Girls Basketball
Big Sky Conference Semi-Finals
Trout Lake 47, Ione-Arlington 32
Dufur 54, South Wasco 40: Dufur and Trout Lake will meet in the Big Sky championship game Saturday at Kurtz Gym in The Dalles, with South Wasco facing Ione-Arlington for third.
Dallas Deputy Fire Chief Josh Rogers has been named by the City of Hood River as its new fire chief.
Rogers began his fire service career as a firefighter/paramedic in Hapeville, Georgia, and later continued his career with the City of Dallas here in Oregon, where he has served since 2022.
In both departments, he progressed through increasing levels of responsibility, including the ranks of Lieutenant, Captain, Shift Commander, and most recently, serving as the Deputy Fire Chief in the City of Dallas.
He has experience with establishing procedures, mentorship and training, budget reviews, working with healthcare partners, and emergency management.
Rogers received his Bachelors of Science in Fire Administration from Columbia Southern University in Orange Beach, Alabama, holds a Pro Board accredited Fire Officer IV certification, and earned his Executive Fire Officer certificate from the National Fire Academy.
Rogers will be taking over for Leonard Damian, who announced his retirement after more than nine years with the City of Hood River Fire Department.
Boys Basketball
Big Sky Conference Playoff: Lyle-Wishram 50, Horizon Christian 48: The Cougars will visit Ione-Arlington for a semi-final game on Friday.
Big Sky Conference Playoff: Condon 56, Klickitat-Glenwood 52: Condon moves on to face regular season champion South Wasco in a semi-final on Friday at 6 p.m.
Girls Basketball
Southwest Washington 1A District Tourney Semi-Final
Montesano 38, Columbia 27: The Bruins get a second chance at earning a state tournament berth when they take on King’s Way Christian on Saturday afternoon at 1:30 in Centralia.
Wasco County Commissioners held a lengthy discussion Wednesday with an Oregon Department of Energy representative about the permitting process for a proposed 1,000 megawatt solar photovoltaic energy generation facility with a battery storage system on over 13,600 acres of primarily private land zoned for exclusive farm use about ten miles southwest of Maupin. Much of the talk centered on the input the County will have on the project. County Planning Department Director Daniel Daughtry told the Commission what they are looking at as they review the application and prepare comment, particularly conditional use permit review. The project is still in the application process, with the Energy Department’s Kathleen Sloan noting the developing company, DECH, has been asked to provide more information. Public comment and a hearing will be part of the next phase of work.
Hood River County Commissioners appointed four people from 17 candidates to serve on an Odell Urban Unincorporated Plan Advisory Committee that will review documents related to development of such a plan and provide feedback to County staff and their consultants. Juan Reyes, Ken Goe, Sara Duckwall, and Liliana Lachino were selected from the group of hopefuls that Commissioners praised for their willingness to be involved. Commissioner Ed Weathers said the variety of viewpoints is important. The advisory Committee will meet up to four times between now and May 2027. It will be weighing in on topics that include a final community boundary location, future zoning designations, development standards, and other related topics to help guide how Odell grows in the future.
The Port of Hood River Commission approved issuing a request for developer interest for both the Marina East and West building properties. The about 2.6 acres currently is the location of a small and aging commercial building that includes the Motor Vehicles Division office. Port Executive Director Kevin Greenwood says as the Port ceases to use Interstate Bridge tolls they will be looking at maximizing their other revenue opportunities to maintain park and waterfront services. He says this step falls short of actually seeking formal proposals for the properties. The Marina East and West properties are currently zoned C-2 Commercial. Utilities are available at each site, though upgrades may be required depending on redevelopment scale.
The Columbia Gateway Urban Renewal Agency Board approved a second six-month extension of two funding agreements with Hanlon Development for the proposed Basalt Commons mixed use commercial and residential development on East 3rd at the site of the former Griffith Motors building. The agreements for Urban Renewal to provide up to $1 million for systems development charges and a $730,000 direct equity contribution to support project feasibility were about to expire. The extension was requested to allow sufficient time to complete remaining third party approvals and finalize the financing and permit requirements necessary to initiate construction. URA Manager Jacob Anderson told the board the project still represents the best opportunity for housing development in downtown The Dalles. Basalt Commons is currently proposed to include 116 units of housing.
With voter approval of a bond measure to create a K-12 campus to replace the aging Whitson Elementary School in hand, White Salmon Valley School District officials will now start the journey toward actually building it. District Superintendent Rich Polkinghorn says he will meet with their project management group next week to determine the next layer of work. Determining when to sell the bonds will be high on the list, in conjunction with a financial analyst in the management group. Polkinghorn adds that hiring an architect will be another near-term priority. He says the expectation is to construct the K-12 campus within four years.
Boys Basketball
Southwest Washington 1A District Tourney: Hoquiam 54, Columbia 42 (loser out)
Girls Basketball
Big Sky Conference Playoff: Trout Lake 56, Spray-Mitchell-Wheeler 31: The Mustangs advance to a semi-final match-up with Ione-Arlington on Thursday.
Big Sky Conference Playoff: South Wasco 47, Sherman 27: The Redsides will visit regular season league champion Dufur on Thursday evening.
Three people were injured in a motor vehicle accident at the intersection of Highway 197 and Bret Clodfelter Way in The Dalles on Monday morning.
According to The Dalles Police Department, the accident involved an Oregon State Police Fish and Game K-9 unit and two commercial vehicles, an unloaded log truck and a semi-truck and trailer.
Two OSP troopers were injured an taken to Portland area hospitals, and are in stable condition.
The driver of one of the commercial motor vehicles was also injured and transported to a medical facility
The K-9 was not injured.
The intersection was closed for most of Monday.
The Dalles Police say the investigation is ongoing, and they are asking for anybody who has information regarding this crash to call them at 541-296-2613 and reference case number D26-0261.
