The Dalles Police Department will be joining the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and law enforcement nationwide for the Click It or Ticket high-visibility seat belt enforcement campaign starting on Monday and continuing through the end of the month. A statement by the department says they want to remind people that one of the safest choices drivers and passengers can make is to buckle up for short trips and long ones. The right seat belt fit matters, the shoulder belt should lay flat across the middle of your chest and away from your neck. The lap belt should fit across your hips, not your stomach. Never put the shoulder belt behind your back or under your arm. Despite steady increases in observed seat belt use, approximately half of all passenger vehicle deaths are unrestrained. Buckling up helps keep you safe and secure inside your vehicle, whereas not buckling up can result in being totally ejected from the vehicle in a crash, which is almost always deadly.
Author: mbailey
NCPHD Opens Health Vending Machine
North Central Public Health District has opened The Dalles’ first community health and wellness vending machine in partnership with One Community Health. The vending machine, open 24 hours a day outside One Community Health’s clinic in The Dalles at 1040 Webber Street. It’s the first one on the Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge. The health district says the machine is intended to increase access to affordable health and wellness products. The district will fund, maintain, and stock the machine, while One Community Health will house it. The items offered will be dynamic and changing based on community needs and product availability. Currently, the machine offers Naloxone, condom packs, pregnancy tests, menstrual supply packs, and hygiene wipe packs. All of the products offered are free or priced well below retail prices.
May 15 Prep Sports Roundup
Track and Field
Horizon Christian won the boys’ title at the Pilot Rock Invitational. Josiah Roberts, Charlie Haynie, Caleb Caldwell, and the four by 100 meter relay team all had event wins for the Hawks.
Boys Tennis
Hood River Valley’s Judah Caldwell finished fourth in singles at the Northwest Oregon Conference Tournament and advance to the Oregon Class 5A Tournament next weekend.
Girls Tennis
HRV’s Kendall Sales will match up with top-seed Kennedy Harris of LaSalle in the girls’ singles final at the NWOC Tournament, while the Eagles’ Jenna Hager and Poppy Mooney have reached the doubles’ final to face Avalon Donnelly and Kaitlin Carter of LaSalle.
D21 Budget Approved By Committee
The North Wasco County School District 21 budget committee approved a Fiscal Year 2025-26 budget to send the district board for final approval next month. Prior to the approval, interim Chief Financial Officer Randy Anderson outlined for the committee the nine different positions being eliminated, most of which were currently vacant. That includes two middle school teaching positions. Anderson told the committee that’s in response to enrollment that is smaller than it used to be, and both positions were already vacant. Anderson said there was a net reduction of six positions in the district for next year.
Shaniko Wool Receives Award
Shaniko Wool received a Global Trailblazer Award from the Oregon Consular Corps. The Global Trailblazer Award recognizes individuals, companies, and organizations for their contributions to international trade, the Northwest’s economy, and quality of life. This year’s theme highlights how Oregon “punches above its weight” in the sports, outdoor, and recreation sectors. Shaniko Wool founder Jeanne Carver has partnered with Ralph Lauren to make opening ceremony uniforms for USA Olympic teams since 2014, and helped create the world’s first Responsible Wool Standard that ensures the welfare of sheep, the health of the lands they graze, and fair treatment of workers. The Oregon Consular Corps is an organization of career and honorary consular officials who serve or have served as representatives of foreign nations and jurisdictions in Oregon and in the Pacific Northwest. Shaniko Wool received the award at the Consular Corps’ Celebrate Trade Gala Thursday in Portland.
Klickitat County To Start Burn Ban June 2
Klickitat County Commissioners have approved beginning a ban on open outdoor burning throughout the County beginning June 2. The County has three different burn ban zones, but Commissioners decided to start this year’s bans at the same time rather than different dates for each zone. Residential barbecues will be allowed. The public is asked to check with the appropriate authorities concerning burning restrictions within the corporate limits of any city or town. Maps detailing the zone boundaries have been created and are available to view and download on the Klickitat County Department of Emergency Management webpage.
WAGAP Needs Assessment Shows Income Gaps Increasing
Washington Gorge Action Programs has released its 2024 Community Needs Assessment showing while poverty in Klickitat and Skamania counties has been on the decline since 2015, rates are still higher than the rest of the state, and gaps in income inequality are increasing. Administered every three to four years, the assessment updates demographics and tracks information related to the underlying causes of poverty. 711 people participated in Skamania and Klickitat counties. The cost of living was over $110,000 for a family of four with two working adults, notably higher than the median income in either county. Native American poverty levels are consistent in both counties at 25 percent, significantly higher than the county rates. Child poverty level in Klickitat County is at 17 percent, which is ten points higher than in Skamania County. Loneliness was highlighted in the report, with 53 percent of respondents noting that they feel socially isolated or experience loneliness at least some of the time, and 37 percent said they wanted help connecting with others. One alarming statistic is that up to 26 percent of tenth and twelfth-grade students, and 31 percent of sixth-grade students, have seriously considered suicide since 2021. These rates are about five percent higher than the state average.
HR County Children’s MMR Vaccination Rates
The Hood River County Health Department says Measles, Mumps, and Rubella vaccination rates among K-12 students are good, with 97 percent receiving a first dose and 95 percent getting the second. But Communicable Diseases Nurse McKenna Carter says the rate for younger children drops to 92 percent, and while they don’t have specific statistics for adults, a trend toward lower overall vaccination rates is concerning. Department Public Information Officer Daron Ryan says they find most unvaccinated people tend to be gathered together. Both Carter and Ryan urge those with questions about the MMR vaccine to talk with their health care provider, or your local public health department.
May 14 Prep Sports Roundup
Baseball
Wilsonville 24, Hood River Valley 5: The Wildcats scored five runs in the first inning and never looked back as they won their 23rd consecutive game.
The Dalles 11, Estacada 10: The Riverhawks turned a pair of walks to start the bottom of the seventh inning into the game winning runs to maintain first place in the Tri-Valley Conference. Finley Corbin drove in Will Booth to end the game.
Softball
Hood River Valley 3, Wilsonville 2 (8 innings): Grace Rowan and Kenadie Lucas started the top of the eighth inning with base hits, and Addi Van Metre and Isa Rivera brought them home the give the Eagles a series sweep over the Wildcats.
Estacada 8, The Dalles 2: The Rangers scored four runs in the second inning and two in the third to take control.
Southwest Washington Class 1A District First Round at Centralia
Mount Baker 12, Stevenson 1
Kalama 12, Stevenson 2
Hoquiam 11, Columbia 5
Nooksack Valley 16, Columbia 9
Track and Field
Goldendale’s boys finished third and the girls fifth at the EWAC Meet in Granger. The Timberwolves’ Emma Meagher won both the girls’ 800 and 1600 meters while finishing second in the 3200.
Boys Tennis
Judah Caudill of Hood River Valley reached the third place match in singles at the Northwest Oregon Conference Tournament,
Girls Tennis
Hood River Valley’s Kendall Sales advanced to the semi-finals at the NWOC Tournament,
Get Ready For Fire Season
Forecasts for the fire season in the Pacific Northwest are calling for an active year, and that has local officials urging people to start preparing their property now to protect it from fire. Wasco County Commissioner Scott Hege says they are urging people to do that work now rather than later. Hege says the Wasco County Fire Defense Board met this week, and a number of organizations are collaborating to help defend and prevent large conflagrations in the area. He adds a recent meeting of the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s Office and the Oregon Department of Forestry showed both are more organized to respond to emergencies that they have been in the past.