The proposed Treaty Oak Skill Center and campus housing project at Columbia Gorge Community College moved another step closer to reality as the school’s board of education approved moving forward with a $7.6 million bond sale if intergovernmental agreements with the City of The Dalles and Wasco County are approved.  The IGA will outline the use of $3.5 million of enterprise zone money from the Google projects to help pay back the bonds for construction of the skills center at the College.  The College has a seven-point-three million dollar grant from the state for the project, and has committed $3.8 million to construct college housing toward the required match that would be completed with the enterprise zone funds, but the state requires those monies to be in the bank by February 11, and for that to happen the bond sale needs to proceed by January 28.  The subject is on the agenda for Monday’s meeting of The Dalles City Council, and is expected to be discussed by the Wasco County Commission this coming Wednesday.  CGCC Manager of Marketing and Community Outreach Dan Spatz says under the proposed IGA, the school would receive one million dollars a year for bond payback from the enterprise zone funds once the project is completed.

Oregon Second District Congressman Greg Walden will hold town halls in Hood River and The Dalles on January 24.  Walden will be at the Hood River Armory on January 24 at 8 a.m., and then will go to the Oregon Veterans Home in The Dalles later that morning at 10:30 a.m.  Those will be the final pair of 16 town halls Walden will conduct around the Second District between January 18 and 24.  A town hall is also planned in Gilliam County on January 23 at 2:30 p.m. in the Arlington Fire Hall.

Washington 14th District State Representative Gina Mosbrucker will hold a “listening session” on Friday in Goldendale in advance of the upcoming legislative session.  Mosbrucker will provide a preview of the session and take questions from citizens.  The meeting will take place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday at the Quality Inn and Suites’ meeting room on 808 East Simcoe Drive in Goldendale.  For those unable to attend, Mosbrucker can be reached at her Olympia office by calling (360) 786-7856.

Registration for the 2019 Google Wind Challenge is underway.  The sixth annual event that encourages middle and high school students’ interest in science, technology, and wind energy will take place on March 16 at the Fort Dalles Readiness Center.  Teams of middle and high school students learn about wind turbine technology and design, and apply their skills in an all-day competition to build, test and present their wind turbine models to a group of judges.  Prizes are given to the top three high school teams and middle school teams whose wind turbines have the fastest speed for transferring kinetic energy and generate the most electrical power.  Students are welcome to register in teams of three to six students, and schools can register multiple teams.  Teams can register through February 1 at windchallenge.org.

Boys Basketball

Hood River Valley 55, Mac-Hi 43:  Noah Webster scored 18 points and Carson Flores 17 as the Eagles went wire to wire for a victory in their final non-league game of the season.

Dufur 62, South Wasco 46

Sherman 52, St. Paul 42 (at Moda Center in Portland)

Girls Basketball

Seton Catholic 57, Columbia 52

King’s Way Christian 46, Stevenson 34

South Wasco 50, Dufur 26

Wrestling

Ridgeview 39, The Dalles 18

A Skamania County Sheriff’s Deputy helped a Puyallup, Washington woman Tuesday evening whose vehicle had become stuck in snow on a Forest Service Road about ten miles northwest of Trout Lake.  The Sheriff’s Office says the motorist, 30-year-old Maria E. Becerra, had called them at about 5 p.m. requesting assistance.  Becerra told the officer she had been driving home from Bend using her phone to navigate her way back to Puyallup.  Her vehicle had four-wheel drive, but was not equipped with traction tires or chains.  Becerra was taken to the Hood River Warming Shelter.  Law enforcement officials urge drivers not familiar with the area or changing road/weather conditions to not rely on their portable navigation and to consider alternate routes before proceeding, adding this incident could have resulted in a tragedy had it not been for the driver’s ability to receive a weak but effective cellular phone signal.

Klickitat County Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children, or CASA, is looking for volunteers.  The organization, which helps abused and neglected children who find themselves in the court system, currently has a waiting list of 35 children in need of a volunteer to help them.  Klickitat County CASA Program Director Ashley Bryan says volunteers give the child a voice and an advocate for them in court proceedings.  Those who would like to volunteer to be a CASA advocate in Klickitat County can call Bryan at 509-773-2473, or go online to klickitatcountycasa.org.

Tuesday Results

Boys Basketball

Stevenson 83, Castle Rock 74:  Issac Hoidal scored 19 points as Stevenson won its second straight Trico League game.  Four Bulldogs finished in double figures.

LaCenter 95, Columbia 48

Sherman at Horizon Christian, postponed to next Tuesday

Girls Basketball

NPIRE Australia 83, Hood River Valley 46

Boys and Girls Basketball Cancellations

South Wasco at Dufur, postponed to today (girls at 6 p.m., boys at 7:30 p.m.)

Lyle-Wishram at Sunnyside Christian, postponed to tomorrow

The Dalles at Goldendale

In the wake of this past summer’s Substation Fire that burned 80,000 acres of land in Wasco and Sherman counties, Oregon 29th District State Senator Bill Hansell is introducing a package of bills that he thinks will improve firefighting efforts on farmland.  Hansell is sponsoring four bills to provide flexibility in fighting wildfires on agricultural lands and move some previously unprotected land to the jurisdiction of the Oregon State Fire Marshal.  Hansell says Senate Bill 290 would provide civil immunity to people fighting fires in good faith to relieve the worries of farmers about assuming liability for property damage or injuries during firefighting efforts.  Another measure, Senate Bill 311, moves 400,000 acres in Sherman and Wasco counties under the state fire marshal’s umbrella.  The Substation Fire was the one of the largest fires in the country this summer, burning thousands of acres of wheat in the process.

Hood River County Commissioners moved closed to putting a prepared food and beverage tax on the May ballot to help deal with the County’s revenue shortfall, telling staff to prepare an ordinance with a five percent tax rate.  County Administrator Jeff Hecksel says they settled on five areas where funds generated from a prepared food and beverage tax would go, and they are all services that tourists use:  recreational response and search and rescue, environmental health (restaurant and lodging), parks buildings and grounds, recreational trails, and roads.  Commissioners should get a draft ordinance for a prepared food and beverage tax to examine at their January 22 meeting.  More discussion remains on a possible local option levy, as Commissioners continue to seek consensus on a rate and what monies generated would be used for.