Columbia Gorge Community College has partnered with WorkSource Oregon for an on-the-job training program to help businesses offset the cost of hiring and training new employees.  Teresa Cummings of CGCC says the federally funded program is fairly simple, and it’s easy for the employer to qualify.  Employers simply have contact WorkSource, then the agency handles the paperwork and set out the training plan.  One key component is the on-the-job training contract must be established prior to the first day of work.  For information on the program, contact WorkSource in The Dalles at 541-296-5435 or in Hood River at 541-386-6300.

The Hood River-White Salmon Interstate Bridge will be closed to all vehicle traffic for several nights in April for replacement of the lift span motors.  The work requires a large crane lift of heavy equipment to the top of both lift span towers.  The bridge will be closed between the hours of 9:30 p.m. and 5 a.m. on the nights April 9, 10, 17, and 29th.  Related work will also require some intermittent daytime closures on certain dates in April.  On April 3 and 4 there will be intermittent daytime single lane closures from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. with expected delays of 20 to 30 minutes and flaggers on the bridge directing traffic.  On April 25 and 26 there will be intermittent full bridge closures and span lifts from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. with delays of 30 to 40 minutes, plus flaggers and lift span gates to control traffic.

Oregon 30th District Senator Cliff Bentz has been appointed to serve on the Oregon Cultural Trust Board of Directors.  Bentz will be one of the two non-voting ex officio members from the Legislature on the board.  Bentz was appointed to the District 30 Senate seat after ten years representing District 60 in the House.  He currently serves on the Joint Committee on Carbon Reduction, Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee and Senate Judiciary Committee, as well as several work groups and task forces.  

Baseball

Royal (CA) 17, Hood River Valley 1:  Royal scored 11 runs in the fourth inning to hand the Eagles a loss in the final game of their Southern California trip.

Crossroads (CA) 17, The Dalles 3

Softball

Hood River Valley 13, Canby 1:  Makenzie Chambers and Aunika Yasui both went 2 for 3 with 3 runs batted in to lead the Eagles to the win in Orange County.

Santa Margarita (CA) 3, Hood River Valley 2

White Swan sweeps Lyle-Wishram 20-2 and 17-10

Baseball

The Dalles 9, Littleton (CO) 8, 9 innings:  The Riverhawks win their first game of the season at the Pride Classic in Arizona.

El Toro (CA) 2, Hood River Valley 0

Columbia sweeps Castle Rock 14-4 and 6-5

Castle Rock sweeps Stevenson 10-0 and 12-0

Sherman 15, Riverside 3

Softball

Diamond Bar (CA) 8, Hood River Valley 6:  The Eagles lose their first game at the Savanna Showcase.  Makenzie Chambers went 3 for 4 and drove in four runs for the Eagles.

LaCenter sweeps Stevenson 15-0 and 26-0

Goldendale sweeps Wapato 9-6 and 13-10

Boys Soccer

Columbia 6, Stevenson 0

Searchers have been unable to locate a man missing and presumed drowned in Wasco County’s Pine Hollow Reservoir.  The Wasco County Sheriff’s Office says two men flipped a canoe in the reservoir Sunday evening.  One made it to shore, but the second man identified as 22-year-old Christopher Berry did not.  Search crews used boats, sonar, dive teams, and air assets Sunday night and Monday to try to locate Berry, but he has not been located in part due to the large search area and poor visibility in the water.  The active search has been suspended, and the Wasco County Sheriff’s Office asks that anyone with information on Berry or locates him to call 541-296-5454.

The Dalles City Council voted on Monday night to authorize proceeding with the next phase of the First Street/Riverfront Connection project to complete plans, specifications, and estimates, restarting a project that was put on hold in 2015.  The portion that will be revived runs from Union Street to Laughlin Street, with the Council concurring with a Columbia Gateway Urban Renewal Agency not to proceed with an easterly expansion from Laughlin to Madison.  The Council also agreed with refining a proposed alignment for a Mill Creek Trail connection, and working with the Northern Wasco Parks and Recreation District on writing a letter of intent for an application to the state’s recreational trails grant program.  The City has over one-point-two million dollars in federal funding plus three-point-six million dollars from 2008 bond proceeds to use on the project.  If the City did not proceed, it would have to return the federal dollars plus reimburse 400-thousand dollars already spent on the project.

Baseball

Hood River Valley 6, Reed (NV) 5, 8 innings:  Ryan Gray singled home Grayson Losee with the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning as HRV came from behind for the win.   Hood River had tied the game with four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning,  thanks in part to a two-run single by Caden Leiblien and a sacrifice fly by Brandon Smiley.  The Eagles moved their record at the Anaheim, California Lions Tournament to 1-1, and their season record to 3-2 by snapping a two-game losing streak.  Up next for the Eagles today is perennial Southern California powerhouse El Toro, which counts among its alumni Gold Glove third basemen Nolan Arenado and Matt Chapman.

Mayfield (OH) 16, The Dalles 0

Track and Field

Stevenson’s boys won by less than a point over Columbia, while CHS won the girls’ competition at a five-school meet at King’s Way Christian.  Liz Fink of Trout Lake won three events, while Columbia’s Chandlor Bucklin and Margo Mayo, Stevenson’s Lincoln Krog and Isabella Spencer, and Trout Lake’s Micah Gibson won two events apiece.

The Wasco County District Attorney’s Office has concluded a police officer was justified when he used deadly force while responding to reports of a 77-year-old man in The Dalles firing weapons at a neighbor’s house.  In a report released Monday afternoon, it was announced District Attorney Eric Nisley will not convene a grand jury to review the death of James Virl Young.  An investigation found Young fired at The Dalles Police, Oregon State Police, and Wasco County Sheriff’s officers when they arrived at his home on East 10th Street late in the evening on March 16 and found him continuing to fire shots.  Officers took cover and yelled multiple times for Young to put the rifle down, but he continued to yell at them and fired his weapon multiple times at the direction of the officers, and when one officer observed Young raising his rifle back up towards them he fired twice, fatally wounding the man.  The report shows information from family members and neighbors made it apparent Young suffered from mental illness, and his actions were either caused or a result of that.  A neighbor heard noises and observed Young shooting his gun at the house, and when he told Young to stop Young pointed a rifle at him, at which point the neighbor moved away from the window and called 9-1-1.  Investigators later found multiple shots had been fired into the kitchen area of the neighbor’s home, and recovered from Young’s porch two rifles and multiple shell casings along with bullet fragments from various locations.

White Salmon Mayor David Poucher says he will not seek re-election this fall.  Poucher is in his 12th year in the position, and said in a statement to local media that “it was time to pass the baton to another person.”  Poucher said his goals when he first took office were to end the water moratorium the state had imposed on the City, stabilize and increase municipal water rights so White Salmon could grow, and increase the production of water to supply the needs of citizens.  He says those were accomplished in a way that included listening to all residents.  Anyone who wants to run for Mayor in White Salmon will be able to file with the Klickitat County Auditor the week of May 13.