May is stroke awareness month. People need to act quickly to avoid lasting damage when they happen – and remember the acronym “BE FAST.” ‘B’ stands for balance and watch if someone is losing it. ‘E’ stands for eyes and changes to vision. ‘F’ is for face and signs of it drooping. ‘A’ is for arms and looking for signs that one arm is dropping when raised. ‘S’ is for speech, listening to hear if it’s slurred. And ‘T’ stands for time to call 9-1-1 if any of these signs are present.  Dr. Jennifer Pary is a stroke neurologist at Kaiser Permanente in Spokane. She says in a stroke, time equals brain. Pary says there are factors that increase the risk of stroke, including diabetes and high cholesterol, but the main factor people should keep in mind is blood pressure.

Track and Field

The Dalles’ Taylor Morehouse won the boys’ pole vault to highlight the Gorge effort at the Oregon Class 5A Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene.  The Riverhawks’ Zoe Dunn finished second in both the girls’ long jump and triple jump while also helping The Dalles 4 by 400 meter relay team including Lilly Adams, Madelyn Harrison, and Amyrah Hill to a second place finish.  The Dalles’ Juan Diego Contreras was fourth in the 3,000 meters and sixth in the 1500.  Hood River Valley’s Lauren Griggs was fifth in the high jump.

  Stevenson’s girls finished third at the Washington Class 2B District 1/4 Championships at W.F. West in Chehalis.  The Bulldogs’ Sydney Cole won the girls’ pole vault and Olivia Fauth was first in the 400 meters.  They joined Ramy Nielson and Ema Fuller to win the 4 by 400 meter relay.   Stevenson earned eight girls and three boys entries in next week’s state meet.

  Southwest Washington Class 1A District Softball Tournament

Columbia went 2-2 in the tournament, falling just short of a state tournament invitation.  The Bruins started off by defeating Montesano 7-4, then lost to Eatonville 15-0.  CHS bounced back with a 13-8 win over Elma, but the fell to Castle Rock 5-1 in the third place game.

  EWAC District Tournament

Goldendale won two out of three games to qualify for the Washington Class 2B Tournament.  The Timberwolves lost to Kittitas 15-11, but then defeated Cle Elum 17-13 and River View 14-4 to next weekend’s tournament in Yakima.

  Oregon Class 5A Tennis Tournament at Portland Tennis Center

Boys Doubles First Round

Paul Capek & Paul Kelly of The Dalles went 3-1 to finish third in the tournament.  They opened with a 6-4, 6-3, win over Henry Pappas & Bryan Chen of Crescent Valley, then knocked off top-seeds Eldon & Breslin Nichols of LaSalle 6-3, 7-6.  Redmond’s Tanner Jones & Nico Afti took Capek & Kelly out of championship contention in the semi-final 6-2, 6-4, but the Riverhawk pair bounced back in the third place match to defeat Caleb Simpkins and Hudson Clark of West Albany 6-4, 7-6.

  Boys Singles First Round

Eric Langlouis of Hood River Valley reached the quarterfinals, defeating Chad Romrell of Corvallis 6-7, 6-0, 6-2 before falling to eventual champion Aidan McBride of LaSalle 6-1, 6-1.

  Girls Doubles First Round

Brissa Rojas & Vivian Olson of Hood River Valley lost to Adrianna Frank & Olivia Knutson of North Bend 6-3, 6-0, then fell to Shayla and Cindy Nyguen of Parkrose in a consolation match 9-8.

A Goldendale man was killed and a woman was injured in a one-vehicle accident on Highway 142 in Klickitat County Thursday evening.  According to the Washington State Patrol, a utility vehicle was westbound on Highway 142 at around 7 p.m. when it attempted a pass near milepost 24.  The driver realized the eastbound lane was not clear, and overcorrected when veering back into the westbound lane and going into a ditch.  The vehicle then struck a driveway, causing it to go airborne and flip multiple times, coming to rest on a fence in the ditch.  The WSP says 67-year-old Brock Hodson was deceased at the scene, while 60-year-old Nancy Hodson was injured and taken by Lifeflight to Portland’s Legacy Emanuel Hospital.

The Port of Hood River Commission approved choosing HNTB Corporation of Kansas City to manage replacement of the Hood River-White Salmon Interstate Bridge.  An evaluation committee made the recommendation after examining three different proposals, and the Bi-State Working Group for the bridge replacement gave its consensus to move forward with HNTB.  Port Commissioner Mike Fox said HNTB met the criteria they have been looking for.  The Port will now enter into contract negotiations with HNTB.

The Columbia Gorge Discovery Center will celebrate its 25th anniversary with a celebration on Saturday.  The free event runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. features a commemoration ceremony, wildflower pond walks, crafting demonstrations, live raptor programs, group art project, and other kids activities.  Discovery Center Marketing Director Mikey Goyette says there will also be some memories of how the Center began with people who were there.  There will also be a native salmon bake available at 11:30 a.m. for $20 that does require tickets to be purchased in advance.  For complete information, go to gorgediscovery.org.  

Home At Last Humane Society’s inaugural Dimes For Dogs Walkathon will take place on Saturday.  People, and their dogs, will do a self-paced walk along portions of the Riverfront Trail between the shelter on River Road in The Dalles to the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center.  Erin Foote Morgan of Central Oregon Animal Friends says it’s $10 to take part, or bring a 13 gallon bag filled with cans and bottles to take part.  Day-of-walk registration begins at 9 a.m., the walk begins at 10:10, followed by an after-party at the shelter at noon.  Go to homeatlasths.org for more information.

For the first time in over two years, the Wasco County Children’s Fair will return on Saturday in The Dalles City Park.  A number of agencies in the region will be involved in the event.  Nancey Patton of Child Care Partners emphasizes it is a free event.  There will be carnival-style games, face painting, arts and crafts, music and dancing and much more, along with an opportunity for parents to learn about programs available to them.  The Children’s Fair will be Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in The Dalles City Park.

Following a second run upgrade, fishery managers from Oregon and Washington adopted additional fishing for recreational spring Chinook salmon in the Columbia River downstream of Bonneville Dam today during a joint state hearing.  With the days added, the spring Chinook season below Bonneville Dam runs through Sunday, then again from this coming Tuesday to June 15.  The additional opportunity is based on an updated May 16 forecast that projects the return of 180,000 upriver-origin adult spring Chinook, up from 161,000 projected a week ago.  At this level, the updated projection would be about 118 percent of the recent 10-year average return of these fish.  Above Bonneville Dam, there are two days allocated for recreational spring Chinook salmon fishing, May 26 and May 28.  The latest details on Columbia River fishing regulations are available at myodfw.com.

A ban on outdoor burning for Klickitat County Burn Ban Zone Two will go into effect on June 1.  The zone includes lands between the Klickitat County Fire District #7 eastern boundary west to the western boundaries of Klickitat County Fire Districts #4, 12 and 15 then north on the Klickitat River to the north county line that are outside the jurisdiction of the Yakama Indian Nation and the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission.  The ban will prohibit the issuance of burn permits except for authorized agricultural burning.  Residential barbecues will be allowed.  The ban will be in effect until September 30.  Klickitat County Burn Ban Zone One in the eastern part of the county went into effect on May 1, while dates for Klickitat County Burn Ban Zone Three for this year have not been finalized.

Timed use permits will be required for each personal vehicle accessing federal lands adjacent to the Waterfall Corridor of the Historic Columbia River Highway from just east of Bridal Veil to Ainsworth State Park between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. each day beginning on Tuesday. Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area Recreation Officer Stan Hinatsu says this is a pilot project in partnership with Oregon State Parks, the Oregon Department of Transportation, and Multnomah County to try to deal with the increase in visitor use of public lands. Daily permits are available for a $2 transaction fee at recreation.gov, and a limited number will be available each day at no cost at the Cascade Locks Historical Museum and at the Gateway to the Gorge Visitors Center in Troutdale.