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Most importantly he has the professional legal experience. He has practiced law for 31 years in The Dalles, tried hundreds of cases of all kinds, and served on various state bar committees. In addition, for the last eight years has been a court-appointed arbitrator. From this experience he has a wide understanding of the legal issues facing individuals from all walks of life and of all ages.

Secondly I feel he has the temperament and personal values to be an excellent judge. He believes all involved in the legal proceedings, no matter their social or financial status, should be respected. He will be fair in rendering decisions based on the law. And he will ensure that a person’s day in court is fair and just.

Lastly he has been actively involved in the community, including serving on The Dalles School District’s Scholarship Foundation since 1984, spending 26 years as a basketball official, and serving as a board member of Hospice of the Gorge demonstrating his belief in the community and his willingness to give back.

Tom Peachey is supported by individuals from all political and ideological perspectives because they know he will pursue justice with respect and fairness. You can find more information on his website, www.peacheyforjudge.com, where you can learn in more detail why he is the best-qualified candidate.

Scott McKay
The Dalles

Stauffer for judge

The Hispanic community is vitally important to the orchard industry. Many first-generation immigrant orchard workers are uncomfortable with our court system because of their lack of familiarity with the English language.

The members of the orchard community now have the opportunity to make our court system more available to Hispanics by supporting Janet Stauffer for judge.

Janet has a Spanish degree from Seattle University and both speaks and writes Spanish fluently. This will give her the ability to make the court system more inviting and understandable to Spanish-speaking people. In addition, justice will be better served if our judge can listen to Spanish-speaking witnesses in their native language rather than through an interpreter.

I know from my own experience that one can never get the complete story if an interpreter is used, since many critical details are often “lost in translation.“ Janet has the ability to get the story straight from the source from Spanish speakers; an invaluable skill for a judge in an area with a large Hispanic population.

Not only is Ms. Stauffer bilingual but she and her husband, Jim Woods, are also orchardists. They have an orchard at their home in Dufur valley and are partners in an orchard in the Mosier area. We now have a unique opportunity to elect a judge who knows and understands the orchard industry.

I urge all of my friends and neighbors to elect Janet Stauffer judge.

Michael Omeg
The Dalles

Peachey experienced

The upcoming May primary election is important to local residents. Many of the elected positions are decided at this election rather than the November general elections. For many of us, these are the folks with whom we will be working on a daily basis.

While many elections may be uncontested, there are several important positions which deserve our close attention. One of those positions is the election of our four circuit court judges.

Two uncontested incumbents and a third uncontested candidate form the core of the court, but the fourth seat is contested. All four judges will preside over the entire judicial district, so knowledge, experience, and fairness are standards we will expect from each.

I believe Tom Peachey clearly meets those standards, and I encourage voter support. With more than 30 years’ experience in our area and a wealth of trial experience, he has the depth and perspective to provide knowledgeable, experienced decisions.

I have watched Tom work through our local hospice organization; and his calm, sensitive, and thoughtful decision making convinced me that he would be an outstanding circuit court judge.

Our area will be well served with Mr. Peachey as a circuit court judge.

Chuck Bugge
Odell

Library serves future

In a recent Panorama issue, the Hood River News reproduced a Sept. 14, 2003, article by the late Pat Krussow on the dedication of the restored and enlarged main library building. Pat concluded her article with these words: “Ninety years after groundbreaking for the Carnegie building, the library held another groundbreaking, and additions to the east and west of (the building will) provide the next generation with a cultural center for their community.”

Will, that is, IF a majority of voters on May 18 say YES to the proposed library district. If the district is turned down, the library doors will close the night of June 30 to reopen ... when? Quite possibly never.

Now some say that volunteers could run the library. For years, volunteer members of Friends of the Hood River Library have provided thousands of hours of free labor — more than 3,000 hours in 2009 alone.

But volunteers alone cannot do everything any more than volunteers could do all the work at the Hood River hospital. You need an operation? Your child needs a broken bone set? Your spouse requires dialysis? Would you want those tasks done by a volunteer? Not likely.

Some people say, “I don’t use the library. Why should I pay for it?” Well, a lot of us don’t have children in school here, yet we pay the school district tax because we recognize that education is a common good. So is the library.

Some call for a citizen-run library — no politicians or government employees! Yet that is precisely what the district will provide. A five-person, unpaid, citizen-elected board will govern all aspects of library operation. (Full disclosure note: I am one of eight candidates for a seat on the board.)

One of the board’s first actions will be to determine how soon it will be fiscally sound to restore the full operating hours we enjoyed until the current recessionary times forced the hours to be shortened as they are now.

That “next generation” to which Pat Krussow referred is all the children of this county and beyond. It is their future, as well as the integrity of this county, that is at risk if we do not vote to keep our library open.

As Larry Jones’ April 24 letter clearly showed, libraries are money magnets, attracting revenue by informing readers. If you haven’t read his letter, please do so — the library has a copy if you no longer have yours.

About a decade ago, hundreds of farsighted Hood River residents, as well as local businesses, shared a vision of a larger and finer library to meet citizen needs in the century ahead. Almost seven years ago we dedicated our newly expanded 21st Century library. Are we now prepared to shortchange both ourselves and that “next generation?”

We must not. We must instead vote YES for Measure 14-37.

George W. Earley
Mount Hood

Lyme study planned

May is National Lyme Disease Awareness Month.

In honor of the month, Oregon Lyme Disease Network (which includes the Hood River Lyme Support Group) in conjunction with Lyme Disease Association, Ibis BioSciences, Sonoma County Labs and UMDNJ-Dept. of Medicine will commence a tick study to identify tick-borne illnesses in Oregon.

Oregon Lyme Disease Network has enlisted several entomologists who will be training volunteers to sweep the area collecting ticks during the first three weeks in May.

All collected ticks will then be identified by entomologists who specialize in ticks. Then each tick will be independently studied for identification of bacteria present and a DNA sequencing of the bacteria(s) will be done.

This will be the first extensive tick study done in Hood River which assess the risk of tick-borne illnesses including Lyme disease, Babesia, Ehrlichiosis and M. Fermentans.

To volunteer please contact Theresa Denham, 541-312-3081. To donate toward the research, Oregon Lyme Disease Network is taking donations via its website (www.oregonlyme.org). It is a 501(c)3 nonprofit association, registered with the BBB, State of Oregon DOJ and Federal IRS as a nonprofit.

Theresa Denham, president
Oregon Lyme Disease Network

Walden, yet again

He has done it again. Our so-called “representative” in Congress has once more proven his distain and disregard for the people and small businesses in the Second Congressional district.

In just the last two months Walden has voted against pay-as-you-go budget rules, payroll tax relief for employers who hire unemployed workers, deduction of qualified small-business expenses, small-business and infrastructure jobs tax incentives, disaster relief, summer jobs, air transportation modernization and safety improvement and, finally, health care and education.

Some are praising Walden for his vote against healthcare reform. Walden’s district, Oregon’s largest and most rural, has a little over 684,000 residents. Over 143,000 of the people have no health insurance (2008 U.S. Census Bureau calculations based on university devised methods).

I cannot and will not respect Walden for his blatant disregard for the people he was elected to represent.

Gary Fields
Hood River

Peachey experienced

How do you pick a Circuit Court judge? Very carefully. What do you look for? Experience — both past and present.

Mr. Tom Peachey has been a practicing attorney for more than 31 years in the state of Oregon. He has more than a thousand criminal and domestic relations cases to his credit. He is involved in Oregon government, which is where I became acquainted with him.

He is fair and very dedicated to his role as a litigator and dispute resolution arbitrator. His 26 years of experience as a high school basketball referee has obviously contributed to his skills and his knowledge of the people and community in the 7th District.

Please join me in supporting Tom Peachey for 7th District Circuit Court Judge Position 2.

Tom Ashmore
The Dalles

Library is our hub

hub (hub). n: [prob. var. of hob (a peg)] 1. The center part of a wheel. 2. A center of interest, importance, or activity.

A city’s library is not only a center of interest, importance, and activity; it offers so much more. Let’s consider Hood River County as the wheel and our library as the hub.

Imagine the spokes extending out to the rim. Without the spokes on a wheel, there is no connection to the hub. Without a hub, there is a void. A very large void.

A bike can have anywhere from 12 to 100 spokes. The more spokes, the more strength and durability. Our library has many “spokes” reaching out to our community.

Each “spoke” could be any number of things available in a library. From its collection of items to borrow, to Internet availability, to photocopying, to its space for meetings, to its many enrichments programs, and, most important, to being our community’s place for reading.

The list of library services is long; services available to each and every one of us here in this valley, as well as any visitor who comes to our city — reciprocal to us, when we visit other cities’ libraries.

The many services available to us at our local library are invaluable and we have a choice about their availability and use; most of us, anyway. Those of us who have the freedom to vote — and who exercise that right — can decide the fate of our community’s hub.

However, there is a group without a voice, who can’t vote. They are OUR future. They are our children. They have no choice as to whether our library stays or goes, because they aren’t allowed to vote. Yet, the “spokes” of the library’s wheel reach out to them above all others, for they are where our community’s and our nation’s future meet the road.

The services available to children are numerous. In 2009, over 47,690 children’s materials were circulated in Hood River County. Imagine all those library materials locked behind closed doors, unavailable to over 19,000 registered borrowers, children and adults alike.

I remember taking my kids to the Children’s Story Hour 20-plus years ago. They were involved with the summer reading program when school was out. We would check out stacks of books, movies and puzzles. It was always an exciting day to go to the library.

The Children’s Story Hour still exists, and kids can still bring home stacks of books and movies — at least until May 18, the day our community decides the fate of its cultural hub.

I encourage each and every one of you to go to the library. Spend an hour or so inside. Watch the people come and go, check out a book for yourself, see the wonderful services this “hub” has to offer, feel the sense of community when you are there. Imagine how it would be if the library is closed down.

I also encourage each and every one of you to vote for your library. Vote for the kids who can’t yet vote for themselves, vote for our community. Say yes to OUR library, the hub of our cultural wheel.

Jean Kelter Dills
Hood River

He will be missed

We are saddened by the news of Gene Miller’s death. He was a longtime resident of Cascade Locks, the one and only.

He served on countless committees for years. He was fire chief and served on the fire department for years. He was also on city council and was mayor. He was there if something needed doing or help needed. Year after year he volunteered his services for the community.

No one knew the community better than he. No one ever did more for the community than he. He will be missed by all of the citizens of Cascade Locks.

Nancy Renault
Cascade Locks

Taxes and ‘the new norm’

Local citizens, friends, all Americans and countrymen, lend me your ear. The king wants the peasants and landowners to pay more taxes that come from the assets you own.

The king’s soldiers will enforce the collection of any assets of value including, but not limited to, livestock, bonds, property or anything else of value. Once that occurs someone else with more money will purchase your property and move into the residence, if you do not pay your taxes.

Welcome to the ancient past that has withstood the rules and regulations from ancient times to the present, which unfortunately seems to be the new norm for our society.

I can’t overemphasize the urgency of now to read between the lines of the Hood River newspaper regarding questions of sloppy financial accountability. Cutting services and days for all county employees appears to be an appropriate approach to the county’s dilemmas.

A furlough a day a week for each county employee would create a lot of “mad money” that property owners would not have to pay.

This could be ongoing until the budget problem is resolved which would be a teaching for personal and financial effect and the “devil” would be in the details.

If a person owns property, beware: You can be taxed right out of your property, legally, which is occurring more frequently than one would realize. At what point does taxation become fraud and theft?

My property and bank account is being used as a “slush fund” for paying inflated property taxes and other taxes.

I’m just wondering if in the future committees will be formed just to create a need for property taxes to support their own dynasty building. It would appear that there is an effort to be listed on the upper right hand corner of your property tax statement (where special districts are listed) that states a vote of 40 to 60 percent would be the only way any amendment would pass.

Is property tax rebellion in order? Do your bank account a favor; vote against all amendments proposed by county or state. A continuous inflationary taxation of real estate will kill the goose that lays the golden egg.

Beware of organizations with proposals that would give them privy to your property tax statements (anyone’s) which is permanent. Beware of manipulative accounting gimmicks and antiquated systems. This is not economics; it is “magic and voodoo.” Welcome to the new norm.

Please, as a matter of urgency vote “no” on all ballot measures and all future ballot amendments and proposals that tax to death. Sanity, hopefully, will give way to questionable reality.

Gerald Gard
Hood River