The body of the pilot of an aircraft that crashed on Mount Hood was recovered Wednesday morning.  A team made up of members of the Hood River Crag Rats, Oregon Air National Guard’s 125th Special Tactics Squadron and the Air Force Reserve 304th Rescue Squadron confirmed the pilot was the sole occupant and were taking the body to the Cloud Cap Inn for transport to Hood River.  The plane was discovered by Civil Air Patrol in the area of Eliot Glacier Tuesday afternoon.  The pilot is suspected to be 63-year-old George Regis of Battle Ground, who was reported missing after flying out of the Camas airfield on Friday intending to go to Arizona.  Air crews confirmed the tail number of the downed plane as belonging to Regis’ aircraft.  Hughes says recovery of the aircraft will take place at a later date.

The Port of Hood River’s online survey on replacing the Hood River-White Salmon Interstate Bridge continues through January 31.  Port Bridge Replacement Director Kevin Greenwood says the survey is set up to ask responders if they are still in general agreement with the concept for a new bridge developed in 2011.  The survey is at bit.ly/HoodRiverBridge.  Fact sheets and information about the bridge replacement project are available at portofhoodriver.com

Boys Basketball

Sherman 70, Horizon Christian 56:  The Huskies take over first place in the Big Sky after both teams entered the game 10-0 in league play.  They meet again next Wednesday in Hood River.

The Dalles 71, Goldendale  70

Dufur 72, South Wasco 41

Yakama Tribal 65, Klickitat-Glenwood 36

Girls Basketball

The Dalles 56, Goldendale 30:  The Riverhawks jumped out to a 22-6 lead in the first quarter.  Kilee Hoylman led The Dalles with 13 points.

LaCenter 69, Stevenson 37:   The Wildcats moved past the Bulldogs into second place in the Trico League.

King’s Way Christian 57, Columbia 39

South Wasco 50, Dufur 36:  The Redsides stay even with Ione atop the Big Sky.

Yakama Tribal 76, Klickitat-Glenwood 43

The Hood River County Commission reached a consensus on a rate for a five-year local option levy during its goal-setting retreat over the weekend.  Commissioners settled on a rate of 89 cents per thousand dollars of assessed property value.  Commission Chair Mike Oates says in combination with a five percent prepared food and beverage tax that is also expected to be on the May ballot, this would allow the County to fill their budget gap and begin to catch-up on capital needs like vehicle replacement.  The Commission still has a number of details and public processes to work through before putting the tax measures on the ballot.  The deadline for the County to file is March 21.

The Dalles City Council talked for nearly an hour about street maintenance plans, most notably over how to design and reconstruct over 16-hundred sidewalk ramps to meet federal American With Disabilities Act requirements.  Mayor Rich Mays says even if spread over 30 years the work will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, and there remains the need to continue to do street maintenance that the City has been trying to get to for a number of years.  Councilors indicated they do not want to seek additional revenue measures to deal with the issue.  A worksession on the topic was scheduled for February 13.

Skyline Hospital officials told attendees at a public forum in White Salmon on Monday night that they have engaged in discussions with four non-profit hospital groups about a potential affiliation.  Skyline CEO Robb Kimmes says they have reached out to PeaceHealth, Providence, Oregon Health Sciences University, and Virginia Mason hospital systems after the Skyline board decided last summer to explore an affiliation or partnership, and are waiting to receive proposals from them.  Kimmes told those in attendance the rapid changes in the health care industry make it challenging for rural hospitals to remain independent.  Kimmes said the board put together a lengthy priority list for any affiliation agreement that includes long-term sustainability, growing and adding services and market share, and finding a good cultural fit that would benefit the community.  Board chair Les Dewey said they wouldn’t agree to shrinking.  Formal proposals are expected to be received this spring, and then the hospital board would pick one to enter into a non-binding agreement to negotiate, and Kimmes emphasized nothing would be final until a formal deal was reached.

The Skamania County Sheriff’s Office says an autopsy conducted over the weekend on a body found off a forest road about seven miles east of Cougar revealed the cause of death to have been homicidal violence.  The Sheriff’s Office says a preliminary identification of the body, an adult male, has been made but will not be released until next of kin can be located and identified.  The body was found on Thursday after the Sheriff’s Office received a call about “suspicious circumstances” in the area of Forest Road 83.  The Sheriff’s Office does not believe there is any danger or threat to recreationalist visiting the Ape Cave or other recreation sites in the area.  Any person who was in the area of Ape Cave and Marble Mountain on or around January 23 and saw any suspicious activity is asked to contact detectives with the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office. 

A recently established committee to study downtown parking in Hood River will be entering into a new phase this week.  City Manager Rachel Fuller says the group made up of City Council and downtown business representatives will use parking counts done at various times last year to study the issue further.  The counts will serve as baseline data, and the next step is to figure out what to do based on constraints found through those results.  Fuller says the committee hopes to have policy recommendations by the fall.

Klickitat County has launched a project to create a multi-hazard mitigation plan for the County.  Klickitat County has retained consultant Northwest Management to provide risk assessments, hazard mapping, field inspections, interviews, and to collaborate with the planning team for creation of the actual plan.  County Commissioner Jim Sizemore says the plan would deal with a range of potential disasters.  The committee involved in developing the plan includes representatives from local communities, non-profit organizations, rural and wildland fire districts, law enforcement, Washington Department of Natural Resources, and others.  The project is being funded in part by a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Hood River Fire & EMS is beginning to utilize geographic information systems as a strategic tool to help preserve property, natural resources, and lives.  GIS will help Hood River firefighters in planning strategic response to fires and developing tactical actions for specific buildings.  It will also allow firefighters to be able to share and view information to and from other county and state resources.  Hood River Fire Chief Leonard Damian says because their mission is location dependent, GIS has emerged as an important information platform to improve firefighter response and safety.