Hood River County’s new parking permit program for six county forest trail staging areas will get underway on April 1.  The permit will be good for parking at Seven Streams, Post Flats, Family Man, Binns Hill, Kingsley Reservoir Day-Use, and Pinemont staging areas.  County Forester Doug Thiesies says an online payment portal will be ready soon, available through the County website and QR codes.  Annual permits will be available for $30, and day-use permits will be $5.  Money generated from the program will help support the County’s recreational trails programs.

The Dalles Public Works Department crews are expected to complete potholing in the eastbound lane of West 10th Street between Walnut and Snipes Friday or Saturday, and move on to stage two of a stormwater system main installation at West10th and Walnut on Monday. During the second stage of work, through traffic will be detoured to West 6th via Webber and Snipes.  Work hours will be 6:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. weekdays and possibly during the weekends.  Traffic control and closures will remain in place until completion of each stage of work.  No parking will be allowed within the work area due to heavy equipment use and the location of the trench.  No parking signs will be place on the curb 48 hours before the project moves into each work area.

Klickitat PUD says it is starting to experience critical electric system equipment shortages due to the global shortage of materials and longer delivery delays from many vendors.  Klickitat PUD General Manager Jim Smith says with material delivery delays and increased construction volumes, the utility is short on stock for their standard pad mounted transformers, which take high voltage power from distribution lines and convert it to voltages delivered to residences and businesses when underground power lines are used.  Transformers are on order and the PUD expects deliveries throughout the year.  Compounding the supply chain problem is a large increase in new construction in Klickitat County. The PUD would normally see about $1.4 million in new electric construction activity each year, but in 2021 it was up to $2.8 million and the same is expected for 2022.  At this time, KPUD and the electric industry are seeing the supply chain shortages limited to transformers.

The City of White Salmon will celebrate Arbor Day on Saturday in conjunction with Underwood Conservation District’s Tree Fest.  The City will be giving away a tree seedling to city residents, while supplies last.  Trees will be available on a first come, fire served basis beginning at 9 a.m. in Rheingarten Park.  Tree seedling species include Golden Currant and Ponderosa pine.  The city will recognize the Arbor Day celebration by the flag pole at 10 a.m.

Baseball</p> Gresham at Hood River Valley, cancelled</p> Rainier 11, Stevenson 5</p>   Softball</p> Bend 2, The Dalles 1</p>   Track and Field</p> Stevenson’s girls won a seven-school District 4 meet at Kalama.  The Bulldogs’ Olivia Fauth won both the 200 and 400 meters, while Elizabeth Lanz won the 1600 meters and Ramy Nielson was first in the triple jump.  Stevenson was third in the boys’ standings, with first place finishes from Kasey Ditlefsen in the 400 meters, Tucker Wyninger in the 110 meter hurdles, and Holzhauer Hudson in the discus.</p>   Boys Soccer</p> Columbia 2, LaCenter 2</p>   Girls Golf</p> The Dalles’ Katelyn Vassar finished fourth at the Pendleton Invitational on Birch Creek Golf Course.</p>

The Point-In-Time count of the number of houseless persons in Wasco County conducted in January was up by 72 percent from two years ago.  Mid-Columbia Community Action Executive Director Kenny LaPoint presented the data to County Commissioners on Wednesday.  The count showed tallied 194 people experiencing houselessness, up by 82 from 2020, and most of the various demographic subsectors that were counted also showed substantial increases.  LaPoint told the Commission that improvements in conducting the count from two years ago thanks to better collaboration among area agencies is providing more accurate data.  LaPoint did say there was a 70 percent increase in the number of sheltered houseless, reflecting the larger number of shelter beds available in the area.

One Community Health is launching its new “La Clinica” mobile clinic at a series of events in the next two weeks.  OCH Family Nurse Practitioner Middy Tilghman will be one of the staffers for the mobile clinic, which is designed to take affordable and inclusive health care into underserved Gorge communities, and help people navigate the health care system.  The first launch party where people can tour the mobile clinic will be on Monday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Celilo Village, with more scheduled over the ensuing two weeks leading up to a ribbon cutting ceremony on April 1 at 1 p.m. at Wy’east Community Church in Odell.  A complete schedule is available at onecommunityhealth.org.

Local officials will spend the next year developing a community response plan for smoke events in Wasco and Hood River counties.  The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has provided a grant for the work.  Lauren Kraemer of Oregon State University Extension is leading the project, and she says while the counties have wildfire response plans, this will look toward communicating smoke information to vulnerable groups.  Kraemer noted they also received grant funds to purchase and locate ten new air quality monitors in the Gorge, which they hope to tie into local emergency notification systems.

The Columbia Gateway Urban Renewal Agency Board adopted goals and priorities for the upcoming fiscal year.  At the top of the list prepared by The Dalles Community Development Director Alice Cannon, completing a strategic plan for the agency.  Cannon said that plan was delayed to focus on the The Dalles 2040 Vision process that is underway.  Other items on the list include completing design, acquiring the right-of-way, and going out for bid for the Riverfront Connection project, completing demolition of the former Tony’s Town and Country building, ramping up a new Urban Renewal incentive program, and tracking progress on outstanding Urban Renewal loans.

Like much of the rest of the Northwest, the White Salmon Valley School District moved to an optional face-covering policy this week.  Superintendent Sean McGeeney says in visiting district buildings in the last couple of days, people are comfortable with the situation.  McGeeney says they continue taking other COVID-19 prevention steps, and they will be evaluated over time.  McGeeney noted the district’s administrative team re-evaluates those measures on weekly basis, and opted to take a slow, one-at-a-time approach.