Proposed warehouse
The Hood River Planning Commission has rejected Amazon’s proposed warehouse in Odell. What caught my attention in Columbia Gorge News’ June 3 edition was its small size: 49,000 square feet. Typically, an Amazon “Fulfillment Center” measures more than 1 million square feet (about the size of the one in Portland) and can be many times larger. What could be the real purpose for such a small building?
Soon after that I read a BloombergBusinessWeek article on the company’s latest venture: fresh and frozen food delivery to your house on the same day as ordered, or at most the next day, Same Day Delivery (SDD).
The new building could not only be the “last mile” (from their application) for goods they already deliver, but also the “first mile” for the SSD goods. Are large refrigeration and freezing units planned for the building?
If this facility is approved and built as proposed and there is an unmentioned use, then we may see a severe impact on Rosaures and Safeway sales, to say nothing of MacIssac’s, Mid Valley Market, and Harvest Market.
I then saw a news article of a Portland TV station about drone delivering packages to a home. It showed a small dog being hit by the dropped package. It was luckily able to run away, seemingly unhurt, but frightened. The aerial operations continued despite complaints to the operator that the noise is annoying. I do not remember the operator’s name, but I do know that Amazon has been experimenting, if not already operating, with such a “service.”
Are we to have drones in the air, as well as additional vehicles on the road?
Several years ago, Walmart proposed a superstore on Country Club Road. The local population rose up in opposition and the project was killed. Does this need to happen again? The company has appealed (their right) the rejected application to the county commission.
I urge them to confirm the decision of the planning commission.
Michael D. Morneault
White Salmon
Presidential quotes
A few direct quotes from our president:
“They said, ‘he will start a war.’ I’m not going to start a war, I’m going to stop wars” (victory speech, election night, November 2024).
“Starting on day one, we will end inflation and make America affordable again” (campaign rally, Erie, Pennsylvania, Sept. 29, 2024).
“A vote for Trump means your groceries will be cheaper” (remarks made before the vice president debate: YouTube, Oct. 1, 2024).
The reality of life for most Americans:
An enlarging war in the Middle East: 18 service members killed, 624 injured (so far).
Cost of Iran war so far: $37.5 billion (Pete Hegseth, US Secretary of Defense).
Additional money requested for Iran war: $67 billion (Pete Hegseth, July 21, 2026).
Food prices up 3%. The president: “I love the inflation…” (speaking to White House reporters June 10, 2026).
Gas prices are up. The president: “This is peanuts” (speaking to reporters May 26, 2026).
And: “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation …” (White House reporters May 12, 2026).
Who exactly, then, IS the president thinking about when he makes his decisions??
Kathy Pickering
Hood River
A country strangled
I have been warning the readers of this paper, and anyone who would care to listen, about the encroaching fascist movement strangling this country.
Consider the following:
1. The United States bombed a children’s hospital in Iran, a war that started with the bombings of a girl’s school (“Iran condemns ‘barbaric’ US attack near children’s cancer hospital,” Aljazeera, July 16, 2026; and “Deadly bombing of Iran primary school ‘a grave violation of humanitarian law’: UNESCO,” UN News, March 1, 2026).
2. Domestically, the government is setting the stage to arrest and execute left wing activists for no other reason than their political ideology (“Trump Administration Unleashes Global Campaign to Crush Radical Left Terrorism,” whitehouse.gov, July 16, 2026). Targeting and carjacking supposed illegal immigrants was only the beginning.
Thank you Republicans for restoring the country you claim to love. You have done more damage than any communist ever could.
Benjamin Sheppard
Hood River
Editor’s note: This Benjamin Sheppard is not affiliated with Sheppard’s Orchard and Vineyard Equipment.
Immigrant community
America has lost its way. We are a nation built on immigration. The Statue of Liberty has inscribed on a bronze plaque: “Give me your tired, your poor/ your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” Most of us who call America home can trace our roots to an earlier generation which immigrated to America. ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement Federal agency) has 65,765 people in immigration detention, deportation near 1,250 a day, with arrests now at 1,474 a day. ICE has murdered several immigrants and is unaccountable for any of its disgusting actions. This is state sponsored murder and cruel treatment toward our immigrant community.
Trump has said that ICE is rounding up and deporting the “worst of the worst.” The “worst of the worst” are your neighbors — construction workers, farm laborers doing back-breaking work and harvesting fruit and vegetables, building houses, re-roofing your house, hospitality workers cleaning hotel rooms, caring for the elderly, landscaping including mowing your lawn, custodians in schools, daycare workers, nurses, business owners, and many other jobs that are essential to our economy. Immigrants have contributed to are our economic growth and vitality in a major way.
Trump has said he wants more white immigrants from South Africa and Nordic countries. We have a racist president and have become a racist country blaming our problems on those brown skinned immigrants. I am embarrassed and ashamed of the actions taken by Trump’s thugs known as ICE. Our immigration laws clearly need to be changed and updated but republicans in congress have refused to take any action because they would rather demigod this issue and take directions from Trump.
Robert Havig
White Salmon
Commented