Litter and DUII

Heads up!

I just want to make residents in the Parkdale area aware of just how many cans and bottles of beer and hard liquor that I picked up on Baseline Drive a few weeks ago.

I was doing my bi-annual litter pickup and I try to recycle as much of the plastic, glass and aluminum as possible. There is one particular area on Baseline that has the largest concentration of beer cans and within that stretch of road is another small area where there was a very heavy concentration of whiskey bottles!

The fact that many of the beer brands were the same, speaks to me that these are local drinkers and drivers. The fact that the whisky bottles were in a small area leads me to think that this drunk driver and litter bug is one local alcoholic in particular. The most common beer brands are: 2 Steel Reserve, Busch Light, Bud Light, and Milwaukee Ice.

The whiskey brands were: Bushmills Irish whiskey, and Jack Daniels. I picked up 33 24-25 ounce cans of beer, 46 pint beer cans, 36 12-ounce beer cans and bottles, four 750-ml bottles of MD 20/20, four 200-ml. bottles of 80-proof Jack Daniels, four 750-ml bottles of Bushmills Irish whiskey, four bottles of 12-ounce Bushmills Irish whisky, and a few more assorted wine bottles.

In contrast I picked up 34 non-alcoholic cans and bottles. This is just one year’s accumulation! Let me also point out that a majority of the beer cans were the 24-25 ounce and one-pint sizes, and finding that many whiskey bottles is just plain scary! I’m trying to point out that our roads are unsafe for other drivers, children, pedestrians, and bicyclists as long as local drivers drink and drive.

Do you know someone who prefers these brands? Please help rid our community of drunk drivers. They can kill!

See ‘Anne Frank’

Please take the time to go see the production of “The Diary of Anne Frank” currently being offered by CAST Theatre.

This is the most compelling presentation I have seen of this work.

Thank you,

Go see ‘Bugsy’

Regarding the letter to the editor on Saturday concerning the play “Bugsy Malone”: I would like to reassure Lori Buchanan that just because my son PLAYED a gangster in the spoof of 1920s Prohibition-era gangster movies, he has not BECOME a gangster, or even expressed a desire to run a “speakeasy.” He still says he wants to be an engineer when he grows up!

I guess that’s because he can distinguish being an actor in a play from reality. My son has had a great time in drama class — and in the process, he is learning to work with others and acquiring coordination and memorization skills.

It has helped him be a more confident person, and I have no doubt that it will benefit him should he ever have a job that requires public speaking.

I have nothing but respect for Rebekah Meyers. She is great with the kids, and she gets so much out of them!

She is an asset to Community Education. As for the play, it is still being performed this week by our local high school actors. If you would like to support the hard work they have done, and have some fun at the same time, please come to Bowe Theatre and check it out!

Add reason to 37

It would be nice if what we did on our property would not affect others, but that is not the case. Hence, the reason that private property rights are not absolute. Building codes and zoning regulations have long been recognized as methods to limit our ability to damage property values and inhibit the property rights of our neighbors to use their properties. Measure 37 does not recognize these long-established concerns. It only focuses on an individual’s property rights but does not deal fairly with the rights of others and the community as a whole.

In Hood River County Measure 37 claims cover about 11,000 acres and constitute claims for over 9,000 residences, mostly in the farm and forest zone. In time most of the homes will be built, if Measure 37 is not changed to be more reasonable. Why should it be changed? Landowners do not have the right to damage others in the community without compensation.

What system do we have in place to prevent harm, both financial and non-economic, to other land owners? None. NONE. Estimates are that infrastructure costs for one residence are in the range of $25,000 to $50,000. This means that these are the capital costs to provide new services to each new residence.

Multiply that number by 9,000 and then you will really know who deserves compensation. Many studies have been done in Oregon and other states to arrive at these numbers. Please refer to a book by Eben Fodor, “Better, Not Bigger.”

Who pays for these improvements to your water system, fire department, sewer system, county administration, planning and building department, sheriff department, roads and schools to meet the needs of these new residences? Well, we all do, not just the guy who is developing a few lots on his place and hence the real reason that we all should have a voice in what happens in our community. And the real problem is that these new services come on line at a cost many times more than the original cost, thus really increasing the overall cost of doing business. Most service providers and government agencies have no method to recover these costs. Those that do only recover a fraction of the costs, leaving the rest for the other citizens to pay. And the faster we grow the more rapidly we increase service costs. Residential growth does not pay its own way through property taxes. It costs us all. Don’t we deserve to have a voice in these increasing costs?

That would be taxation without representation. So, all of us have a right and a stake to be involved in community growth and zoning issues.

Don’t blame Dems

Mr. Mansfield, as a Democrat who also travels extensively I can verify that indeed prices abroad for fuel are extremely high. It’s also true that many a Democrat as well as Republicans raise an eyebrow when we see the price of gas go up yet again. Who wouldn’t when you see the latest and greatest earnings reports from big oil?

I believe if the Pope were president and he had the relationship with big oil and the Saudis that Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney have, people would talk. It hurts everyone when more money pours out of our pockets than comes in. Judging from what recent economic numbers show again this year, like last year we as Americans are on course to spend more money than we earn. A feat that hasn’t been accomplished since the Great Depression. I might add the credit card companies are licking their collective chops!

As for gas price hikes and Democrats? I’d like you to do a little research and learn the truth. I’ve done some and here’s what I found:

In 1998 when Clinton (a Democrat) was in office the national average for a gallon of gas was $1.19. And in Oregon, $1.25. We Oregonians paid a whopping 25 cents a gallon gas tax. Today the national average is $3 a gallon and we Oregonians are paying an average of $3.35 a gallon (over 200 percent increase) and our gas tax is still $.25 a gallon. The following states — Nebraska, Montana, North Dakota and Kansas — all pay the same gas tax or higher than Oregon and the last time I looked they were Republican states. Those states also pay on average 36 cents per gallon LESS than our $3.35 price. Your assertion that Democrats are “bleeding us dry” doesn’t seem to hold up in this case.

Who is being bled dry? The American people economically from the bottom up are being bled dry. You only need to look to the increasing numbers of children living in poverty, the squeeze put on the social services (which counties all across America like ours dearly count on) and the debt we have incurred borrowing from countries like China, Saudi Arabia and Dubai. Someday the collector is going to come calling and it will hurt all of us, not just the poor.

Remember, taxes are collected by the government to provide services; 86 percent of all gas tax goes directly to road construction and maintenance. If your tires were continually punctured because of poor road conditions you’d be complaining to the government to fix the roads.

We all wish we could pay less taxes, but in the end you get what you pay for!

Think of Title IX

I loved the sports story written in your Saturday sports page about the week’s lacrosse games.

The writer spent six paragraphs of the 10-paragraph story describing the boys’ team loss to Lincoln.

And trailing along at the end of the article was, by the way, the girls’ team won all three of their games.

You could headline this with some reference to Title IX, which seems sometimes to be lost in the dust of history.

‘Bugsy’ praise

I wanted to comment on a letter of concern regarding last week’s performance of “Bugsy Malone.” I was well aware that the subject matter included material that some may consider inappropriate for young children.

Although we do not watch commercial TV in our home, outside of the home, my children are often exposed to messages that are more alarming than Bugsy. The formulaic violence of many Disney movies, toys like Bratz dolls (which we ban) and Lego’s Bionicles for instance, are more confusing for children than the lessons of Bugsy Malone. And honestly, Tinkerbell’s out-of-control jealousy towards Wendy in the children’s classic, Peter Pan, is far more disturbing to me than Blousey’s angry, assertive remarks to Bugsy.

To address Lori’s concerns, I witnessed only positive outcomes for all the children participating in the play and did not hear of any backlash from the material. And as all good art should, the play, within its historical context, as well as its universal message, provided my family a launching point for constructive learning:

1. While researching flapper costumes, we discussed the changes in our society happening then as reflected in women’s clothing and the inevitable range of reaction the new flapper girl got from society.

2. “What is a speakeasy?” led to dialogue about our country’s attempt to regulate alcohol and the rise of the gangster like those depicted in the play that kept alcohol readily available to a public willing to break the law to maintain their right to use this drug. It led to a conversation about personal vs. societal responsibilities, the glorification of alcohol usage by commercial interests, and the sad reality of irresponsible usage of this pervasive drug. This inevitably led to a discussion about cigarettes.

3. Lastly, but by no means the final lesson we garnered from the Bugsy experience, is that we are more alike than we are different, and in the end, despite those issues that divide us, if “You Give a Little Love, then it All Comes Back to You.” — the final song of the show.

Hood River has provided our family with a wonderfully diverse and caring community to live within and learn from and I appreciate the dialogue that this play has stirred — we all make choices on what to shelter our kids from each day — in real life or in entertainment — it’s not always an easy decision.

Ultimately, as Lori Buchanan suggests in her letter, parent involvement is what makes the difference on how our children create meaning from our world.

I invite you to bring your family to see Bugsy Malone. The children worked hard to put on a wonderful show and I am proud of them. And thank you, Bugsy, for providing such thought-provoking material.

‘Bugsy’ teaches

To be honest with you, my first split-second thoughts when I found out that the play for this year’s Meyer Performing Arts Studio was “Bugsy Malone,” I was a little apprehensive. My initial thought was that I did not want my daughter dressed up like a street girl promoting violence.

Within moments, however, I came to my senses. I knew in my heart that Rebekah Meyer cares deeply for each of her drama students as if they were part of her large extended family. She is very protective of them and simply wants them to excel to the best of their individual abilities. The students obviously work on their acting, singing, and dancing abilities. Rebekah also builds up her students’ poise, self-confidence, respect for others and responsibility skills.

My confidence in Rebekah’s choice in play for this year was raised after I read the script and watched a DVD of the 1976 G-rated children’s production of “Bugsy Malone.” This award-winning movie, including the young Jodie Foster, was fun to watch. At that point it was clear that the entire story was simply a take-off on the gangster movies that followed the 1920’s. The story is full of light-hearted humor, lively songs and the children are shooting each other with pies and silly string!

The ending of both the movie and the play put on by Meyer Performing Arts Studio is that everyone can be friends as well as reach their goals in life. What could be wrong with that?

The content of “Bugsy Malone” proved to be a perfect “teachable moment” in that anyone who takes part in the production or views the play could have the opportunity to learn about the Roaring Twenties. This was an important time in our history that affected many other important historical moments that transpired.

It seems to me that it would be a great idea to perform the play for local school children as a means of instilling student interest in that time in history. That seems like a better form of entertainment than the television and Internet options any given child could be exposed to today. I know I would rather my child focus on learning about the Roaring Twenties than the horrible shape our world is in now.

My daughter had a couple small parts in the production of “Bugsy Malone” this year. She fully enjoyed every moment of preparation and the performances! She has the following to say about her experiences with Meyer Performing Arts Studio:

As one of the actresses, I fully understand that “Bugsy Malone” is a spoof about the 1920s. I remember during practice how Mrs. Meyer talked to us about not using cigarettes or even pretending to use them in a play. My fellow cast mates and I all know never to use guns, smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol in real life because of what Mrs. Meyer taught us. Plus, she makes us wear leotards under our costumes to protect us and also wear costumes that do not show inappropriate parts of our body.

Thank you,

Touché

Regarding DeAnna Lainhart’s May 5 statement in the Hood River News Viewpoint section: Touché!

Respectfully written, non-threatening, non-judgmental. Simply wondering.

It’s in the wind

What a beautiful sight driving toward Portland seeing all those huge parts and pieces of giant wind mills heading east, to capture the wind east of The Dalles.

It’s my understanding that Rep. Greg Walden has been appointed to a new panel on “Energy Independence and Global Warming.” Wow, how cool that maybe Mr. Walden can make a difference in our addiction to wasting energy (oil, electric, etc.). One would imagine that Greg is hip to all those big wind generators heading east to produce true clean energy.

I wonder if Greg is hip to the northern Wasco County PUD’s two measures on the ballot (for NWCPUD customers) to allow them to buy power from two separate coal-fired electrical plants (Delta, Utah, and Kalama, Wash.) not yet built? Is the population in the NWCPUD’s area growing that fast? Being on the second-largest river in America with a hydroelectric project virtually every 50 miles — one would think we have plenty of electricity for the NWCPUD’s customers from the dams. At least with all the wind farms going up couldn’t we purchase the clean energy from wind? Or how about conservation? Turn off your lights, computer and such when not in use, put your outside lights on timers and motion sensors and turn them off.

Now I wonder how Greg Walden feels about the Hanford situation just two hours upstream from us, the largest nuclear waste dump in the western hemisphere. It seems the Bush Administration wants to push forward the “Global Nuclear Energy Partnerships” where we take all the waste from around the world, truck and ship it (on I-84 and the Columbia River) to Hanford for re-pressing into plutonium so we can make more nuclear bombs and store more water at Hanford. I wonder how Greg Walden feels about this energy plan? At a Hanford meeting in Hood River last month representatives from Earl Blumenauer and Ron Wyden each read statements against such a plan and called for finishing the cleanup at Hanford.

More nuclear waste and plutonium (with a half-life of 200,000 years) doesn’t seem to be a very “clean energy.” Two new coal-fired power plants don’t seem to be a very clean source of power, either. The vote for NWCPUD’s customers comes up on May 15. This is a very clear choice for the local people and newspapers to just say no. How does Greg Walden feel?

The Columbia Gorge Community College even teaches a class to ready people interested in clean energy (renewable Energy Technician program). This is a full-on no-brainer for Clean Energy right here.

What is it that we want to leave our future generations? Toxic nuclear waste, black cloud-belching coal-fired electricity plants or clean wind and solar and hydro?

Hospitality

My name is SFC Ricardo Ramos. I am an active duty soldier who was assigned to a case in Hood River over the past month. I would like to commend and recognize the friendliness and professional ethics of the management and staff at the Hood River Hotel. Please do me a favor and post a very big Thank You to every individual for their help in making my extended stay here a comfortable one. Respectfully,

Assessing 37

I disagree with the view of Gary Fields in his letter “Taking or Giving,” (Saturday, May 5).

The notion that the farm use assessment is compensation for lost property value is incorrect. This idea was circulated a few months back in the Oregonian, and quickly refuted in a later editorial by a Lewis and Clark law professor James Huffman. This idea came from the American Land Use Institute, whose founder is also the former founder of 1000 Friends of Oregon, another Measure 37 opponent.

I had the opportunity to sit in on the roundtable session when the Governor’s “Big Look Task Force” came to Hood River in March. I spoke with committee member Mike Thorne, who was a legislator and served on the committee that wrote the original land use-planning act. Mr. Thorne stated there was no language or discussion regarding farm use assessment as compensation for lost property value.

Its purpose, when the legislature enacted it in the 1960s, was to assess farmland “at a value that is exclusive of values attributable to urban influences.”

The farm use assessment is in place because of the restricted earning potential that Exclusive Farm Use zoning places on the land. Farmland cannot come close to earning the same per square foot as commercial property (retail, manufacturing, etc.), nor does an acre of farmland place the same burden on infrastructure (schools, police, etc.) as an acre of residential property.

Mr. Fields actually supports this with the statement in his letter by stating, “without the Farm Use Designation, none of them could have afforded to operate a farm or orchard.” Comparing an acre of pasture (restricted to farm use) to an acre of residential, as the letter does, seems a little ludicrous.

What Mr. Fields and most opponents of Measure 37 opponents don’t mention is the farm use assessment is a “deferred” taxation, and if the land use changes to a non-farm use, back taxes for up to 10 years are due.

Paying taxes on the value of land in its only legally permitted use is not a tax break.

Bush oil bulge

My fellow reader, Cliff Mansfield, has given President Bush excellent marks for keeping gas prices lower than those in third world countries.

I fail to see how there can be any correlation between the United States and The Philippines or Nicaragua or Panama where regime change and political instability have been the normal for a few decades at least.

The Bush family and administration (along with others before him) have continued to be friendly with the Saudis who support terrorism through huge secretive funding derived from oil money, according to many reputable sources.

As the Saudis continue to receive our public support, they tell us they can do nothing but raise barrel prices and privately create havoc with our economy and financial systems through volatile oil distribution. Meanwhile, back in the U.S., ExxonMobil just announced a $9 billion profit for the first quarter of 2007.

When Ma Bell was thought to be running a monopoly through the phone utilities a while back, the government stepped in and broke up the entity into separate companies, providing consumers with diversity, choice and competitive pricing.

Instead of talking to his buddies in the oil industry, George has continued to go against many in his own party and progressively pushed more billions of our money into fixing Iraq while bombing it to oblivion in the name of democracy.

Webster’s defines “control,” Mr. Mansfield, as “regulating, directing or having influence over” something. Thirty percent price shifts in auto gas over a three-month period hardly qualifies for exhibiting control. I am sure if Mr. Bush can bypass the U.S. Constitution for the creation of the Patriot Act and find a way to take absolute power to declare war and spend beyond our limits in war’s name, he should be able to step to the plate and seek a more modest approach to the gas situation. I guess we should all be happy we don’t live in Rota, where we would have to pay $12 per gallon of gas.

If it takes looking at the worst-case-scenario to make Mr. Bush look good, by all means do so, but leave me out of it.

Thanks, ‘Coach P’

Thanks to Coach P. Who can ever explain what a difference sports makes on a kid? I know I love Hood River. Living in a small town gives all kids a chance to participate. I watched my son change from an awkward middle-schooler to a confident senior, ready to move into the world, and I believe wrestling was the biggest influence on his success.

Rich Polkinghorn is leaving the HRV head wrestling coach position and it’s past time to thank him for the influence he had on my son and our family. All of us with kids in sports spend a lot of time in the stands and I watched with respect and admiration the way Coach “P” taught the young men and women under his tutelage.

He quietly modeled his values such as the importance of an education, following through on commitments, the importance of being a team and always being the best you can be. He built a team with humor, encouragement and patience.

I believe my son learned life lessons and skills from wrestling and I feel blessed that my son spent four years working with a man the caliber of Rich Polkinghorn.

Thank you, coach — for the influence you had on Alex and my family.