A grand opening celebration for a new education center and four cabins at Cottonwood Canyon State Park on the John Day River about 50 miles southeast of The Dalles is set for September 18.  The grand opening celebration will include presentations, a ribbon cutting and a tour of the new facilities, which include a 1,500-square foot Experience Center that will serve as a classroom for outdoor education and a reservable event space.  The $2.5 million project also includes four cabins and a new restroom facility with showers.  The Experience Center was designed in part to support Eastern Oregon University’s Cottonwood Crossing Summer Institute, a week-long residential field study course for high school students held each June.  It was largely built thanks to donors and fundraising by the private nonprofit Oregon State Parks Foundation, which contributed $600,000 in money and donated products.  The grand opening event will be from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on September 18.

The Roy Webster Columbia River Cross Channel Swim returns on Labor Day in Hood River.  Last year’s event had to be cancelled due to smoky conditions resulting from the Eagle Creek Fire.  Ashley Huckaby-May of the Hood River County Chamber of Commerce said they had expected registration to slow down this year as a result of that cancellation, but that didn’t happen.  The swim is sold out again, and Huckaby-May says participants are coming out from throughout the region and the country.  Participants board the Sternwheeler paddleboat at the Port of Hood River early Monday morning, and are ferried across the river to the Washington shore, where they will jump in and swim back to the Oregon side.

Football Dufur 70, Triad 32   Volleyball Sheldon def. The Dalles 25-13, 25-16, 25-16 Joseph def. South Wasco 25-15, 25-21, 25-21

Sheriffs and juvenile directors in the four counties that utilize the Northern Oregon Regional Corrections Facility have presented a new management concept for the facility to the NORCOR board.  Sherman County Sheriff Brad Lohrey says for the adult portion of the jail, it’s based on the traditional structure for individual county jails in which the sheriff handles administration with a jail commander in charge of day-to-day operations.  In this case a jail commander would report to one of the four county sheriffs, who would then report to the other sheriffs.  The concept would have a similar structure for the juvenile corrections facility at NORCOR, with the four county juvenile directors having oversight.  Currently, NORCOR employs an administrator plus administrative and operations lieutenants for the adult jail, with the administrator also involved with the juvenile side assisted by a manager.  The NORCOR board, made up of representatives from each of the four counties, is currently mulling its options as administrator Bryan Brandenburg prepares to retire.  Its next meeting to discuss the issue is on September 12.

Installation of a new field turf surface at Hood River Valley High School’s Henderson Stadium is set to begin Thursday, and school officials are asking for the public’s cooperation to ensure the project can be completed without delay.  HRV athletic director Trent Kroll says people are asked to stay off the turf on the field once they begin installation, as spikes holding the turf down and stretched material that are disturbed may delay completion.  People are also asked to stay out of the fenced off parking lot area until construction is done, and to stay off the track until that portion of the project is completed, as a need to clean asphalt could delay progress.  Kroll says the field project is still on track to allow the stadium to reopen in time for a home football game on October 5.

A survey by Northern Wasco PUD last week found 38 poles damaged by fires in the Dufur and Tygh Valley this summer.  PUD manager Roger Kline said they felt fortunate there wasn’t more damage to the system, noting loss of the transmission system would have “pretty catastrophic” for anything moving south.  Kline credited hard work in avoiding further fire damage, employing constant diligence and maintenance of the system and doing vegetation management to remove fuels around power poles.

All three seats on The Dalles City Council up for vote in November feature contested races, but only one candidate has filed for the mayoral seat.  Rich Mays is the only candidate for Mayor, as Steve Lawrence had announced earlier he would not seek re-election after six years in that role.  There will be a three-way contest for the at-large position being vacated by Taner Elliott.  Rod Runyon, who was defeated in his bid for re-election to the Wasco County Commission in May, is seeking the seat along with John Fredrick and Brian Stevens.  Two Council incumbents will be challenged in the election.  The vote for position number one representing the west side of the City will see incumbent Tim McGlothlin facing challenger Chip Wood.  And Russ Brown seeks re-election for position three on the east side with opposition from Tiffany Prince.

There will be a total of seven candidates running for three Hood River City Council positions on the November ballot, and only one will be an incumbent.  Peter Cornelison is the lone councilor seeking re-election, with Becky Brun deciding not to look for a second term and Susan Johnson running for Mayor.  As the filing deadline passed yesterday those looking to join the Council included Tim Counihan, Erick Haynie, Jim Klaas, Jessica Metta, Joseph Sheahan, and Brian Towey.  Johnson will be opposing incumbent Paul Blackburn for the mayoral position.

Public meetings are scheduled for this evening in Goldendale and Thursday in White Salmon to discuss the Klickitat County Community Wildfire Protection Plan that has been under development for the past year.  Klickitat County emergency management director Jeff King says this doesn’t just deal with rural areas, but the wildland-urban interface as well.  The committee developing the plan is working on mapping Klickitat County’s wildland urban interface, evaluating strategies for landowners to lessen wildfire potential, improving public knowledge about wildfire risk, and recommending risk mitigation strategies.  The meetings are at 6 p.m. today at the Klickitat PUD office in Goldendale and tomorrow at 6 p.m. at the Pioneer Center in White Salmon.

Volleyball Hood River Valley def. Estacada 25-18, 25-22, 18-25, 25-16:  Katie Kennedy had 14 digs and 14 kills while Emily Curtis added 12 kills to help HRV win its season opener. Sherman def. Trinity Lutheran 25-23, 18-25, 25-11, 22-25, 15-12   Boys Soccer Parkrose 1, The Dalles 0   Girls Soccer The Dalles 8, Parkrose 0