Local, state, and federal partners will hold two open houses early next week to connect those impacted by the Substation Fire with relevant information to assist in recovery.  Information will be available on rebuilding lost homes and structures, working with insurance claims on crop and other property losses, technical and financial information on post-crop management, and other resources.  The first open house will be Monday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Fort Dalles Readiness Center in The Dalles.  Another will take place on Tuesday from 4 p.m.to 7 p.m. at Sherman High School in Moro.

Day three of the Hood River County Fair brings the annual 4-H/F-F-A Livestock Auction.  Fair Manager Clara Rice says it is the big finish to a full year of learning for the youth involved in raising the animals, and the community support every year is appreciated.  The Auction begins at 4:30 Friday at the 4-H/F-F-A livestock barns.  The headline performers on stage on Friday will be Faraones del Norte at 7 p.m. and LaTropa Chicana at 9:30.  Saturday’s big concert starts with Brewer’s Grade at 7 p.m., followed by national country music artist Craig Morgan at 8:15.

White Salmon’s annual Art and Wine Fusion event will be Saturday afternoon and evening in Rhinegarten Park.  The event showcases local artisans and crafts people along with fifteen wineries, many from the Gorge region.  Mt. Adams Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Tammara Tippel says they are taking steps to keep things cool in the park during the event, bringing in tents and misters to add to the shade trees in the park.  The event runs from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday in Rhinegarten Park.  For ticket information, go to artwinefusion.com.

The Hood River City Council has approved going ahead with a $100,000 study of utility rates and improvements that need to be made in water, wastewater, and stormwater systems.  City Manager Steve Wheeler says they need to update their capital improvement project list, and while they have a sequence of projects planned in their budget, they’ve learned often times it falls off a bit.  The outcome will be an updated list of projects, what they cost, and when the City can do them.  Wheeler expects it will take about a year to put together.

Officials have issued more public use fire restrictions for the Mt. Hood National Forest due to very dry and hot weather conditions.  All campfires are now prohibited across the Mt. Hood National Forest, including developed campgrounds.  Target shooting, ATV use, and smoking outside enclosed buildings or vehicles are prohibited on National Forest lands encompassing the entire Mt. Hood National Forest until these restrictions are lifted.  OHV use will be prohibited in the McCubbins, La Dee, and Rock Creek OHV areas.  Forest Service crews have extinguished over 60 abandoned campfires across the Forest and have responded to multiple human caused wildfires so far this summer.

Five people have been arrested after the Hood River County Sheriff’s Office and the Portland FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force conducted a joint operation with assistance from the Columbia Gorge Major Crimes Team and Hood River County District Attorney’s Office, to identify and apprehend individuals seeking to commit sexual acts with minor children.  Four adult men and one juvenile male were arrested and lodged at NORCOR on various charges.  30-year-old John Grover Morgan III of Rhododendron and 23-year-old Daniel Garcia of The Dalles are charged with first degree online sexual corruption of a child and luring a minor…44-year-old Brandon David Backman of Hood River and 27-year-old Francisco Ramirez Rendon of The Dalles are charged with first degree online sexual corruption of a child…and a 16-year-old juvenile male from White Salmon is charged with attempted sodomy in the first degree.  Online sexual corruption in the first degree is a Class B felony in Oregon and requires that a person knowingly uses an online communication to solicit a child to engage in sexual contact or sexually explicit conduct and intentionally takes a substantial step toward physically meeting with or encountering a child.

More signs of a long, hard fire season in the Mid-Columbia.  The Squally Point Fire four miles northwest of The Dalles was held to 19 acres thanks to the rapid response from numerous firefighting agencies and emergency responders.  An Oregon Department of Forestry spokesperson reported the fire started just before 2 p.m. Tuesday in grass and brush near the Columbia River Gorge Discovery Center.  Two FireBoss scooper air tankers, a helicopter, and an air attack platform from Washington Department of Natural Resources assisted firefighters in containment efforts.  Firefighters from the U.S. Forest Service, Mid-Columbia Fire and Rescue, Dallesport and Mosier fire departments, and the Oregon Department of Forestry were part of the initial attack firefighters.  Firefighters remained on the scene through the evening working to extinguish hot spots and flames in the interior of the fire.  Overnight a twenty person crew and overhead personnel was to continue mop-up activities and monitor for heat.  The fire is human caused and under investigation, but is not suspicious in nature.  Mid-Columbia Fire and Rescue indicated on Facebook that a blown truck tire led to a hot rim flying off and igniting the brush on the north side of the freeway.  The Discovery Center was evacuated and closed as a precautionary measure on Tuesday, but plans to re-open Wednesday morning.  Meanwhile, Wasco County deputies as well as forestry departments and Wamic Fire were all dispatched to reports of a forest fire in the White River Canyon area in Southwest Wasco County.  No other details were available.  

Blasting will occur between now and August 8 on property located at the end of the Lone Pine development in The Dalles.  The blasting will help to remove rock outcroppings that the contractor is not able to excavate with heavy equipment for site preparation prior to construction.  The blasting plan has been submitted and approved by the City of The Dalles.  Pre-blast surveys will be performed on all structures within 200 feet of the blast zone and required signage and traffic control measures will be set-up along the interior road systems in the Lone Pine area during the procedure.  Those with questions can call Crestline Construction Project Manager Greg Jensen at 541-506-4000 or The Dalles Senior Planner Dawn Marie Hert at 541-296-5481 ext. 1129.

The Hood River City Council has picked Rachael Fuller as its next City Manager.  Mayor Paul Blackburn was pleased with the wide range of applicants for the position, noting the Council was impressed by Fuller’s experience and qualifications with administrative roles in Oregon and in rural communities similar to Hood River.  Fuller, originally from Seattle, lived and worked in Jackson Hole, Wyoming as a program coordinator and special project coordinator before moving back to the Northwest.   She most recently served as assistant city manager for Gresham for the past seven years.  Fuller has a master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Wyoming, and a bachelor’s degree from Williams College.  Fuller will start on the job August 20, taking over for the retiring Steve Wheeler.

In the aftermath of the Substation Fire one week ago, wheat growers in fire-impacted areas of Wasco and Sherman counties begin to assess the damage done to not only the current crop but crops in the immediate future.  Oregon State University Extension Agent Brian Tuck says the nearly 80-thousand acre fire burned a significant amount of wheat that was about to be harvested, along with a significant amount of rangeland.  He said current issues they are dealing with include the loss of that harvestable wheat along with an increase in the potential for wind and water erosion.  The erosion issues are in part caused by the loss of stubble on land that would have been planted for next year.  Tuck says the stubble keeps the ground cooler, helps retain moisture, and prevents the wind from blowing away top soil.  Tuck says there is no numerical figure on how much of this year’s wheat crop was lost to the fire, but he did say it was “significant.”