The White Salmon Valley Library’s Koobdooga Community Reads program for this year is getting underway.  Shari Bosler of Friends of the White Salmon Valley Library says this book is The Eagle Tree by Ned Hayes, a fictional story about a 14-year-old autistic/neurodivergent boy whose passion is trees, and is devastated to learn a monolithic Ponderosa Pine near his home in Olympia called the Eagle Tree is to be cut down by developers.  125 copies of the book have been handed out in the White Salmon area.  For information on Koobdooga events in September and October, go to fvrl.org.

Volleyball

Canby def. Hood River Valley 25-11, 25-14, 25-18

The Dalles def. LaGrande 25-15, 25-16, 25-22

Klickitat-Glenwood def. Mannahouse Academy 23-25, 25-21, 25-23, 28-26

Central Christian def. Horizon Christian 25-10, 25-10, 25-2

Central Christian def. Sherman 25-13, 20-25, 25-20, 25-15

  Girls Soccer

Hood River Valley 8, North Salem 1

The Skamania County Sheriff’s Office says they are looking for a 30-year-old Portland man who went missing Friday from a family residence along the Washougal River.  According to the Sheriff’s Office, Blake Strong’s orange floating device was found along the river, but he was not located.  An initial investigation revealed Strong had sustained an injury the prior day while recreating in the area and had secreted his pack, containing camping equipment, along the riverbank.  There was some indication he wanted to retrieve the pack after being released from the hospital.  He is under the care of a physician and requires daily medication.  A witness came forward and reported seeing Strong walking west, in the Washougal River, wearing a green pack on the day he was reported missing.  He may have also been seen walking down the Washougal River Road in Clark County.  Blake Strong is described as 5’10″ tall, weighing 170 lbs., with blue eyes, strawberry blonde hair, and a beard.  He was last seen wearing large green backpack, light colored khaki shorts, black hat and hiking boots.  He may also have a blue “puffy” style jacket or a bright blue zip up hoodie.  Anyone with information as to his whereabouts is asked to contact the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office at 509-427-9490 or your local authorities.

Improvements to the south campground and day-use area at Viento State Park seven miles west of Hood River have started as part of an overall project constructing the Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail from the park east to Mitchell Point.  The south campground and day-use area are closed through spring 2023.  Work began for a two-mile segment of the state trail in early 2022 and work to prepare for campground improvements, including removal of trees necessary to construct the improvements, is now underway.  Travelers on Interstate 84 and park neighbors will see activity in the area for this project and another project to improve oak habitat.  Big leaf maple and Douglas-fir will be removed from a one-acre site in the park, which will allow the existing Oregon white oak ecosystem to thrive and produce new trees.  Work on the habitat restoration begins in late September.  Although the day-use access to the trail is closed during the work, the Starvation Creek State Park access to the historic trail remains open.

The Federal Aviation Administration has given Columbia Gorge Community College its “Air Agency Certificate” as home of the nation’s newest aviation maintenance technician training program.  That follows four years of the college working with industry partners and the FAA to develop a curriculum to meet rigorous technical requirements for training.  Students graduating from the program will be prepared for their FAA licensing test as aviation maintenance technicians that would allow them to maintain fixed-wing aircraft anywhere in the United States.  CGCC Capital Projects and Community Relations Director Dan Spatz says the Gorge is an ideal location for the program, with the amount of rural aviation in the region, and no maintenance training opportunities east of the Cascades.  A 2020 estimate by the Aviation Technical Education Council shows America’s aviation industry faces an estimated shortage of 79,000 maintenance technicians by the year 2039.

Visit Hood River’s First Friday event in downtown Hood River this week will have a “back to school” theme.  Hannah Settje of Visit Hood River says it’s the third month of the restart of the event coming out of the pandemic, and August’s event was well-received.  She adds First Friday is an opportunity to bring the community together, and this Friday will celebrate the start of the school year with Hood River County School District booths on site to provide information.  There will also be vendors and live music.  The event runs from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, with Oak Street from 6th to 1st closed to vehicle traffic beginning at 4:30.

The Wasco County Fair begins in Tygh Valley on Thursday and will continue through Sunday.  Thursday is a free admission day sponsored by The Dalles Disposal.  Headliner Whey Jennings, grandson of country music icon Waylon Jennings, will perform before the rodeo on Friday evening.  Updated fair information is available on the Wasco County Fair and Rodeo Facebook page.

The Klickitat County Fair is getting underway in Goldendale and will run through Sunday.  Thursday will feature the annual kickoff barbecue at 5 p.m.  The annual Fair parade through Goldendale is at 10 a.m. Saturday, and the rodeo will be at 12:30 on Saturday and at 1 p.m. on Sunday.  Updated fair information is available on the Klickitat County Fair and Rodeo Facebook page.

Oregon’s unemployment rate remained at 3.5% in July, unchanged from the month of June.  Oregon’s unemployment rate has tracked very closely with the national unemployment rate for the past two years, with both rates declining rapidly during May 2020 through early 2022 as the economies recovered.  Over the past five months, unemployment rates for the U.S. and Oregon have averaged 3.6%, near record lows dating back almost 50 years.  As of July, Oregon has regained 94% of jobs lost at the onset of the pandemic.  The U.S. has regained 100%. Oregon’s private sector is close to a full jobs recovery, having regained 99% of pandemic recession losses.  However, Oregon’s government sector has only regained 49% of the jobs it lost during March through June 2020.  

The restart of resurfacing work on Highway 142 between Lyle and the Little Klickitat River has been pushed back a day to Thursday.  The Washington State Department of Transportation says work was paused in mid-June to allow recently applied crack sealant time to cure before a chip seal is applied.  The chip seal work will resume Thursday, .and when it does travelers should expect daytime delays of up to 20 minutes on weekdays and some Saturdays, with flaggers or a pilot car directing vehicles through the work zone.  This coming Saturday, Highway 142 will be fully closed from mileposts 19 to 22.5 for the chip seal application.  The project is scheduled for completion this fall.