The Hood River County School District Board is hosting open forums over the next two days as the search process for a new superintendent is underway.  One forum will take place from 7 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. this evening (March 14) in the Hood River County School District boardroom, with a second in the boardroom tomorrow morning (March 15) from 8 a.m. to 9:15 a.m.  There will be a third tomorrow evening from 7 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. in the Mid-Valley Elementary School cafeteria.  There is also an online survey in both English and Spanish for those who cannot attend the forum that will close Saturday at 8 a.m.  It is available at hoodriver.k12.or.us.  The deadline for candidates to apply is March 31, with the district board looking to hire the new superintendent in time for next school year.

Softball

The Dalles 30, Milwaukie 1

Girls Lacrosse

Hood River Valley 16, Clackamas 8:  Kathryn Koenig scored four goals for HRV, while Emma Norris had two goals and three assists.

The sixth annual Google Wind Challenge takes place on Saturday at the Fort Dalles Readiness Center.  Teams of middle and high schools students will compete to design and build the strongest and fastest wind turbine.  Jessica Metta of the Gorge Technology Alliance says there will also be a STEM Fair at the challenge that will provide a number of hands-on opportunities, including Google’s Tiltbrush, where with a virtual reality viewer a person can paint in a 3-D space.  The Gorge STEM Hub will have the tower challenge on site, Columbia Gorge Community College will have a booth for building mini-turbines, and area high school robotics clubs will take part.  The STEM Fair runs from noon to 3 p.m. on Saturday, while the Wind Challenge will be from eight to four at the Fort Dalles Readiness Center.

It’s a bit later than usual, but flu season is peaking in the region.  McKenna Carter of the Hood River County Health Department says more people are visiting emergency rooms with flu symptoms than earlier in the winter.  She adds it is not too late to get a flu shot if you haven’t done so.  Carter pointed out that even though flu season is peaking a bit late this year, it is not uncommon for that to happen, as flu season took a similar pattern in 2016.

By a 4-2 vote, the Hood River City Council voted to approve changing the zoning for 2.76 acres of Lot 700 within Morrison Park for use as an affordable housing project, setting aside 45 percent for park and public facilities.  The Council made the decision at the conclusion of four hours of public hearing and deliberation of a remand of the panel’s original approval to change the zoning for just over five acres after the Oregon Court of Appeals found it did not meet a policy in the city’s comprehensive land use plan that calls for existing park sites to be protected from incompatible uses.  Before making the motion to approve, Councilor Kate McBride said housing was compatible with parks because it makes them more accessible to more people.  Erick Haynie and Tim Counihan voted no, with Haynie saying the “existing park sites” language in the comp plan, and Morrison Park’s inclusion on a list of city parks in the plan, led to his decision.  The Council vote came after a lengthy hearing that saw nearly everyone who testified calling for the park to be preserved as is.  The decision is subject to appeal to the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals.

Wasco County continues to move forward toward take over building code services by July 1.  County Commissioner Steve Kramer says they are on track, and the state of Oregon is assisting in the process.  Kramer says they have applications out for all the positions, and hope to have permit technicians hired shortly.  Kramer added fellow commissioner Scott Hege has been holding discussions with officials from Sherman, Gilliam, and Wheeler counties about whether they will contract for their building code services with Wasco County.  Mid-Columbia Council of Governments had handled that task for the four counties before that agency was dissolved last year.

As the Washington Legislature reaches the later portion of its session, how school districts that have been hurt by the funding changes created in the wake of the McCleary decision can be helped remains unclear.  Republican 14th District Representative Gina Mosbrucker says there have been a few bills introduced but haven’t gotten a lot of traction.  She is hoping the answers come as the budget develops.  Mosbrucker believes the state has sufficient funds to backfill the district to hold them harmless until the school funding process established in 2018 can be fully put into place.

Hood River County will be embarking on a review of its charter in the near future.  County Commission Chair Mike Oates says the charter itself calls for a review every ten years, and the County has just passed that mark.  Oates says it’s not a complicated document to go through.  He expects a committee of eight to ten people will be put together to go through the charter, and perhaps compare it to similar counties.  In other business, the County announced it will hold the public hearing next week on the two proposed revenue measures the Commission is planning to place on the May 21 ballot at the Wy’east Middle School Performing Arts Center in Odell.  It will take place next Monday night (March 18) at 6 p.m.

GorgeWorks reports it received plenty of applications for its summer internship program at area businesses.  Port of The Dalles Executive Director Andrea Klaas says they had 50 applications submitted for the program’s second year.  The applicants will be sent to the different business involved for their interviews.  Klaas says they have a variety of ages who have applied, adding this year they have a number of veterans in the mix.

Both the Hood River and The Dalles City Councils will be meeting tonight (March 11).  The Hood River Council meeting is highlighted by a public hearing on the Oregon Court of Appeals remand of the City’s attempt to rezone the Morrison Park property to allow for construction of an affordable housing development on a portion of the land.  The Court of Appeals sent the decision back for the Council to interpret how Goal 8 from the municipal comprehensive land use plan, which calls for satisfaction of the recreational needs of both residents and visitors, applies to the rezone.  The specific policy in question under the goal calls for existing park sites to be protected from incompatible uses.  In its original decision, the Council concluded the policy was susceptible to more than one interpretation or meaning.  The meeting begins at 6 p.m. in Hood River City Hall.  The Dalles City Council has a very light agenda for its meeting that begins at 5:30 in The Dalles City Hall.