Letters
Aug. 18, 2010 

Sweet evening

Thank you to Mike and Patti Schend and the Hood River County Fair board for the ice cream social at the fair on July 29. The ice cream and cobbler was a nice treat while watching the magic show.

Valori Worth
Hood River

Make library 501(c)3

Here is one solution to the closed library and can be done by the little people.

Take the closed library away from the government and open it as a 501(c)3 non-profit. That will allow the library to apply for grants for operating expenses.

The boobs in office (government) would not suggest such a solution — only pay more taxes.

Paul Nevin
Hood River

It’s Indian land

Some people don’t remember the history of the Gorge. From Bonneville Dam and far east into eastern Oregon was Indian land. The Chinooks, now Warm Springs, owned it. So it’s Indian land.

How can anyone not know it? Read your history books.

So the land here in Cascade Locks began as Indian land. Thank goodness it’s going back to Indian land.

The casino is needed for jobs here.

Nancy Renault
Cascade Locks

Refuse to hate

I am appalled, as I’m sure you are, with the never-ending ruthlessness of terrorists in Afghanistan. It is beyond belief how their suicide bombers can indiscriminately kill innocent civilians — women and children among them — at the behest of ultra-fundamentalist clergy espousing heretical interpretations of the Koran.

And this is not to mention the almost insurmountable burden borne by our troops in a land where terrorists in civilian clothes take cover in civilian crowds and homes. An evil force is at play in all of this and it drives many of us to hate such people for their unscrupulous actions.

Of course, this is exactly why they do such things. Either we allow the terrorists of the world to lead us down paths of reactive hate and reciprocal violence, or we step back and assess the moral ambush into which we have fallen.

This is the trap Martin Luther King avoided. No matter how vicious and hateful the Klan-inspired segregationists became he refused to hate, even to demean, those who would oppress and kill. He understood that to demean one’s opponent is to demean oneself, and that sooner or later even the most implacable enemy will crumble under the weight of our refusal to hate. Yes, hate what they do, but know who they are — persons valued by God, as are we.

Sadly, we seem not to have learned that our enemy has much to teach us about ourselves and about God’s will for us. Had we, I doubt we would find ourselves today behind the eight ball in Afghanistan.

David C. Duncombe
White Salmon, Wash.

See ‘Anne’ on stage

Funny, uplifting, thought-provoking, most enjoyable — yes, I am enthused about “Anne Of Green Gables” being presented by a very fine cast and crew at our local CAST theater. Do yourself a favor — go see it!

Maria Kollas
Hood River

‘One way ticket’

In his July 14 rant (Our Readers Write) Cliff Mansfield typifies the standard RRR hype — taxes, taxes “Job Killing Taxes.” RRR? Radically Right Republican, Rabid Regressive Republican, Ridiculously Righteous Republican, take your pick or make up your own!

 Mansfield says he is “actively closing down all of our Oregon operations and moving them to The Republic of Panama.” Why did he not move them to Washington, Idaho or California after Oregon’s long-overdue update of minimum business taxes? Because all those states, and most others in the U.S., still have higher business taxes than Oregon.

Is anyone interested in helping me buy Mr. Mansfield a one-way ticket to Panama so he can be less taxed and more in control of what his out-sourced workers get in the way of public benefits, if any?

Gary Fields
Hood River

We need libraries

Even though I’m a senior whose income has suffered with the Great Recession, I shall vote for the library tax in November.

The new proposal’s rate, half that of the May proposal, is hardly onerous when compared to what we pay toward our county’s athletic-related resources.

Living near Parkdale, I wish that budget models used to reach this rate, and thus likely to effect the final budget that any eventual library board may develop, provided more hours to the Parkdale and Cascade Locks branches. And I worry how many previous library workers in our county will still find themselves jobless. But for the county to lack a library is completely unacceptable.

Consider what lack of a library does to our image as a cultural center and thus to our homes’ market values. Consider what lacking a library does to anyone unable to buy books. Consider what it does to kids’ development, and to their potential love for reading and learning.

We need our libraries back; we need to vote to help fund them.

Paula Friedman
Parkdale

Deeply disappointed

It cost me about $800 to visit Hood River for two and a half days to learn more about the widely cited 1982-86 Hood River Conservation Project — a time when Hood River was the Conservation Capital of the World.

It never occurred to me to check to see if your 98-year-old Carnegie Library was still open. I am astounded and deeply disappointed in the citizens of Hood River.

Thomas Heberlein
Professor Emeritus
University of Wisconsin-Madison

‘I will be the first to vote’

I am writing in response to the Library District article on Aug. 14. I did not support the library district in May this year.

I regret to admit that I did not vote. Unfortunately, considering that only 59 percent of registered voters turned out in May, I can see that I don’t stand alone. I never imagined our combined complacency could actually cause our children and families to lose use of our historic library. I will be voting in November and I will be supporting the proposed tax rate of 39 cents (per thousand assessed valuation).

Considering the average assessed value of residential properties in the county hovers somewhere around $151,000; the proposed rate to support the library would cost the average resident, like me, about one dollar a week. One dollar a week seems like a great price to provide my son and two nephews access to a safe building with friendly librarians and volunteers that provide them with direction in anything from internet research to finding audio books on CD.

My son learned to draw from books he borrowed at the library. I learned to do my own home repairs from DVDs at the library. Unable to afford contractors to keep our older house in repair, my wife would like me to check out those DVDs again. A difficult economy, limited incomes and an uncertain future have forced all of us as a community to tighten our belts.

The new proposed rate, dropping from 70 cents in May to 39 cents for November demonstrates that the library budget committee has done the same to reopen this library for us and our families.

 I will be first in line to vote, and my son and I will be first in line when the library reopens.

Robert Weinman
Hood River

EIS clock ticking

Attention Gorge residents: Many of us, by now, are tired of the wrangling over the proposed casino in Cascade Locks. We have endured a decade of debate, and the Warm Springs Tribe has invested 26 million dollars in it. However, the end is in sight. Finally the Bureau of Indian Affairs has completed the long- awaited environmental impact study which will move the debate much closer to completion.

What’s curious about this EIS report, and I think should be of great concern to Oregonians, and especially Gorge residents, is that without any prior notice of it nearing completion it was suddenly released on Aug. 6, 2010. And here is where I cry foul! From that date, the public has just 30 days for review and comment. A document that has taken 10 years to compile; a document of some 1,000 pages, cannot be read, much less commented on in 30 days.

Whether you are for or against this casino, there is much associated with it that will impact the Gorge and these changes will be permanent; we deserve to know what these changes are. The BIA must extend this public comment period by 60 days. It will take most of us that long to understand how our lives, our communities, and our environment will be affected.

 The public can view this document on line at www.gorgecasinoeis.com; at the local libraries; or by requesting a CD copy from the BIA. The clock is ticking, we have only until Sept. 6, 2010, to respond.

Here’s how: Call or send comments, asking for a 60-day extension to: Scott Aikin, BIA Division of Natural Resources Chief Bureau of Indian Affairs, 911 N.E. 11th Ave., Portland, OR 97232; phone: 503-231-6883; E-mail: Scott.Aikin@bia.gov; fax: 503-231-6791.

Tom Wood
The Dalles

Reason overwhelmed

Several recent letters (from right and left) about politics and history demonstrate how desperately we need a library as a community resource. 

Some of these letters are excessively lengthy and poorly organized. The facts and arguments in others are simply incorrect. We are living in one of those interesting times when the loudest voices tend to prevail and hyperbole and emotion overwhelm reasoned discussion. 

To paraphrase a British writer, history is not just what you would like to remember.  

Eckard Toy
Parkdale