In today’s world of violent crimes and not knowing which people you can trust, it is unusual to find someone that is willing to help their fellow man (or woman in this case) but I had that experience today in the midst of the current winter snow storm (Jan. 26-27).

I was on my way to work and coming down State Street near Sixth when I went to turn into the drive and couldn’t get a straight shot at it so I backed up a little and started sliding and got stuck in a snow bank.

A gentleman who was snow blowing came over to try and help. Not an easy task as I have a Dodge Durango. Another gentleman came over and tried to help. We were able to get it a little ways but there was snow building up under my tires.

The guy with the snow blower was going to try and remove the snow with the blower. Another gentleman came over and kicked the snow out from under my tires and then we rocked it back and forth until we were able to free it.

So now that I have rambled on, my point is ... I didn’t get a chance to thank those kind gentlemen for helping me get my car out. So I wanted to say “Thank You“ to them for helping the lady in the Dodge Durango on State Street on Sunday morning get unstuck! I greatly appreciate you!

Thanks for reminding me that there are still good people in the world!

Thanks for article

Thank you and the Hood River News for the fine article (Jan. 23) announcing two Columbia River Fellowship for Peace (CRFP) events Jan. 26 — the morning nonviolence training workshop with David Duncombe and the evening forum on war tax resistance and socially responsible investing.

You did a great job of turning our two announcements into a solid and informative article for your interested readers.

Question PUDs

Randy Olmstead and Mike Spedick should reconsider their Pheasant Ridge Planned Unit Development.

The community should be aware of what is happening within Hood River County. There has been a shift toward bypassing zoning laws by utilizing Planned Unit Developments. These developments are cramming townhouses, row houses, and small houses on individual lots no greater than 3,000 square feet.

There is frequently no parking, as residents line the streets. Check out the many planned unit developments downtown, the one next to the middle school, the new HOPE development on May Street, and the beautiful 13th Street towers that aren’t completed. They argue that either they utilize less land and are therefore more environmentally friendly, or are for lower-income families.

However, they are frequently not inexpensive and/or appear to have been sold to outdoor enthusiasts that can afford windsurfing and skiing.

Are PUDs just another way to generate more money? Are the developers and tax collectors at it again? Cram more homes on a smaller area of land and make more money.

The newest development is such a point. The Pheasant Ridge PUD will cram 71 residences on 12 acres at the end of a development that has average lot sizes of 10,000 square feet. Pheasant Ridge lots will average 3,000 square feet. These lots aren’t even typical 5,000-square-foot city lots. Furthermore, the property is surrounded by 5-acre lots with single family homes. It is barely within the urban growth boundary, but outside the city limits. I doubt anybody would want their neighborhood to feed the traffic to such a concentrated neighborhood.

I lived downtown for seven years. I moved to the Frankton Park Development to escape the bustle and crowding. Randy and Mike, what are you thinking? Trying to help low- income people out? Trying to save the environment? Last I checked, your property is an environmentally sensitive plot with wetland issues and a creek. Neighbors are in an uproar over such high density planning. Is this a friendly approach?

Please join those of us who live in the Frankton Park Development against irresponsible growth. There is a meeting at the Hood River County Business Administration Building on Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. If we don’t stop this kind of growth now, the precedent will be set forever.

Another side

My name is Mercedes Lane and I am a sixth-grader at Hood River Middle School. Saturday night I went to the presentation of “Iraq: The Rest of the Story” with Debbie Lee and Marine Corps Col. Mike Howard.

I wasn’t expecting to see such positive pictures of soldiers helping the community around them. I saw pictures of children happy and playing. These kids were playing knowing they were safe because the soldiers were around to protect them. Why aren’t those kind of pictures on the news? Why don’t we see something positive about what the soldiers are doing? These soldiers are our fellow Americans and we should support them.

We may not agree on this issue of war but we must support our soldiers. They are human and they are doing good things for the children in Iraq. For example they are cleaning up the wreckage and they even put up a new playground for the kids. Marc Lee is a hero! So are all the Americans before and after him that have served for our country.

I want to publicly thank Debbie Lee and Marine Corps Col. Mike Howard for coming and showing another side of what is happening in Iraq. I will always remember what you said and the pictures you shared.

Top notch care

Let me say that the people living in the Hood River area are blessed with top-notch medical and surgical professionals.

In December I had a radical neck procedure that removed two cancerous lymph nodes, plus other bits and pieces, from my neck and right shoulder. From the detection by Dr. Maria Czarnecki to the surgery by Drs. David and Mendy Maccabee and the pre-op and post-op care received at Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital, all were conducted in a highly skilled, professional manner.

We are truly blessed.

Angels among us

Thank you to my wonderful neighbors Bill and Pat! I’m so grateful to you for plowing my driveway during this “surprise” snow. Thank you! You’re awesome!

Attitude adjustment

Wouldn’t it have been nice if the farm housing article from the Jan. 26 paper had started, “Farmers provide humane temporary housing for the migrant workers on which their orchards depend.”

It would be even nicer if decent living conditions had been provided since Day One and without a federal mandate, but that’s splitting hairs.

Sky isn’t falling

The real questions in this debate are: Should mankind strive to conserve fossil fuels? Work to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from our activities? Recycle to conserve natural resources?

The answer to all of these questions is unequivocally YES. Because it is the right thing to do, not for the reasons the “Doom and Gloom” advocates like Al Gore postulate. We are not facing imminent destruction if we don’t follow these extremists’ formula for recovery from what is in all likelihood a non-issue. These people will use any pseudo-science to convince you that they are right and anyone who does not agree with them is wrong. Doubt it? Spotted Owl? An ordinary owl by any stretch of the imagination. One that doesn’t give a hoot where it lives: old growth forests, new growth forests, your barn or your back yard.

By lies and subterfuge the environmental alarmists managed to decimate the Northwest logging industry. Years later when it was revealed that most of the studies of the spotted owl by those opposed to logging were based on junk science they made no apologies. “We stopped the logging, didn’t we?” they said. To them, the owl was never the issue, logging was. I think it is the same with the global warming debate. To these people it does not matter if their position is supportable by actual science. Make no mistake about it, these are the same people who decimated the logging industry. To them the end result justifies the means.

I believe that responsible natural resource use that includes conservation is the right thing to do and I do not object to it. What I object to is the “Sky is Falling” approach these environmental extremists use. I object to the arrogance that leads these people to believe that only they have any valid answers. And I object to the ridicule that these people heap on anyone who disagrees with them.

Government for U.S.

Our government is currently proposing an economic stimulus package to stop the oncoming recession. Unfortunately, this same government has encouraged behavior and enacted laws that guaranteed the destruction of this economy. If they really want to save this economy, I believe this is what they must do:

• End NAFTA, CAFTA, and all such irresponsible trade treaties. Free trade among uneven partners destroys jobs for both partners and benefits only the multi-national corporations who can move their operations to the weakest partner.

• End the perpetual cycle of corporate takeovers and mergers. Every time these occur, jobs at every level are lost and will not return. No corporation should own a large number of businesses. Private monopolies are not beneficial for anyone except the monopolies themselves.

• Ban the out-sourcing of jobs to other countries. Only a fool believes that this in any way benefits the country that loses these jobs. It again only benefits the multi-national corporations.

• Ban the banks from charging interest rates over 15 percent on credit cards and charging exorbitant penalties for late payments. In an economy driven by consumers, interest rates over 20 percent are nothing but robbery, and are guaranteed to crush the purchasing ability of consumers.

• End our dependence on foreign oil. We are making many Middle Eastern countries rich while becoming ever more dependent on them. If you really believe these countries are our allies, have I got a bridge to sell you.

• If a U.S. corporation moves its headquarters or more than 20 percent of its production capacity overseas, it should be treated as a foreign business and all U.S. contracts declared void. They have shown that they have no loyalty to this country and do not deserve to benefit from us.

• Enact legislation that protects jobs in the U.S. It is all well and good to help other countries build their economies but NOT when you are destroying our own economy. We cannot help the rest of the world by destroying ourselves. If our economy tanks, we will drag the rest of the world with us.

• End deficit spending and balance the Federal budget again. The Federal government should not be borrowing its way into trillion dollar deficits. This puts it into direct competition with consumers and businesses for money available and can only damage the economy as long as it persists.

• If our government actually would take these steps, our economy would not only recover but would resume its place as the strongest economy in the world. An $800 one-time check isn’t going to make much of a difference to me or most people in this country, it will only postpone the results of all these nonsensical policies.

• It is time for our government to take care of this country, spending a billion or more on this country in aid would only do us all good.