Klickitat County’s new Emergency Notification System will be tested on Friday to validate existing telephone numbers in the county’s database.  There is no need for action if you receive the call, email, or text.   For test calls and texts the caller ID will read 800-791-3749, and for test emails the email address will be “noreply@klickitatcounty.org”.  The test message will say:  “This is a test of your community’s CodeRED Emergency Notification System. No action is required, this is only a test. Had this been an actual emergency you would have received important information from local officials. Again, this is only a test.”  Klickitat County residents who have not previously registered will not receive a test call, text, or email, but they are encouraged to register now to receive future notifications by going to the Klickitat County Emergency Management website.

Hood River Valley High School sophomore Eva Jones told a panel of Senate Democrats in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday gun legislation to increase background checks, close all loopholes, raise the gun ownership age, and ban all assault weapons is needed.  Jones spoke at the invitation of Senator Ron Wyden as part of a group of parents, teachers, students, and law enforcement representatives seeking swift action to strengthen gun laws.  Jones said more security isn’t the answer to making schools safer, calling school-wide murder “so normalized by gun culture that we approach these like a fire drill,” and “we cannot allow our nation to go along with this any longer.”  She also said to kids guns are not a partisan or divisive issue, and that “it’s time for America to the education and lives of their children in front of their gun fetish.”  She added if students are immersed into an atmosphere of fear and walls, they can’t focus on creative problem solving and growth.

The filing deadline for Oregon’s primary election was Tuesday, and there will be a number of contested races for local offices.  In Hood River County, orchardist Mike Oates and current County Commissioner Rich McBride will be seeking the Commission Chair position, while Commission incumbents Karen Joplin and Bob Benton are unopposed for their seats.  Both Wasco County Commission spots on the ballot will be contested.  For position one incumbent Scott Hege is opposed by Roy Justesen, while current position three seat-holder Rod Runyon will be challenged by Kathy Schwartz.  There is a four-way race for Sherman County Judge, with Mike Smith, Fred Justesen, Larry Hoctor, and Joe Dabulskis all having filed.  Wade McLeod is unopposed on the ballot to retain his Sherman County District Attorney position, while Seventh District Circuit Judge John Olson is also unopposed.  There are some local option levies before voters in the region.  The Hood River County School District is looking for a five-year renewal of its levy, while the Dufur Recreation District is asking for a three-year extension.  The White River Health District is asking to increase its five-year local option levy from 50 cents per thousand dollars of assessed value to 75 cents per thousand.

There will be a contested race for the Democratic Party nomination in Oregon House District 52.  Aurora del Val and Anna Williams are seeking the opportunity to oppose Republican Jeff Helfrich in November.  In District 59, The Dalles City Councilor Darcy Long-Curtiss filed for the seat as a Democrat, and will oppose Republican Daniel Bonham.  Incumbent Republican Greg Smith is unopposed in District 57.  Both Senate seats in the region on the ballot have one candidate from each party.  In District 26, incumbent Republican Chuck Thomsen is opposed by Democrat Chrissy Reitz, and Cliff Bentz will be the GOP candidate in District 30, while Solea Kabakov is the Democrat.  Eleven different people filed to run for Congress in Oregon’s Second District.  Incumbent Greg Walden is challenged by two people in the Republican primary, while seven seek the Democrats nomination, and there is one from the Independent Party.

Five people were arrested as the Mid Columbia Interagency Narcotics Task Force, Hood River County Sheriff’s Office, and Hood River City Police executed a search warrant early Tuesday morning at a residence on 411 Prospect Avenue in Hood River.  A 57-year-old man was arrested for unlawful manufacture and possession of methamphetamines and hindering prosecution, while three others were arrested on various drug possession charges, and one other person was arrested on a probation violation.  All those arrested were lodged at NORCOR, and MINT officials indicated more charges were expected to be filed in the coming days.  Anyone with information in this case or any drug related case is encouraged to call MINT tip line at 541-296-1885.  MINT is comprised of law enforcement officers from The Dalles City Police, The Hood River County Sheriff’s Office, and the Wasco County Sheriff’s Office.

The U.S. Forest Service is launching a new permit system at the Dog Mountain Trailhead for weekends during the peak use season of March 31 to July 1.  Forest Service officials say as visitation at Dog Mountain has increased in the last decade, so have safety concerns on Highway 14.  On weekends and holidays during the wildflower season, hikers often park and walk along Highway 14, where high-speed traffic, narrow shoulders, and limited site distances create challenging situations for pedestrians and motorists alike.  All visitors riding Skamania County’s shuttle service will receive a permit.  Cost is one dollar per trip or two dollars roundtrip, and schedule information is available at Skamania Transit’s Facebook page.  There will also be 165 permits per day available through the national online reservation system at recreation.gov, costing a $1.50 non-refundable reservation fee per permit.  Those parking in the lot at Dog Mountain Trailhead will also need to pay a per car recreation fee of $5 per day or display a valid Northwest Forest or Interagency Pass, which is an existing requirement.

Hood River County Commissioners are asking NORCOR to provide proposed budgets for the upcoming fiscal year that both include and remove the juvenile facility at the regional jail in The Dalles.  Commissioners want the data as they try to determine if it would be more cost effective to use juvenile facilities elsewhere in the state, including Portland or Bend.  Figures provided to the Commission at their Monday worksession indicated it would cost less for the County to rent juvenile beds elsewhere instead of helping to subsidize NORCOR’s facility, but Commission Chair Ron Rivers notes rising costs make it difficult to compare, particularly if the NORCOR juvenile facility was to close.  He adds that would leave a number of different counties competing for juvenile beds.  Commissioners received figures from County Administrator Jeff Hecksel that showed the County’s projected budget deficit for the 2018-19 fiscal year is now one-point-nine million dollars.  The County Budget Committee begins meetings on April 5.

The first of the four finalists for the Columbia Gorge Community College presidential vacancy will be in the area later this week, and there will be three public forums with her during the interview process.  Leanne Frost, the director of the General Studies Division at Montana State/Great Falls, will be at The Dalles campus lecture hall on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m., and at the Hood River campus commons on Friday at 8:30 a.m.  She will also be interviewed by the CGCC board in an executive session Thursday evening.  The three other finalists will be in the area for similar functions over the next two weeks, with Sara Thompson Tweedy visiting this coming Monday and Tuesday, Marta Yera Cronin on March 15 and 16, and Paul Jarrell March 19 and 20.  The complete schedule is available at cgcc.edu.

North Wasco County School District 21 is launching its high school facilities planning committee this week, and the district is looking for community members interested in participating.  It’s part of D-21’s plans to go to voters with a bond measure in November.  Superintendent Candy Armstrong says they are starting their building committees with the high school.  The first meeting is planned for Thursday at 6 p.m. in the Fairfield Inn’s conference room on 2014 West 7th in The Dalles, and three more meetings are planned over the next two months.  Those who would like to participate and can commit to attending three of the four meetings are invited to call Cindy Miller at the D-21 office at 541-506-3449, extension 1002.

Washington 14th District State Representative Norm Johnson’s bill to allow local governments that receive state money for infrastructure project to carry over the funding into the next biennium until the project is done, is now on the Governor’s desk.  Earlier in the session, the Yakima Republican’s bill had gotten hung up in committee.  But Johnson said after a conversation with House Speaker Frank Chopp, a Seattle Democrat, the bill started to move.  Johnson says currently local governments have to complete the project the money is appropriated for by the end of a biennium, or else they lose the funding.