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bobbi
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bobbi
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PostMon Jan 22, 2018 1:10 pm 
judge should add some community service, like helping rebuild the area of his destruction and then some! his friends, too!

bobbi ૐ "Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So…get on your way!" - Oh, the Places You’ll Go! By Dr. Seuss
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DigitalJanitor
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PostMon Jan 22, 2018 1:20 pm 
MyFootHurts wrote:
KGW news has a good summary with pics http://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/these-trails-were-burned-by-the-eagle-creek-fire-heres-how-they-look-now/283-509614133
Thanks for this link. Holy cow... looks like it's gonna be a while before we hit those again! Of course what they don't mention is that those hillsides were riddled with poison oak before the fire, and it could really take off now. I would love to help but my only known reaction to that stuff was so severe I ended up having to get a pulse of pred to get over it. shakehead.gif

~Mom jeans on wheels
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Token Civilian
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PostMon Jan 22, 2018 3:13 pm 
DigitalJanitor: The Norse Peak Fire area will need work as well. About 12 miles of the PCT are inside the fire perimeter. No poison anything in that area.

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thunderhead
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PostFri Feb 16, 2018 12:04 pm 
"His punishment is 3 to 5 years’ probation and 1,920 hours of community service." http://komonews.com/news/local/teen-accused-of-starting-eagle-creek-fire-scheduled-to-appear-in-court-friday Yup... no jail time.

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MtnGoat
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PostFri Feb 16, 2018 12:12 pm 
Firebug gets off with hand slap. Surprise surprise. It was sure great choking on his crap and getting screwed out of one of the best months in the Gorge. And that is of course minor compared to what other people suffered, not to mention the damages. At the very least he should have gotten time until 18, and *then* the rest as listed.

Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock. - Will Rogers
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Windstorm
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PostFri Feb 16, 2018 1:50 pm 
thunderhead wrote:
"His punishment is 3 to 5 years’ probation and 1,920 hours of community service."
For perspective, that's nearly a year of full time community service (48 weeks at 40 hours/week). Of course, he probably can't work that much during school, so this kid isn't going to have much spare time in the next couple of years. There's no way he can make up for what happened, but maybe he can become a hard working and productive member of society by the time he graduates from high school.

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thunderhead
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PostFri Feb 16, 2018 2:48 pm 
I would have liked to see the kid (and his parents) spend a short stint in jail, but that is a lot of community service.

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cambajamba
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PostFri Feb 16, 2018 3:32 pm 
We already have a lot of hard working and productive members of society who aren't worthless little piece of crap arsonists.

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zephyr
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zephyr
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PostFri Feb 16, 2018 10:19 pm 
Here is the Oregonian article on this episode. Title: "Eagle Creek fire teen pledges to learn from his mistake". Quote: HOOD RIVER - The Vancouver teenager sat Friday in a cavernous courtroom between his lawyers, watched and listened as a parade of people harmed by the furious wildfire he started in the Columbia River Gorge last summer talked of their fear and loss. One spoke of being trapped overnight on the Eagle Creek trail, another told of suffering devastating financial setbacks to a small Cascades Locks tribal fishing business and a woman described how the fast-moving fire destroyed all her family's possessions when their home burned to the ground. Then it was the 15-year-old boy's turn. Referred to only by his initials A.B., the dark-haired teen stood, holding a white sheet of paper in his shaking hand and read from a typed, three-paragraph statement. His parents sat behind him, listening to a court-certified Russian interpreter on headphones. "Everytime I heard people talk about the fire, I put myself down. I know I will have to live with my bad decision for the rest of my life, but I have learned from this experience and will work hard to help rebuild the community in any way that I can," he said, his voice steady. "I now realize how important it is to think before acting because my actions can have serious consequences. ... I apologize with all my heart to everyone in the gorge." And further... The boy's parents, in a prepared statement read by Morris' co-counsel Bernice Melamud, said their son will work to help rebuild the gorge. They emigrated from the Odessa region of Ukraine in 2000. "We want everyone to know our son understands the seriousness of his mistake. He feels deep remorse," they said. A separate hearing will be held May 17 to determine restitution required in the case. Firefighting and other costs approach $40 million -- and are expected to rise. Legal experts say the judge is obligated to order restitution for the full amount of the damage. In similar cases, courts have worked out payment plans, typically a tiny fraction of what is owed. Parents also can be held liable for some of the costs. The court asked people who lost money because of the fire to send their information to the Hood River County Juvenile Department before the hearing. I am very thankful that the woman who saw the incident (Liz Fitzgerald of Portland--article here) was able to get it reported in time and prevent the guilty party from escaping. I am not happy that the others in the group didn't have any repercussions from this--as far as I understand. ~z

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RumiDude
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PostSat Feb 17, 2018 2:37 pm 
I'm good with the sentence and hope that the guy truly learns his lesson. Maybe the guy will become a super-productive member of society and the outdoor community. Rumi

"This is my Indian summer ... I'm far more dangerous now, because I don't care at all."
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Windstorm
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PostTue Feb 20, 2018 11:31 am 
cambajamba wrote:
We already have a lot of hard working and productive members of society who aren't worthless little piece of crap arsonists.
Perhaps so, but I'd rather see this kid become hard working and productive than have him continue to commit crime. Nobody benefits if he continues to be an arsonist, not the people whose property would be destroyed and not the taxpayers who would pay for him to be imprisoned.

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cambajamba
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PostWed Feb 21, 2018 10:34 am 
As long as he lives with crippling guilt and can never quite wholly recapture his sense of self worth, hey I'm good. So long as decades from now as he's working hard and being productive he'll look up and see a distant column of smoke or perhaps even the same area of the Gorge and deep inside he'll know that all the good he's done since doesn't quite make up for what happened. Maybe his hard work and productive nature will breed in him an even deeper sense of understanding and with it an even stronger sense of guilt. Shaky hands and a prepared statement in court are not going to get me to believe that he truly gets it, and is properly repentant. If he'd never been caught, what would his statement to his victims look like? A blank sheet of paper, that's what.

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MtnGoat
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PostWed Feb 21, 2018 12:23 pm 
Yeah, the choice to bolt rather than immediately notify authorities doesn't generate empathy from me. IF he'd run down the hill and said look I was stupid and started a fire, that's one thing. But to snark off when challenged and then attempt to flee, is another.

Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock. - Will Rogers
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RumiDude
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PostWed Feb 21, 2018 2:47 pm 
If everyone got what they deserved ... well nobody would reach the age to reproduce. My guess this guy is going to turn out OK. Rumi

"This is my Indian summer ... I'm far more dangerous now, because I don't care at all."
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DigitalJanitor
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DigitalJanitor
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PostWed Feb 21, 2018 4:07 pm 
RumiDude wrote:
If everyone got what they deserved ... well nobody would reach the age to reproduce. My guess this guy is going to turn out OK. Rumi
THIS. Seriously, y'all got way more energy than I do to hate so much on someone that long. A lifetime can be pretty long, people change, we can all hope someone improves from what's admittedly a remarkably low point.

~Mom jeans on wheels
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