See ‘2016’ movie
Re: “2016: Obama’s America”: I have to tell you I was quite impressed with this movie. It wasn’t screaming and hollering. It was a very interesting and insightful look in to our president. I think it is a must-see for Democrats and Republicans.
I have changed a lot of my thoughts of our president. President Obama is one of the most intelligent people I have known in my lifetime. Please make the effort to go see it.
Gail Hagee
Hood River
Not self-made
If the Port of Hood River is willing to lease Nichols Basin for $7,500 annually, then the proposed cable park will be on welfare — non-income-producing.
How can they claim to be profitable when public land is effectively donated? Sounds like a government hand-out.
Or would this be a stimulus package? Certainly not “self-made.”
E. Schroder
Bingen, Wash.
Win-lose tactics
The Naitos have stirred up a divisive hornet’s nest of controversy by continuing to sell the idea of cable wakeboarding in the Nichols Boat Basin. Mr. Naito freely admits that in order to build his hotel he is courting money from China. The Chinese are not stupid and insist on guaranteed rents from the complex before they release any funds.
The Naitos are not from the area. They do not live here nor do they participate in any of the activities that support our community. It is a simple sales pitch to take the money and run.
Pitting members of the community against each other is an ugly, manipulative tactic as old as society itself. By using their power to create a win-lose set of options for our community they are showing us who they are.
Make no mistake about it. Boardheads, you are being played like a violin. Wake up.
Laurie Balmuth
Hood River
English for sheriff
Matt is one of the most effective and productive law enforcement professionals I’ve ever worked with. Among his peers and other professionals in the community, he is considered a natural leader.
Time and time again, I have seen Matt solve significant operational, logistical and personnel problems with results that are realistic, sustainable, and fiscally responsible. His dedication to the sheriff’s office and this community are demonstrated every day.
Jerry Keith
Hood River
Come see the experts
I was raised in the state of Missouri, where the license plate slogan says it is the “Show-me state.”
People of Missouri are skeptical of and doubt new thoughts or ideas that are presented to them until they can see for themselves the proof, see the facts or see the person in action. Seeing something for themselves firsthand is best. Put another way, they don’t believe “hearsay, secondhand” testimony.
Architects and engineers know how to build and design buildings. They also know how to construct them to withstand a hurricane’s high winds, resist collapse caused by earthquakes and suppress fires once fires have started in a building.
There are more than 1,700 experts in building design, construction and forensic science who are wanting you to see for yourself something that just does not make scientific and engineering common sense.
Please accept their invitation this Saturday, Sept. 15, to hear these experts speak out on their scientific analysis of how they think the World Trade Center Twin Towers collapsed on Sept. 11, 2001. This fact-based full-length documentary, called “Experts Speak Out,” will be shown at 2 p.m. at the China Gorge Restaurant, 2680 Old Columbia River Drive, Hood River.
Please come early to enjoy a no-host bar and order a beverage/meal so you can view the documentary’s showing. Children are welcome.
At the conclusion, attendees will be given their own copy of the documentary to take home and share with others free of charge. Invite your friends and family to join you for this well-documented movie that will enlighten those individuals who are open-minded and whose knowledge is not controlled by the corporate media.
BTW, did you know that three buildings collapsed that day? If not, you are like the many people of America that these architects and engineers want to share their scientific evidence and pose to you their unanswered questions.
Come see for yourself and adopt the mindset of: Show Me!
Scott Haanstad
Hood River
Keep basin multi-use
There have been many people weighing in on the issue of Nichols Boat Basin and the debate has at times been acrimonious with those not supporting the cable park idea seen as activists or radical. I’ve spent a long time thinking about it and would like to say:
Let’s keep the basin for everyone to use — paddlers of all kinds (kayakers, SUPs, canoes, rowing skulls), swimmers of all abilities, windsurfers, fishermen, dogs, hawks, birds and fish, etc.
With all the (amazing) winds that we get in the Gorge there are few places that offer protected, easily accessible waters.
Development of the basin area is inevitable, so let’s put some thought into this, together. A cable park just doesn’t serve the majority of those who use or can use the basin. I am not against development; simply for wise development.
Heidi Ribkoff
Hood River
Please block cable park
Dear Port Commissioners: My name is Jacques Rajotte, attracted by windsurfing and the beauty of this area since 1986.
I have been witness to the transformation of Hood River and the Columbia for 26 years and commend the port in its sensitivity to the area’s recreational potential, the event site, Waterfront Park, the water-edge walkway connecting the Hook to the Event Site, adding a beautiful dimension to our water front and community.
The water-edge walkway is not yet complete and more work is needed to connect it to the marina.
Recently the cable park issue came into play and I am very concerned; our limited waterfront property is valuable to the recreational enjoyment of our community. How can a non-local developer propose to basically take over the basin while not having even completed their hotel development? Who are these people? Is a public water-edge walkway in their proposal?
Are they aware of the multi-use potential of the basin? Are they sensitive to the negative feeling by the community that was very evident from the first day the cable park was proposed? Is their hotel development dependent on the cable park?
I feel very strongly that it is not in our community’s best interest to allow a cable park to monopolize the basin.
I urge you not to allow this project to move ahead, and as important, focus your attention on the developer’s plans for the waterfront immediately adjacent the hotel to ensure its future use and enjoyment by the public.
Jacques Rajotte
Hood River
Cable park a travesty
“Like putting a Walmart at the edge of the Grand Canyon”: The Columbia River Gorge is world-famous for the forces of nature that come into alignment here. It’s a celebration mecca of athleticism that harnesses the natural elements of the wind, waters and slopes in a combination and quality not found anywhere else on Earth. And it all exists in take-your-breath-away natural beauty with our lucky town of Hood River at the center.
To put a motorized, noisy, eyesore such as the proposed cable park right in the very heart of the action (on a public waterway and shoreline, no less!) is so completely out of character with the environment and style here that the only thing I can think of comparing it to is putting a Walmart at the edge of the Grand Canyon, or an amusement park in Trout Lake with Mount Adams framed behind the roller coaster.
No, no and no! Like them, it would be a travesty and embarrassment of unthinkable proportions.
Daniel Dancer
Mosier
Vote no on M’s 82-83
Measures 82 and 83 are constitutional amendments to build a private casino in Wood Village. I’ve lived in Wood Village for seven years and have seen positive changes that closing the Greyhound track has created — a Fred Meyer, Lowes, upscale restaurants and homes.
This growth didn’t come at the expense of livability. It came after the previous gambling establishment was closed!
A casino back into what has become a quaint Portland suburb will erode our quality of life. Should this matter to you? Yes, because the approval of 82/83 changes everything. A crap shoot allowing a casino anywhere in Oregon.
Oregon is known for its beauty, public coastline and diversity. Do we want to become Nevada?
It’s well-documented: casinos bring crime, traffic and noise. Just 300 feet from the proposed site are neighborhoods with children. What becomes of their quality of life when gamblers move through their streets at all hours?
We shouldn’t become an experiment in livability or questionable tourism. Oregonians soundly defeated a similar measure in 2010. However, foreign investors and their Lake Oswego cronies are back; this time with window dressing.
The old track needs planning, but too much has changed for the better since its closure to move backward with another gambling attraction. The developers talk about water parks, shops and theaters. But these wouldn’t make money without a casino.
Don’t allow foreign developers dictate constitutional policy in Oregon! Dire consequences will result for Wood Village and Oregon. Once Pandora’s box is opened, there’s no closing it!
No on 82/83.
Doug Taylor
Wood Village
About the cable park
After many years of debate and consideration, the waterfront has slowly become a beautiful business and recreational park in progress.
Surely the Naito Group can come up with a more suitable endeavor to coincide with the intended hotel, instead of a cable park, which will only create jobs for part-time employees. Hood River needs full-time employment to sustain local families with a decent wage.
Somehow the thought of a cable park just doesn’t “fit” into the scheme of things. What is “scenic” about looking at a pair of posts and dangling cables in summer and silent during the icy winter months. Hood River deserves a better use of this “unique” property.
It’s only a matter of time until entrepreneurs will produce new and exciting water activities that do not destroy the natural beauty of the local Hood River waterfront; which needs to be protected from hastily thought up quirks we will all wish to reverse.
It seems the reasons visitors come to Hood River are the water sports, great climate, clean air, quaint little town, friendly people — but as soon as they get settled, some want to integrate all the types of hype they came here to get away from — go figure.
Please, no cable park.
Lois Neufeldt
Hood River
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