Boys Basketball Stevenson 80, Columbia 49:  Issac Hoidal scored 30 points to lead the Bulldogs to the Trico League-opening win.  Trenton Howard topped Columbia with 16.   Swimming The Hood River Valley girls defeated Gresham 124-42 at the Hood River Aquatic Center.  Sarah Arpag, Celilo Brun, and Faith Ocheskey all won multiple events for Hood River.  The Eagle boys lost to Gresham 94-64.  Chad Klaas won multiple races for HRV.   Boys Wrestling LaCenter 50, Stevenson 21 LaCenter 68, Columbia 6

Dr. Serene Perkins Thursday began serving as Mid-Columbia Medical Center’s chief medical officer.  Prior to joining MCMC, Dr. Perkins served multiple roles at Legacy Health in Portland, including director of Surgical and Clinical Research at Legacy Research Institute, co-director of the institute’s Cancer Research Initiative, director of the Legacy Institute for Surgical Education and Innovation, and program director of the Legacy Tumor Bank.  Dr. Perkins is also the founder and director of the Surgeon’s Consortium for the Advancement of Leadership, Peace and Education through Laparoscopy, or SCALPEL, a nonprofit that promotes international collaboration in surgical education.  Board certified in general surgery, Dr. Perkins received her M.D. at The Chicago Medical School and completed her residency in general surgery at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia and Fairview Hospital/Cleveland Clinic Health Systems.  She completed fellowships in molecular genetics and cell and tissue transplantation at A.I. DuPont Hospital for Children, and hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgical oncology and organ transplantation at the University of Toronto.

The East Oregonian says a man formerly from White Salmon has died after he was struck by a railroad train in Pendleton.  24-year-old Angel Murillo, who was living in Pendleton, died in the Tuesday morning accident.  The East Oregonian reports Murillo was a cowboy and worked at a western store as a hat shaper and saddle maker.  Pendleton Police Lt. Tony Nelson said the fatal accident occurred about 1:40 a.m. Tuesday. Nelson says the engineer placed the 136-car train into emergency stop mode when they spotted a person lying between the rails.  But he says the train could not stop before striking Murillo.  Police are calling the case an accident.

With winter, bald eagles and other raptors have made their annual arrival to the area around The Dalles Lock and Dam.   Park ranger Amber Tilton explains the eagles return every winter as the Columbia River provides a good source of fish, and the area is secluded, quiet, and dark, leaving the birds undisturbed.  The dam’s Seufert Park is open daily from dawn to dusk, and The Dalles Lock and Dam Visitors Center is open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.  The annual Eagle Watch event will take place on Saturday, January 19.  Tilton notes operations at The Dalles Lock and Dam continue in spite of the partial federal government shutdown, as the Army Corps of Engineers is a part of the Defense Department.

Oregon Senator Ron Wyden has introduced a bill requiring sitting presidents and presidential nominees to release their tax returns to the public.  Wyden first introduced the legislation in May 2016 after then-presidential candidate Donald Trump would not release his tax returns.   The U.S. tax code grants the Chairman of the Finance Committee and the Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee authority to obtain the president’s tax returns from the Treasury Department, and House Democrats reportedly plan to use this authority to demand Trump’s tax returns, but Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has not said whether he would comply.  The Presidential Tax Transparency Act would require sitting presidents to release their most recent 3 years of tax returns to the Office of Government Ethics and requires candidates to release returns within 15 days of becoming the nominee at a party convention to the Federal Election Commission.  If the sitting president or future candidates refuse to comply, the Treasury Secretary will be required to provide the returns for public release.

Boys Basketball St. Helens 64, Hood River Valley 45:  The Eagles fall to .500 on the year at 5-5 with the loss after having won two straight to end December.

With the New Year, the Next Door’s youth mentoring programs became Gorge Youth Mentoring.  The programs had previously been known as Big Brothers Big Sisters and Mentor 4 Success, but the Next Door decided to leave Big Brothers Big Sisters after determining they could no longer meet the financial requirements of the national organization to use that name.  Justine Ziegler of the Next Door says streamlining to one locally based program should allow them to better use their resources.  Now there will only be one application process, with Gorge Youth Mentoring matching youngsters in all age ranges with adult mentors.

A number of different governmental agencies in Hood River, Klickitat, and Wasco counties are being invited to take part in a “poverty simulation” this spring.  Belinda Ballah of the Hood River County Prevention Department says her office received a grant to help in the planning for bringing the simulation to the area.  Ballah says the simulation session takes about four hours in total, and she hopes the counties both individually and together can come up with ways to help those dealing with poverty access the services they need in a better and simpler manner.  Exact dates for each of the simulation sessions in each county are still being set.  Those that would like to take part can call the Hood River County Prevention Department at 541-386-2500.

In an effort to tackle the affordable housing crisis, Oregon could end single-family zoning this legislative session.   Oregon would be the first state to do so if lawmakers who support the idea succeed.  Willamette Week reports Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek is drafting legislation that requires cities with more than 10,000 residents to allow up to four homes to be built on parcels currently zoned exclusively for single-family housing.  1000 Friends of Oregon deputy director Mary Kyle McCurdy says such a proposal could meet the needs of more Oregon families in the places where affordability is an issue.  In December, Minneapolis became the first major city to eliminate single-family zoning.  Portland is considering a similar plan.  The city has the fourth-highest percentage of single-family home occupancy in the nation.

Boys Basketball The Dalles 52, Crescent Valley 50:  Josh Nisbet’s game winner at the buzzer got the Riverhawks past the Raiders.  Nisbet scored 20 points, while Jacob Hernandez finished with 13. Hood River Valley 75, Centennial 68 Horizon Christian 42, Joseph 31 Dufur 78, Echo 49 North Clackamas Christian 53, South Wasco 52 Helix-Griswold 47, Klickitat-Glenwood 37 Lyle-Wishram 71, Dayton-Waitsburg 32   Girls Basketball Putnam 59, Hood River Valley 38 The Dalles 55, Sprague 35:  Ellie Codding led the Riverhawks with 19 points. Fort Vancouver at Columbia, 7 p.m. Echo 51, Dufur 43 South Wasco 34, North Clackamas Christian 24 Klickitat-Glenwood 57, Long Creek-Ukiah 30 Helix-Griswold 45, Trout Lake 36 Dayton-Waitsburg 55, Lyle-Wishram 32   Wrestling Two The Dalles High School wrestlers reached the semi-finals in day one of the Adrian Irwin Tournament in Redmond.  Steven Preston at 154 pounds and J.R. Scott at 197 each won one match by decision and one by fall to lead the Riverhawks into 13th place heading into the final day of the 19-school tournament.