Editor's note: The following are capsule summaries of the top news stories covered by The Enterprise in 2005. This week, in Part One, we look back at January through June of 2005.
JANUARY
Faced with budget constraints that threatened to keep the White Salmon swimming pool closed for 2005, John Gotts, a software company owner new to the community, handed a check for $17,200 to Mayor Linda Jones to ensure the pool would operate in 2005.
"This is the best new year's gift we could get. His generosity is really overwhelming," said Mayor Jones.
Several White Salmon businesses were the targets of a weekend burglary spree. AmeriTitle, Mid-Columbia Dry Cleaners, the Washington Department of Licensing, and Ron Logan Insurance -- all within about three blocks of each other -- were broken into.
"Petty cash was taken," said Bingen-White Salmon Police Sgt. Bruce Brending.
Searchers looking for an overdue plane located a crash site just west of Hood River's Ken Jernstedt Airfield. The three men aboard -- Paul Linck, 41, of White Salmon, Brook Campbell, 26, of Home Valley, and Chris Jones, 34, of Hood River, all died in the crash. Conditions were foggy at the time of the crash.
FEBRUARY
PacifiCorp, the Portland utility that owns Condit Dam on the White Salmon River, moves to delay the proposed removal of the dam until 2008. The delay is designed to allow the utility to "accumulate additional revenues to pay for increasing permitting costs associated with the dam's decommissioning and removal, which had originally been scheduled for October 2006.
The Washington Department of Ecology warned White Salmon officials that the city faced a moratorium on water hookups because the city had been using more water than its water rights allowed. Wil Keyser, director of White Salmon's Public Works Department, said the city had applied for new water rights in 1997, the applications were being processed very slowly by state officials.
Vandals went on a destructive spree around the county, smashing out car windows and slashing tires in Lyle, Klickitat, and Goldendale. Nothing was stolen during the crimes. Law enforcement officials determined that the overall damage would reach into the thousands of dollars, raising the vandalism to a felony level.
MARCH
Members of the Bingen City Council voted 4-1 to ban the discharge of all fireworks within the city limits. The vote came two weeks after a group of citizens came to the previous meeting to urge that a fireworks ban be adopted, due to concerns about fire danger and risk to property. The ban was slated to take effect in 2006.
Kids at Whitson Elementary School were evacuated from the school following a bomb threat. A note threatening that there was a bomb in the school was discovered, leading school officials to immediately evacuate all students from the school grounds. The students were taken to the nearby Park Center while law enforcement officials were summoned. Police with a bomb-sniffing dog searched the school, but nothing suspicious was found.
The Klickitat County Board of Commissioners approved the controversial "Energy Overlay Zone" for the county after making substantial changes in its form. About one-third of the county is included in the zoning designation, which allows outright specific energy uses, such as wind power, in certain parts of the county. The final version of the EOZ eliminated large scale power plants.
"We agreed to take out the combustion turbines component and the bio-mass component," explained County Commissioner Don Struck.
APRIL
Amtrak's westbound Empire Builder passenger train derails near Home Valley after leaving Bingen. The train, with 115 people on board, was rolling at approximately 60 mph when all four of the cars left the tracks and slammed into an embankment. Most of those on board were unhurt, although 14 passengers and crew were taken to area hospitals for medical attention. The accident resulted in traffic being closed on adjacent State Route 14 for about four hours, as approximately 25 ambulances were staged along the highway near the Wind River.
"They were mostly bumps and bruises, but there were no broken bones," said Skyline Hospital Administrator Mike Madden.
Rob Jones, a music and drama teacher with the Columbia High School staff, was placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of a probe the FBI of alleged criminal use of a school district computer.
"The nature of the investigation concerns alleged possession of child pornography on the computer," explained Dale Palmer, superintendent of the White Salmon School District.
In a brazen burglary, thieves broke multiple windows at Columbia High School to gain access to classrooms, the library, the metal shop, and the school's main office. Those involved in the crime wheeled an acetylene torch they has taken from the school's metal shop to the main office, where they used the torch to cut the hinges from the school's main safe to gain access. Cash, checks, and bland diplomas were taken from the safe. Laptop computers, cameras, and projectors were taken from other parts of the school.
MAY
With a 4-0 vote, the White Salmon City Council access a "notice of intent" to annex 48.7 acres of land into the city from Stonecliff Development LLC. The notice was accepted with one key conditions: that the city and Stonecliff Development can successfully compete a standards and mitigation requirements for any future residential development on the land, including densities and building sizes.
The Klickitat Rail-Trail took a big step forward when the Washington State Parks & Recreation Commission decided that development of the 31-mile long former railroad corridor for recreational use does not have a "probable significant adverse impact on the environment." The U.S. Forest Service, in cooperation with State Parks, had proposed to develop and manage about 13.5 miles of trail in the railbanked former Burlington Northern Railroad corridor between Lyle and Klickitat.
Mabel Beck, 85, a longtime Bingen resident, was pronounced dead at the scene, and her husband, Stanley Beck, 87, suffered critical injuries that subsequently resulted in his death following a head-on collision on State Route 14 with a car being driven by Janet Parkinson, 65, of White Salmon. The accident took place near Underwood Fruit when Parkinson crossed the centerline and struck the Beck's 1983 Nissan Sentra head on. Parkinson was not seriously injured.
JUNE
The Dallesport Community Council heard a proposal to site a meat processing plant in the Dallesport Industrial Park. Proposed was a $30 million, high tech plant that promised to create 200 jobs. The plan sparked controversy as some citizens worried about water use and odors from the facility.
Columbia High School hired Malcolm Dennis as its new principal. Dennis succeeds Tim McGlothlin, who retired after 17 years with the high school, including the previous seven years as CHS principal. Dennis, who has 17 years of school experience, most recently served as principal of Westview High School in Beaverton, Ore.
Despite unexpectedly high bids, the city of Bingen decided to move forward with rehabilitation of two of the city's four municipal water wells. The sole bid on the project came in at $57,000, while the city had originally estimated a project cost of about $30,000. City officials hoped that with the rehab, the wells could again provide a significant amount of water. The two wells had been out of service as they were not producing enough water to be cost-effective.
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