Your Voice: Nov. 26, 2025

This hotel is not supported by the people of Hood River. Let’s face it. This HUGE, HIGH building is not suitable for this location: Traffic problems, clean air problems, and height of building problems are just a few examples of what to expect from this proposal should it be approved. Thank you in advance for giving your support to keep this Marriott Hotel from locating on this site. Locals and visitors do not want to see this hotel in the middle of our unique town.

Ann Marie Jelderks

Hood River

Port questions

In your letter canceling your contract with real estate broker Tom Bacci of Kidder Mathews, you state that the Port of Hood River’s mission is “to initiate, promote, and maintain quality of life and a healthy economy throughout the Port District and the Columbia River Gorge through responsible economic growth, recreation opportunities, and service to the community.” How do you justify selling the Lower Hanel Mill property in Odell to Amazon to be a 41,472 square foot “sorting center” as compatible with that statement? We deserve an answer to that question, as well as to the following:

• Why did the Port of Hood River buy this property in Odell? What money was used when the port is always saying it’s out of money? How did the port then afford to remediate and improve this property?
• Did you not know that Amazon was the buyer when you made the contract with “Grant Goldman AMS” out of Dallesport? Why did you not seek out local buyers given your statement above?
• Why did the traffic assessment think that 548 additional vehicle trips DAILY on Highway 35 wouldn’t be a problem? Why didn’t they assess the existing congestion at the intersection of State Street and 35? Why didn’t it include weather concerns; how many times is 35 closed due to snow/ice? Why didn’t it include concerns about the blind curve at Neil Creek Road or the number of truck accidents that occur there in the wintertime?

Did anyone consider the 125 employees this facility is supposed to hire? Given Amazon’s record of abysmal pay and no benefits, where will they be able to afford to live? Probably not in Hood River, which means that they will be driving in from somewhere. Were their commutes included in the traffic assessment? Was their quality of life a consideration?

Please answer these questions so we can understand your rationale for this disastrous decision.

Nancy Houfek Brown

Hood River

Nation of immigrants

In any discussion involving border security, the open-borders crowd will invariably declare “we are a nation of immigrants,” and then sit back and act like that should end the debate. It does not, but it is true.

For much of our history, a big part of our population was made up of immigrants. We welcomed because we needed them, and their numbers contributed greatly to the vitality and drive that made this the most prosperous country ever. But eventually, we started struggling to support the people already here, and unlimited immigration no longer made sense. In 1924, a strict quota of 165,000 immigrants per year was imposed, with preference given to those with needed skills and more likely to assimilate. That worked great with minor modifications for 40-plus years, until certain politicians, seeking potential voters, colluded with certain businessmen, seeking cheap labor, and for the first time in our history, immigration policy was NOT based on what was best for America. The quota was expanded to more than 1 million per year with a specific limit of 120,000 per year for those from the western hemisphere.

Today, many immigrants, both legal and “undocumented,” ARE ambitious and hard-working people who just want a better life for themselves and their families, but 59% of “non-citizen house-holds” now are collecting some sort of welfare, and those who enter the workforce trigger that pesky law of supply-and-demand, depressing wages and opportunities for people born here, especially those on the lowest rung of the economic ladder. Certainly, the individuals allowed in are winners of the golden ticket, but that doesn’t mean they are a net asset to the country, which used to be the rationale for allowing immigration in the first place.

And if you believe mass migration helps alleviate world poverty, consider that the population of the world currently increases at the rate of 70 million people, most desperately poor, every year. That means admitting enough to actually “make a difference” would end up destroying the reason they’re coming here in the first place. I don’t think we should do that.

Sources: “New Survey of Income and Program Participation Data Available,” United States Census Bureau, June 27, 2023; and “Welfare Use by Immigrants and the U.S.-Born,” Center for Immigration Studies, Dec. 19, 2023.

Editor’s note: This references a memo dated Nov. 18, linked in the port’s meeting agenda.

Steve Hudson

The Dalles

Simulated intelligence

I liked Editor Trisha Walker’s observation about how lousy “AI” is (“Behind the scenes: AI and the newsroom” Nov. 19).

And the reason it’s so lousy is that what’s called AI at the moment is merely SI: simulated intelligence. Artificial would be real intelligence, just one that has been built. This SI being hyped up is just a glorified database/search-engine.

Adrian Fields

Hood River

Mail in voting

Organized groups in Washington State are actively trying to make it harder for eligible citizens to register and remain registered to vote. Initiative IL26-126 would require all voters to present an enhanced driver’s license or provide documentary proof of U.S. citizenship in person. Voters who cannot meet these requirements would have their registrations canceled. For many people, obtaining these documents is difficult or costly, effectively preventing eligible citizens from voting.

According to the League of Women Voters, non-citizens are not voting in Washington, and the incidence of such voting is negligible. The Brennan Center for Justice found only 30 cases of non-citizen voting out of 23.5 million nationwide — an incidence rate of just 0.0001%.

In Washington, only U.S. citizens who are registered and at least 18 years old are allowed to vote. Non-citizens are prohibited from voting in federal elections and face fines, up to a year of imprisonment, and even deportation if they do so.

Mail-in voting has a long, proven record of safety and reliability, with 150 years of successful use in the United States. It is extremely popular in Washington State and has increased voter participation. The real threat to election security is misinformation and disinformation — false claims, conspiracy theories, and online echo chambers that distort public understanding and undermine confidence in our elections.

Do not sign Initiative IL26-126. It is nothing more than voter suppression.

Sandy Montag

White Salmon

Let’s knock it off, shall we?

Recently, I made calls to three of our elected officials: Congressman Dan Newhouse, a Republican for whom I voted, and Democratic Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, for whom I also voted. My message was simple: Stop. Blaming. The. Other. Side.

Instead of blaming, let your constituents know that you are working diligently on behalf of the American people with your colleagues, no matter which side of the aisle. Consider how you have been, and are, contributing to the ongoing polarization that is hellbent on tearing our country apart. Stop blaming the other side and start doing what you were elected to do — the work of collaboration, compromise, and consensus building, and do it with integrity, excellence and humility. To watch our elected politicians point fingers, shout down, stonewall, and blame the other side is not only embarrassing, it’s untrue, destructive, unpatriotic, and downright shameful. Please, and respectfully, knock it off.

Now, lest any of us think that the democracy buck stops at the top, my message to the rest of us is simple. Stop. Blaming. The. Other. Side. We are collectively responsible for the divided mess in which we find ourselves through our sins of omission or commission. Sins of omission include complacency, lack of interest in the political process, not voting, not seeking reliable news sources, reading only what supports “our side,” leaving the problems to others to solve, ignoring the needs of the world right within our own reach, or fill-in-your-own blank. Sins of commission include blaming the other side; using disparaging language about this president, this administration, and those who see it differently; fighting against rather than working for; one issue voting; losing family and friends over differences rather than doing the hard, hard work of connecting around commonalities; or fill-in-your-own blank. Please, and respectfully, let’s knock it off.

It’s not my fault, but I have responsibility.

It’s not your fault, but you have responsibility.

It’s not their fault, but they have responsibility.

It’s all of our faults, and we all have responsibility.

Let’s get to work, shall we?

Molly Davis

Glenwood

Column thanks

I wanted to publicly thank you for running the five-part column by Patrick Hiller recently, which gave us all suggestions on creating strong communities, turning down the temperature on divisive opinions and seeing them as different instead. It inspired my husband and I to attend our first Braver Angels meeting in The Dalles recently. It gave us a bit of practice on talking through differing opinions, and not just politically. Braver Angels changes to a ZOOM format over the coming winter months apparently. One more thank you goes to the owners of Pietro’s Pizza in downtown Hood River who treat our veterans to a free lunch on Veteran’s Day each November. It is appreciated that they go out of their way to honor the sacrifices made by our veterans in times of both war and peace. Let us strive towards the peaceful, like the song that begins, “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.”

Marny Weting

Mt. Hood-Parkdale