Football
Hood River Valley 49, Putnam 6
Molalla 25, The Dalles 14
Columbia 49, Fort Vancouver 6
Seton Catholic 55, Stevenson 14
Sherman 72, Country Christian 30
Dufur 54, Perrydale 12
Lyle-Klickitat-Wishram 66, Pilot Rock 18
Harper Charter 53, South Wasco 20
Goldendale 48, White Swan 6
Girls Soccer
Riverdale 3, Trout Lake-Glenwood 0
Hood River County has developed a Tree Farm Trail Map, an interactive web map of recreational trails in the County Forest allowing users to visualize and gain information about the recreational trail network. Over 230 unique recreational trails in the County Forest are used by mountain bikers, hikers, equestrians, off-highway vehicle and 4×4 riders, and adaptive bicyclists. The tool makes it easier to identify trail access points and difficulty ratings, and determine trail statuses. The new online map enables Hood River County Forestry staff to update trail information in real-time to improve safety and awareness for all trail users and help with communications for natural disasters. The Hood River County Tree Farm Trail Map is available at webmap.hoodrivercounty.gov/trail or by scanning a QR code on signs at staging areas. The map is compatible with all web-enabled devices. It was developed by Hood River County’s Geographic Information Services in collaboration with the county Forestry Department.
Skamania County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue volunteers rescued an 85-year-old Portland early Thursday morning after the man went off trail while hiking Wind Mountain. The Skamania County Sheriff’s Office says its communications center received a report of the overdue hiker late Wednesday night. A Skamania County Deputy located the missing hiker’s vehicle at the Wind Mountain trailhead. The Sheriff’s Office says at around 1:21 a.m. Thursday, search and rescue volunteers located the hiker about 75 feet off the trail in rugged terrain. Personnel from Skamania County Emergency Medical Services and volunteers from Klickitat County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue, Skamania County Fire District 1, and Skamania County Fire District 2 took part in a rope rescue. By about 7:15 a.m., the hiker was brought to the trailhead and transported to a hospital for treatment.
Pika enthusiasts have reason to celebrate this season, as new survey data from Cascades Pika Watch shows numbers of the potato-sized mammals — and the volunteers trained to spot them — are on the rise in the Columbia River Gorge. Since the 2017 Eagle Creek Fire, surveys indicate the pika population in the area has been steadily increasing. Last year volunteers spotted pikas at nearly two-thirds of the sites surveyed, and this year that number was even higher. Pikas, tiny rabbit relatives known for their distinctive, squeak-toy-like calls, typically live on mountain slopes at elevations above 6,000 feet, but a unique low-elevation population is living in the Columbia Gorge. Every summer, volunteers from Cascades Pika Watch — a program of the Oregon Zoo — head into the field with binoculars to stake out pika hot spots, record their locations and listen for the pika’s telltale squeak. Then they upload their data to a website, helping biologists to better understand where pikas live and whether their range is shifting. There is growing concern among scientists about the future of pikas, as climate change has caused population declines and local extinctions in parts of the pika’s range, but the season’s results are very encouraging.
Both Wasco and Hood River counties are reporting receiving over 3,000 ballots apiece with a week-and-a-half left in the election process. Wasco County has had 3,035 ballots returned, a rate of 16.02%, which continues to trail the 30.52% of 2020. Hood River County ended Thursday with 3,222 ballots returned, or 19.22% Four years ago the return rate at this point was 37.17%. The Washington State Elections Division reports as of the end of Thursday 16.67% of ballots had been returned in Skamania County, and 4.94% in Klickitat County.
Volleyball
Columbia def. Kalama 3-1
King’s Way Christian def. Stevenson 3-1
Goldendale def. LaSalle (Yakima) 3-2
Boys Soccer
The Dalles 2, Molalla 1
Hood River Valley 8, Hillsboro 0
Girls Soccer
Hillsboro 4, Hood River Valley 1
The Dalles 1, Molalla 1
King’s Way Christian 3, Stevenson 1
Goldendale 2, Warden 1
Cross Country
Columbia won the girls’ title at the Trico League Championships at Vancouver Lake Regional Park. The Bruins’ Lilah Zimmerman won the individual title, with Helen Hoskins in fourth and Kathryn O’Connor in fifth. Stevenson finished third in the team’s standings, paced by Daisy Jones in sixth. CHS finished second to LaCenter in the boys race, led by Noah Slayton’s third place finish. Colton Hollis was the top Stevenson finisher in 21st.
Goldendale had three of the top four finishers on the way to winning the girls’ title at the EWAC Championships at Apple Ridge in Yakima. Emma Meagher won the race for the Timberwolves, with teammates Jennasea Smith in third and Mia Meagher in fourth. The Goldendale boys were second to Cle Elum-Roslyn, with Malachi Lawson topping the Timberwolves by finishing sixth.
The Dalles boys were second and the girls fourth at the Valiant Invitational at Valley Catholic. Alana Casady was the top Riverhawk finisher for the girls with a sixth place finish, and Tyson Long topped The Dalles’ boys in seventh.
Three people were arrested after a search of a Cascade Locks building on Wednesday yielded stolen property. The Hood River County Sheriff’s Office says a search at 706 Wa Na Pa Street resulted in locating property from multiple local theft reports. Arrested in conjunction with the search were 39-year-old Lester Lee Feist, on charges of first degree aggravated theft, second degree burglary, second degree theft, and outstanding warrants…36-year-old Heather Marie Morse, on five counts of being a felon in possession of a weapon and outstanding warrants…and 42-year-old Shane Vincient Holden, on five counts of felon in possession of a weapon, second degree burglary, and outstanding warrants. All three were lodged at the Northern Oregon Regional Corrections Facility. The investigation is ongoing.
Fire destroyed a storage building near the Habitat for Humanity ReStore off of West 6th in The Dalles Thursday morning. David Jensen of Mid-Columbia Fire and Rescue said they received a call of a brush fire just after 6 a.m. Thursday, but crews arrived to find the steel storage shed fully involved. Jensen said the storage building, which contained some tools and other materials, was a total loss. There were no injuries as a result of the fire. MCFR crews were assisted by firefighters from Hood River, Dallesport, and Dufur. The cause remains under investigation.
The Oregon Department of Forestry is officially reducing the fire danger in its Central Oregon District to low and bringing the 2024 fire season to an end effective Friday morning. With the end of the fire season, the public and industrial fire restrictions that have been in place throughout the district will no longer be in effect. However, fire officials advise residents not to rush into burning. Cover the top two-third of piles with tarp or plastic to keep them dry to allow for a cleaner burn later in the fall and winter months when the risk of fire spread is minimal. Contact your local fire department or the Oregon Department of Forestry office in The Dalles at 541-296-4626 before conducting any type of burning as fire restrictions may vary between local fire districts.
Volleyball
Milwaukie def. Hood River Valley 25-20, 25-16, 25-23
Big Sky League Volleyball Playoffs
Ione-Arlington def. Lyle-Wishram 25-10, 25-10, 25-20
Sherman def. Dufur 23-25, 25-16, 25-22, 22-25, 15-8
