volunteers — Alex Nielson, Alex Frasier and Andy Morrissey — who gave up a warm, windy Saturday afternoon when they could’ve been out shredding it to be volunteer instructors for their peers. I couldn’t ask for better role-modeling.

The Gorge draws wind enthusiasts from all over the world. It’s awesome that we enabled some of our locals to get a taste of windsurfing, most of whom would’ve never gotten an opportunity to experience this awesome sport. I am privileged to have the support of so many generous volunteers.

Beth McCullough
Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Columbia Gorge coordinator
Husum, Wash.

Fight gas prices

Once again the oil companies are raising the price of fuel; it usually hits a peak from Memorial Day until Labor Day, the peak driving season.

There is always an excuse; either they have to change from winter formulation to summer fuel, or a refinery is closed for repair; or the supply is low. Personally I’m tired of being gouged every year.

If you look at the ratio of the price of a barrel of oil, currently about $70, to the price a year ago, over $140, how can the price of gas be $2.70 now when it was $4.11 last year at $140 per barrel of oil? We’re paying way too much. This doesn’t make sense and will quickly end whatever possible recovery the government was trying to engineer.

Please do what I did: call or e-mail Ron Wyden or Jeff Merkley, our senators. Greg Walden in the House should hear from all of us. It’s time to hold our representatives in the House and Senate accountable for allowing this to go on and not investigating to find the reasons, if there are any, other than greed.

Rob Brostoff
Cascade Locks

Moving on

It’s that time of year again. School’s out, the weather’s fine, the hissing of summer lawns and my yearly report on the sprinklers at the high school is in the air.

Last night I ran the track at 11 p.m. and sprinklers were watering the track, common areas, and underneath the bleachers. Today at 8 a.m. I ran Indian “Cr-E Coli” and the sprinklers were all on.

I just don’t understand how a school system that has to cut five days from an already limited school year affords that much water.

Does the run-off contribute to the ongoing degradation of the creek and trail? Or is that all the Windmaster sewer system? I know — some kids wouldn’t even go to school if not for athletics — how pathetic. As for me and my son, we are leaving Hood River after six years. I must find a public school system that values academics over invasive plant species.

Max Kline
Hood River

Safety figures

Dearest Cliff Mansfield,

In order to assist you in staying safe I thought these statistics would enlighten you as to the dangers you face.

From the Insurance institute for Highway Safety statistics — Driver deaths in single-vehicle crashes, of all types, per million registered passenger vehicles 1-3 years old, 2007:

The rate is 31 deaths per million registered cars.

And 59 deaths per million registered trucks.

SUVs faired better with a rate of 24 deaths per million single vehicle crashes.

Since 1978 pickups and SUVs have a consistently higher percentage of rollover deaths than cars.

Seventy-one percent of passenger vehicle occupants killed in 2007 were drivers; 71 percent of these drivers were males.

Single vehicle crashes accounted for 63 percent of both SUV occupant deaths and pickup occupant deaths.

I hope you are not using a cell phone while driving as this greatly increases the odds you will be injured in a motor vehicle accident.

It is a big scary world out here and we all want to get home safely.

Also I wanted to point out that government agencies such as the USPS, the FAA, the FDA and OSHA, as well as numerous others have been providing all the citizens of our country with safe and reliable services for decades, while capitalism has consistently put public safety a distant second to profits.

Rich McBride
Hood River

Values in action

The Hood River County Democrats want to thank Columbia Riverkeeper and the Hood River Waterfront Park Association for helping to coordinate Weed and Feed down at Waterfront Park June 20.

Due to our turnout we were able to weed and spruce up the native plant gardens in preparation for Gov. Barbara Roberts and the ribbon-cutting ceremony June 28.

A special thanks goes out to our 40-plus participants and the businesses that donated food and beverages for our hungry gardeners: These include Dog River Coffee Company, Rosauers, Fruit Stand and Shari’s. All of you made our first “Values In Action” community service event an enormous success.

Linda Colmer
Hood River

Hearty amen

A hearty “amen!” to the June 20 letter of the Woodriches.

It’s nice having neighbors who carry their values in their hearts and heads rather than anger in their writings.

Dave Dockham
Hood River

VanOrman praised

When Rep. Suzanne VanOrman joined the Oregon House of Representatives in January, she brought with her a strong commitment to be an effective advocate for people and businesses in Hood River.

Over the course of the session she has made good on that commitment. VanOrman voted in favor of HJR 43, recognizing the importance of small business to Oregon’s economy. She voted to make state government more accountable by creating a searchable, online database detailing government spending.

VanOrman voted to combat invasive plants that affect all Oregonians directly or indirectly through impacts on agriculture. And she fought hard for full funding of Head Start.

As the legislature prepares to adjourn, I want to thank Rep. VanOrman for her wisdom, hard work and independent voice.

Rep. Mary Nolan
House Democratic Majority Leader
Southwest Portland

Yes to beer tax

Oregon’s beer tax is one of the lowest in the nation — a penny a glass — and hasn’t been raised for 32 years.

Since then, the cost of public safety has soared because of mandatory sentencing initiatives, and in many cases substance abuse and addiction is a major factor behind the crimes. In those 32 years, the number of Oregon state police troopers has roughly been cut in half while our population has nearly doubled.

The highly paid alcohol lobbyists in Salem have prevented even minor raises to the beer tax. I admire State Rep. Ben Cannon for leading the fight to raise Oregon’s beer tax to at least the national average by introducing House Bill 2461, with the money earmarked for public safety and alcohol/drug treatment.

During this economic downturn, funding for public safety is jeopardized. This will affect Eastern Oregon with our high number of prisons. HB 2461 is a common sense solution. I have urged my legislators to support HB 2461 and hope that others will do the same.

Grant Schott
Fossil

We can save lives

Would it be murder for someone with a life jacket to refuse to throw it to a drowning child because s/he couldn’t pay $100?

Okay. Would it be murder to destroy life jackets left around for free use of drowners because these jackets compete with the life jackets that are for sale? What if the town council was going to vote on leaving free life jackets around at the dangerous currents and the commercial life jacket business lobbied, with money and promises of future jobs, the council members to vote against that life saving plan?

So, I guess my question is: Is it murder to prevent saving lives? Is it worse if for the sake of personal gain? The most conservative estimates I have heard are that 20,000 people die in the U.S. each year because they lack adequate health insurance.

In other words, those who work to prevent treating sick people if they don’t have enough money are condemning them to unnecessary pain and early death, undeniably.

Who is it that works against treating sick people who are too poor? Why, anyone who works to keep the present uncaring system in place because it is profitable to them, including members of the best Congress money can buy, who accept health industry “contributions for continuing their important work” and then obey their requests to prevent health care for all.

And this doesn’t begin to discuss the middle class risk that at any time someone dear to us who is also un- or under-insured might become very hurt or ill leading to our own complete bankruptcy.

If you agree that it is murder to prevent actively the saving of a life (for personal gain, no less), doesn’t being pro-life demand some kind of protest? Aren’t we all pro-life, in the most important sense?

Visualize health industry executives and their enabling lawmakers buying second houses, luxury cars or even $25 bottles of wine while many wonderful fellow humans suffer from preventable pain, debilitation and death. Now visualize doing a citizen’s arrest at their club or favorite restaurant.

Bob Williams
Hood River

Speak kindly

This morning, as I was out in the garden mulching my strawberries, watering my corn and singing to my hens, I was thinking about the letter I read earlier as I was drinking my Hood River coffee. I didn’t have the opportunity to read the “Prius vs. Hummer” essay.

I‘ve heard it said that it takes a village to raise a child. I question publicly reaming him to substantiate driving a Prius as a part of that noble and idyllic sentiment. Don’t hold all Prius drivers responsible for this attitude, son.

I was feeling sorry for you but then I thought maybe I‘d better say a little prayer for the informed but incensed composer.

Henry David Thoreau: The only way to tell the truth is to speak with kindness. Only the words of a loving man can be heard.

Gigi Murphy
Hood River

Lear at Stonehenge

Congratulations to Maryhill Museum and the Portland Actors Ensemble for the outstanding performance of King Lear at Stonehenge last Saturday evening. What a unique way to celebrate the solstice!

Kris Gann
Hood River

Idlewilde kudos

The family of Glenda Taylor would like to publicly thank Bob Huskey and his staff for all the help he gave us at Glenda’s passing.

Hood River is fortunate to have him as manager at Idlewilde Cemetery.

Linda Campbell
Hood River

Endearing Ende

I was so glad to see the article about Bernice Ende in the paper of June 6. Thank you Adam Lapierre for a great interview.

I had the pure pleasure of meeting her as she and her trio of amazing animals made their way past my home. They stopped by for a cool drink of lemonade, trail advice and a bit of story sharing.

What an honor for me, also a horseback rider, to meet her and hear her story. A bit of my spirit left with her that day and I stay in touch through her Web site. What a story, Bernice is filled with love of life and adventure.

Her animals fully trust her and she them as they take this truly amazing journey together. She loved the Columbia Gorge/Hood River area and couldn’t get over how green it was.

Please check out her Web site: endeofthetrail.com

Mary Davidson
Hood River

Life first

Rick Davis’s thoughtful letter (June 13) speaks of controlling future health-care costs so our monies may go toward “green energy ... and other priorities.”

Yet we must ask what priorities we would put above life and health. For among major expenditures not mentioned by Mr. Davis are the trillions spent to war on, e.g., Iraq and Afghanistan, and the billions wasted on privately contracted prison facilities and on sumptuous “bailouts” of the crooks who enriched themselves ballooning and popping the market.

Yes, we can acknowledge the need for security; my brother, en route to his office in the WTC, saw it fall into ash, and my old college friend, too, barely escaped the buildings’ collapse. But I have also had friends who could not see a doctor, or could not get the necessary “procedure,” for lack of health coverage, and who consequently died.

I am on Medicare, with one relative on Medicaid and another whose job offers no health insurance; I find it morally wrong that I and my disabled relative be pitted against my uninsured relative for adequate health coverage, as happens now and would continue under any healthcare plan, with or without a “public option,“ actively under consideration by the U.S. legislatures.

Only a single-payer, single-tier plan can offer adequate health coverage to everyone-by removing the profit-taking built into the private health insurance system. Single-payer thus avoids the inroads into Medicare/Medicaid currently proposed to pay for “reform.”

And a single-payer, single-tier plan covering everyone, including not only your friends and relatives but legislators, executives, and “health economics” researchers alike, is far less likely to be gutted for “priorities” like aggressive war, proliferating prisons, payoffs to banking conglomerates, and other real bankrupters of our economy.

Paula Friedman
Parkdale