When presented with a case where there was an accusation but no evidence of abuse, Judge Hull made the only decision possible in exonerating Hector Ortiz.

This was clearly a very carefully considered decision. Unfortunately, the Dec. 12 article in the Hood River News seemed to leave much doubt for the reader as to the guilt or innocence of Mr. Ortiz.

I was very surprised to see the prosecuting attorney and detective express their personal opinions in the article. I do understand and respect their positions as advocates for and defenders of children in our community; however, their judgment of guilt or innocence seems to fly in the face of the cornerstone of our judicial system: Innocent until proven guilty. My heart goes out to the child in this case. I believe she is a victim, but not a victim of abuse by Mr. Ortiz. What I have not yet seen is support for the other victim in this case: Mr. Ortiz.

Hector Ortiz is a man of substantial character who has devoted years of untiring work to helping some of the neediest children in our community. He is working on the front lines with children who come into our public school system with an array of background experiences which, all too often, includes a tragic history of abuse. It may be difficult to believe that false accusations of abuse can happen in the course of working with children until one sees or experiences it firsthand. I have had the experience of seeing such cases, cases in which the truth comes out far too late to exonerate the falsely accused in the legal system or in the court of public opinion.

I have also had the experience of seeing firsthand how Mr. Ortiz handles himself in working with youth in our community in many different arenas. I have a high level of respect for him and for the job he does. Over the course of this past year he has handled himself with honor and dignity in the face of an extremely difficult situation for all involved.

It is my sincere hope that his exoneration in the court of law will serve as evidence to our community of his innocence. I ask you to accept the carefully considered decision of Judge Hull and support Mr. Ortiz.

Tree team

On behalf of the Hood River Downtown Business Association, we would like to thank all the volunteers that helped erect this year’s Christmas tree.

It took a great deal of work but we think it is well worth it and it looks great.

Our heartfelt thanks the following people:

Vic and Vicki VanKoten for donating the tree; Kris Zorza and Columbia Tree Service for coordinating and cutting the tree; Tony DeHart for transporting the tree (his crew: Randy Achziger, Kendall Ronning, and Jason Sprague); Schlosser Machine and Vinny Schlosser for donating the very impressive tree stand;

Pacific Power, for standing the tree and lighting it (Tony Eaquinto. manager, Rick Thomas, Ron Harris, Jesse Armendariz, and Mike Masson); the City of Hood River Public Works (including Dave Smock, manager, Vic Snyder, Corbin Carter, and Mark Lago); City Engineer Dave Bick for designing the rigging; and City Manager Bob Francis.

If you haven’t seen the tree, please come by and have a look. It is located at Second and State streets.

‘Algore-rythyms’

Have you seen the Visa commercial that features a bunch of hip-hop dancers “popping” like robots through a store and swiping their Visa cards across the scanner in synchronized poetry, never missing a beat as they shop and pay and consume and shop and pay and consume and shop and pay and consume and then someone has the audacity to try and pay with a check or cash and the whole store comes crashing to a halt?

We’re slowly being programmed to accept the new scanner system through our comfort with the barcode on merchandise we’re already familiar with and then being taught to accept the ease with which the new payment system will make our shopping and consuming.

Someday, we’ll be offered incentives to have the payment system installed under our skin. Can you imagine?

No more purses or cumbersome hand-bags, just worry-free shopping and club-hopping.

But the biggest benefit of all, in order to keep the planet cool and stop the terrorists, drug trade, illegal immigration and all crime, we’ll be implanted with the bar-code at birth (for our own good) and we’ll openly embrace the convenience of a cashless society as a revelation in capitalism.

We’ll enjoy unparalleled freedom and security at airports, banks, schools and shopping malls. There’ll be no more check-out lines. Everything will flow very, very smoothly.

Merchandise will be automatically deducted from your World Bank account as you cross invisible scanners everywhere. GPS in the tiny chip will track your footprints and relate your carbon impact into the UN data base to inform you of your remaining monthly travel credits.

Life will be so good. Carbon credits and World Bank Units will be transferred as needed from the abundant to the needy on a performance schedule determined from genetic models established at the Al Gore Center for Merit and Standards. Those deemed scientifically more able will do more and receive more (a little more) than those with disabilities. Life will be so good.

And the beauty in all of this is that neither Republican nor Democrat will be against this model. It’ll be way too economically beneficial. In fact, it’ll be a slam-dunk: Once the Chinese offer us debt forgiveness to begin installation of the lead-free chips. Installation begins in 2112.