Your voice: March 19, 2025

It’s time for women to band together and use the best qualities women inherently have, to rise up against male-dominated tyranny and authoritarianism, to intelligently and selflessly lead us into becoming and remaining a country and government that nurtures and cares for our peoples. Stop buying into shaming women and victims and the less fortunate. Please, before we cross the no return line.

Lucky enough to now be retired, I vow to use what little Social Security and IRA distribution I receive much more carefully, thoughtfully, and locally going forward. I understand what it means to have enough. Enjoy, but enjoy less. Own less, eat less, drive less, buy less. Be a good steward to our land and neighbors. Will you join me?

Susan Baldwin

Hood River

Whitson STEAM

I work as an after-school teacher for an after-school STEAM program at Whitson Elementary School teaching first and second graders. With my background in environmental science, I always look for ways to incorporate bite-sized pieces of my professional interests within the curriculum. Little did I know that my interest in science and Project Runway would soon overlap in a lesson on creating upcycled bags — a neat way to teach sustainability.

To accomplish this, I teamed up with Immersion Research, a company in Hood River that creates in-house fleecewear. A handful of friends work there, and they’ve often encouraged me to grab scraps from production. With the school program in mind, I gathered some of their leftover fabric and mesh material for a week-long lesson on reducing, reusing, and recycling.

To design our own bags, we first made a construction pattern using mesh material and duct tape. Together, we cut three rectangles and two squares and duct taped the pieces together. Once the strap was in place, the kids were very excited to see their cutouts become a 3D object that could actually carry things. From there, students used glue guns to attach their selected fabric to the mesh material. Some choose large pieces of fabric scraps while others worked with the small square cut-outs and hearts. At the end of the lesson, the students excitedly walked in a mini fashion show at the library to the sweet sounds of Kidz Bop in the background.

While I can’t attest to whether the project was entirely sustainable, since we used duct tape and glue guns, I hope the kids walked away with the knowledge that they can create something special out of what they already have. At this age, I’ve found that familiarization with the concept is the most important thing. So while they may not remember what upcycling or sustainability means, there is no way they would forget that week we all made our own bags and did a fashion show (because I won’t either!).

Emma Renly

Underwood

Zero savings with BPA cuts

I want to underline the most important information from the excellent article about Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) by Nathan Wilson (Columbia Gorge News, March 5): Bonneville ratepayers fund all of BPA’s services! No federal tax dollars support BPA! Therefore, no savings result when BPA employees are fired or resign.

“Bonneville sends any surplus revenue to the federal government, and ... customers will continue to pay the salaries of the 230 workers who resigned.” If any of the workers are replaced, the ratepayers will pay twice. While the quality of power transmission may drop due to the resignations of BPA staff, ratepayers will keep paying.

For me, this action is the poster for the DOGE: “Move fast and break things that you have no idea how to fix. Don’t check to see if firing employees will actually result in savings. Do not consult anyone who might understand stuff that you don’t understand. Pay no attention to the results of your reckless disregard for anything and anyone.” 

Pat Evenson-Brady

Hood River

Resist

“I’m a bit overwhelmed by the news every day — but I’m not giving up.” That’s how I hope my Gorge neighbors of all stripes are feeling as we learn more about the damage being caused by the new federal administration.

Dedicated and much-needed civil servants are losing their jobs (e.g. agricultural scientists, forest managers, electrical power workers, public health professionals); immigrants fear to go out to a store, to a clinic, to their jobs in essential industries; youth and adults worry more than they have in years about harassment and discrimination because of their race, appearance, sexual orientation or gender identities. Environmental protections; proper collection of the income taxes which fuel our GDP; health insurance and its provisions; funding of education, including for students with disabilities; Headstart and school lunch programs — these and much more have all been swiftly jeopardized.

All of these impacts are not happening just far away, in other states or jurisdictions. They are being felt on our doorsteps, in our own communities.

Please join in resisting and reversing the chaos. There are many ways to help. Let’s donate if we can to local nonprofits and aid organizations, and to advocacy groups litigating (bringing lawsuits) to stop bad actions. Let’s work hard politically to set the government back in a good direction in time for the coming midterm elections. Let’s stand publicly for justice and for peace. Let’s help one another with generosity — a quality sorely lacking at the moment when our government wields a chainsaw as a symbol of strength.

Tina Castanares

Hood River

Bonham’s hypocrisy

On March 6, I received another “newsletter” from State Sen. Daniel Bonham filled with personal and partisan grievances, his weekly bashing of Governor Kotek, but devoid of any real substance.

Why doesn’t Bonham use his newsletters to tell us about his bills for the year and why he has sponsored them? Or maybe why so few of his colleagues have co-sponsored them? Why not tell us what HE is doing with our tax dollars instead of constantly blaming others for wasting them.

Perhaps it’s easier to criticize the bills and the actions of others than to defend his own bigoted (SB618, SB613), scientifically unsound (SB635, SB 639, SJR32), and fiscally irresponsible (SB380) bills, to name just a few. He wrote about overwhelming opposition to a Democratic-sponsored tire tax bill, but failed to mention the overwhelming opposition to his own nuclear reactor bill.

Finally, I find his accusations of Governor Kotek’s “power grab” sad and ironically amusing. She’s apparently some kind of monster authoritarian for wanting to close a loophole in the way non-tobacco nicotine products are taxed in Oregon without legislative approval . ..except that in order for her to have said authority, the legislature will first have to approve her bill for that authority (HB2528). So she is, in fact, asking for legislative approval. Still, Bonham insists, it’s an “audacious overreach” and it would give an “obscene amount of power to bureaucrats” and he just can’t support such an undemocratic process, ever! Right …

I could possibly respect his opinion if he also had the honesty, the decency, to talk about the grotesque power grab currently happening in the Trump/Musk Administration where an unelected official, who just happens to be the largest donor by far to Trump’s campaign, is completely taking over the responsibilities that only Congress has the constitutional authority to do. Talk about “audacious overreach” and “obscene amounts of power to bureaucrats!” Surely even Bonham must recognize that one thing is far, far worse than the other. If not, then he certainly doesn’t represent the values of his constituents at this moment in time.

Debi Ferrer

The Dalles

Call your reps

Please call, write a letter, or email Republican Representatives in Congress who have recently passed a U.S. budget to cut Medicaid. Many people don’t realize how these cuts will reduce programs that are crucial to our local friends, family, and neighbors. I am a driver for Meals on Wheels Program through the Hood River Adult Center. I enjoy bringing a weekly hot meal to 15 households and 20 seniors who want to remain in their homes. I volunteer my time, car, and gas to make my weekly route. The seniors are so appreciative of the food and a friendly, caring person stopping by their home. The Meals on Wheels Program, along with the nutritious food, provides a connection between caring community adults with seniors who, in some cases, may not receive many visitors. Meals are delivered Monday through Friday, except holidays.

Meals on Wheels is primarily funded through a variety of federal grants from the “Older Americas Act” (OAA) Nutrition Program, which provides about a third of the funding. Additional support for the program comes from state and local governments, private donations, and community contributions. A federal judge recently granted a “brief administrative stay,” halting enforcement of the Trump administration federal funding freeze just before it was set to go into effect. Meals on Wheel programs across the country are worried about cuts to their programs and how these cuts will affect vulnerable seniors in the United States.

To take action, call Rep. Cliff Bentz at 202 225-6730 or email him through his website at www.bentz.house.gov. One can also call, send a letter, or email other Republican House of Representatives at www.house.gov/representatives. Please help save Meals on Wheels programs throughout this country!

Nancy Johanson Paul

Hood River

Rise up

It is time to rise up. Corruption has overtaken our government. Russia is not our friend. Canada is not the enemy. Those with different opinions are being arrested (“Trump warns that arrest of Palestinian activist at Columbia will be ‘first of many,’” AP News, March 10). Free speech is under attack. Republicans are creating the collapse of our infrastructure and cutting vital federal employees just to give $4.5 trillion in tax cuts to the billionaires. Call your senators, your representatives and the White House. Protest in public. This is not how government works. I will not accept corruption.

David Michalek

Hood River

Medicaid cuts

Rep. Dan Newhouse knew exactly what he was voting for when he supported the recent budget resolution. This blueprint directs the Energy & Commerce Committee to slash Medicaid spending by $880 billion over the next decade — cuts that will devastate healthcare access for millions, all while giving tax breaks to the wealthy and large corporations.

Medicaid (Apple Health in Washington State) currently funds healthcare for more than 300,000 people in Rep. Newhouse’s district, including children, pregnant women, seniors, individuals with disabilities, and working families. A cut of this magnitude would put every one of them at risk of losing essential healthcare services.

Let’s be clear: Rep. Newhouse is prioritizing tax cuts for the rich over the health of his constituents. Without Medicaid, many in our community will suffer, and lives will be lost. We must demand better. Call Representative Newhouse at 202-225-5816 or 509-452-3243 and tell him to protect his constituents, not corporate interests.

Sandy Montag

White Salmon

Helping those less fortunate

Sunday’s Spokesman Review (March 9) has an article with this headline: “Republicans’ cuts to Medicaid could shutter hospitals, maternity care in rural towns.” It describes how many smaller hospitals in rural towns may have to close due to lack of funding. It says President Trump won by a high percentage in these areas. This is the disconnect I don’t understand. Don’t they want healthcare? Why do people vote against their best interests?

The Republican Party makes it clear they are on the side of people gaining more money. The loss of health care facilities will be brought about by tax cuts for people who don’t need it. We all need food, housing, clothing, education and health care. How do we get it? By working hard, and the people who have made more money need to share more in taxes to help those less fortunate. This is the philosophy of the Democrat Party. I am a member, and can vouch for the hours spent trying to create programs to help improve society as a whole. It’s about values, and what kind of country we want to build. President Trump presented clear alternatives before the election. Project 2025 told us the plans. What were the barriers to listening? If you care about improving the lifestyle for everyone, vote Democrat in future elections, if we’re lucky enough to get to vote again.

Roz Luther

Spokane

Price of eggs?

So, when the President of the United States said in his State of the Union speech that we spent $8 million on making mice transgender, he got a good laugh out of “his” Republican members of Congress. Now, the president has a huge staff of supposedly smart people, and he claims to be a stable genius, so what do you make of the fact that the money was spent actually spent on making transgenic mice? These mice are getting spliced genes to make them better models for medical research, more “human-like,” to test disease treatments and drugs. Way better than trying things out on your mother or brother, right? Mice reproduce and mature quickly, enabling faster early clinical trials. Nothing about changing the sex of the mice.

If he’s so smart, or would listen to people who know about these things, he would have gotten this down correctly in a major speech to the American people, right? The only other explanation is that he is lying again to make it seem like science is wasting your money by changing the sex of mice. The truth is that he is wasting more money playing golf, to the tune of more than $10 million already (“Donald Trump Has Already Spent $10.7 Million Of Taxpayer Money Playing Golf,” HuffPost, Feb. 18); and by using ginormous and expensive military airplanes transporting a handful of migrants as photo-ops to make it look like a bigger operation than it is (“Trump’s Reliance on Military Planes for Deportations Is Costing Taxpayers,” Newsweek, Jan. 31). Is that what you voted for? Or did you vote to bring down inflation and the price of eggs on day one? How’s that working for you?

Mark Browne

White Salmon 

Editor’s Note: According to Forbes, “Transgenic mice are mice with modified DNA, which biomedical researchers use to study how genes impact disease and health, or how human diseases and organs might respond to medications” (forbes.com).

Trump gets it done

I was never a big fan of Donald Trump. I always thought there were other people, with far fewer flaws and baggage, who could better articulate and execute the principles of small government conservatism and common-sense social issues. But I did vote for him 3 times for 3 compelling reasons: Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Given the choices, there really was no choice. After the 2020 election though, I hoped he would just fade away. Like many, I was tired of all the noise, even as I understood most of it was generated by Democrats and their allies in the media. But the weaponization of the justice system made that impossible, and I have come to realize he was not just the best of two choices, but possibly the best person to lead the country at this moment in history. Previously, I was resigned to the fact the most Republicans could hope for is to slow our inexorable slide into a woke socialist nightmare. With the radical left dominating the Democrat party, the media and our educational system, it seemed improbable we could ever stop that march, let alone reverse it.

Donald Trump is still an easy target but is actually keeping those extravagant promises made during the campaign, a very rare occurrence for a politician, and I can’t imagine any other leader with the focus, energy and drive to make that happen.

And Democrats don’t seem to know what to do about it other than a blizzard of furious letters to the editor and Facebook posts, silly ping pong paddle signs and sitting on their hands to avoid honoring cancer and crime victims. Anger at Trump and everyone who voted for him keeps them clinging to the losing side of issues like illegal immigration, sanctuary for criminals, transgender ideology, the war on fossil fuels, bloated bureaucracy, voter ID, DEI, crime, climate alarmism, war and common sense. Like it or not, Trump is fulfilling the promises he made and that IS bringing us closer to Making America Great Again. Nothing wrong with that. Nothing at all.

Steve Hudson

The Dalles

Trump trouble

I think Donald Trump is well beyond mild or even moderate signs of dementia. The trouble he has saying words he wants, drawing blanks or mangling his sentences at his rallies. He is not just a pathological lire, an admirer of past and present dictators and 34 time convicted criminal. He is totally and UN-equivalently unfit to be president of our country. He is unfit to hold any elected office.

Gary Fields

Hood River

Clean sweep?

The complex issues surrounding the land trade of 2001 between Hood River County and Mt. Hood Meadows can be boiled down to a few irrefutable facts.

First, there was massive public outcry over Meadows’ efforts to consolidate land for a huge destination resort on the north side of Mount Hood. More than a dozen conservation and recreation groups including Thrive Hood River formed a coalition to support legal challenges to oppose the trade.

Second, Meadows and the county pushed the coalition for Good Faith mediation to “have peace in the valley.” Many coalition members were reluctant to participate due to Meadow’s history. Thrive decided to participate, as we were assured it was a Good Faith mediation.

On June 9, 2004, we began a series of tough mediation sessions. The resulting deal was that we would all work together to get Congress to pass an act mandating a trade of Meadow’s properties at Cooper Spur for two development-zoned, highly valuable U.S. Forest Service (USFS) parcels in Government Camp. Meadows agreed to get off the north side, totally — all properties — a “Clean Sweep.”

Coalition members including Mike McCarthy traveled to D.C. to successfully lobby Congress. The land trade was mandated by law. But then it bogged down for years in the USFS bureaucracy. Thrive, Meadows and the county then worked together, in court, to get the trade back on track.

After the trade process finally restarted, USFS and Meadows worked behind closed doors. What resulted was an outcome that was very different than the Clean Sweep. Under the USFS/MHM deal, Meadows did not trade all its properties at Cooper Spur. Instead, Meadows kept 160 acres and only took one of the two USFS parcels at Government Camp.

This was not the “Clean Sweep” deal that everyone had signed onto. Instead, Meadows has kept enough land for a resort-type development near Cooper Spur. Sadly, that means the parties are now back in court.

Thrive still desires a return to the results of the original mediation. It is up to Meadows and the county whether that happens.

Scott Franke and

Mike McCarthy

Thrive Hood River