A bill authored by Washington 14th District State Representative Chris Corry targeting the reduction of lane departure accidents and fatalities in rural communities has passed out of the House Transportation Committee.  The Yakima Republican’s House Bill 1605 is based on research provided by the Washington State Strategic Highway Safety Plan, Target Zero.  The plan offers several ways to address top areas of concern, including lane departure accidents, including wider markings on roads, improved lighting, and surface road treatments.  According to the Target Zero report, in Washington state between 2015-2017, there were 796 fatalities and 2,458 serious injuries involving lane departures.  Lane departure accidents make up 48% of all motor vehicle accidents.  Corry’s bill now waits for a vote by the full House of Representatives.

Oregon Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden have announced legislation to reauthorize the Deschutes River Conservancy’s federal eligibility to receive federal funding for water quality and conservation projects.  Founded in 1996, the DRC initially focused on grazing and timber issues impacting river health, but has shifted to water management in recent years.  Following its reauthorization in 2005, DRC was eligible to receive $2 million per year for ten years, but no allocations were made during that time period and the organization currently relies on private donations or local government entities.  The bill would provide up to $2 million in funding per year for ten years.  Since its creation, the DRC has helped restore 250 cubic feet per second of water to parts of the Deschutes River and surrounding tributaries.  Upcoming projects will include addressing water quality issues in the Crooked River.

Harmony of the Gorge, the Sweet Adelines chorus in the region, is doing its Singing Valentines fundraiser again this year.  The group’s Judy Galloway says they are offering phone, electronic, and in-person options to give the gift of romantic music to someone you love.  Quartets from the chorus will sing two romantic songs to your loved one for $25 for local in-person, or for $10 via phone, text, e-mail, or Facebook.  To purchase call 541-806-1388 or go to harmonyofthegorge.com.

Google announced a $50,000 grant to The Dalles Main Street to support the upcoming 2022 Northwest MuralFest.  MuralFest will be held in late August, when a large group of muralists known as the Walldogs will travel to Oregon to paint 15 new murals chosen by residents of The Dalles.  A group of The Dalles business owners and city leaders convinced the Walldogs to choose The Dalles for the home of its 2022 festival which organizers believe will be only the second MuralFest to occur in the Western U.S.  Residents of The Dalles voted on themes for the 15 murals that will be painted during the festival.  Each mural will have a lead painter guiding multiple artists to paint and complete the murals through the festival weekend.  Along with the painting, the festival will include food, crafts, music, and vendors.

Vic Wild, a native of White Salmon who competes for Russia, won the bronze medal Tuesday in parallel giant slalom snowboarding at the Winter Olympics.  Wild defeated Roland Fischnaller of Italy in the bronze medal race, with Fischnaller unable to complete the course.  Wild finished ninth in qualifying runs, then topped Russian teammate Dmitry Loginov in the first knockout round and nipped Korea’s Sang-Ho Lee by one-one hundredth of a second in the quarterfinal.  He lost the semi-final to Tim Mastnak of Slovenia.  The 35-year-old Wild was a gold medalist in 2014 in both the parallel slalom and the parallel giant slalom events.  He placed 10th in parallel giant slalom in 2018, with parallel slalom having been dropped from the Olympic program.

State health officials announced Monday Oregon will remove general mask requirements for indoor public places no later than March 31.  By late March, health scientists expect that about 400 or fewer Oregonians would be hospitalized with COVID-19, the level of hospitalizations the state experienced before the Omicron variant began to spread.  Mask requirements for schools will be lifted on March 31.  However, Oregon state epidemiologist Dr. Dean Sidelinger said the mask requirements need to remain in place for now as COVID-19 hospitalizations crest and Oregon’s health care system strains to treat high numbers of severely ill patients.  Oregon has the third lowest cumulative COVID-19 case rate in the nation and the seventh lowest COVID-19 death rate since the start of the pandemic.  Health experts are strongly recommend high-risk individuals continue wearing masks in indoor public settings after mask requirements are lifted.  Once requirements are lifted, employers and businesses may continue to establish their own mask requirements to protect employees and customers.

Klickitat County Public Health Director Erinn Quinn says COVID-19 case counts in the County are starting to trend downward after reaching a peak in January.  Quinn says there were 788 reported COVID cases in Klickitat County in January, more than in the first 13 months of the pandemic.  But she says they are seeing evidence of the numbers going down, noting COVID trends in Klickitat County have tended to run a bit behind the western part of Washington.  Quinn added local hospitals are doing well at this point, but transfers to higher levels of care in larger cities remain difficult.  

Vic Wild, a native of White Salmon who competes for Russia, will compete tonight in snowboarding’s parallel giant slalom.  The 35-year-old Wild was a gold medalist in 2014 in both the parallel slalom and the parallel giant slalom events.  He placed 10th in parallel giant slalom in 2018, with parallel slalom having been dropped from the Olympic program.  Wild began to compete for Russia after marrying a snowboarder from the country, and seeking to leave the American snowboarding program due to what he considered a lack of funding and support for the Alpine portion of the program.  Qualifying runs take place at 7 p.m. Pacific time this evening.

Boys Basketball

Hood River Valley 73, Pendleton 67

The Dalles 59, Crook County 49

Castle Rock 62, Columbia 33

South Wasco 74, Dufur 51

South Wasco 73, Horizon Christian 53

Dufur 61, Lyle-Wishram 40

Lyle-Wishram 40, Klickitat-Glenwood 24

Echo 69, Sherman 50

Condon 60, Sherman 39

  Girls Basketball

Pendleton 60, Hood River Valley 23

Crook County 45, The Dalles 24

Columbia 48, Castle Rock 37

South Wasco 55, Dufur 49

South Wasco 60, Horizon Christian 48

Echo 71, Sherman 39

Trout Lake 40, Horizon Christian 21

Trout Lake 64, Klickitat-Glenwood 17

Condon 36, Sherman 35

  Southwest Washington District 4 Class 2B Girls Basketball Tournament

Round 1:  Wahkiakum 75, Stevenson 13…Stevenson plays Ilwaco on Tuesday at 7:30 in Rochester.

  Boys Wrestling

Four Hood River Valley wrestlers won their weight class as HRV finished fifth as a team in the tournament they hosted over the weekend.  Carson Farlow, Connor Farlow, Treshaun Douglass, and Jaime Rodriguez-Estrada were victorious for the Eagles.  For The Dalles, Conner Blair won at 126 pounds as the Riverhawks finished seventh.  Forest Grove won the team title.

  Stevenson took fifth at the Washington Class 2B Sub-Regional at Ocosta.  The Bulldogs received second place finishes from Gavin Gantner and Soloman Mahoney.

  Goldendale was fifth at the EWAC Championships at Warden.  Bryce Waddell and Victor Canche were second in their weight classes.

  Girls Wrestling

Hood River Valley’s Dulce Najera finished second at 100 pounds and The Dalles’ Maisie Banda-Ramirez was third at 125 pounds in the OSAA Eastern Regional in Prineville to advance to the state tournament.

Goldendale’s Kali Watson and Madison Kiemele finished second in their weight classes at the Washington Class 2B Sub-Regional at Richland.

Hood River Valley High School alum Sean FitzSimons finished 12th in the men’s snowboarding slopestyle final at the Winter Olympics in Bejing.  The 21-year-old FitzSimons…who graduated from Hood River Valley High School in 2019…had a rough day during the finals…going down on a jump on all three of his runs.  FitzSimons had finished third in the qualifying round after having the highest score in the opening run.  Max Parrot of Canada won the gold medal, Su Yiming of China took the silver, and Mark McMorris of Canada the bronze.  FitzSimons will compete again during the Big Air competition.  Qualifying in that event will take place on Friday night Pacific time.