Protect community
It’s the best time of year, the air is as crisp as an apple, the kids are back in school, and yes, the tourists are gone. It’s quieter now and it makes you wonder why they come to our town. Is it the wind or the mountains or the rivers? I think they come for all these things and even more for the community that we define, something they don’t have in the cities they come from. They yearn for a simpler life, one without traffic and violent crime. A place where you can raise a family, own a home and know your neighbors. That is why the recent debate about short term rentals bothers me. Some of us seem to be OK with selling off that which makes our town unique, our very way of life.
Sure, we can take the money they bring us and allow our neighborhoods to become second homes, unnervingly dark in the winter and cold. Or worse, rented each week by unknown people from unknown places without a stake in the fabric of our local lives. Allowing this cash grab to happen only reflects a selfish mentality we have tried to avoid by living here and one that has become all too common in the greater society, one where people allow themselves to think capitalism has a moral compass, one that benefits everyone. The truth is that it is just as cold as those empty second homes and the protests I hear from those who think making the most possible at every turn are mistaken. We can slow this selloff by looking to our community leaders to legislate community protection and let them know we care about the values that make our town home.
David VanCott
Hood River
Nestlé concerns
Jean McLean made three points that I would like to address:
(1) She says, “Water is a resource … but it runs away if it is not used, unlike other natural resources.”
The resource we would “give” to Nestlé isn’t just water that would otherwise drain away as waste and “add to our already rising sea level” (as if bottling would prevent that!). The resource is access to the clean water cycle, which is snow/rain, melt, streams and aquifers, uses, evaporation. The difference is profound. You may not need all the clean water from the spring, but Nestlé wants the deed to all of it. And if you can’t get good water from the replacement wells that Nestlé’s customers won’t touch even when it’s clean, you’ll be buying your own water back in Nestlé’s bottles for 1,500 percent more than you pay now, or building an expensive filtration plant. This scheme would be less objectionable if Nestlé asked for what Cascade Locks didn’t need from their spring water source, but they didn’t. They want all your clean water.
(2) Regarding brown lawns and drip irrigation, Jean says, “I believe it is because they don’t want to pay for more water than they need. It’s an economic and business decision.”
Watering reflects peoples’ attitude towards drought, since prices have not gone up this summer. Soon it will be a matter of availability. The glaciers on Mount Hood are shrinking, so stream flows are increasingly unreliable. Backup wells below river level are subject to contamination because as glacier water stops helping to fill these wells, polluted river water will. That’s why Nestlé wants a bottle between you and your good water. So Jean, why risk paying more for the water you do need? Why put Cascade Locks at risk for that expense? Water is a first need.
(3) As for “year-round, family-wage jobs,” the manager and technician for this automated bottling plant are already trained at Nestlé and ready for their promotions to come run the new plant and “take jobs from the locals.” That’s how it’s done efficiently.
John Wood
Hood River
Protect our water
Pope Francis reminded us last week that global warming is a justice issue. It affects every aspect of our lives. Safeguarding our water is one way to build a livable and healthy future. Keeping water accessible to living creatures is central to what we hold dear.
We have just finished the summer of the hottest year ever recorded. Our personal climate stories are our proof that Hood River County is experiencing drought. Drought makes us all more conscious about the fragility of our water supply. Climatologists are giving us dire warning — the kinds of drought we are beginning to experience are going to get worse in the years ahead.
Does the magnitude of the water problems all over the world need to overwhelm us? No. We have an incredible opportunity to model something valuable. It can start with the Hood River County Water Protection Measure filed by a community based group of agriculturalists, farmers, indigenous friends, and a wide range of neighborhood activists LocalWaterAlliance.org. This citizen ballot measure gives county voters the chance to protect our water supply from being sent out of our county in plastic water bottles.
It is ironic that when communities around the world are working to safeguard their future by securing rights to water, corporations are seeking to privatize water, bottle it, and sell for their own greedy profit. Many of us don’t think of this when we drink so-called “natural spring water” from places far away, and for an escalating price. We lose sight of the fact that equally pure water is readily available from our tap — and everyone has a right to it!
The Water Protection Measure invites Hood River County to model our reservations about exporting scarce water for corporate profit. Our orchardists need water, our farmers need water, our fish need water — we all do! Let’s be a part of setting an example for all who wish to address climate disruption by holding on to the resources that are sacred. It starts here.
Rev. John Boonstra
Hood River
Support HRVHS theater
If you enjoy great local theater and music, please lend your support to our Hood River Valley High School kids’ upcoming musical production of “Grease!”
I love football, basketball, soccer and all the rest (GO, Eagles). Each is a great activity that builds teamwork and sportsmanship. But sadly, when it comes to performing arts, school funding often disappears.
It’s likely, when high school or college come to a close, serious participation in sports for most young people will end as well. But music and theater can and do last a lifetime for a great many people — myself included.
Without funding for “Grease!,” financial support must come through donations and ticket sales, as well as advertising. (Many thanks to all, who have placed program ads!) Your kind, tax-deductible donations to support the tireless efforts of our kids and their “coaches” may be made out to HRVHS Theater and sent to Rachel Harry, 1220 Indian Creek Road, Hood River, OR 97031.
“Grease!” will be playing at the HRVHS Bowe Theater at 7 p.m. on Oct. 30 and 31, Nov. 6 and 7, and 13 and 14, with a 2 p.m. matinee on Nov. 8.
Participation in the performing arts helps young people build confidence and find their voice. There’s a release of energy into activities such as music, dance or theater that’s truly magical. You’ll see it soon at HRVHS, so mark your calendars today!
Your kind support is sincerely appreciated.
Betty Osborne
Hood River
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