Oregon Senator Ron Wyden is hailing the inclusion in the omnibus spending of provisions to end the practice of “fire borrowing,” the Forest Service taking funds from its fire prevention budget to pay for fighting large wildfires.  Wyden says he and Idaho Senator Mike Crapo have been trying for years to make large wildfires eligible for disaster relief funds.  Oregon Second District Congressman Greg Walden said while there is much more work to be done, the move marks an important step forward on key solutions to reform federal forest policy and improve forest health.

The Oregon and Washington transportation departments have extended studded tire season in the two states until the end of the day on April 15.   Travelers normally can use studded tires from November 1 through March 31.  State laws grant each state’s transportation department the ability to extend the studded tire season when necessary based on projected weather forecasts.  ODOT Maintenance and Operations Engineer Luci Moore says the forecast suggests mountain passes will receive some significant snow in the next few weeks, but they do ask if you don’t plan to travel in those areas, don’t wait until the last minute to remove studded tires.  This is only the fifth time in the past 16 years that ODOT has extended the studded tire season past March 31.  Three of those extensions occurred from 2010 to 2012.

The Dalles Public Works Department will kick-off the 2018 utility service improvement season on East 12^th Street between Kelly Avenue and Dry Hollow Road.  No parking zone signs are being placed today ahead of street closures on Monday.  Motorists are asked to park vehicles outside of the work zone during work hours.  On Monday crews will begin to replace galvanized pipe with copper pipe from the main to the meter on both sides of East 12^th Street from Kelly Avenue to F Street.  Homes affected will be contacted directly about temporary water outages.  A full road closure will be in effect there from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Wednesday.  Meanwhile, transportation crews will prepare the street surface for chip sealing this summer on East 12^th Street between Dry Hollow Road and H Street.  Rolling road closures will take place east to west from Dry Hollow toward H Street.

Track and Field Hood River Valley’s boys grabbed eight first place finishes at at meet in McMinnville on Thursday.  Chad Klaas and Jonah Tactay won two events apiece for the Eagles.  HRV’s girls won three events, including two by Katie Kennedy.   Columbia won the boys portion of five-school meet at Seton Catholic, while Trout Lake was third.  Columbia’s Alex Medina won both the shot put and discus.  In the girls’ half of the meet, Trout Lake was third and Columbia fourth.   Softball Hood River Valley 8, Reynolds 3:  The Eagles run their season opening winning streak to five straight.   Baseball Sherman 13, Bonanza 2   Girls Lacrosse Hood River Valley 14, Central Catholic 4:  Abigail Bartles scored three goals to lead a balanced Eagle offense.  

The Community Action Program of East Central Oregon, or CAPECO, has been designated as the Area Agency on Aging to serve Hood River, Wasco, Sherman, Gilliam and Wheeler counties.  The Oregon Department of Human Services’ Aging and People with Disabilities program sought a new entity to assume the role of the AAA in the five counties when the Mid-Columbia Council of Governments announced it would cease providing services under all its programs this past fall.  CAPECO currently administers the AAA in Umatilla and Morrow counties and provides many other services to Gilliam and Wheeler counties as the Community Action Program serving that area.   The state assumed administration of the AAA on February 1, and will continue until the program is transitioned to CAPECO on or about September 1, 2018.  Public meetings will be held on the change in service area boundaries inclusive of the seven counties.

The omnibus spending bill deal reached in Congress includes language to allow wildfires to be treated as natural disasters and allow firefighting efforts to be paid for through disaster funding rather than entirely out of the Forest Service budget.  Oregon Second District Congressman Greg Walden says this can help end a vicious cycle of depleting resources for fire prevention to pay for fire suppression.  The bill also includes two-years of funding for counties with national forest lands under the Secure Rural Schools Act, which had not been renewed in recent years.  That provides funding for schools, roads, and other services.  The bill includes an amendment to Forest Service policy in the bill allowing for funds designated for search and recuse efforts to be used for training and acquisition of equipment, which Hood River County Sheriff Matt English says is a move sheriffs have been requesting for years.  

White Salmon City Councilors to move forward with a petition to create a metropolitan park district for a new summer swimming pool only, with an eye toward putting it on the ballot sometime this year.  The district boundaries would be the same as for the White Salmon Valley School District but excluding Skamania County, and would be created to both construct and operate a new pool.  Mayor David Poucher thinks the next step is to show what they actually want to build.  To get on the ballot, the petition drive must gather signatures from 15 percent of the registered voters within the proposed district, or about 300 signatures.

Northern Wasco County Parks and Recreation District is embarking on developing a 20-year master plan.  District Executive Director Scott Baker says the district has never done a master plan.  The district has done listening sessions at various locations, and after establishing the North Wasco County Aquatics Center, Baker indicates the big question they have received is “what’s next?”  The North Wasco Parks District is conducting an online survey asking what people would like them to do next.  The survey can be taken at nwprd.org.

The City of Hood River’s Waterfront Park children’s playground has reopened a couple of weeks before Children’s Park will close for its rebuilding.  The waterfront playground had been closed for nearly six months to allow new sod to establish itself and equipment replacement.  Old wooden structures in the Children’s Park at 9^th and Eugene are being replaced with new modern equipment, and the park will also be expanded by 3,000 square feet.  An event is scheduled at Children’s Park for April 7 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. to bid farewell to the existing park structure built by the community 25 years ago.  It will include a rally fund-raiser for the new park, with music, food, face painting, and games planned.  Children’s Park will close shortly after that to prepare for the new development.  A community build week is scheduled for June 4-10.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded a $321.3 million contract to Alstom Renewable to design, manufacture and install 14 turbines at the McNary Lock and Dam.  The contract award culminates three years of research, planning, design and acquisition to replace the existing turbine runners and associated ancillary equipment.  The new turbines should increase fish survival and hydraulic capacity, provide operational flexibility and improve reliability.  The 14 main unit turbines at McNary Dam have been in operation for more than 62 years.  They are projected to continue to operate on average for another seven years until the new turbines are manufactured and installed.  Funding is being provided by the Bonneville Power Administration.