Dear Community,
I am writing to you on behalf of Underwood Parks and Recreation District and a need for the community center. We have made many updates to our community center building over the years, making it a valuable center for those in the Gorge. Our community has been steadily growing and with continued use of our community center, we are facing a challenge that requires your support. We must replace the old and decrepit playground equipment. It has become a risk for this playground equipment to remain due to the years of use.
The playground holds a special place in our community, as it is where children come together to play, families bond, and neighbors connect. It is time to replace the play area with a safe, modern, and engaging new playground. This initiative not only benefits the children who live in Underwood but also plays a crucial role in attracting more families to our neighborhood community.
We are reaching out to those of you who understand the importance of investing in community spaces. Your generous contribution will go toward the purchase of new equipment, installation, and maintenance to ensure a playground that is safe and enjoyable for years to come. To contribute to the $300,000 goal of purchasing and installing a new playground, please make a donation by check payable to UPRD and mail it to PO Box 172, Underwood WA 98651. If you can help in a bigger way as a sponsor, please contact Ivy Carpe, 541-788-4557 or businesswithivycarpe@gmail.com.
Thank you for considering our request, and for being a part of our growing and thriving Gorge community. Together, we can create a brighter future for all who call Underwood home.
Ivy Carpe, president, UPRD & Friends of Underwood
Disheartened by vote
When I realized that the new school vote failed, I was shocked and ready to cry! Crying for the students, teachers and the City of The Dalles, because all are losers here. I couldn't help but think back to 1941 when this school was built. Certainly not a time of affluence, following the great Depression, with World War II and rationing imminent; they did it because it was important. It was the right thing to do. It is no less so today.
The cost of a school somewhere else last year has no bearing on our costs; likewise, the use of inferior materials should not be considered. We certainly don't want to go through this again soon. Stop comparing apples to oranges.
Now the price will be even more than before; things are going up not down. There is no Black Friday sale on new high schools! The present high school is a disaster waiting to happen. Something needs to be done now before it's too late, before injury or worse.
It is the right time to do the right thing once again. It is too important to be put off, I call for a re-vote or something! Not only do the youth and faculty of the school need this, but The City of The Dalles desperately needs this new high school if it is going to survive. This is what will bring doctors, nurses and other professionals to live and work in our town. The new high school will cost a lot of money, of course it will — we are trying to build for the future. As has been mentioned in other letters, monthly it is not a large sum. Many of us may have to make some spending adjustments. More importantly it is the right thing to do and now is the time to do it!
Kudos to the staff for the great care they have taken to keep the building in use all this time, but we are beyond that time, the building cannot meet the needs.
Carolyn Burns, The Dalles
Baffled by 'crime'
I’m disheartened by some of the comments from elected officials re: the recent shopping cart ordinance adopted in The Dalles.
“In a perfect world,” said one city counselor, “I would like to see anyone … it could be the mayor, myself, anyone, pushing a cart in the right-of-way, [and] they would be stopped and confronted.”
As a writer, I'm a huge advocate of the power of imagination. But I'm baffled by what I can only describe as the wildly privileged, unchecked imagination of someone pretending that a shopping cart is a tool that just any of us, including the mayor himself, casually find ourselves utilizing. As if, when we talk about the “crime” of stealing carts, we aren’t pointing our judgment toward a very specific population.
It’s the kind of linguistic red herring that disguises inequity. It pretends we’re all affected the same way by the same things.
The problem is not the carts. The problem is the gap between those who have to consider their unmet basic needs on a daily basis, and the ungrounded imagination of those of us who get to spend our mental energy and attention on other things. With a genuine eye toward mending this gap, I’d like to propose some alternative endings to that quote above:
In a perfect world, those who find themselves relying on shopping carts would have the affordable housing and safe storage options that they need.
In a perfect world, for every hour spent fretting about public “nuisance” related to houselessness, at least two hours would be spent seeking affordable housing solutions.
In a perfect world, an increase in creative problem-solving around trying to meet one’s basic needs would not correspond with an increase in their criminalization.
In a perfect world, our definition of “theft” would not require us to steal any other person’s dignity in order to uphold its meaning.
Sarah Cook, The Dalles
It's people, not firearms
I just read an opinion about life over weapons. I find it interesting that the person writing this article implies that people with firearms do not care about children or people. Quite the contrary. But then, would they give up driving their car because they kill or injure as many or more than firearms?
But maybe we need more laws, like the politicians think, but laws are just for honest people. Do you speed? I guess laws do not matter.
People need to stop and think about what is happening. Is the firearm causing the problem or is it the people holding the forearm?
We have enough laws for gun control just start enforcing the ones we have.
Tim Sipe, The Dalles
Call for ceasefire
How many dead children will it take before President Biden and our congressional representatives call for a ceasefire in Gaza? How many days must the people of Gaza go without food, water and medical care? How many homes, schools and hospitals must be destroyed?
As we prepare for our Thanksgiving celebrations, more than 11,000 civilians have been killed, including nearly 5,000 children. Is this not enough? All major international health and human rights organizations are pleading for a ceasefire, including the United Nations and groups such as Jewish Voice for Peace. I invite you to join me in contacting President Biden and our leaders to demand immediate action. And please hold the people of Gaza and Israel in your hearts and prayers as you gather around tables with those you love.
Rev. Vicky Stifter, Hood River
Supports appeal
This letter is in support of Meadow Advertising’s Planning Commission appeal concerning the interpretation of the current sign code that deviates from the established interpretation. The appeal will be heard by the City Council on Nov. 27. The current Dalles City Sign Code states “the maximum number of advertising signs (billboards) shall not exceed eight per mile with no more than five on the same side of the street.”
This language has been in The Dalles City Sign Code since 1974 and has been reviewed and approved in 1981, 1992, 2007 and 2014. Since 1974, the city planning department personnel interpreted this working to mean no more than eight billboards per linear mile. Per Dan Durow, senior planner and community development director from 1990-2012, “The language was clearly intended to be interpreted as linear measurement.”
The current planning director, Josh Chandler, is arbitrarily imposing a radial mile measurement on advertising signs which represents a policy change, not an interpretation of the code. Policy changes can only be determined and changed by the city council, who are elected officials, not newly hired city staff.
Why should you care?!
Since 1981, Meadow Outdoor Advertising has donated hundreds of free billboards to various projects, nonprofits, and community events. Meadow Outdoor has been a good corporate community member of The Dalles for more than 40 years and has complied with the current code in all cases. This arbitrary policy change of The Dalles Sign Code will cause great financial loss, jeopardizing the livelihood of a company that has operated in The Dalles since 1981.
We fully support the appeal to the city council.
Shannon and Antoine Tissot, The Dalles
Paving the way
“We pledge to you that we will root out the Communists, Marxists, Fascists, and Radical Left Thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country, lie, steal, and cheat on elections, and will do anything possible, whether legally or illegally, to destroy America, and the American dream.”
These are the words of our former President, Donald J. Trump, as he spoke to his supporters on Veteran’s Day in Claremont, New Hampshire. I am personally appalled, as this dehumanizes everyone who is deemed “the other,” and paves the way for an authoritarian regime. Since Trump is running as a Republican, I ask, where does the Republican leadership stand? Who will call out this horrific rhetoric within the party? To be silent is to be complicit.
April George, White Salmon
Commented