Heritage is alive

Heritage is alive and well in Hood River County!

I commend the Hood River News for publishing two wonderful heritage articles in the July 18 edition — front page, no less.

Congratulations to Jack and Kate Mills and the Mt. Hood Railroad. The addition of the steam engine is a thrilling showcase piece of railroad history. Congratulations also to Terry Brandt and Jeremy Young from the Western Antique Automobile and Aeroplane Museum. What a great addition your institution will make for history buffs interested in airplanes and vintage automobiles. I’m looking forward to the opening on Sept. 8. It is very exciting to me that we have such wonderful history opportunities right in our own back yard to enjoy for ourselves and to share with visitors to our county.

In addition to these don’t forget the Hutson Museum in Parkdale, the Cascade Locks Museum and the “Remembering Our Roots” fruit heritage exhibit sponsored by the Fruit Foundation Historical Society in Pine Grove. Together these make a unique and moving journey to the past for people of all ages. Take time this summer to get out and explore history!

P.S. Congratulations as well to the Hood River News for being honored with seven awards from the ONPA. Hood River County rocks!

Respect is earned

I am also the proud wife of a police officer. I am not writing as his wife, but as a citizen of this community.

My husband does not bring his work home with him. Much of what he does is confidential and I respect that. However, you can certainly tell those days that have been particularly hard when he walks in the door. I also know first-hand the toll taken on families by this choice of career.

When you choose to be a police officer, a firefighter, a city administrator, etc., we as citizens have the right to hold you to a higher standard because of what and who you represent. When you feel the need to blow off steam, all I ask is that you do it responsibly.

When you are in a service-oriented or public position, you need to remember those who you have sworn to help, protect, and represent. I ask that you represent us with honesty, integrity, dignity and responsibility. Respect isn’t a right, it’s something you earn and must work to keep.

Value humans

Western attempts to vilify Islamic militants may be proving less than helpful.

It seems impossible for the Western mind to justify, let alone forgive, al-Qaeda’s use of suicide bombers against civilian populations. To take innocent life in the name of one’s God seems blasphemous and morally despicable. Yet our own attitude toward these persons may preclude a deeper understanding of their motives — and any chance of curtailing their practice. Vilification only demeans people, no matter how offensive their behavior. It simply reinforces the tendency to continue, and even intensify, their actions.

To give the suicide bombers of this world our simple respect, not for what they do, but for who they are as human beings loved by God, could change our own perspective and assure the Arab world that at least we understand why mothers’ sons and daughters might be driven to such destructive acts.

While we cannot condone what they do, we can grant the bombers a measure of human dignity. Of all nations, we can respect the extreme courage required to sacrifice one’s life for a cause that one believes in, however misguided it may be. We can also appreciate the experience of once living under a colonial power that stripped us of our national resources and human dignity. Finally, we can affirm that most of our enemies are faithful followers of a majestic and principally compassionate world religion, tragically distorted by the extreme fundamentalism of a few.

Only when we acknowledge the human dignity and value of our enemies will our mutual enmity prove amenable to constructive political and diplomatic initiatives.

Letter to a thief

I am wondering if the lady in the white Capri pants gave any thought to the how the owner of the tools she picked up on the road in front of Rosauers on Saturday, July 14,  is feeling.

He turned around after realizing they fell out of the back of his pickup only to be told you were seen picking them up.

This was newly purchased tools for a job my 17-year-old grandson just started. Unfortunately, his wallet with his first paycheck’s cash was also in the crate. This means you-know-who lost the tools and the cash.

Because of your dishonesty those long hours outside in the 100-degree weather were for nothing. Wouldn’t you feel better about yourself if you just did the right thing and returned everything to the owner? When you look in the mirror just think how he would have felt if someone in his community had returned his tools.

You have his address. Why not keep the cash and return everything else? At least he wouldn’t have the expense of replacing his documents. This would help turn a very bad day into something he would never forget.

Casinos mean vice

Casinos do nothing for our communities. They offer no betterment or social enrichment for our communities. They are legalized vice. Vice. Just because it is legal does not mean that we need or want a casino in our community. Casinos bring increases in crime, in burglaries, in prostitution, in drugs.

Casinos increase suicide rates in all our communities. Casinos increase child abuse, wife beatings, alcoholism and other addictions, in our communities.

Casinos increase bankruptcies in communities. Casinos do nothing to better our communities. Casinos destroy the social fabric of communities. Vice is vice, legal or not. If money is the root of all evil then casinos are its manure. Spreading manure over the Columbia River Gorge Scenic Area by proposing to build an off-reservation (Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs) casino in the heart of the National Scenic Area is not appropriate, desired, or wanted. Manure is still manure no matter how much money you throw on it.

Learn about wind

I encourage the community to attend the Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council’s public meeting to discuss the proposed UPC/Cascade Wind Power Project. The meeting will be held on Thursday, July 26, at the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center in The Dalles from 6 to 9 p.m.

This meeting should be of interest to anyone concerned about the future livability of our area. The proposed Cascade Wind Power project with its 40 turbines (400 feet/40 stories tall) in the Seven Mile Hill and Wasco Butte area, is just Phase 1 of the plan. A meteorological tower to measure wind speed has already been placed just west of Brown’s Creek. Wind turbines are also being planned for Middle Mountain in the Hood River Valley.

If the Cascade Wind Power Project is allowed to go forward in spite of all the problems and adverse impacts associated with it for nearby residents and wildlife — which include disruption to aquifers, excessive noise, risks to health and well-being from low frequency sound as well as from shadow-flicker from the turbine blades (similar to strobe lights), wildfire danger from malfunctioning turbines, property value loss from 30 to 40 percent as is documented in Maine, Vermont and elsewhere, visual pollution from scenic vistas and the National Scenic Area with the consequent loss of tourism and revenue for the local economy — then what possible grounds could there ever be for denying any future wind turbine project, no matter how poorly sited?

This project would set a precedent in Oregon where there has never been a wind power project so close to a community and hundreds of homes, not to mention federally protected scenic areas!

Please come to the council’s meeting next Thursday and view the documentary “Welcome to Mars Hill,“ available through the The Dalles-Wasco County Library, and visit www.wind-watch.org.

Love this town

I would just like to express our appreciation to the Cascade Eye Center and Hood River Jewelers for helping out in taking care of my broken glasses.

The staff of the Cascade Eye Center referred us to a couple of places that would solder my glasses together. The staff at Hood River Jewelers took care of the soldering and putting everything back together like new.

My wife and I always like to stop in Hood River on our way up to visit our son and daughter-in-law in Vancouver, Wash. We love the beautiful scenery and the friendliness of the people as demonstrated by Cascade Eye Center and Hood River Jewelers. You all saved a wonderful vacation.

From the Heart,