Oregon State University Extension and the Hood River Library are partnering to provide loans of food preservation equipment.  Lauren Kraemer says they have about 15 to 20 pieces of equipment that will be available through the program.  Kraemer says the library will catalog the equipment, and there will be a display ready in about the next week, and people will be able to look from home on the library’s website to see what is available.  The equipment is available to residents throughout the region, but Kraemer says she would like to set up a similar program in Wasco County in the future.

The City of The Dalles is asking citizens to make a special effort to prevent unsightly damage to street trees that have low hanging branches.   The Dalles Municipal Code requires all trees growing near a sidewalk, street, or alley to be trimmed so the limbs and branches are not less than nine feet above the sidewalk and 14 feet above the street, allowing safe passage for pedestrians and large vehicles.  Trimming before a collision breaks branches is healthier for trees.  Tree trimming also prevents damage to tall vehicles like recreational vehicles, garbage trucks and school buses.

A Hood River County School District board member has resigned, citing his actions at a recent town hall conducted by Oregon Second District Congressman Greg Walden.  Benjamin Sheppard submitted his resignation from position 2 on the school district board on Tuesday.  In his resignation letter, Sheppard said his actions at the town hall were well-intentioned, but had “imperiled the integrity of the school board.”  In the letter he also said he extended a “sincere and heartfelt apology to the school board members, superintendent, employees, and students of the Hood River County School District.  District officials say they hope to fill the vacancy at their April 24 meeting.  Applications are available at the district’s website, with a deadline to file of April 17 at 4 p.m.  Position 2 represents much of the Westside area.

Oregon Senator Ron Wyden pressed Energy Secretary Rick Perry on the Trump Administration’s latest proposal to sell the Bonneville Power Administration and its assets.  In an exchange during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing, Wyden called privatizing Bonneville “garden variety robbery for families in the Northwest” and Perry said he expects it to end up with the same result as previous proposals, with Congress removing it from the budget.  This is third time the Trump Administration has proposed privatizing the BPA, the Southwestern Power Administration in Oklahoma, the Western Area Power Administration in Colorado, and the Tennessee Valley Authority.  Previous attempts have been met by a strong opposition in Congress on both sides of the aisle.

The curtain raises on the 43rd Annual Mid-Columbia Lions Follies this weekend.  The theme of this year’s show is “That’s Country,” and Clinton Curtis plays the director of the “show within the show,” putting together a country music revue.  This year’s show will once again benefit the Oregon Lions Sight and Hearing Foundation, and also the Megan Perkins Scholarship Fund.  Shows will be this Friday and Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m., and then next Thursday through Saturday nights at 7:30 p.m., all at the Hood River Middle School Auditorium.  Tickets are $9 for adults and $7 for children in advance, and are available at Studio 10, Mid-Valley Market, Windmaster Market, Key Bank, Postal Annex, Waucoma Bookstore, Tallman Ladders, Columbia Bank, Klindt’s Bookstore, and any local Lions Club member.  At the door tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for children.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will begin implementing its 2019 Fish Operations Plan at lower Columbia River dams next Wednesday.  Officials say the spring spill at the dams in 2019 will look different than previous years, as the Corps begins implementation of 24-hour flexible spill operations to support downstream juvenile fish passage.  Corps’ Northwestern Division senior fish program manager Tim Dykstra says this will help determine whether spill for juvenile fish passage further improves their survival and increase adult returns.  The most recent water supply forecast for 2019 issued by the Northwest River Forecast Center for the Columbia River Basin is 84 percent of normal as measured at The Dalles Dam.  River users, especially anglers, are reminded to be mindful of conditions and to always wear a personal flotation device when on or near the river.  Boaters should expect spill to create unusual currents, eddies and turbulent conditions, particularly immediately downstream of the dams and near navigation locks.

Baseball

Bend 6, Hood River Valley 1

Sherman 18, The Dalles JV 13

Softball

Reynolds 11, The Dalles 5

Girls Lacrosse

Jesuit 14, Hood River Valley 10

Hood River County Chamber of Commerce executive director Michael Glover says there is “a very strong possibility” that the Roy Webster Columbia River Cross Channel Swim will be moved from Hood River to Cascade Locks.  Making the statement on Bicoastal Media’s Mid-Columbia Today program Monday morning, Glover says a decision has to be made by May 1 when entries for the Labor Day event will open to the general public, and he put the chance of the move at “80 percent.”  Glover said talks with the Best Western Plus Hood River Inn, where the finish line is located in Hood River, have not resulted in an agreement, primarily due to the Inn wanting a breakfast included in connection with the swim.  Hood River Inn General Manager Chuck Hinman says they’ve asked for that to be included for a number of years, citing people coming into the Inn’s restaurant and occupying tables until family members are done with the swim, and then the hotel can’t get its guests in for breakfast.  Glover says they’ve looked at other possible sites in Hood River but the way the river channel runs through the town does not allow the Sternwheeler Columbia Gorge to drop off swimmers at other locations.  He adds they believe the swim would have more economic impact in Cascade Locks than in Hood River, and also said this is not a decision that “we took on lightly.”  The swim has taken place nearly every Labor Day in Hood River since the late 1940’s, but has not happened the last two years due to the Eagle Creek Fire in 2017 and high winds in 2018.

As the Hood River County Commission prepares to once again discuss its Short-Term Rentals Ordinance at their meeting in two weeks, another factor has entered into the discussion.  Interim Community Development Director Eric Walker talked to Commissioners at a worksession on Monday about a state law that limits the ability to grandfather existing uses on resource lands zoned exclusive farm use and forestlands.  It requires someone to actually live in the home in question to be eligible.  Commissioner Bob Benton asked Walker if there was another way to address the issue, perhaps through some kind of wind-down plan, rather than through the STR ordinance.  Walker said he was unsure how that could be done.  The Commission will talk about the STR ordinance again at their April 15 meeting.

There will be intermittent daytime single lane closures Wednesday and Thursday on the Hood River-White Salmon Interstate Bridge.  The Port of Hood River says the closures will take place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days, and delays of 20 to 30 minutes should be expected during those times.  It’s the first in a series of closures as the crews replace the lift span motors.  That will include some overnight full closures later in the month.  For a complete schedule of bridge delays and closures, go to portofhoodriver.com.