Wasco County Commissioners and The Dalles City Councilors agreed to simply split Strategic Investment Plan funds that will be generated from the construction of two new Google data centers 50-50 while leaving the door open for combining the funds for community projects down the road. City officials noted they have a list of water infrastructure projects they need to address that this money can help, while County Commissioners have been discussing establishing an endowment-style fund with their share. County Commission Chair Steve Kramer noted none of this precludes the two bodies coming together to contribute funds to a worthy community project in the future. This part of funds generated from Google developments that will be paid instead of property taxes when the two new data centers are constructed.
Author: mbailey
November 1-2 Prep Sports Roundup
Football
Glencoe 21, Hood River Valley 7: Glencoe won the Oregon Class 5A Special District 1 title, while HRV will go to Dallas for a first round playoff game on Friday.
Ontario 53, The Dalles 46
Columbia 42, Stevenson 18
Sherman 46, Lyle-Wishram-Klickitat 26: Both teams advance to the state playoffs, with the Huskies heading to Mohawk this weekend and the Cougars going to Union.
Dufur 34, Pilot Rock 0: The Rangers clinched the Class 1A Special District 3 championship, and will host Powder Valley in the first round of the state playoffs.
Goldendale 35, Columbia (Burbank) 12: The Timberwolves will host Lake Roosevelt in a playoff game on Friday.
Saturday Schedule
Oregon Class 4A Volleyball First Round
The Dalles def. Scappoose 25-17, 25-17, 24-26, 25-22: The Riverhawks advance to the final eight in North Bend, where they will face Tri-Valley Conference rival Crook County in the quarter-finals on Friday at 1 p.m.
Oregon Class 1A Volleyball Second Round
Crane def. South Wasco 25-11, 25-18, 25-13
EWAC Volleyball Third Place Game
Warden def. Goldendale 3-1: The Timberwolves face Okanagon for a state tournament bid next Saturday at Quincy.
EWAC Girls Soccer Third Place Game
LaSalle (Yakima) 5, Goldendale 0: The Timberwolves will meet Pateros for a state playoff berth on Wednesday in Ephrata.
Cross Country
Goldendale’s Emma Meagher won the girls’ District 5 Class 2B Championship at Walla Walla Point Park. Meagher’s victory led the Timberwolves to a third place finish to advance to state next week at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco. The Timberwolves finished fifth in the boys’ race, led by Malachi Lawson in 11th.
MCFR Responds To Brush Fire
Mid-Columbia Fire and Rescue crews responded to a brush fire early Sunday afternoon off Dry Creek Road in The Dalles. MCFR officials indicated the fire was roughly three-quarters of an acre in size, and crews were able to knock it down quickly despite high winds. Two brush engines responded to the fire along with a truck from Mosier. Early Saturday morning, MCFR crews dealt with a kitchen fire in the 3300 block of West 7th Street in The Dalles.
Ballot Turnout As Of November 1
Heading into the weekend, ballots continued to return to local election offices. In Hood River County, ballot return had just cracked the 50 percent mark, at 8,429. Wasco County’s return rate was at 46.63%, or 8,784 ballots returned. Both counties were well behind the ballot return pace of 2020. The Washington State Elections Division said 48.35% of ballots had been mailed back in Klickitat County, while Skamania County was at 45.78%.
White Salmon Bluff Trail Meeting November 14
The City of White Salmon will hold its last public stakeholder meeting regarding the White Salmon Bluff Connector Trail Study on November 14. The City has been working with consultants from Harper Houf Peterson Righellis and Columbia West Engineering to explore and develop a trail connection that will span approximately two-tenths of a mile from Highway 14 to Highway 141. This trail will navigate a steep, rocky hillside and pass close to several private properties. At the November meeting, they will review public comments from these events and discuss opportunities and constraints based on existing conditions and feedback. The team will also present “50% Design” preliminary concepts developed by HHPR, which focus on trail alignment, topography, fire mitigation, mobility, and walkability, incorporating stakeholder and public insights. Those concepts will be available for review at whitesalmonwa.gov a week before the meeting. The meeting will be at 5 p.m. at November 14 at the White Salmon City Council chambers.
October 31 Prep Sports Schedule
Volleyball
Stevenson def. Columbia 3-0
EWAC Tournament: River View def. Goldendale 3-2: Goldendale will face Warden on Saturday at 3 p.m. at River View for third place in the EWAC.
Girls Soccer
Columbia 9, Stevenson 0
EWAC Tournament: Cle Elum-Roslyn 5, Goldendale 0: The Timberwolves will play LaSalle of Yakima on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. at Grandview for third place in the conference.
Cross Country
Columbia finished second in the girls’ race and third in the boys’ run at the Southwest Washington Class 1A District Championships at Lewis River Golf Course in Woodland. Lilah Zimmerman was fourth and Kathryn O’Connor fifth for the Bruin girls, while Noah Slayton paced the CHS boys with a sixth place finish. Daisy Jones finished 12th for the Stevenson girls.
Man Indicted On Charges Related To Fatal Crash
A Wasco County grand jury has indicted a man on charges related to a fatal motor vehicle accident on Highway 197 this past summer. The Wasco County District Attorney’s Office says Randall Donn Marshall was indicted on second degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the death of Joshua Thompson, and was also indicted for misdemeanor charges of driving under the influence of intoxicants, reckless driving, and reckless endangering of his passenger. Thompson, who was an employee of Wasco County Water and Soil Conservation District, was driving northbound on Highway 197 on August 24 when Marshall’s southbound vehicle crossed the centerline and struck Thompson’s vehicle head on. Wasco County District Attorney Matthew Ellis says the impact killed Thompson instantly. Ellis added that Marshall was presumed to be under the influence of alcohol when the accident occurred.
Hatchery Steelhead Fishing To Be Open On Columbia
Hatchery steelhead fishing will be open on the Columbia River mainstem from Buoy 10 to the Highway 395 Bridge at Pasco from Friday to the end of the year. While this year’s improved return of approximately 170,000 A-/B-Index summer steelhead passing Bonneville is still below historic averages, it is an improvement over the very low returns since 2016. Based on in-season information, fishery managers were comfortable providing harvest opportunity for hatchery summer steelhead in November and December above The Dalles Dam. The daily adult bag limit in all areas of the mainstem during November and December is two salmon/steelhead, but no more than one may be a Chinook. Any wild coho caught downstream of the Hood River Bridge must be released. With the improved summer steelhead return, the John Day arm closure is also lifted as of Friday, reopening steelhead fishing from the mainline railroad bridge at the mouth upstream to a marker ¼ mile downstream of Tumwater Falls.
October 30 Prep Sports Scoreboard
Oregon Class 1A Volleyball Playoffs
First Round
South Wasco def. Triangle Lake 27-25, 25-11, 25-12: The Redsides advance to visit Crane in round two on Saturday.
St. Paul def. Sherman 25-15, 25-7, 25-11
Cross Country
Hood River Valley’s boys finished second to Wilsonville at the Northwest Oregon Conference Championships at Blue Lake Regional Park to advance to the Oregon Class 5A meet next week in Eugene. Logan King was the top HRV finisher in third, while Kai Wagner was eighth. The Eagle girls finished fourth as a team, with Syl Perrin advancing to state with a seventh place individual finish.
The Dalles won the girls portion of the Tri-Valley Conference Championships at McIver State Park, holding off Crook County. Alana Casady was the top Riverhawk finisher in fourth, while Abigail Pope was sixth and Kestley Hodges 10th. The Dalles boys also advanced to the state 4A meet with a second place finish behind Crook County. Tyson Long was second individually, with Caleb Caldwell fourth and Trey Hodges sixth.
Skamania County Deals With Three Rescue Calls In 12 Hours; One Fatal
In less than 12 hours Sunday evening and Monday morning, the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office dealt with three search and rescue calls that required extensive personnel and time to complete, with one resulting in a fatality. On Sunday evening the Skamania County Communication Center received information of two hikers in need of assistance near Norway Pass, northeast of Mount Saint Helens, one of who had suffered a medical event in adverse weather. The Volcano Rescue Team could not reach the pair until they were located the next day with aerial assistance, but the male hiker was located deceased while the female reporting party survived and was taken to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver. About an hour before there was a report of a lost mushroom picker northeast of Carson who was found and returned safely to his vehicle after a four-hour search. The third call was early Monday morning, when a motorcyclist reported being stuck southeast of Lookout Mountain and too exhausted and cold to continue. Search crews were able to reach the rider in rugged terrain later that day and assist him out of the area. The rider did not require any medical attention.