Your voice: June 4, 2025

In an era when the free press is under attack, this newspaper stands strong. Free press is a cornerstone of democracy. So is a community where we trust and care for one another.

Judy Zimmerman

Parkdale

WSVSD thanks

I wanted to say “thanks” to the White Salmon Valley School District for all the hard work and preparation the district put into hosting the second round and quarterfinals of the WIAA 1A boys state soccer playoffs. The field and facilities looked great.

I also wanted to voice my appreciation to the people who repainted the Bruin bear paws up Main Street and Loop Road. And lastly, I was so impressed with the crowd that came out to see the Bruins win both games. CHS might not have fancy buses and facilities like the wealthy private schools that we often compete against. But we have something high priced tuition can never pay for ... community.

As the boys soccer team headed to the semifinals in Federal Way to play the Bush School (another private school that costs more than the University of Washington), you can bet that our soccer players had twice as many people cheering for them than Bush will. Our community made the three-and-a-half-hour journey to root for our team and we were louder, prouder and had more fun regardless of whether we won or lost.

Yet again, I’m proud of this community and all everyone does for it. Go Bruins!

 Dan Miller

White Salmon

Don’t generalize

I write to comment on a letter titled “TDS” in the May 21 issue. I want to make it clear that while I am a critic of the current administration, it does not mean that I characterize supporters as bad people. That is simply not true. And I am not alone in that sentiment. I admit there are those who feel differently and I wish it weren’t so. We all have work to do to come together to solve problems and not just throw around hurtful words. Let’s get to work.

David Gross

Tygh Valley

Newhouse betrayal

The Republican budget and tax bill was approved by the U.S. House, and Rep. Newhouse voted “Yes” for this cruel bill. It gives $3.8 trillion in tax cuts, which will cause the bottom 40% of US. households to lose income and resources while the top 1% making around $800,000 will gain enormously, especially the very top 0.1% — estimated at a $390,000 gain a year, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

The cruel costs include cutting $715 billion in healthcare — primarily Medicaid — as well as $300 billion from SNAP/food stamps. Approximately 7.6-10 million people will lose their health benefits and 2.7 million will lose food assistance.

District 4 has one of the highest percentages in Washington of households relying on Medicaid and SNAP. Rep. Newhouse’s vote shows constituents his priorities are not with us. He betrays our working families for the benefit of tax cuts for the well-to-do.

He has said one of his concerns is the national deficit as a justification for budget cuts, but these tax cuts will increase the deficit enormously — by the trillions of dollars (from Economic Policy Institute).

It is worth asking him, “How do you justify giving wealthy people more money they don’t need by taking away health and food resources from those in need?” This seems to be the true position of the Republican party as well — look at their actions.

We in District 4 will have to live with these consequences, which may include some rural clinics and hospitals closing their doors due to Medicaid cuts. But one thing is clear: it is time for a new U.S. representative who cares and votes for our interests, not the Republican party that serves the rich and powerful.

Steven Woolpert

White Salmon

County map praise

Klickitat County’s interactive map system is such a joy to use. After using other county property boundary maps around our region, ours in Klickitat County is consistently many levels above. Simple and easy to read property lines, a lot information and good overall user experience. Thank you to whomever is responsible for putting this together. It makes me happy every time I’m on there.

Avery Hoyt

White Salmon

Need fireworks ban

I read the article about why local officials don’t want to ban private fireworks (“Klickitat Co. Commissioners talk fireworks, burn bans,” Columbia Gorge News, May 21). I was dismayed after hearing the reasoning. I realize that sales are fundraisers and that it takes a year to enact the ban. No better time than the present! It was also mentioned that people would go to remote areas to play with fire. I would rather see that instead of entire neighborhoods burned off the map!

I attended the wildfire meeting last week and we discussed how White Salmon and the Gorge are in the bullseye for wildfire. We don’t have control over the wind, but we do have control over fireworks in the area. White Salmon has banned fireworks in the city limits, but most of the danger is from a fire starting outside of the limits, especially on State Route 14 and up the bluff!

The gentleman from the Department of Emergency Management mentioned it was brought up recently but was shut down by the board because most wildfires aren’t started by fireworks. It just takes one! As you know, the Eagle Creek fire was started by fireworks and burnt more than 48,000 acres in 2017. Now we have an ugly scar to gaze at on one of the most beautiful drives in the U.S.A.

I was an airline pilot for 30 years and the most frustrating part of my career was when the FAA reacted to an accident or incident. If they were proactive, most of the disasters wouldn’t have happened. Newark and DCA are present day examples. Many of us have had our home insurance canceled (including me)  because the threat is very high in the Gorge. Please write the Klickitat county commissioners: todd.andrews@klickitatcounty.org; loriz@klickitatcounty.org; and ron.ihrig@klickitatcounty.org.

I beseech you to reconsider a total ban for the county so we can sleep a little bit better every night when the wind is blowing 30 knots!

John Mooney

White Salmon

‘America alone’

It’s surprising to see how quickly “America First” has morphed into “America Alone.” In his first 100 days, Trump has abandoned allies, threatened and antagonized friends and disrupted the U.S. and global economy.

The postwar world order that America built and has benefited from for 70 years has been severely damaged. America can no longer be counted on to honor past commitments or look beyond its narrow self interests.

Its little wonder that nations are distancing themselves from the U.S. economy and dollar. Rising U.S. Treasury bond yields should be a flashing red light to Congress. These bond yields determine the annual costs of servicing our $36 trillion national debt —  costs that will exceed $1 trillion in 2026.

Coupled with the ongoing tariff uncertainty and added trillions in debt from extending Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, we are facing the real risk of both a recession and spiraling debt crisis. Congress needs to get serious and stop digging the hole deeper. We need thoughtful bipartisan entitlement reform, not MAGA cuts to vulnerable Medicaid and SNAP recipients. We need to re-tilt the economic table to benefit everyone, not more tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy.

Richard Davis

The Dalles

Not welfare

Is a “great” nation one whose secretary of health and human services defines Medicaid — the very basic health insurance that primarily covers children, pregnant women, disabled, and low income Americans — “welfare?” (Op-ed authored by Robert F. Kennedy, Mehmet Oz, et al, New York Times, May 14.)

Could it be that by calling basic health coverage “welfare,” the Republican administration is gearing up to make huge cuts to this crucial support to more than 78 million Americans (per Medicaid.gov website) to help pay for the huge tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires?

Kathy Pickering

Hood River

Sign of the times

Allow me to set the stage. Bombs drop. Navy personnel are killed. It’s Pearl Harbor, 1941. The town of Hood River becomes a whirlwind of chaos. Japanese Americans are rounded up at the train station and shipped to internment camps. They are viewed as Enemy Aliens.

Ads that said, “Japs are Not Wanted in Hood River,” appeared in the local newspaper. Full page ads with the names of more than 1,800 Hood River residents opposed the return of Japanese Americans. Yes, this is absolutely true. It happened right here in Hood River.

After the war, Japanese American soldiers returned home only to find their names removed from the courthouse honor roll. These were U.S. soldiers — fighting and dying for the country — even as their families were being imprisoned by it. Yes, this is absolutely true. It happened right here in Hood River.

Yet, in these dark times, a light still found a way to shine through.

About 50 Hood River residents stood up for those who couldn’t speak for themselves. They sent welcome letters and provided support to those returning home. They shined a yellow light… a flicker of hope.

What does this have to with us today?

This is a very uncertain time for immigrants in the United States. Like the Japanese Americans who faced discrimination, many of our immigrant neighbors are, once again, living in fear. “We are Immigrants – Somos Inmigrantes” signs are appearing in homes and businesses in our community. They are bringing a sense of support to those who need it. Like those who advocated long ago, will you be courageous enough to display a yellow sign? After all, most of us have all come to America from someplace else. Unless we are Native American, or we were forced to come here from Africa as slaves, we are all immigrants.

I invite you to join me, and hundreds of other residents and business owners, in this campaign. Contact the Riverside Community Church via office@riversideucc.com for a window or yard sign.

Deanne McLaughlin

Hood River

Immigration

I first learned the true definition of immigration in the third grade. When Trump first got elected, that word became one with heavy negative connotations and is now a word I hear often in modern media.

Our current administration simply does not understand what it means to be an immigrant, and while I don’t know myself, I do have firsthand experience. I was raised by my nanny, who is a Guatemalan immigrant. She left everything behind to give herself and her children a future, much like most other immigrants. I never, ever have felt unsafe or unwelcome by her or her family, and I have never met someone as caring as her.

Calling immigrants criminals, murderers, racists, and/or job-steelers is ridiculous, inaccurate fear-mongering. They are hard working people, and I know them. I have classes with them, I work with them, I see them every day. The rhetoric that immigrants are people we need to fear is ridiculous. I encourage everyone who believes that every immigrant should “go back to where they came from” to sit in an AP U.S. history class while Mr. Case tells you the origin of this country. Educate yourselves and be kind: It’s the most valuable thing you can do.

Delaney Hackett

Hood River

Conversation, not confrontation

My loving wish, for everyone, is to experience ugly and inhumane bigotry and bias toward YOU at least once in a lifetime. I promise it will change your perspective.

I was a privileged Hood River girl, a 10-year-old fifth grader, when my family moved to Hilo, Hawaii, for a short period of time in the ‘60s. It was the worst of times for a child who was the only pink-skinned, blonde-haired, blue-eyed person in the fifth grade, as I was immediately labeled a “dirty haole” and, just like that, was shunned by the kids in school and in our neighborhood.

What was wrong with the young and tender me? The experience (though just downright mean) taught me the most valuable life lesson: there’s nothing wrong! The color of one’s brown or black or pink or simply different-from-yours skin is an insignificant difference. All humans bleed, hurt, love, like, and dislike. We all cook and eat food, enjoy beauty, love our children and families and pets. The color of one’s skin, the texture of ones hair, the color of ones eyes, the language of ones parents, is not something over which we have control. But by chance those minor differences create an opportunity, ripe in the occasion, to learn about another human, another’s culture, another’s viewpoint, another’s history.

The emotion of hate does not exist for hate’s sake. Hate is a culmination of hurt and/or fear — don’t complicate it. Maybe it originated with frustration, an inability to articulate feelings, or perhaps ones family’s history (fill in your blank). The next time you feel “hate” toward someone, or something, please take time to question the true origin of an emotion that sends you to the brink of ugly and inhumane. You may discover a new world, one that has never presented its beautiful and kind self.

Long ago, my daughter gave me a bit of advice for which I am eternally grateful: The issue at hand is not confrontation but, in fact, a conversation between adults. Treat it with patience, respect, an open mind, and listening ear.

Susan Baldwin

Hood River

Fireworks danger

Recently, the Klickitat County Board of Commissioners held a workshop on fireworks in Klickitat County, where they determined that fireworks are not a big risk to fire danger. Hmm. Have they heard of Eagle Creek? And the whole town under evacuation in Lyle on July 4, 2021? And do they realize that the summers continue to get hotter and drier? And that many of us have had our home insurance double in the past year or have been denied insurance entirely due to potential fire danger?

I think there are places and environments where everyone should be able to enjoy fireworks with minimal fire danger and minimal emotional damage to people with PTSD, and risk to pets and wild animals.

While I applaud Klickitat County for only allowing fireworks two days a year, one of those days is during one of our hottest, driest months. County-wide, uncontrolled backyard fireworks are just not sustainable. It’s only going to take one fire to do significant, irreparable damage. Who would be liable for that damage? I feel that negligence by the county in implementing safe laws around fireworks could make them vulnerable to litigation. Potentially, there could be tens to hundreds of property owners affected. That could be the responsibility of Klickitat County taxpayer dollars. An advertised, full restriction on residential fireworks may not stop the violations, but would probably put a big dent in them.

The Klickitat County Port, in partnership with the Bingen Fire Department, offers a controlled, designated area where the local White Salmon and Bingen community members can set off fireworks in a family environment. They have done so safely for several years now. They soak the lawns, cut all the port property grass areas, have the Bingen fire trucks available, and provide a cleanup crew the following morning.

I’m wondering if this can be duplicated in other parts of the county so that people who love fireworks have places to use them in a safe environment, and vets and those who fear fire and their pets running off, or worse, suffering a heart attack (yes, this happens), can have a fear-free holiday.

Becky Miles

White Salmon

Define terms

Let’s define our terms: Antisemitism is a hatred of Jews based on their ethnicity, religion and/or customs. It is a subgroup of racism, pure and simple, and it has been with us for hundreds of years. A Trojan horse is aggression wrapped in a deception. President Trump shouts about antisemitism in universities and law firms to distract from his vindictive yearning to subdue both of those institutions. Don’t be fooled. I don’t think the president picked antisemitism casually, the way he picks most of his bright, shiny objects. He picked it cynically because he expects his performance of righteous indignation to shield him from criticism over his petty plans to crush those who have done him wrong. It walks like a Trojan horse and talks like one. I suggest we don’t open the gate and I eagerly await the day that reluctant Jewish leaders speak up, politely thank the president for his deep concern and suggest that he move on to some other great cause where he can perform his phony crusades.

Rob Miller

Mosier