Turn off the TV
This week, April 25 to May 1, is TV-Turnoff Week. Anu Garg, founder of Wordsmith.org, says, “TV doesn’t kill just time. It promotes a sedentary lifestyle leading to obesity and early cancellation of your very own reality show.” To learn more about TV-Turnoff Week, visit www.tvturnoff.org.
Go for a walk, ride a bike, or enjoy a family activity.
Be active, be healthy.
Carol York and Pete Fotheringham
Hood River
Disgusted by society
Yesterday, that would be April 20, I lost my wallet containing $22 at a restaurant downtown. The wallet was later found in the bathroom at Oak Street Mall, the money gone. (I had problems with the coin-operated newspaper box, I am sure I lost it there; I never visited the bathroom.) The finder must have gone to the bathroom to escape detection, taken the money and dropped the wallet on the floor.
The deviousness of such behavior is a sorry sign of our declining morals. People demand from the Catholic Church to change, to adapt to today’s ever-changing moral code (such as it is) but we think nothing of the loss of trust in our neighbor, of the disappearance of honesty. I am disgusted of what is happening to our society.
Peter von Oppel
Hood River
Vote out lawsuits
Vote out lawsuits! End of gridlock! Statements on side by side political ads. I truly can’t believe the people that gave you gridlock, lawsuits, illegal initiatives, and total anti-cooperation during the required and normal process of selection of a plan for the Hood River waterfront, are now running for Port commission positions, claiming they can get rid of the things they wrought.
Lars Bergstrom and Cory Roeseler pushed illegal initiatives claiming that the Port was about to build high rise condos along the waterfront. This lie was never ever, ever, ever, considered by the Port Commission, yet Lars and Roeseler would cry foul if the Port tried to put forth their position. They cannot be trusted with the truth, have no clue about fiscal responsibility required of an elected official, and would surely bring legal and fiscal disruption on this body.
I urge your vote for honest, representative government. The two incumbents, Don Hosford and Fred Duckwall, have served this community for years, as businessmen and employers, in civic and fraternal organizations, and in elected and appointed positions in county, port and city government. Their track record is one of civic duty, honesty, integrity, and professional experience that is truly notable.
Felix Tomlinson
Hood River
Water questions
Perhaps our local doctors and dentists could answer, “What is a safe level of lead and arsenic in our drinking water?”
Remember it is a fact, undisputed by them, that like it or not, choose it or not, you will receive lead and arsenic in your drinking water if you allow them to add fluoride.
Looking for some answers.
Christina Thomson
Hood River
Roeseler for Port
It’s time for change at the Port. I don’t trust the characters who are running it, and we need new blood.
The Port is supposed to be creating jobs, and I haven’t seen any results lately. Let’s give Cory Roeseler a shot at it. I’ve known him for years. I heard his ideas, today, about how he could do a better job, and they sounded good.
Vote for Cory Roeseler for Port.
Mits Tamiyasu
Hood River
Pen your dogs
I, like many others, was horrified to hear of the brutality that took place last Sunday night. It just so happened I had seen those sheep in their pen days before while attending a Promoting Responsible Ownership of Dogs “Dogtalk” session at the high school. When I read the newspaper article it made me sick to my stomach.
I want to express my sympathy to those young people who had to deal with the aftermath and especially thank Markee, Aurelio, Chris, and Matt for their thoughtful letters written in response to this terrible incident. It’s just a reminder that dogs can make wonderful pets, but they can also cause great harm.
Sometimes dogs do escape their enclosures and we all know what they are capable of doing when they “pack up.” These are natural instincts for canines to act on when given the opportunity. We (PROD) have spent years trying to educate people in the importance of keeping their pets on their property. I’ve had many conversations with folks in this area who regrettably believe that “dogs need their freedom.” Perhaps, if they had to witness this carnage, they would think twice about allowing their dogs to roam.
In addition, I question the wisdom of penning indefensible livestock in such an open area, where no one can come to their rescue in case of an attack.
Cleo Sterling
President of PROD
Underwood
Duckwall & Hosford
If you are an American citizen and 18 years of age, you should be registered to vote. We need to keep our ports for EVERYONE in Hood River County!
Vote for leadership, know how, citizen input, and good common sense! Vote for Fred Duckwall and Don Hosford for Port Commissioners.
L.R. Reisner
Hood River
Rudeness at home
I can relate to the column (Hood River News, April 13) written by Peggy Dills Kelter concerning the rude, profane, overbearing “ugly Americans” tourists that she was forced to endure on her Costa Rican trip.
I face these very same tourists on a daily basis, whenever I venture out into my Hood River community. Sadly, as in Costa Rica, some take up residence.
Adolphus M. Parker
Parkdale
A fluoride contract
To fluoridate or not to fluoridate, that is the question. The political proposals and answers are way off the radar screen. Industrial waste! Really. What a hot button word. How about industrial by-product? And the cost estimates vary wildly to deliver fluoride through the city’s water system ... all the way from $1 to $12 each month per water meter.
Also it is impractical, I might say irrational, to medicate roughly 95 percent of the community’s population to provide important dental health to a small number of children. Let’s get past the rhetoric to the real world and do the math.
Although a large share of our young citizens have the appropriate dental care which often includes semiannual topical fluoride treatment, still some kids are missing this care. Generally the cost of topical treatment per child runs $44 per year.
It seems that the citizens of Hood River could more easily fulfill their social contract, avoid fluoridating the city water supply and see that the needed children receive this dental care. And all this could be accomplished for one dollar a month added to your city water bill.
This win/win option keeps our city water pure, provides the necessary dental care and costs “pennies.”
The City has 2,200 meters; at $1 times 2,200 times 12 (months) equals $26,400. Accommodates 600 kids.
Nancy Moller
Hood River
Time for change
I just learned that the Port Commissioners, once more misusing executive sessions to do the public’s business in secret, are considering selling part of the Waterfront along the Columbia River. The citizens of Hood River voted overwhelmingly to protect our waterfront.
This utter disregard for the public demonstrates why a change in Port Commissioners is needed.
Elect Lars Bergstrom and Cory Roeseler to the Port Commission, and send the message that this business as usual is going to stop.
Ken Maddox
Hood River
Bergstrom cares
I am very happy to see that Lars Bergstrom is running for Port Commissioner. I have known Lars for 15 years and he has worked for me the past six years.
As the director of sales and marketing at Innovative Composite Engineering, Lars has brought us business from 15 different countries and has significantly increased our sales each year.
These things have led us to not only increase the number of people working for us, but double the number of shifts we run. Lars is not only an extraordinarily hard worker and an exceptionally smart worker, he cares.
On May 17, you will have the opportunity to vote for Lars for Port Commissioner. Based on what I have seen over the past 15 years, I think that if you vote for Lars, you will be doing the Hood River community a great service.
Frank Haas,
Innovative Composite Engineering
Bingen
Take your time
A girl put a card on our door — Vote for Change.
You see, there’s a hitch in that. For, if you said, “Change is good. Nose hairs out of a chin is a change. So, nose hairs out of a chin is good,” that might make you laugh.
But for years, it was said that any vote for a change was one to vote for. And that made me laugh.
You’re smart, kids. Take your time. It’s worth it to your kids to look at many sides of things and talk to more than one side. Make sense?
Donna Gray-Davis
Hood River
We’re lucky
We are truly fortunate to be living in an area where our medical and dental professionals are so well trained that they need no further data to make informed decisions regarding our health.
Dr. Hardy Limeback, the director of Preventive Dentistry at the University of Toronto, presented information last weekend that could affect the decision to add fluoride to our water supply.
But in the morning session at Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital, apparently only three dentists and one MD felt the need for more information, and in the evening presentation, only one dentist and a retired physician regarded an esteemed colleague’s experience valuable to their knowledge. Apparently they agreed with their colleague’s conclusions since they raised no questions.
Dr. Limeback suggested starting with a basic cost/benefit analysis. Even when liability concerns and health effects outside of juvenile caries aren’t considered, he proposed that it just doesn’t pencil out.
Though our transcendent health professionals can simply accept the stance of their organizations on faith, you should do your own research and make your own decision. Start by reading your toothpaste tube.
Dave Fenwick
Hood River
Vote no on 14-23
After 30 years of working for the Corps of Engineers as a research aquatic biologist including 10 years of water quality sampling on the Columbia River, ballot Measure 14-23 has caught my eye as having no real basis for support. This measure not only has no real support in the scientific community but appears to be based on unreasonable and unsupported U.S. EPA goals of absolute zero tolerance.
Fluoride background levels in the Columbia River, based on NOAA Fisheries peer reviewed articles from the 1980s, were established in the 0.2 ppm range. Corps of Engineer water quality sampling completed in 1999 established fluoride background levels for Columbia River waters near The Dalles Dam to be around 0.1 ppm. The earlier NOAA Fisheries articles found salmon to be sensitive to 0.5 ppm F (with anecdotal evidence of limited mortalities to fish during migration to McNary dam from John Day).
The testing demonstrated levels of 0.2 ppm F to be below the threshold level for fluoride sensitivity of the salmon. After levels were reduced in the aluminum plant (upstream of John Day Dam) effluents from 384 kg per day in 1982 to less than 130 kg per day in 1983 and subsequent years, no further effects on passage, migration, holding or mortality were expected. The normal river concentrations of fluoride associated with the lower loading were less than in the previous years, 0.1 to 0.2 ppm vs. 0.3 to 0.5 ppm for the earlier years.
The resulting fluoride concentration associated with the normal Hood River water usage and subsequent release into the Columbia River is approximately 0.000004 ppm. This is based on a daily waste effluent of 900,000 gallons per day, an average Columbia River flow of 200,000 cfs, and assuming a reduction in the fluoride concentrations from 1 ppm to 0.6 ppm due to partials removal by the solid waste. This gives an average daily loading of 2 kg from Hood River waste water as compared to the aluminum plant load of approximately 100 kg per day.
Earlier toxicity tests conducted by researchers show fluoride levels at 2.7-7.5 ppm to produce LC50’s to trout and other species. These concentrations are far greater than the 1 ppm of fluoridated drinking waters. The river background fluoride levels are expected to be in the range of 0.1 to 0.2 ppm so how could an additional 0.000004 ppm result in any effect on the biological communities?
Since we have numerous supported and documented examples that demonstrate the excellent health value in community drinking water fluoridation as compared to the unsupported claims of impact to the environment by measure 14-23 then defeat of the measure would definitely be in the best interest of the community. Vote no for Measure 14-23.
Joe H. Carroll
Mosier
Sick of fluoride
It’s time to put in my 43 cents worth (inflation, you know). Don’t we have anything better to do than argue about fluoride? I’m sick of the subject, and think it’s being blown out of all proportion. At the same time, I would mildly state that it seems unnecessary to water our lawns, flush our toilets, and take our showers in fluoride. In addition, the source of the proposed fluoride seems highly questionable to me.
Why don’t we spend the money involved on REALLY targeting children’s dental health — focusing on dental hygiene education, providing free fluoride mouthwash and toothpaste, and no longer paying for soda pop and candy with food stamps. By the way, Christian Knight’s photo of the glass of water on page one Saturday is wonderful! Just a few thoughts ...
Wendy Best
Parkdale
Leash your dogs
My name is Emily Hansen and my ewe Clover was killed (April 18) by two or three dogs. A lot of people think that if they are on public grounds that they can let their dogs off leash. At the Hood River Valley High School grounds and trails there is a sign at all entrances stating that ALL DOGS MUST BE ON A LEASH.
If people would take a few minutes of their time to read a little paragraph, this would not have happened. If you are going to use the trails, please respect the rules.
I am very disappointed in the owners of the dogs because they have had enough time to turn in their dogs and be a responsible owner. Last night my sister Rachal lost Daisy, her prize-winning ewe, to injuries she received during the attack last week.
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