The North Wasco County School District 21 board approved Wahtonka Community School’s charter school application.  That sets up the next step to negotiate the charter agreement itself, and Superintendent Candy Armstrong says that will start immediately, with an aim to make the change over in September.  In a related move Aaron Bowman, who is on the board for the new charter school, resigned his seat on the D-21 board representing zone 5, which involves much of the Colonel Wright Elementary area.  The district is beginning to take applications for the vacancy, and those interested can call the district office at 541-506-3420, extension 1002.  In other business, the board approved the D-21 budget for the 2018-19 academic year.

The expected final three days of the Hood River Children’s Park rebuild have been scheduled for June 21 through June 23.  Around 400 volunteers helped get the park’s play structure to the point where it is estimated to be 85 percent complete.  Three shift options are available between 8:00 a.m. and 8:30 p.m. each day, and approximately 50 volunteers are needed for morning, afternoon or evening shifts.  Sign-up is available online through the Children’s Park link at cityofhoodriver.com.  Each shift is around four hours long.  The build days will also require a sufficient number of loaned tools, and a tool check-in period will occur Wednesday evening from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.  

The Hood River Valley Parks and Recreation District will use Saturday’s grand opening for Golden Eagle Park to kick-off a community engagement effort for a multi-jurisdictional parks plan.  The City, County, and Port of Hood River along with the Hood River County School District will take part in the master planning effort.  Parks and Rec District Director Mark Hickox says they will be asking residents basic questions on what they want to see in area parks.  Hickox says they plan to do a lot of outreach at community events this summer with a goal of getting a plan put together by February of next year.  The Golden Eagle Park grand opening will be on Saturday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.  

Warm temperatures led to rapid snow melt in May, and that means lower than normal streamflows during the summer irrigation season in the Mid-Columbia.  The Natural Resources Conservation Service recently issued its June water supply outlook report.  May also brought much lower than normal precipitation, so NRCS Snow Survey Supervisor Scott Oviatt says irrigators should expect below average streamflows this summer.  Oviatt says some cooler temperatures and precipitation in June would help, but forecasts show a warming trend next week.

The VeggieRX program from Gorge Grown Food Network is available to Women, Infants, and Children’s clients at the Hood River County Health Department, with an emphasis on pregnant women.  The VeggieRX program’s goal is to get fresh local fruits and vegetables to families that couldn’t otherwise afford it through vouchers to take to farmers’ markets in the region.  Kate Carlson of the Gorge Grown Food Network says they are expanding to the WIC program, targeting pregnant women.  For information, call the Hood River County Health Department at 541-386-1115.

Dam operators from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers confirmed the loss of approximately 53 gallons of oil from one of the generating units at The Dalles Dam.  The Corps says it is in the process of determining the exact cause of the spill, and partner agencies, including the National Response Center, Oregon and Washington emergency management offices and the Columbia River Intertribal Fish Commission, have been notified.  Earlier this year, the generating unit lost approximately 470 gallons of oil due to a faulty blade seal.  The seal was replaced, and the unit returned to service, and the Corps has been monitoring oil levels at the dam more frequently since then.  After fluctuations in the oil level were observed in the unit, Corps technicians removed it from service and initiated spill prevention protocols May 31.  As a precautionary measure the unit was dewatered and isolated from the river, and the Corps says it will remain that way until a solution is determined.

The Pacific Crest Trail, Benson State Park, and several trails in the Mark O. Hatfield Wilderness east of Cascade Locks reopened to hikers today for the first time since the Eagle Creek Fire.  Columbia River National Scenic Area manager Lynn Burditt says the opening is thanks to many volunteer hours put in by the Pacific Crest Trail Association and Trailkeepers of Oregon.  Officials say the newly reopened trails are inside areas that burned during the Eagle Creek Fire, so the ground may be unstable, particularly in areas where understory plants burned away.  To protect public safety, hikers who venture off the newly reopened trails into legally closed areas can be cited and fined.  Most of the Wy’eth Trail #411 remains closed, as do all National Forest System trails between Angel’s Rest and the Pacific Crest Trail.  For a full list of Eagle Creek Fire closures, go to the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area website.

The Hood River County School District Board unanimously approved a budget for the 2018-19 academic year.  Superintendent Dan Goldman says thanks to renewal of the local option levy by district voters in May, they can add a few staff members to tackle what they believe are important programs for children.  He points out new elements to Hood River Valley High School’s career and technical education offerings, and adds they will be able to reduce some problematic class sizes in the district and increase middle school sports opportunities for students.

By a 5-2 vote, the Columbia Gorge Community College Board of Education approved the school’s budget for 2018-19.  Board Chair Stu Watson says they have had a period of enrollment decline challenging the school’s finances, but he adds a plan is in place to reverse that.  Watson notes one of the steps taken in this budget is a full-time incentive that calls for students to only pay tuition for the first 14 credit hours, and no tuition would be charged for the 15th credit, or for any credit hour beyond that up to 20 credits per term.  Watson says the budget was created to leave flexibility for incoming school president Marta Yera Cronin to assemble her own team.  She assumes her position on July 1.

Fire season is here in the Mid-Columbia, and that means the need for people to use caution, particularly in the wildland areas.  Mid-Columbia Fire and Rescue Chief Bob Palmer points out his 110-square mile district not only deals with the urban areas of The Dalles, but also grasslands, timber, scrub oak, and the wildland-urban interface.  Palmer says Oregon Department of Forestry reports show fuel moistures in the region are well below average.  That means people need to use common sense and use caution when dealing with anything that could spark a fire.