Your Voice: Dec. 20, 2023

But I want to speak out.

I viscerally feel the concerns of parents of bullied children, and demand to see clear action to be taken by the school district super- intendent and principals to address this problem. We have generations of kids here in our community who are being hurt mentally and physically by the actions of other young people whose parents ignore their duties to provide boundaries and teach empathy and civility. The damage being done is going to go far beyond the school years to last a lifetime. Something formulative needs to be done.

There are communities across the U.S. that have made positive strides in reducing bullying and if it takes copying those models to implement something that reduces the harm, then it’s time to jump into action and do it. Our community deserves to hear concrete action steps with deadlines versus assurances that things are “being looked into.” The lives of children depend on it.

Dawn Rasmussen, The Dalles

Musings from a frustrated American

Recently on NPR there was a piece about the economy — how many Americans are upset about it even though salaries are up, un- employment is the lowest it’s been since the 1960s, the stock market is soaring, inflation has been dropping along with gas prices and we have not gone into a recession.

The interviewer asked the expert why she thought people weren’t getting the message that things were going well even though she admitted that folks had more spending power now and were generally more wealthy than before. Her answer was lackluster. She said that people were upset because some things still cost more than they wanted to spend and for this, they blame the president. They don’t give him credit for the good things he’s done, such as working on supply chain issues, bringing manufacturing and other high paying jobs to the economy with the laws that were passed by Democrats (Infrastructure bill, CHIPS and Science Act).

As I listened to this interview, I thought to myself, why do people think prices will come way back down when the cost of labor and benefits are going up? If we want better pay, it has to come from somewhere. If business owners and CEOs won’t take a cut in profits or salaries that are 300 to 1,200 times higher than what their lowest-paid employees are being paid, some- one has to suffer and it will be the consumers — us!

What do we expect? How one sees the economy really depends on which media bubble they live in. And clearly there is one bubble that wants no credit to go where it’s due and wants blame to go where it isn’t. The president isn’t responsible for everything that happens in this country. Americans are doing better right now but they complain about the cost of eggs because their media is giving them warped and negative messages about Biden’s economy. Their own personal experiences don't supersede their media messaging and that's just too scary, unfair and divisive for our country. My advice — watch/listen to public news. Please!

Sarah Bellinson, Hood River

Corporation should update facility

My husband and I spent the last two months at the Hood River Care Center. The staff supported my husband’s recovery in many ways, both large and small. They offered skill, engagement, sense of rapport, and contributed greatly to his recovery. We are in their debt.

My outrage is with Prestige Care Inc., the corporation who owns the Hood River facility. Prestige currently has a net worth of more than $3 billion and an annual revenue of $326 million (zippa.com). Our system of Medicare supports the privatization of skilled nursing facilities and with one set of standards and funding, while reserving higher standards and funding for acute care facilities run by hospitals. What sense does this make? The result is that the facility that cares for our most vulnerable adults, is seriously run down, and operates with staffing that is continually asked to do the impossible.

A person might hope Prestige Care Inc. would take stock of its priorities. If the corporation is going to create billionaires of their top executives, why would they not extend some of that wealth to care for the residents and maintain the facility? Yet the facility in Hood River does not have dependable toilets, front doors that open and close easily for wheelchair and walker access, or central air conditioning. It is incomprehensible why such minimal updates to a facility more than 92 years old are not in place. Why is this? Certainly not for lack of funds.

The bravery of the people who live at the Hood River Care Center is astounding. But loneliness is hard to combat. The CNAs many times go the extra mile to care for residents, but their job, from the start of their shift, is already overloaded. They need to respond to red-but- ton calls for help as they hand out meals three times a day.

Prestige needs to step up their game. Surely with a net worth of $3.01 billion, they can handle this. One percent of Prestige’s net worth would be more than $30 million. Doing the right thing can begin with small steps.

Judie Holt Mohar, Hood River

'Rural Right'

Some who recall from previous musings the centrist, middle of the road views of the undersigned may be surprised by the acclamation latent in the phrase "Rural Right" as it leans forward on the steering wheel at the end of a long day and looks with pride on a freshly plowed field. Who doesn't love a John Deere tractor.

That's okay, loving the green and yellow of Oregon's most liberal university, I mean, even as your heart remains with the more conservative, agricultural heritage of the OSU black and orange. And isn't it ironic that both public universities are headed for Bowl games against private, Christian colleges. The Ducks will face off against Liberty College in the Fiesta Bowl. And the Beavers will take on Notre Dame in the Sun Bowl.

The Rural Right. Straight furrows. And the round caring that sends a child off to college, perhaps the first in a family. And the student who comes home, enriched not only by the family circle but also by the learning that is higher education, the better kind of which can distinguish between knowledge and wisdom, the latter often simply old-fashioned common sense.

old-fashioned common sense. Alas, common sense sometimes suffers with the advance of degrees. Why I don't know. But there it is. And so, the farmer, leaning forward, the day ending in a wash of both blue and red, thinks: "It don't seem right. On the one hand a candidate for president whose words, manners, methods and values seem at odds with sitting down at the dining room table to celebrate a child's homecoming and the birth of a religion, and, on the other hand, a university president unable to simply say: 'On this campus calls for genocide will not be tolerated'. It makes no sense. Neither makes any sense. It just don't seem ... RIGHT."

Robert White, Mt. Hood-Parkdale

New density, traffic coming

How will the changes to the White Salmon City code that create severe density and traffic effect the walkability of the town hoped for in the new Transportation Plan? Or the hoped-for green space included in the Climate Action Plan?

Council is reducing the single-family lot size from 5,000 square feet to 3,000 square feet and in- creasing the lot coverage from 50% to 75%. Side yards will be reduced to three feet. Backyards will be reduced to 10 feet, front yards to 12 feet, or four feet if you have a porch.

Two to three accessory dwelling units (ADUs) attached or detached, per lot, would be allowed depending on the zone. Sixty homes are currently going to be built on the north side of Spring Street. Another 30 acres are available at the east end of Spring Street, and 49 acres in the city behind the hospital have recently come on the market. Well over 1,000 homes could be built just on the vacant land. This will double the number of households to 1,113 households. This doesn’t even include dividing up the current lots. Ten percent of dwellings can be short term rentals.

The average household of two takes eight trips a day, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. So, another 8,000 trips a day possible through our village. Something to think about.

Shelley Baxter, White Salmon

Address the problem

Headlines in both the United States and around the world stated the same sad truth this month: “Republicans in U.S. Congress block aid to Ukraine."

This is sad for our nation’s reputation and tragic for the people of Ukraine. It is yet another indication of how far the GOP has fallen. It used to be that we could rely upon Republican leaders to support freedom-loving nations against despots, but not anymore.

Republicans correctly point out that we must do more to secure our own southern border. Everyone agrees. Illegal immigration has plagued us under both Republican and Democratic presidential administrations. But rather than addressing this problem with sober reasoning, Republican leaders have sought to ramp up hysteria. They blame illegal immigrants for the explosion of fentanyl brought into the U.S., when, in fact, only 0.2% of individuals caught illegally crossing the border possess any fentanyl. The majority is being smuggled by U.S. citizens caught at official border crossings.

Nevertheless, there is bipartisan agreement that more needs to be done about our southern border. Responsible leaders seek bipartisan deliberations and solutions. They don’t use the issue as an excuse to abandon democratic nations like Ukraine to authoritarian warmongers such as Vladimir Putin.

Rick George, White Salmon

Don't repeat history

Re: The letter titled "Dictatorship" (Dec. 13, 2023, Columbia Gorge News). I agree. This country is on the verge of no longer being a democracy.

Our country must not forget the actions of the current so-called Republican front runner during his last term in office. We must open our ears, eyes, and brains to what he is spewing at his rallies. We must not let history repeat itself. We cannot allow the 45th president to follow his ego-centric, childish urges to seek revenge on those he thinks wronged him. He is a clear and present danger (apologies to Tom Clancy) who must never be allowed anywhere near the office of president again.

Americans must not fall asleep at the wheel. We have the power to prevent the ruination of our country. Big Orange cares only for one thing — himself — not the USA. This is serious stuff. A vote for T is a vote against America.

Brian McCavitt, White Salmon

World peace requires ceasefire

The horrific genocidal effects of Israeli government military violence continues relentlessly, mercilessly with total disregard for innocent civilians in Gaza. Since Oct. 7, Israeli air raids and artillery fire have killed 18,000 people, including at least 7,700 children. The news is simply dripping with the blood of innocent Palestinians seeking to survive after decades of being held like prisoners in Gaza and now starving to death in what in effect is the violence of a concentration camp.

I want to face feelings of my own political helplessness. I want to acknowledge an unsettling awareness that my country supplies billions of dollars to the Israeli military. I want to seek to use my life to add to the reservoirs of compassion with justice for which we all thirst.

I immerse myself into the holiday season knowing that in the land where Jesus was born, today all is dismal and hope- less. The cries of painful agony and death fill the skies where the angels told the shepherds not be afraid. This year when I sing, “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear,” I will restlessly give voice to the words: “The world in solemn stillness lay, to hear the angels sing …” and I will know that every expression my Christian faith requires an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza.

The angels are watching. What we do matters. Sleeping in heavenly peace does not come without working 24/7 to get U.S. policymakers to use their power to force a ceasefire.

Rev. John Boonstra, Hood River

The Lost Creche

I cannot find the Creche,

I fear its been taken away

I look for the holy child,

swaddled and kept so safe

I’m afraid he’s lost in the rubble,

for many look like he

The innocent babes of Gaza

now succumb to Herodian wrath

Where angels flew on fluttering wings,

deadly drones now fly past

“FEAR NOT,” the Herald’s silenced cry,

its loss we now bemoan

Mothers who look like Mary

wail and wonder why

Joseph trembles, hidden

from troops with vengeful eyes

Shepherds, no sheep are they keeping,

hear not a heavenly host Kings,

given no entry,

their gifts they cannot bestow

And the bright star that led them,

dims in the night’s dark cold

I cannot find the Creche,

I fear it's been taken away

Gary Young, Hood River

Mascot change?

I was reading an article about a playground they want to build at Mid Valley Elementary in honor of a staff member that passed away (Dec. 6, 2023, Columbia Gorge News). I saw the photo that accompanied the story and noticed the sweatshirts that everyone was wearing. They read "Mid Valley Pumas."

Pumas." I thought Mid Valley School's mascot was the Cougars, seeing there is a statue in their courtyard and probably the same one when I was there attending in the 1970-80s. So my question is when and why did they change from the Cougars to the Pumas?

Ron Dunn, Dee

EDITOR'S NOTE: Mid Valley Elementary Principal Kim Yasui has the answer. "We decided to change to PUMAS because it is the Spanish word for COUGAR. It reflects our commitment to building bilingualism," she said. "We also have Wildcats and Panthers in district and wanted to set ourselves apart from the litter."

Thanks for recent events

My husband and I are living in the Mid-Columbia again after some travels away over the past couple of years. I feel so grateful to be back. Four wonderful recent events lifted my spirits and reminded me of this great, unique community: The Thanksgiving meal at Riverside Church in Hood River; an inspiring retirement party for Don Evaristo Romero, one of the area's most experienced Community Health Workers; and the most recent Gorge Sinfonietta and VOCI Choir concerts. I know these are just a few of the many, many terrific social, cultural, artistic happenings throughout the region in late 2023. (I can't keep up even with those in our neighborhood, much less throughout the Gorge!) Deep thanks to all the volunteers, organizers, visionaries who bring us together in these events. May the New Year be enriched by many more.

Tina Castanares, Hood River