Baseball Pendleton sweeps The Dalles 5-1 and 5-0. Hood River Valley splits with Hermiston, winning game one 5-2 and losing game two 6-5. Sherman 13, Dufur 0 Lyle-Wishram-Klickitat splits with Dayton, losing the first game 5-4 and winning the nightcap 17-8. DeSales 12, Goldendale 10   Softball Hood River Valley splits with Hermiston, winning game one 15-7 and losing game two 8-6. Pendleton sweeps The Dalles 25-3 and 13-2. Dayton swept Lyle-Wishram-Klickitat 21-0 and 16-1.   Track and Field Hood River Valley’s boys won the Viking Relays at North Salem High School, while the girls finished fifth.  Robby Running won the boys’ 400 meters, Chad Klaas the pole vault, and Jonah Tactay the triple jump.   The Dalles’ Justin Conklin finished first in the boys’ high jump and second in the 100 meter hurdles at the Willamette Falls Invitational in Oregon City.  Liz Fink of Trout Lake was second in the shot put and javelin.   The host Bulldogs won both the boys and girls team titles at the Al McKee Invitational at Stevenson, while Columbia’s girls were second and the boys third.  Stevenson’s Issac Hoidal and David McAndie and Columbia’s Chandler Bucklin won two boys’ events each.  Columbia’s Alondra Casarez-Garcia won three events in girls’ competition.   Lyle-Wishram’s Brandon Montoya won the boys’ 100 and 200 meters and long jump at the Pasco Invitational.   Dufur’s boys were third and the Glenwood girls fourth to highlight Gorge-area schools’ effort at the Dick Horyna Invitational at Stanfield.  Dufur’s Asa Farrell won the boys’ 100 and 200 meters, and Glenwood’s Brooklyn Emerson was first in the girls’ long jump and pole vault.   South Wasco’s girls were fifth at the River’s Edge Invitational in Umatilla, as Ana Popchock was first in the triple jump, long jump, and 300 meter hurdles, and Madisen Davis won the javelin.   Boys Soccer Columbia 7, Seton Catholic 1   Girls Tennis Hood River Valley finished second to Vale at the Madras Rankin Invitational.

Track and Field Stevenson’s boys won a three-way Trico League meet in Castle Rock.  David McAndie and Lincoln Krog won two events apiece for the Bulldogs.  The Stevenson girls finished second in their portion of the meet.   Boys Soccer LaCenter 11, Stevenson 1   Boys Lacrosse Hood River Valley 17, Wilsonville 4   Girls Lacrosse Hood River Valley 15, Cleveland 0:  Emma Norris and Kathryn Koenig had three goals apiece for the Eagles.

A number of Hood River County School District teachers called on district board chair Mark Johnson to resign from that position in the wake of Johnson being fired as the chief executive of Oregon Business and Industry as The Oregonian/Oregon Live published stories accusing him of using racially charged language about a Latino lawmaker and chaos within OBI.  Johnson was not at the regularly scheduled board meeting that took place Wednesday evening just a few hours after the stories came out, and District Superintendent Dan Goldman said neither he nor district board members have had the opportunity to speak with Johnson as of Thursday morning.  Johnson served as the 52nd District Representative in the Oregon House before resigning to become OBI’s CEO last fall.  The Oregonian/Oregon Live posted a story Wednesday morning in which a staffer accused Johnson of using racially charged language to denigrate State Representative Diego Hernandez of Portland, and accused Johnson of mismanagement of OBI.  Two hours later, the OBI executive committee voted to remove Johnson from his position.  The Oregonian/Oregon Live says Johnson issued a statement while vacationing in Hawaii apologizing “for any insensitive comments I may have made.”

Oregon House District 52 candidate Aurora del Val announced to a gathering at a candidates forum in Sandy that she is stepping away from the race, and asking her supporters to vote for fellow Democrat Anna Williams.  On her campaign Facebook page, del Val issued a statement in which she said she learned to be a viable candidate you have to raise money, and the thought of constantly asking for financial support made her feel “physically ill.”  She called for radical campaign finance reform.  del Val said she and Williams share the same values and sensibilities.  Williams and del Val were the only two Democratic Party candidates in the District 52 race.  Jeff Helfrich, who was appointed to the seat last fall when Mark Johnson resigned, is the lone Republican candidate.

Klickitat County Department of Emergency Management and the Klickitat County Interagency Fire Association have created three zones for establishing outdoor burn bans to better provide for mitigation of the diverse wildland fire hazard conditions across the 100 mile length of the county.  Zone boundaries follow fire district boundaries as much as possible.  Zone One is defined as lands east of the Klickitat County Fire District #7 eastern boundary to the county line.  Zone Two is defined as lands between the Klickitat County Fire District #7 eastern boundary west to the western boundaries of Klickitat County Fire Districts #4, 12 and 15, then north on the Klickitat River to the north county line.  Zone Three is defined as lands between the western boundaries of Klickitat County Fire Districts #4, 12 and 15 then north on the Klickitat River to the north county line, to the west county line.  Lands governed by the Yakama Indian Nation and Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission are not included.  Maps are available on the Klickitat County Department of Emergency Management webpage.  The public is directed to check with the appropriate authorities concerning burning restrictions within the incorporated limits of any city or town.

The Forest Service says it has closed the Laurance Lake Reservoir and Kinnikinnick Campground for the 2018 season.  That’s because of upcoming maintenance and construction activities at Clear Branch Dam this summer.  Middle Fork Irrigation District, which manages the dam and reservoir, needs to complete monitoring, maintenance and upgrades to ensure delivery of irrigation water to their patrons and meet dam safety requirements.  The planned construction work has necessitated lower reservoir levels in Laurance Lake than have been witnessed in recent years, dramatically reducing the size of the lake and exposing a steep and rocky shoreline, which would pose a safety risk for lake users.  Reed canary grass, an invasive species present at the west end of the lake, could spread to the newly exposed shoreline.  The draw down will also result in a much smaller pool of water for fish, so the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife will not be stocking the reservoir, and there will there be no open fishery in Laurance Lake this year.

Softball The Dalles 9, Mountain View 0:  Bailey LeBreton and Madison Troutt homered as the Riverhawks finished non-league play with a win.  LeBreton also pitched a shutout, giving up only four hits.   Track and Field Columbia’s boys were second and girls third in a seven-school meet in White Salmon.  LaCenter finished first in both boys and girls competitions.  Brandon Montoya of Lyle-Wishram had another big day, winning the boys’ 100 and 200 meters and long jump, with Columbia’s Alex Medina taking first in the boys’ shot put and discus.  The Bruins’ Alondra Casarez-Garcia won both girls’ hurdles races.

City of Hood River is going to put together a downtown parking study advisory committee.  City Councilors Kate McBride and Mark Zanmiller will be joined by two downtown building owners, two downtown business operators, and one at-large member.  A peak season study is going to take place this summer, and an off-season examination was done over the winter.  City Manager Steve Wheeler says a general finding from the off-season indicates there was a reasonable amount of open parking spaces, but many of them were on private property and difficult to utilize.  Wheeler notes one of the questions to answer is whether or not there is enough year-round demand to pay for the operation and maintenance of a parking structure.

The Wasco County Elections Office says it is fielding inquiries as the Independent Party of Oregon opens its primary to non-affiliated voters.  Wasco County Clerk Lisa Gambee says if a non-affiliated voter wants to receive a ballot for the Independent Party, they need to fill out a form available on the current elections page at wascocounty.org.  Gambee notes many people who say they are “independent” actually mean they are not a part of any political party, and they are called non-affiliated voters, and will receive the non-partisan ballot unless they request the Independent Party ballot.  If you checked “Independent” when you registered to vote, that meant you chose to be part of the political party called The Independent Party of Oregon.  If this was not your intention, you can change your voter registration online on the Oregon Secretary of State’s My Vote page, or by visiting the Wasco County Elections Office at the Wasco County Courthouse.  April 24 is the last day to make those changes or register to vote before the May primary.  She adds if you are registered to vote, you will receive a ballot based on the party affiliation you indicated.

Baseball The Dalles 5, Mountain View 2:  The Riverhawks did it a little at a time to grab their third win of the year.  The Dalles scored single runs in each inning from the second to the sixth to grab the win.  Jose Gonzalez and Spencer Honald split the work on the mound for the Riverhawks. Columbia sweeps King’s Way Christian 3-0 and 5-4 to open Trico League play. Lyle-Klickitat-Wishram swept Dufur 13-0 and 15-1. Sherman 3, Weston-McEwen 1 Goldendale splits with Kiona-Benton, winning game one 9-3 but losing game two 11-9:  Jacob Bischoff had three doubles and five RBI in the doubleheader for the Timberwolves.   Softball Hood River Valley 10, Mountain View 0:  The Eagles played long ball to win their 12^th straight game.  Morgan Baker, Zoe Munn, Kaylin Winans, and Makenzie Chambers all homered for HRV.   Track and Field Both the Goldendale boys and girls teams won two out of three duals in a four-school SCAC West meet at Zillah.  Dillon Rising won the boys’ 800 and 1600 meters, while Allison Gilliam won both girls’ hurdles races.   Boys Tennis Hood River Valley 6, Hermiston 2 Naches Valley 3, Goldendale 2   Girls Tennis Stevenson 3, King’s Way Christian 2 Naches Valley 3, Goldendale 2   Boys Soccer Columbia 2, King’s Way Christian 0   Boys Lacrosse Hood River Valley 14, Forest Grove 1   Girls Lacrosse Lincoln 13, Hood River Valley 12:  The Eagles suffer their first loss of the year.  Abigail Bartles and Emma Norris scored three goals apiece for HRV.   Boys Golf Goldendale finished second to Cle Elum in a three-team tournament.  Luke Gerchuk was the low scorer for the Timberwolves with an 84.