Hood River County’s Farmers Irrigation District, like most water providers, is anticipating low water supplies this season due to a historically low snowpack. Farmers’ Watershed Project Manager Megan Saunders says they have varied water sources feeding different parts of their system, which means some of the district will be impacted differently than others, with the upper and middle portions of the district facing tighter supplies. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Water Supply Outlook Report projects summertime streamflows to be 65% of normal. Hood River Basin snowpack was 14% of median as of May 1st. Farmers is asking customers to implement water conservation and active water management practices. Water supply reductions or watering restrictions are possible later in the season, especially for patrons in the Upper and Middle Sections of the district.
Fire Bosses Arrive
Coastal Airstrike and the fire boss aircraft have returned to the Columbia Gorge Regional Airport in Dallesport. Airport Manager Jeff Renard told Klickitat County Commissioners the two planes arrived on Sunday and started their first shift on Monday. Renard says people will see them doing practice flights in the region. Renard noted the Forest Service has located a Sky Crane helicopter at the airport. There will also be other firefighting aircraft positioned in Dallesport as the fire season progresses.
YouthThink To Talk Prescription Drugs In Webinar
Prescription drugs and fentanyl will be the topic of YouthThink of Wasco County’s next “The More You Know” webinar next week. Debby Jones of YouthThink says they will have experts from the Partnership to End Addiction to discuss what parents should know and talk to their children about. Jones says young people, and even adults, can be unaware of how prescription drugs can be misused if not taken as directed. The virtual Zoom event will be on June 11 from 6 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. To register, go to youththink.net.
The Dalles Partners With DocuPet For Licensing
The City of The Dalles says it is partnering with licensing, registration, and lost pet recovery service DocuPet to establish a modern licensing system. Through the new program, every official license includes a DocuPet tag and access to the complimentary HomeSafe 24/7 lost pet service. If a pet becomes lost, owners can quickly create a Lost Pet Report, while community members who find a missing pet can use the tag to submit a Found Pet Report. The City says DocuPet’s dispatch team is available around the clock to help reunite pets with their families, and it manage licensing more efficiently. The City adds it will allow resources to be directed toward essential animal care and community programs. All dogs in the City of The Dalles must be licensed and vaccinated against rabies. Pet owners can learn more and register online at thedalles.docupet.com.
Klickitat PUD To Use “One-Shot” Protection Settings In High Fire Danger Areas
Klickitat PUD has begun deploying alternate “one-shot” protection settings in focused high fire danger areas, including Satus Pass, Klickitat, Glenwood, Roosevelt, High Prairie, Goodnoe, and lower Burdoin Mountain. The one-shot protection settings are recloser devices that automatically shut off power when they detect an issue on the line, such as a tree branch contacting power equipment. Under normal conditions, the system attempts to automatically restore power after a brief interruption. During high fire danger conditions, the PUD says automatic restoration can increase wildfire risk if damaged equipment or downed lines create sparks when reenergized. In “one-shot” mode, power remains off until crews can inspect the line and confirm it is safe to restore service. While this approach may result in longer outages, it significantly reduces the likelihood of utility-related wildfire ignitions. Customers in affected areas may experience longer outage durations during wildfire season because crews must physically inspect lines before restoration.
SW Fire & Rescues Looks To Increase Volunteer Roster
Southwest Fire and Rescue will hold a volunteer event next week as it looks to grow its numbers. West Klickitat Regional Fire Authority Chief Wesley Long says volunteers are critical for many fire departments in the region. The open house on June 10 will give Long and his department a chance to tell their story to prospective volunteers who have questions. Long says Southwest Fire & Rescue has a goal of upping its volunteer roster from 43 to 60. He notes there are many roles they can use volunteers in. The volunteer event will be on June 10 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Station 30 on 119 NE Church in White Salmon.
Blalock Canyon Road Expected To Reopen Later In The Week
The Gilliam County Sheriff’s Office says Blalock Canyon Road between Interstate 84 and Heritage Lane is expected to reopen sometime Wednesday or Thursday. That section of road was damaged by a slide during heavy rainfall and flooding caused by Thursday’s severe thunderstorms in the area, The Gilliam County Road Department is working to repair a blown-out culvert and stabilize a cut bank that impacted the travel lanes. Reopening is expected in the mid to later part of the week, weather and repair progress permitting. Seek alternate routes until repairs have been completed and the roadway is deemed safe for travel.
Weekend Fire Activity
A fire destroyed a garage in the 200 block of East 14th Street in The Dalles on Saturday evening. According to Mid-Columbia Fire and Rescue, crews went to the scene following reports of an oxy-acetylene tank explosion. Fire crews were able to contain the fire primarily to the garage. There were no reported injuries. MCFR crews on Sunday went to two separate structure fire Incidents, one off East 9th Street and another on Browns Creek. Also on Saturday afternoon, there was a 1400-acre grass fire in the Haystack Butte area about a mile east of Wishram. It was caused by a truck fire on Highway 14. Crews were able to control it by late Saturday evening.
May 29-30 Prep Sports Roundup
Track and Field
Trout Lake finished third at the Oregon Class 1A girls’ track and field championships in Eugene. The Mustangs were led by Melody Stock, who won the 1500 meters and finished second in the 800. Stock was also part of a Mustang win in the 4 by 400 meter relay with Cora Sharp, Riley Rickman, and Jade McLean. McLean was second in the pole vault, Sharp took third in the 400 meters and fourth in the long jump, and Aurora Zoller was fifth in the girls’ discus.
Other top finishes for area athletes in the boys and girls 1A championships included Trout Lake’s Jayden Kusky winning the boys’ shot put and fourth in the discus, Sherman’s Chloe Simpson was second in the girls’ triple jump and third in the high jump, while the Huskies’ Renan Christiansen was fifth in the boys’ shot put, Dufur’s Hailee Pechanec was third in girls’ discus and Jacey Calloway was fourth in the girls’ 400, Lyle-Wishram’s Ezekiel Marble was third in the boys’ 300 meter hurdles and fourth in the 110 hurdles while teammate Jack Thiemann was fourth in the boys’ triple jump, Horizon Christian’s Joshua Carley was fifth in the boys’ 3000 meters, and South Wasco’s Bailey Udey was fourth in the girls’ triple jump and Gabe Ford fourth in both the boys para 100 meters and shot put.
Hood River Valley had two second place finishes in the Oregon Class 5A Championships. Francisco Solberg was second in the boys’ pole vault, and Diyora Khudoidodova had the same finish in the girls’ high jump. The Eagles’ Georgiana Williams was fifth in the girls’ 200.
In the Oregon Class 4A Championships, The Dalles’ Willow Ziegenhagen was second in the girls’ high jump and fourth in the javelin. The Riverhawks’ Tyson Long took third in the boys’ 1500 meters and fifth in the 800, Derek Goulart took fourth in the boys’ high jump, and the boys four by 400 meter relay team was fifth.
At the Washington Class 1A Championships, Columbia’s Samantha Miller was second in the girls’ high jump and Sara Miller third in the girls’ 200, while Stevenson’s Jude Travinski was fifth in the boys’ 200 and sixth in the 100.
Oregon Class 5A Baseball Quarterfinal
Ridgeview 6, Hood River Valley 4: A three-run top of the fourth inning proved to be the distance, as the Ravens advanced in the post-season. Ridgeview’s Finn Chambers held off the Eagles final offensive chances to go the distance to get the win. HRV left two runners on base in both of the final two innings. The Eagles’ Bodie Stuben had a two-run double and pitched three innings of scoreless relief.
Oregon Class 4A Softball Quarterfinal
Gladstone 4, The Dalles 3: Allie Whiteley went 4 for 4 for Gladstone, while Natalee Marvin added two RBIs. Ashlynne Franssen had 10 strikeouts while allowing four hits. Ava Graves went 3 for 3 for The Dalles with a double, triple and two RBIs. The Riverhawks had the tying run on second base in the seventh inning but Franssen got a flyout to end the game.
Thunderstorms Disrupt Power, Lead To Fire Near Arlington
Power crews were at work throughout the night as last night’s thunderstorms brought lighting, rain, and high winds to the area. Northern Wasco PUD reported that at one point, it had about two-thousand customers without electricity, but as of late morning, that number was down to about 100 scattered throughout its service area. Klickitat PUD says it had restored power in Bingen, Darland, Klickitat, Goldendale, and White Salmon. But as of late this morning there was still about 1,500 customers without power, mostly in the western part of Klickitat County in the areas of BZ Corner and Husum, Trout Lake, and Glenwood. Hood River Electric Co-op had to de-energize its Pine Grove Substation Thursday night because a transmission pole was struck by lightning and caught fire. As of early Friday morning it had restored power to all locations that it was safe to do so. They did have damaged fiber to restring on Fir Mountain and that work was underway today.
A lighting strike caused a 150-acre fire broke out in Gilliam County near Arlington that led to a Level 3 evacuation Thursday evening. The Gilliam County Sheriff’s Office says no homes were lost, with two outbuildings destroyed. There was also a mudslide in Blalock Canyon, resulting in a closure of the road through that area from Interstate 84 to Heritage Lane. Gilliam County road crews were working on clearing that road today.
Earlier Thursday, Mid-Columbia Fire and Rescue along with the U.S. Forest Service and the Oregon Department of Forestry knocked down a brush fire in the River Road/Crates Way area of The Dalles.