A Natural Resources Conservation Service program to encourage Hood River County orchardists to remove their smudge pots is entering its final two months.  NRCS District Conservationist Carly Heron says the program to help improve air quality in the area has been in existence since 2015, and she estimates about at this point 75 to 80 percent of County orchard lands do not use smudge pots.  Heron notes the program doesn’t dictate how an orchardist replaces the smudge pots, it just provides the monetary incentive to get rid of them.  The smudge pot removal program runs through March 15.  For application information, Hood River County orchardists should call 541-352-1037.

Boys Basketball Pendleton 63, Hood River Valley 49:  Pendleton erased an eight-point second half deficit with a run of 20 consecutive points.  Tyler Newsome led the Buckaroos with 23 points.  Carson Flores paced HRV with 19, including five three-pointers. LaCenter 80, Stevenson 57 Castle Rock 58, Columbia 54   Girls Basketball Pendleton 51, Hood River Valley 36:  The Buckaroos won the Columbia River Conference opener.  Newcomer Ashlynn Dawson led the Eagles with 12 points.  

Construction of a steel screen to prevent rock slides onto the Historic Columbia River Highway just east of Rowena Crest is taking a bit longer than anticipated.  The Oregon Department of Transportation had expected work to finish up by Friday, but now they expect to finish by Tuesday.  Traffic is prohibited in the area while work is underway.  The screen is covering problem rock face with steel mesh.  It’s to prevent the kind of rock slide that happened last spring, putting motorists at risk and forcing a closure of the highway.

The Dalles Lock and Dam will hold its eighth annual Eagle Watch on Saturday.  The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers partners with the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center and the Rowena Wildlife Clinic to provide raptor education.  The Dalles Lock and Dam park ranger Amber Tilton says it’s an opportunity for anyone to come out and do some wildlife viewing, adding Westrick Park across from the dam’s visitors’ center is a popular eagle habitat.  Eagle Watch will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at The Dalles Lock and Dam, just off Interstate 84 at exit 87 and east on Brett Clodfelter Way.  Visitors are encouraged to bring their own binoculars and cameras…and it is free to the public.

Travelers who use Washington Highway 14 near Cape Horn should plan for daytime delays Sunday.  Washington State Department of Transportation maintenance crews will intermittently close and alternate both directions of the highway for rock and debris removal from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m.  Expect 20 to 30 minute delays.

The building codes division of the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services will be administering and enforcing Wasco County’s building inspection program on a temporary basis starting February 1.  State officials met with County Commissioners to discuss the situation during the Commission’s Wednesday meeting.  The building codes services were provided in Wasco County through Mid-Columbia Council of Governments, but that organization is being dissolved.  Commissioner Scott Hege says the County is asking for more time to develop a permanent solution.  Hege added he wants to see the County continue to communicate with the City of The Dalles to find collaboration on the subject.  The state will be leasing space in the Wasco County Public Works Building to administer the building codes program.

Hood River County Commissioners have told supporters of a county identification card program that with its current budget issues, they aren’t in a position to establish one right now.  Gorge Ecumenical Ministries has made the proposal to establish the ID card program for those who cannot establish other forms of identification.  Commission Chair Ron Rivers says the County simply doesn’t have the resources to do this right now.  He added the Commission would probably prefer to see the ministries group do the program on their own, noting he doesn’t know if it would be sustainable for the County to operate at the levels that have been suggested.  Gorge Ecumenical Ministries has indicated to the County it has some funding to help with establishing an ID program.

Fishery managers in Oregon and Washington say the recreational sturgeon season in The Dalles Pool, from The Dalles Dam upstream to John Day Dam, will close effective at 12:01 Saturday morning.  The states decided to close the sturgeon sport fishery based on catch projections which indicate the 100 fish guideline will be achieved by Friday evening.  Catch rates have been high since the season opened January 1, with an estimated 69 fish kept through January 14.  Sturgeon fishing remains open in the Bonneville and John Day pools, where the guidelines are 325 and 105 fish, respectively.  Retention sturgeon fishing is closed below Bonneville Dam and below Willamette Falls under permanent sport fishing regulations.  Except for specific sanctuaries, catch-and-release sturgeon fishing remains open in all of these waters, even when retention seasons are closed.

Hood River County Commission Chair Ron Rivers announced he will not run for re-election.  Rivers, who is entering his 12th year in the position, made the announcement at Tuesday evening’s Commission meeting.  Rivers says he feels like he still have things to give to the county, “but it’s time for new blood,” adding “change is inevitable, and I think it’s positive.”  Rivers did add he will be busy during his last year as Commission chair.  The most critical issue will be dealing with the County’s budget crunch, as Commissioners prepare to consider putting a sales tax measure on the May ballot.  Hearings on that topic are planned for Feburary.  Commissioners Bob Benton and Karen Joplin indicated at the meeting they will be seeking re-election to their positions this year.

One of Sherman County’s biggest events will go on as scheduled.  The Sherman County Athletic Foundation Crab and Oyster Feed will take place on January 27.  There had been concerns the event would have to be postponed due to delays in the Dungeness crab season on the Oregon coast, but the foundation’s Ron Mobley says they received confirmation Tuesday their order would be filled and they could proceed.  The Crab and Oyster Feed will take place on January 27 from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Morrow County Grain Growers in Wasco.  Tickets including all you can eat crab, oysters, and shrimp are $36 in advance, and available at Morrow County Grain Growers and the Lean-To Café in Wasco, Husky’s 97 Market in Moro, Maupin Hardware, Wheatland Insurance in Condon, MCP Goldendale Farm and Home, and Dinty’s Market West in The Dalles, with proceeds going to the Sherman County Athletic Foundation.  Tickets will be $40 at the door.