It has been a pretty good winter for visitation to the Hood River area, helped by milder winter weather making travel from Portland fairly easy.  Hood River County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Michael Glover says they have put an emphasis on putting out notice that Hood River is open for business during the winter.  That’s been the thought process behind Foodie February that inaugurated last month, and March Music Month, which is in its second year.  Glover noted there are 30 different musical acts listed on the Chamber’s website for March.  He adds the promotions also are to encourage local residents to come to downtown Hood River and patronize the businesses there.

North Wasco County School District 21 has set its calendar for the 2018-19 academic year.  Superintendent Candy Armstrong says like the current school year, they will start classes after Labor Day.  The biggest change in the upcoming year’s calendar from 2017-18 is expanding Thanksgiving break to the entire week.  The full week off at Thanksgiving will push the school year a bit further into June.  Armstrong says a conference compensatory day that usually is placed before Memorial Day weekend was switched to the end of the year.

The Washington State Senate unanimously approved a bill sponsored by 14th District Representative Gina McCabe to help establish age-appropriate, sexual abuse prevention curriculum in schools.  The bill known as Erin’s Law, named for childhood sexual abuse survivor Erin Merryn, would require the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to establish a coordinated program to provide age-appropriate information and training pertaining to the prevention of sexual abuse of students.  It would also require the OSPI to disseminate existing information and curricula to school districts.  McCabe says the bill wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for the support she received from sexual abuse survivors. The bill now awaits the governor’s signature, which would make Washington the 32nd state to approve Erin’s Law.

Sherman 65, Hosanna Christian 55:  The Huskies dominated the fourth quarter after the game was tied at the end of each of the first three periods.  Sherman scored the first six points of the fourth quarter to take a lead they would never relinquish.  The Huskies had a balanced offensive output with four players in double figures.  Jacob Justesen and Treve Martin led with 16 points apiece, while Luke Martin scored 11 and Reese Blake added 10.

The Columbia Gorge Community College Board of Education has selected four finalists to become the school’s next president, and all four will meet the public during their upcoming visits to Hood River and The Dalles.  The finalists are Leanne Frost, the director of the General Studies Division at Montana State/Great Falls, State University of New York-Westchester vice president of student access Sara Thompson Tweedy, Indian River State College of Florida vice president of academic affairs Marta Yera Cronin, and Santa Barbara City College assistant superintendent and executive vice president Paul Jarrell.  A search committee reviewed 44 applications for the presidency, narrowed the field to ten semi-finalists, then recommended the four finalists to the college board, which unanimously approved the committee’s picks on Thursday.   A complete schedule for the public forums, with three planned for each candidate, is available at cgcc.edu.

One man is dead after an early morning head-on collision between two commercial trucks on Highway 97 in Sherman County.  The Oregon State Police says the accident occurred shortly after 3 a.m. Friday near milepost 30.  A preliminary investigation shows a truck pulling a box trailer and driven by 33-year-old Vernon Garren of Sacramento was traveling northbound and passing another large commercial truck when it crashed head-on with a southbound truck pulling double tanker trailers.  The driver of that truck. 49-year-old Ronald Dwayne Whiz of Wapato, was pronounced deceased at the scene.  Garren and his passenger were taken by ambulance to Mid-Columbia Medical Center in The Dalles for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.  Highway 97 was shut down for three hours due to accident.  The OSP says the investigation is on-going.

Oregon Class 1-A Boys Basketball Tournament at Baker City Prairie City 68, Sherman 53:  Prairie City scored 17 straight points in the first half to build a 21-point lead, and never let the Huskies get closer than six points after that on the way to the quarterfinal win.  Dorran Wilson scored 31 points for Prairie City, which shot over 50 percent from the field in the game.  Levi Burke added 16 points with 14 rebounds.  Jacob Justesen topped the Huskies with 13 points. Sherman 59, Joseph 43:  The Huskies used a 13-1 run in the third quarter to break open a close game and win in a consolation round contest.  Jacob Justesen scored 22 points and Treve Martin 21 to lead the Huskies.  Sherman will play Hosanna Christian for the fourth place trophy at 10:45 a.m. Saturday.

South Wasco County School District is closed.

The Hood River County School District Board held a worksession with administrators and local law enforcement representatives on student safety and crisis response during its meeting at Pine Grove School Wednesday evening.  District Superintendent Dan Goldman says the worksession was planned in the wake of the recent high school shooting in Florida and a threat against Hood River County Schools in a Snapchat post soon after.  Goldman noted they had gone through components of student safety and crisis response with the board in the past, but not in one full session.  He adds a strength for Hood River County is the close relationship between the district and the Sheriff’s Office.  Goldman noted the district and local law enforcement conducts crisis response drills on a monthly basis.

The Oregon Department of Human Services has announced it will hold a community forum in The Dalles this month on the state’s foster care system.  The forum will include updates from DHS leadership, in-depth roundtable discussions on finding solutions to child safety barriers, and an opportunity to network and talk directly with DHS leadership and staff.  Similar meetings have been held around the state over the first two months of the year.  The session is The Dalles will be on Monday, March 12 from four to six in the afternoon at Columbia Gorge Community College Building 2.  RSVP to attend by e-mailing child.safety@state.or.us, with The Dalles in the subject line.