Wasco County Commissioners approved a resolution today calling for flags to be flown at half-staff on Saturday in honor of John Ruby.  Ruby died during the recent Substation Fire while trying to help protect a neighbor’s property.  All flags at County buildings will be flown at half-staff on Saturday.  The Commission’s resolution called for all partner agencies and businesses in the County join them in this gesture of gratitude and respect.  Commissioner Scott Hege called it a fitting tribute, which will take place on the day services are held for Ruby in Dufur.

There has been only one filing so far for mayoral and City Council positions on the November ballot in Hood River with one month to go before the filing deadline.  Mayor Paul Blackburn has filed for re-election.  Along with the mayoral chair, there are three Council positions on the ballot.  Hood River’s council election places all candidates on the same ballot, and the top three vote getters win seats on the panel.  The filing deadline is August 28.  Candidate information packets are available at Hood River City Hall and online on the City website.

Farmers and ranchers impacted by recent wildfires in Wasco and Sherman counties may apply for financial assistance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service to perform post-fire conservation treatments on their agricultural lands.  The financial assistance will help landowners offset the cost to perform critical post-fire conservation practices that will combat soil erosion, restore vegetative ground cover, and control the spread of invasive annual grasses such as cheatgrass and medusahead, which are prone to increase after a fire.  Conservation activities include planting range grasses and cover crops to protect damaged soil; spraying herbicides for weed control; prescribed grazing; obstruction removal, and more.  The funding is available through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program.  Landowners may apply at the USDA service centers in The Dalles on 2325 River Road or Moro at 302 Scott Avenue by August 10.  Applicants may also contact Acting District Conservationist Clinton Whitten at 541-289-8559 x112.  Farmers and ranchers in areas burned by the Substation, Boxcar, and Jackknife fires are eligible to apply.

The 53rd annual Trout Lake Fair is this coming weekend.  The Fair starts Friday evening with a community potluck and social at Elk Meadows RV Park.  A full list of events is planned for Saturday, including a parade at 11 a.m. and a number of activities at Camp Jonah, and it all wraps up with an ice cream social at the Trout Lake Community Center on Sunday at 1 p.m.  For complete schedule information go to troutlakefair.org.

Containment of the Long Hollow Fire is up to 75 percent.  The fire did not grow on Monday while firefighters continued to improve fire perimeter lines, and air operations provided support to the fire.  A helicopter was used to drop buckets of water on a flare up within the fire perimeter.  The size of the fire was revised downward to 33,451 acres thanks to more refined mapping on the northern edge of the fire.  There is a Red Flag Warning for hot temperatures and high winds in effect until 10 p.m. Wednesday.   Personnel are slowly being released as fire activity decreases, and a transition of management of the fire to local resources will take place Wednesday morning.  A local 20 person hand crew currently working on the fire will remain with additional resources available if needed.  The Deschutes River is open for recreational activities, and the Level 1 evacuation advisory for segment 3 from Buckhollow to Mack’s Canyon has been lifted.  When moving through recently burned areas, be aware that hillsides can become unstable due to loss of vegetation.  Burn scar areas are susceptible to rapid soil and debris movement when precipitation occurs.

There are only two filings so far for the mayoral and City Council seats that will be on this November’s ballot.  Rich Mays is the only candidate to file for Mayor, as incumbent Steve Lawrence has already announced he will not seek re-election, while Chip Wood has filed for Council position one representing the western portion of the City, a seat currently held by Tim McGlothlin.  The other Council positions that will be on the ballot are the at-large seat occupied by Taner Elliott and position three representing the east side of the City held at this time by Russ Brown.  Those who would like to run for one of the positions must file by August 28.  Information packets are available at the City Clerk’s office in The Dalles City Hall.

The new president of Columbia Gorge Community College has been on the job for about a month and is getting settled into the position.  Marta Yera Cronin says the first order of business has been conversations to learn about what is working at the college, and how she can help move the school forward.  One of the areas she plans to emphasize is growth, particularly in online offerings.  Cronin says they are looking at all the programs CGCC offers, and then see how they translate online, noting online teaching is a good fit for some subjects but not for others.

Irrigation districts in the Hood River Valley are asking water users to reduce their consumption by 15 percent to help alleviate the potential for shortages later in the summer.  Warm temperatures in May led to faster than normal snow melt which irrigation districts would normally use during the hot summer months.  Les Perkins of Farmers Irrigation District says voluntary cutbacks right now can keep water flowing later in the summer.  Farmers is working on an expansion of Kingsley Reservoir that will allow them to capture more early run off when there is an early snow melt.

A Grass Valley man died in a motorcycle accident Wednesday morning on westbound Interstate 84 just west of Mosier.  According to the Oregon State Police, a preliminary investigation revealed 60-year-old Mike Layton Wallace was traveling westbound in the slow lane at or just below the speed limit.  A witness who was following Wallace observed him reaching back towards a saddle bag along the left rear side of the motorcycle when he lost control and began to wobble back and forth.  Wallace was ejected off the motorcycle and came to rest along the shoulder.  The motorcycle traveled under its own power before stopping along the center median about 1,000 feet from Wallace.  Officers and medical personnel arriving at the scene determined Wallace had succumbed to injuries sustained in the accident.

The Oregon State Police has released details of an Interstate 84 traffic stop on Monday that resulted in the driver of the vehicle shooting himself in the head.  The OSP says at about 1:10 Monday afternoon a trooper stopped a reported reckless driver on eastbound Interstate 84 at milepost 103 in Sherman County.  After stopping, the 42 year old male driver exited the vehicle armed with a handgun.  The trooper asked the driver to drop the gun, but the driver continued to walk to the rear of his vehicle and shot himself in the head, collapsing in the ditch and out of sight.  The trooper held cover over the subject until his backup officers arrived, who then approached the subject and rendered medical care.  The driver was transported to the hospital in The Dalles and eventually flown by air ambulance to a Portland area hospital, where he continues to receive medical care.  His condition is unknown.