A pair of The Dalles High School graduates have made a short film for YouthThink that takes a different approach to bring attention to the issue of addiction.  The eight-and-a-half minute film called “Relapse” by Michael Jorgensen and Kyle Tucker uses the scenario of being addicted to Rubik’s Cubes to highlight the difficulty of battling addiction alone, and the importance of giving support to those who are trying to overcome it.  Debby Jones of YouthThink says the hope is that taking a different approach in the film can spark conversation.  Jones says YouthThink is going to work with the pair to do some more short videos to help get messages out.  To see “Relapse,” go to YouthThink’s channel on YouTube.

The holidays are always an important time for Hood River County’s FISH Food Bank.  The Hood River Valley High School student food drive now underway provides a substantial amount of the donations they receive.  FISH serves about 400 families per month with their food needs.  Billie Stevens of FISH says they have seen more homeless people come through their doors in recent months.  HRV students will be out taking donations over the next couple of weeks.  FISH also takes monetary donations at its website, fish-food-bank.com.

Boys Basketball Trout Lake 67, Firm Foundation 33   Girls Basketball Hudson’s Bay 59, Stevenson 44

The 32nd annual Project ELFF, or Everybody Loves a Fire Fighter, canned food drive takes place this week in The Dalles and Dallesport.  Mid-Columbia Fire and Rescue Chief Bob Palmer says fire trucks will be out starting Tuesday night to collect canned food from local residences to give to The Dalles-area Salvation Army and St. Vincent dePaul.  Fire trucks will be out collecting food on the east side of The Dalles on Tuesday evening, the west side of The Dalles on Wednesday, and Dallesport on Thursday evening.  Collection will take place from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. all three nights.  Google and The Dalles Lions Club assists MCFR and the Dallesport Fire District in the effort.

The Hood River Holidays celebration is coming up this Friday in downtown Hood River.  It includes the annual holiday parade beginning at 6 p.m.  Ashley May of the Hood River County Chamber of Commerce says with the growth of the parade, they have changed its route to avoid congestion around the Christmas tree in Overlook Memorial Park.  It will run from 7th and Oak to 1st and Oak.  Tree lighting and caroling will follow the parade at Overlook Memorial Park at 7 p.m.

Boys Basketball South Albany 58, Hood River Valley 45 Lebanon 49, Hood River Valley 46 The Dalles 63, Lebanon 49 South Albany 67, The Dalles 54 Hoquiam 56, Columbia 17 Columbia Christian 68, Stevenson 43 Stevenson 65, Lyle-Wishram 53 Damascus Christian 47, Dufur 41 Horizon Christian 58, Perrydale 51 Horizon Christian 52, Trinity Lutheran 41 Sherman 57, Grant Union 28 Sherman 56, Stanfield 40 Trout Lake 67, Central Christian 32 South Wasco 50, Paisley 46 Trout Lake 72, South Wasco 43 Wahluke 88, Goldendale 52   Girls Basketball Astoria 74, Hood River Valley 18 Madras 74, Hood River Valley 37 South Albany 33, The Dalles 24 Putnam 57, The Dalles 53 Stevenson 64, Lyle-Wishram 32 Damascus Christian 58, Dufur 31 Grant Union 73, Sherman 22 Stanfield 57, Sherman 35 Trout Lake 61, Central Christian 19 South Wasco 41, Paisley 25 Trout Lake 31, South Wasco 29

The annual project ELFF, or Everyone Loves a Fire Fighter, holiday food drive will be this coming week in The Dalles and Dallesport, and volunteers are needed to make the event a success.  Mid-Columbia Fire and Rescue District Chief Bob Palmer says they need about 100 volunteers per night to help during the three night event, and people can do so by reporting to MCFR’s headquarters at 1400 West 8th in The Dalles each night at around 5:15 p.m.  The ELFF Food Drive will take place Tuesday and Wednesday night in The Dalles and Thursday night in Dallesport.  For more information on volunteering call MCFR at 541-296-9445.  Those under 18 must have their parents fill out and sign a form before they can participate.

Mt. Hood Meadows will be open for daily operations starting Friday.  The resort received a half-a-foot of snow in the base area the last 48 hours, with a settled depth in the base area of 18 inches – 30 inches at mid-mountain.  The base area snow depth has been supplemented by Meadows’ snow harvesting efforts, allowing the resort to operate additional lifts and open terrain.  Up to five lifts are scheduled to operate today, including two high speed quads – Mt. Hood Express and Shooting Star Express.  Buttercup, Easy Rider, Daisy, the Carpet and Mt. Hood Express are scheduled to operate from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with a possible delayed opening expected for Shooting Star to allow for terrain preparation.   There is more snow forecast through Sunday.

The Oregon and Southwest Washington Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association will hold a community forum this Thursday at the Hood River Valley Adult Center.  The forum provides an opportunity for people to ask questions about Alzheimer’s and other dementias, share personal experiences, learn about available resources, and discover volunteer opportunities to support families affected by the disease.  Chapter program manager Heidi Rowell says the Mid-Columbia Gorge region including Hood River and The Dalles recently became the first officially recognized dementia friendly community in Oregon, and it stems from volunteers working to create awareness and an inclusive community where everyone understands what dementia is, understand how to direct families to resources, and how to be involved and supportive to families going through it.  The forum will be Thursday from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Hood River Valley Adult Center.  Register in advance by going online to bit.ly/HoodRiverForum.

Swimming The Hood River Valley girls defeated Gresham 129-40 in their opening meet of the season at the Hood River Aquatic Center.  Sarah Arpag, Celilo Brun, Alea McCarty, and Faith Ocheskey were all double event winners for HRV.  Gresham won the boys’ portion of the meet by a narrow margin of 80-72.  Ethan Yoakum won a pair of events for the Eagles.