Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced Thursday the East Fork Irrigation District Modernization Project is one of three projects in Oregon that will receive funding under the recently implemented Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.  Ag Department officials say modernizing the East Fork Irrigation District infrastructure will conserve water, reduce energy use, improve reliability, increase public safety, and enhance fish and wildlife habitat in the Hood River watershed.  Funds will go towards design of high-priority laterals and the Dukes Valley Canal.  The funding comes from a pair of programs:  the Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations Program and the Watershed Rehabilitation Program.  A specific dollar amount for the East Fork project was not announced, but over $2.7 million dollars is being invested in the three Oregon projects, with the others in Tumalo and Owyhee irrigation districts.

After a three-year absence, the Northwest Cherry Festival is back this weekend.  The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce CEO Lisa Farquharson says they have all the elements people expect from the festival.  The Rainier Amusements Carnival will be open on First Street in The Dalles, while the Open-Air Market opens at 4 p.m Friday, and the Pit Party will be on the Columbia Gorge Toyota Entertainment Stage from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday.  The usual full schedule of events takes place Saturday, including the Tonkin Subaru Cherry Festival Parade at 10 a.m.  A Cherry Festival guide can be downloaded at Gorgeradio.com.  

The Bingen-White Salmon Community Cleanup is Friday and Saturday, headquartered at the Bingen Maintenance Yard at the Maple Street and East Marina Way entrance to the Klickitat Port area.  Tammara Tippell of the Mt. Adams Chamber of Commerce says it’s a community effort, with a focus on recycling.  The drop-off site will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days.  For complete information, go to WACommunityCleanup on Facebook.  

The Gorge Artists Open Studios Tour is this weekend, with participating artists from Stevenson to The Dalles opening their studios to visitors.  Ted Owen of Gorge Artists says there is tremendous talent throughout the Gorge, and it will be on display throughout out the weekend.  The over 30 studios participating in the tour will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today through Sunday.  For a tour map go to gorgeartists.org.

The City of Hood River will hold an open house this evening and Saturday to take input on alternatives for the 12th and 13th Streets in the Heights Streetscapes project.  The project team will be on hand with materials for the public to view, as they look to develop a recommended alternative this summer.  City Planning Director Dustin Nilson says the focus is on the main business area between Belmont and May, and is a key part of the Heights Urban Renewal District.  The open house will run from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. this evening, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday.  An online survey is available at cityofhoodriver.gov.

With the return of spring and warmer, dry weather, work to construct a new Satus Creek Bridge on Highway 97, located between Indian Service Road and Wilson Charley Road in Klickitat County, is set to restart next week.  The Washington State Department of Transportation says work will continue on Wednesday to replace the existing two-lane concrete slab bridge with a new wider concrete structure that will meet current bridge standards and removes the existing freight traffic weight restriction.  Because bridge construction work is weather dependent, this project was paused in late fall 2021, until dry, warmer weather returned.  Travelers should expect intermittent single-lane closures Mondays through Thursdays from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., with potential delays up to 20 minutes.  Travelers should anticipate the delays to continue through fall 2022.  

Softball

Pendleton 14, The Dalles 1: The Buckaroos scored all of their runs in the final three innings to complete a sweep of the three-game series. Keilani Crichton-Tunai hit a home run in the third inning for the Riverhawks.

Toutle Lake 10, Stevenson 0

Track and Field

Aaron Smith of Lyle-Wishram won four different events at the Mt. Adams Invitational in Glenwood. Smith took first in the boys’ 300 meter hurdles, long jump, triple jump, and javelin. In the girls’ portion of the meet, Julie Hull and Holly Miles of South Wasco each won three events.

Girls Lacrosse

Lincoln 15, Hood River Valley 8

Baseball

Seton Catholic 6, Stevenson 3

  Track and Field

Hood River Valley’s Simone Tillman won three events, while Zoe Dunn of The Dalles and Ashley Bailey of Dufur won two apiece in a seven-school meet at Henderson Stadium.

Jessica Polkinghorn swept the throws as Columbia’s girls won a five-school meet at LaCenter.  Chanele Reyes and Ella Zimmerman won the hurdles races for the Bruins.  In the boys portion of the meet, Calvin Andrews took first in the 300 meter hurdles.

Wasco County Commissioners voted to approve a multi-governmental agreement on distribution of Community Service Fees that will be due from Google when it constructs new data centers on former aluminum plant property as agreed to in a Strategic Improvement Plan.  The agreement calls for the payments to be divided between the taxing districts involved based on each jurisdiction’s proportionate share of their non-debt tax levy or levies in the current tax year.  But County Administrator Tyler Stone noted that negotiations did lead to including North Wasco County School District 21, which by state regulations on Strategic Investment Plans was not required to be a part of the disbursement.  D-21 will receive a 30 percent share, which Stone said he hopes the district can use the dollars to leverage a future bond measure.  Mid-Columbia Fire and Rescue and the Wasco County Library District approved the agreement this week, with other agencies to follow, including The Dalles City Council, which will address it at their Monday meeting.  Payments do not begin until the projects are completed.

Deputy Oregon state epidemiologist Dr. Tom Jeanne said a press conference today that COVID-19 cases are showing a steady rise in large part due to the BA.2 variant and the lifting of mask requirements, but he also said any peak will be substantially lower than seen with Delta or Omicron variants.  Jeanne says that’s because the state is in a much different situation than a year ago, with a large part of the state vaccinated.  He added Oregon Health Sciences University modeling at this time projects only a slight increase in hospitalizations.  Jeanne also said the proportion of cases reported has likely declined in recent weeks with the wide-spread availability of in-home testing.