Mayor David Poucher and the White Salmon Pool

My children have passes to the white Salmon Pool again this year after a bad experience last year with a very irresponsible staff. They have used their pass two times when another kid rummaged through everyones belongings and stole items from everyone including my childs money.

I don't hold the city personally responsible for this but I do want to be refunded for the pass that we will no longer use. I called the Mayor numerous times with promise of a return call - nothing - finally he called and informed me that they do not issue refunds even if never used no exceptions. That policy is not written nor spoken when you purchase the passes.

I feel robbed by the City of White Salmon which in affect makes me feel very unsafe. Where is the city headed? What will they do next to make a buck? Unfortunatly I feel after speaking with our Mayor I feel he has no control over the city or he greatly encourages greed in our small town. I am losing hope for hummanity. Please everyone in this (what used to be a close friendly) city lets pull together and take our city back. thank you for reading this.

Mary England

CBS 60 Minutes: Columbia & Snake River Salmon Problems

I thought this might be of interest to some of our readers...

"This coming Sunday evening, June 22, CBS News 60 Minutes will feature an expose on the severely depressed salmon populations in the Columbia and Snake Rivers. The story will spotlight the tremendous amount of taxpayer dollars our federal government continues to spend on ineffective programs that are failing to restore an endangered national treasure - wild salmon of the Columbia and Snake Rivers."

CBS News - 60 Minutes
Sunday Evening, June 22, 2008
Check Local Listings For Time

From: Joseph Bogaard "Save Our Wild Salmon" 206-286-4455, x103

My Property Assessment Is....What?????

Is anyone else astounded by their new property assessment?

Vandalism at Heinkle middle school

Sometime on the 7th or 8th of this month, people (presumably students) vandalized our Middle School. Pictures of the vandalism are here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27509435@N08/2562794088 * http://www.flickr.com/photos/27509435@N08/2561964541 * http://www.flickr.com/photos/27509435@N08/2561958543

My unsubstantiated guess is that this is because White Salmon won the baseball game against Hood River last week. It is highly unfortunate that someone would do this considering the amount of money it will cost to clean the paint. I don't know that it can be cleaned without damaging the murals that the students worked so hard on.

Joshua Drake

White Salmon Water Advisory Info

Follow this link for detailed information on White Salmon water restrictions:

City of White Salmon

Presidential Candidates And Their Spiritual Advisors

So much has been made of remarks made by pastors Jeremiah Wright and John Hagee and their relationships with Barack Obama and John McCain. Is this really what we need to focus on when we choose a presidential candidate?

Are these relationships of equal importance when compared the issues that face our nation?

Is Obama's relationship with Wright more of an issue than Hagee's endorsement of McCain?

Jonathan Blake
White Salmon

Clintons in HR Tonight! Obama in Portland Tomorrow!

FYI:

Tonight -- May 17th!!!

Bill and Chelsea Clinton
Hood River Library

Rally starts at 7pm


Tomorrow -- Sunday May 18th!!!

Obama in Portland
Waterfront Park

Rally starts at 12:30 pm

Common Grounds Community Gardens in Bingen and White Salmon

Two community garden sites will open April 28th for gardeners:

• Humboldt in Bingen across from Daubenspeck Park
• Skyline next to Rhine Village

Garden plots range in length from 10-25 ft. and are all 4 feet wide. The cost is based on the length and includes water, tool use and soil amendments. Four by four fruit bins are available for children, seniors and physically challenged gardeners at $5. Registration for the plots began yesterday.

The gardens begin to fulfill the first priority identified by the Horizons program - to provide safe, sustainable food sources - and Common Grounds' sponsor WGAP (Washington Gorge Action Programs). Future plans include expanded sites, farmer's markets, communal food preservation site and more.

Gardeners registering yesterday represent a broad community with a strong desire to teach children to both garden and give as a third of the plots were dedicated to children's gardens and the Food Bank.

The volunteer Common Grounds team will have some non-GMO seed and starts available for the gardeners in the next few weeks. Organic practices and materials are utilized as much as possible.

Registration continues next Saturday, April 26, at both sites from 10 to Noon.

Volunteers are welcome!

Timi Keene

Police Response to Pharmacy Shoplifter

(Moved from comment section to a new topic)

Last Thurs. evening, while we had no police coverage in the city due to the mayor's decree, the pharmacy had a shoplifter. 911 was called, Mgr. Paul Doty chased the guy down after running all over the city. The police, finally getting authorization, dispatched an officer over a half hour later to respond. Turns out the guy was wanted on a parole/probation violation from a murder charge.

Is this what we're paying for?

Anonymous

Tonight ** Earth Hour 8:00 PM ** Lights Off!!

*** Earth Hour on March 29th ***

If you are reading this before 8pm on March 29th, you might consider joining in on Earth Hour.

On March 29th, whenever 8pm rolls around, over 350 cities in 35 countries, millions of individuals, the Sears Tower, the Golden Gate Bridge, and 2,100 corporations including HP, Coca Cola and McDonald's, are all turning off their lights <http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/1485/71/> .

It's less a measure to save a small amount of energy than it is to demonstrate solidarity with others about making a visible statement and agreeing that something needs to be done. Take some time to remember what darkness is, it's good for you. And when you turn your computer back on on the 30th, be sure to check back at EcoGeek for pictures of darkened skylines from around the globe.

Last year, Sydney Australia turned off its lights for an hour in order to, I guess, save some energy. Mostly, however, it was a statement. To see the combined effect of a lot of people agreeing that something needs to be done. The event was such a success that the World Wildlife Fund decided to take it global in 2008.

So on March 29th, whenever 8pm rolls around, over 350 cities in 35 countries, millions of individuals, the Sears Tower, the Golden Gate Bridge, and 2,100 corporations including HP, Coca Cola and McDonald's, are all turning off their lights

From Ecogeek.org

Isn't It Time We Ended This War?

With the 5th anniversary of the Iraq War having come and gone, is it not time for us to end the senseless killing that has taken place over the last 5 years?

What have we accomplished with the 4,000+ American Soldiers dead, 29,000+ American service men and women wounded and the 89,000 Iraqi civilians killed?

In 1922, Winston Churchill, in a letter he wrote to David Lloyd George, termed Iraq an "ungrateful volcano"........what has changed in 86 years?

Jonathan Blake
White Salmon

Anyone Know The New Water Rates?

Speaking of accountability, does anyone have a clue what their new water rates will be?

Anonymous

Make Elected Officials Accountable

No matter what our political affiliations are, we have a responsibility to make elected officials accountable once in office.

If you want to find out how your senator or representative voted on recent legislation, check this page out every Sunday in the Seattle Times....

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2004285705_rollcall16.html

If you see something you don't agree with then write them a letter or call their office!

If you are against supporting pork projects like the bridge to nowhere in Alaska, Patty Murray & Norm Dick's $4.5 million boat the Navy didn't even want or Doc Hasting's $300,000 pork barrel project the Walter Clore Wine and Culinary Center in Prosser, then we need to speak up!

With the price of gasoline and other goods and services increasing, citizens are all forced to cutback in their personal spending........why shouldn't our elected officials in Washington DC do the same?

I am tired of "Business As Usual"!

Jonathan Blake
White Salmon

Presidential Race -- Truth, Fiction, Myth or Subterfuge?

FactCheck.org

In the run-up to the last presidential election, the false accusations, totally deceiving ads (not even mentioning Swift Boat Veterans for Truth) and dubious news sources, etc., made it extremely difficult to verify the credibility of anything said or reported.

That's when I found "FactCheck.org". This is truly a non-partisan information center for political fact-checking.

"The Annenberg Political Fact Check is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. The APPC was established by publisher and philanthropist Walter Annenberg in 1994 to create a community of scholars within the University of Pennsylvania that would address public policy issues at the local, state, and federal levels."

I recommend checking out this site and either subscribing to their newsletters or adding their feed in preparation for the upcoming primaries (or/and caucuses) and the presidential election.

http://www.factcheck.org/

ShadowGirl

Electronic Voter Registration

While doing research last Fall regarding the laws for issuing drivers licenses in the State of Washington, I came across a loophole in our Washington laws, RCW 29A.089.210 which governs drivers license and allows voter registration as well for illegal immigrants.

This is the letter which will appear in The Enterprise this week.

A while back I contacted our State Representative Dan Newhouse about drivers licenses being issued to illegal immigrants. One of the major problems about this is that the issuance of the driver's license generates the "Motor-Voter Bill" which allows the new licensee to register to vote without providing documents that prove they are indeed a citizen of the United States. Imagine my surprise when I read in the White Salmon newspaper "The Enterprise" on January 17 that the "State has joined Arizona and launched On-Line Voter Registration" which one can do if they have a driver's license. It says to learn more go to www.sec-state.wa.gov

Basically, the on-line registration allows anyone to register to vote as long as they have a valid driver's license or ID card. This has Voter Scam written all over it. I'm confused as to why the State of Washington allows illegal immigrants not only the right to have a drivers' license, but also an easy way to fraudulently register to vote. RCW 29A.089.210 allows the applicant to register to vote without a birth certificate or social security number. Illegal immigrants should not be allowed to have a Washington Drivers license period. And, no one registering to vote should be allowed to register without providing a birth certificate proving they are a naturalized citizen or citizenship documents. I want the Real ID passed by US Congress to be put into place in the State of Washington.

No wonder there were accusations of voter fraud in the last election, because there were in fact so many loop holes in this regard. This isn't a Republican or Democrat issue -this is a US citizen issue.

I received notification from Rep. Dan Newhouse that he is co-sponsoring a bill to close the loophole but the bill doesn't have a number as of yet. The bill must include an "in person renewal clause" in order to weed out from our voter registration those currently holding a drivers license who cannot prove their US citizenship. This is especially important given that Oregon has now quit issuing licenses to illegal immigrants so they may come into Washington to obtain a licenses.

I urge everyone to contact State Rep. Dan Newhouse and support him in rectifying this loophole. His e-mail address is newhouse.dan@leg.wa.gov

We must control our borders and our voting booths.

Dorothy Herman
White Salmon

Adding a New Topic to the Blog

This is a community blog. Anyone can start a new topic for discussion or post comments related to White Salmon and surrounding community and county issues.

Just send an email to: whitesalmon2007@yahoo.com

Please indicate how you would like to sign your post: using an alias, your name, or as an anonymous poster. I'm not a spy -- I just monitor the blog for inappropriate language or out-of-bounds comments. After your topic is posted, I delete your email.

Try and stay with the original topic when adding comments or please start a new topic. This free Google blog won't allow me to move unrelated comments to a new topic.

I try and check for new posts at least once each day. Please be patient if your post doesn't appear immediately.

If you have any suggestions or questions send an email to: whitesalmon2007@yahoo.com This is not my blog, it's a community blog.


ShadowGirl

Nepotism

Is it true that the Clerk Treasurer newly hired by the City of White Salmon is the sister of Bob Landgren, a member of the White Salmon City Council?

Janet & Roger Holen

Money to Schools, Easy as 1, 2, 3!

School parent organizations are seeking your support.

White Salmon schools utilize various programs to raise money that are simple to join and do not cost any money. When you shop at Thriftway, Safeway, Amazon.com, Target or others, these companies will donate a portion of the sale back to the schools FREE!

Many of these programs allow you to support more than one organization by checking the appropriate boxes during sign-up. Substantial donations will come from these companies with increased food and gift shopping for the upcoming holidays. All you need to do is sign up.

When you shop with local retailers you are also doing the same thing. They support our schools year round.

Thriftway Bucks. A percentage of your purchase goes to Project Graduation. They are also available for sale every day at Collage of the Gorge.

www.escrip.com (Columbia, Whitson). Register your SAFEWAY card number (Call 877-SAFEWAY if you’ve misplaced your card). You can also shop through the online mall.

www.schoolpop.com (Henkle) links you to 100’s of your favorite online stores. Just sign up online, choose the school(s) you want to sponsor, and then when you want to shop online just go to http://www.schoolpop.com/ first and link to your store.

www.boxtops4education.com (Project Open Door, Whitson) Cut out and bring in to your school(s) box tops/labels from grocery item packaging or shop online at the website.

Target (Columbia) Sign up and a percentage of sales goes to the school.

www.amazon.com (Whitson) To insure Whitson receives a portion of your Amazon purchases, go to Amazon by clicking on this link:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/whitselemepar-20
After the page opens, bookmark the site as your amazon site for easy access. You can also place the link with the amazon logo on your desktop (Win - right-click > Create shortcut). There will be no changes to how your view or use Amazon.

Campbell’s Labels (Whitson). Cut out labels from food packaging and drop off at the school.

Remember, the businesses don’t give money out unless you sign up. There is no cost or junk mail associated with this process. If you sign yourself up online, remember to click the box to “opt out of e-notices”.

Contacts:

Whitson Elementary School WhitsonPTO@gorge.net or 509-493-2086

Henkle Middle School HenklePTO@yahoo.com or 509-493-4013

Columbia High School Ronda.Hardisty@esd.112.wednet.edu

Project Graduation crewroberts@embarqmail.com or 509-493-3381

Courtesy of The Enterprise (published Nov. 15, 2007)

White Salmon Might Be $100,000 Over Budget?

It seems as though the City of White Salmon might be as much as $100,000 over their budget but their bookkeeping is in such a state that they can't say how much money they do or do not have.

Haven't we been down this road before?

Anonymous

Prayer at Senior Center

If one does not agree with the sectarian prayers at the senior center, he is asked to leave.

From:
constitution supporter