By Janet Goldstein
Dear Mountain Times,
Re: incorrigible fire hazard neglect in the Hood
My neighbors are both women close to or past 80 years old who have been desperately trying to get a response about an extremely serious chronic hazardously neglected lot next to our homes. The firewise guidelines will be to no avail if this lot is not cleared of the huge remains from the two enormous trees that both fell across the road onto the Nextdoor neighbor’s house and my car at 5am in the morning. After several requests and finally a notice about going public about the situation on the Mountain Times if they didn’t do anything about it by Earth Day several years ago they did send a crew to begin some of the clearing up project but only a small amount to avoid repercussions. It’s been just getting worse as the next fire season is rapidly approaching. These high end developers who have recently put forth a progressive public relations stance with their new apartments and such still refuse to be voluntarily accountable for their negligence in respect to vacant properties they don’t bother to even recollect. Thanks for taking timely notice of this situation.
Neighbors commented: I wonder why there isn’t more that can be done for that. I have the same thing going on right next to my house as well. There are dead trees, dying trees and so much leave litter and twigs, branches and limbs on the ground!!!
I would imagine most of the undeveloped lots are posing the same fire hazard here.
Janet Goldstein
my thoughts, other careers came careening by and my passion to write was placed on the back burner. Now that I am back into the art of the written word, it is an outlet that now has an even bigger and better place in my life.
Although the journalistic approach to writing is a non-biased and complete factual account of names, places and events, becoming a staff writer for the Mountain Times has realigned my focus on writing and is now something I do often as a fun, creative outlet. With several short stories, poems and a novel saved for future adventures, being able to express myself with words is something that is both a blessing and a curse. The fear of failure and judgment that comes with putting your imagination on paper can be a very nerve-racking experience, but I have found it is better to put those ideas into characters, quotes and a storyline rather than let them go to waste.
As a resident of the Mt. Hood Villages for over a decade now, I have grown to love and appreciate this most beautiful area in so many ways. As a local business owner of Coffee House 26, I have seen the many ups and downs that come with living in a tourist destination. During our shutdown with Covid I decided to take my love for reading and writing and incorporate it into my coffee shop, with the addition of new and used books for sale. Sharing both my love for coffee and reading was a dream come true, and it truly seemed to ignite a passion in others, too. Those passions came in the form of a book club, book donations and a theme every month for showcased novels.
With each passing month as a local journalist, I am reminded why I keep the art of writing a huge part of my life. Each interview, article, draft and final proof continues to inspire me to dig deeper into our community for other passionate artists and newsworthy stories. And while being a business owner, journalist and reading enthusiast is a large part of who I am both professionally and creatively, I will always be Amber Lynn, Youngstown, Ohio native, Mt. Hood local, meatball makin’ cat mom at heart.