Your voice: Sept. 25, 2024

The absence of reporting laws governing Super PACs results in no transparency. Monied interests can invisibly support campaigns without being an official part of them and there are literally no limits on how much, who or what country sponsors can come from.

More than $6 billion, tens of millions at a time, have been given to Republican causes this year. No House or Senate races are immune from this infusion of massive amounts of dark money.

The first casualty for our democracy in this monied scheme is truth. Ugly and deceptive campaign ads and speeches just keep getting uglier and more deceptive. Elon Musk, a South African immigrant billionaire, created an AI-generated video of Kamala Harris calling herself a diversity hire, while JD Vance’s ad calls into question Tim Walz’s 24 years of honorable military service. Both ads are deceptive renderings paid for by Republican Super PACs.

Our democracy should not be for sale to every Donald, Tom, Dick and Harry billionaire (read oligarch), nor should lies be a mainstay of campaign strategies. Yet that is exactly what’s happening and was evident in the debate between our presidential candidates. The hurricane of lies Republican billionaires pay for is costing us our democracy. We can’t afford it. Not for our children or for decency and justice.

Please vote for Democrats and keep democracy out of harms’ way this year. Once we accomplish that, then by all means, vote your preferred party. Dick and Liz Cheney and numerous other conservative Republicans support this strategy. They can see the corporate-purchased train-wreck Donald Trump will be for our country.

Chris Connolly

White Salmon

Something to think about

I ran into some thought-provoking information regarding data centers, water use and alternatives, which might interest those working with Google on their expansion:

"The average data center drains as much as 3-5 million gallons of water per day (the daily water use of 30,000-50,000 people)," as reported by Yes Magazine, spring 2024, citing the International Energy Agency 2023.

"Environmental group Mosacat persuaded Google to use air cooling instead of water at an AI data center in drought-ridden Santiago, Chile" (Time Magazine, Sept 16, 2024).

In a dry, windy Gorge location, that might be something to consider!

Gens Johnson

Mt. Hood

Reject fear

I am glad to have returned to live permanently in Hood River after pursuing some travels. Among the many things I love about our Gorge communities, the presence and contributions of immigrants are at the top of my list.

As the daughter of a Mexican immigrant, and the friend and coworker of many other immigrants from many countries, I know firsthand what a treasure immigration is to our nation. So the anti-immigrant hate speech, rumormongering and outright lies being propagated today sadden and offend me. We must stand together in our communities and refuse to accept propaganda of this sort.

Our nation's doctors, nurses, teachers, manufacturers, scientists, food system workers — indeed, people serving in all occupations and professions — for centuries have hailed from different countries and different ethnicities. In today's interconnected world, this should be the case more than ever — to the benefit of us all.

May our feelings (and our votes) reject manipulation by those who would spread fear of our neighbors.

Tina Castanares

Hood River

Stolen signs

Recently there has been a surge of Harris political signs stolen from people’s yards. Apparently, whoever is doing this is exercising their power to pick and choose who gets the privilege of Freedom of Speech.

This morning a neighbor asked if I took down my three signs supporting Harris. “No!” I looked out my window and they were gone! The culprit had to have trespassed deep into my yard to steal them.

I don’t take Trump signs down. That is your right to support whomever you want. And I support your right, even if I disagree and fail to understand how anyone with intelligence could want a criminal to be our president.

Carol W. Earl

The Dalles

Sessler has vote

When the Founding Fathers created the U.S. House, it was to represent the will of the people in the elected servants’ districts and communities. Too many representatives have forgotten their purpose and have become a bargaining chip for their vote. This is why we have an ever-expanding increase in bureaucrats running the government, a national debt that is out of control, and our freedom and liberty in jeopardy.

Just to give you an example of what our current representative (Dan Newhouse) has voted for: Allow warrantless surveillance of U.S. citizens (H.R. 723); vaccine tracking database (117th Congress H.R. 550); agreed to $4 trillion in new spending (H.R.3746); Red Flag Law (117th Congress H.R. 4350); and at least eight more that are contrary to the Constitution. This is why it is time to fire him and send him packing.

We need Jerrod Sessler. He supports the foundations that the Founding Fathers set in place and believes congress should be guided by the Constitution. Jerrod is willing to take on this challenge because he loves America and wants to preserve freedom and liberty for the present and future generations. Vote for Jerrod Sessler (jerrodforcongress.com).

Alfio Corsaro

Goldendale

Flawed wildfire risk mapping

The Oregon Wildfire Hazard Map classifies more than 8,000 acres of rock and ice above tree line on Mount Hood with a high fire hazard rating. This is an early due to the problems caused by a mapping process that averages fire hazard values across tax lots and creates arbitrary results for homeowners across the state.

Wildfire behavior is influenced by factors such as vegetation, topography, climate and weather. It is not affected by survey lines. The size and shape of tax lots has no impact on fire potential or behavior, but it does have a major influence on the outcome of this map. Fire hazard was mapped across the state in a 30-meter grid (with cells representing just under ¼ acre), and then averaged across individual tax lots regardless of their size or configuration. Due to the skewed numerical ranges of the three hazard categories (low, moderate, high) it is possible for a homeowner’s parcel to receive a high hazard rating when 98% of the parcel has grid cells with a moderate hazard rating and only 2% with a high hazard rating. A 40-acre parcel, for example, could have less than one acre of woodland with a high hazard rating of 5.068937 (the middle of the high range) while the remaining 39 acres — consisting of irrigated land and a home — have a moderate rating of 0.069892 (the middle of the moderate range), yet the entire parcel would be classified with a high fire hazard rating of 0.169872.

The primary purpose of the map is to “identify where defensible space standards and home hardening codes will apply.” These standards and codes will be directed at homes, not land parcels. The map should focus on the spatial relationship between fire hazard areas and home locations rather than eliminating all detail at the property ownership level by averaging ratings across tax lots. One logical alternative is to create hazard zones based on similar adjacent ratings.

Currently the methods used to create the Oregon Wildfire Hazard Map create inconsistent results that affect homeowners unevenly.

Sam Doak

Hood River

Williams fire paradox

Reading “Exclusive look inside the Williams Mine fire” in the Sept. 4 issue, it struck me how wildland fire management has apparently worsened over the years. I was a smokejumper in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. Whenever there was a lightning storm over a national forest, spotter planes would fly over the affected areas looking for smoke at first light, not waiting for a “runner” or other civilian to report a smell or sight of smoke, as it was reported for the Williams Mine fire.

Secondly, one or more smokejumper bases would be called in immediately for retardant drops, and smokejumpers before the fire roared out of control. In August, when thunder-storms and excessive heat were common, it was not uncommon for the entire smokejumper base to jump a single fire to keep it from getting out of control. We worked all night when the air cooled and the fire settled down. There was no waiting to assemble a local crew to hike into the fire for initial attack after the fire was no longer manageable.

Sadly, smokejumper bases are being closed today and initial attack is no longer a priority. The ethos is to let small fires metastasize into infernos to clear fuel buildup and “rejuvenate” the forest with new growth, which takes 100 years or more. These massive fires are, in truth, unmanageable and cost billions of dollars to fight, not to mention the loss of structures and forest habitat. And we all get to breathe smoke and unhealthy air.

The rational course would be reprioritizing initial attack, save the outsized cost of fighting infernos and spend the savings on clearing the forest of fuel buildup in the winter and spring months. This would create jobs in rural areas and utilize the accumulated biomass for industrial uses. Unfortunately, rational thought cannot prevail because Congress (Republican members mostly) refuses to allocate sufficient funds for wildland fire suppression, let alone for clearance of fuel buildup. Sad day for us all, especially if we do not vote and install representatives who will make rational decisions and not be focused on so-called cultural war issues.

Lance S. Stryker

White Salmon

All will benefit

In just over three years, Biden’s major accomplishments resulted in dozens of benefits for Americans, despite obstruction from congressional Republicans. Five accomplishments benefiting the Pacific Northwest and you:

National grid expansion and modernization will benefit all Americans by 1) eliminating rolling brownouts in some states when power demands surge unexpectedly — becoming worse due to climate change and increasing power demands; 2) enabling long-term energy abundance; 3) expanding clean energy generation and distribution; 4) maintaining a relatively low cost of electricity; and 5) lower electricity costs will translate to lower food prices and lower cost of American-made goods (bit.ly/44GT0hq).

Bridge reconstruction using American-made materials. Interstate-5 includes a critical bridge connection between Oregon and Washington that supports local jobs and families, and a vital trade route for regional, national and international economies. The Interstate Bridge Replacement Program will receive $1.4 billion to replace two aging vertical lift bridges over the Columbia River (bit.ly/3B4KVIN).

The 100-year-old bridge, connecting Hood River and White Salmon requires millions of dollars in annual maintenance due to its age. Its obsolete design poses challenges for drivers and barge operators alike. The new bridge will boost business and the agriculture industry in the Gorge area (bit.ly/4epx7a5).

Both replacement bridges will be seismically resilient, and will support driving, walking, biking, and rolling. Light-rail transit on Interstate-5 will connect Washington and Oregon.

Rural Broadband services in the Gorge are inadequate for high-speed Internet (broadband) access, which is essential for education, healthcare, remote work, and economic development. The infrastructure bill 1) dedicates significant funds to expanding rural broadband infrastructure, and 2) provides for affordable broadband services for low-income households (bit.ly/4gr3Opx).

Funding for offshore wind generators (bit.ly/3z1BqWy): Developing only 10% of Washington State’s off-shore wind generation potential would yield 15 times more power than all three proposed Klickitat County megasolar farms combined! And over seven times more peak power per turbine than land-based wind generators (bit.ly/3Uz4QFP).

Biden’s Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative is the first step toward resolving 30 years of legal battles to save Snake River salmon from extinction and ultimately remove the four dams that are causing the extinctions (Seattle Times).

Karin E. Tanaka

Hood River

Move to future

The Dalles needs to move to the future in downtown. Before The Dalles Dam was constructed, the main highway to Portland came down First, Second and Third streets. Now, the main shopping area is west of The Dalles. That takes away the past and future of The Dalles. Second Street should only be a mall — the entire street. Third Street should be a two-way street with parking. Parking lots should be located between Second and Third street. First Street should be two lanes for semi-trucks and oversized trucks with no parking — only two-way traffic.

Let The Dalles move to the future!

Steve Cochenour

The Dalles

This time, vote Democrat

Republican friends, especially women: I know it's hard ... really hard ... but this one time, for the sake of generations of women, you need to vote for the Democrats. It'll hurt, but you know it is the right thing to do.

Look what he says about women.

Look what he's done to women.

Look what he has taken away from women already.

Look at who he chose as his vice presidential candidate

And to those of you who are single or are unmarried mothers or married without children: There are lots of us, on both sides of the aisle. We believe that you can have humility without having children. We believe you can have purpose in your life without having kids, and we admire you for making a conscious choice to not have children or to have them. We trust you are a capable, loving, discerning human being. Vote this time for a Democrat and live to try to change your Republican party to include what you actually care about. I'm sorry you are having to make a choice like this, but you still have a choice here. Even if you are quiet about it, and even if you never admit it to anyone, do the right thing for all women. This may be the only time you can.

Widge Johnson

The Dalles

Contact officials

We cannot allow ourselves to become desensitized to the extreme levels of violence we are seeing throughout our world.

For nearly a year, the people of Palestine have been enduring the genocidal attacks of the Israeli forces. We watch in horror as war crimes continue, only to listen to the excuses of those in power, claiming there is nothing they can do to end these atrocious acts against humanity. Our government continues to arm Israel, only to watch idly as they use those weapons to continue their mass murder of Palestinians, routinely bombing safe zones, injuring and disabling thousands upon thousands of innocent people. Nearly 41,000 Palestinians have been brutally killed in the last year, but that number doesn’t even begin to reflect the reality that the “survivors” are forced to endure.

We have begun to hear more politicians give vocal support for a ceasefire, yet we see our taxes used to supply unending weapons for Israel in their efforts to wipe out the people of Palestine. We cannot claim to be a country that believes in freedom and equality, while also funding the genocide of the Palestinian people, who have endured the oppression of the occupying Israeli forces for generations. As long as we continue funding this genocide, our calls for a ceasefire will never come to fruition, and our government officials know this.

The longer we allow this genocide to continue, the more we risk losing. In addition to the countless lives lost and forever traumatized by these atrocities, we also risk losing our own humanity. We cannot allow ourselves to become desensitized or convinced that these deaths are in any way justified. The life of a Palestinian is not worth any less than that of an Israeli or an American; our humanity is inherently bound up in that of each other. I urge you to contact our elected officials and plead for an arms embargo on Israel, and then come and join us, Fridays at 5 p.m. at State and Second streets, Hood River, as we protest and refuse to allow these acts of war to undermine our shared humanity.

Rev. Miranda Bermes

Hood River

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