This is an important time of the year for FISH Food Bank in Hood River County.  The holiday season brings the bulk of donations that FISH uses to provide food to those in need all year long.  FISH Board Chair Marianne Durkan says 2017 has been a busy year for the food bank.  Hood River Valley High School’s annual food drive for FISH is underway, and donations can be made at Hood River supermarkets.  Cash donations can be made at fish-food-bank.com.

There are no local affordable housing projects that would be impacted if the tax overhaul bill at the federal level eliminates the tax-exempt status for private activity bonds that help fund that type of construction, but it would remove a potential option.  Mid-Columbia Housing Authority executive director Joel Madsen says they have not utilized the bonds in their projects and they tend to be used for larger projects than we have seen here, but he notes housing advocates don’t want to see any options taken away, and want Congress to preserve three different programs.  Officials with the housing authority in Portland say the U.S. could lose nearly one million units of affordable housing over ten years if the final bill eliminates the tax-exempt status for private activity bonds.

Wasco County Commissioners have informed the Northern Oregon Regional Correctional Facility Board of Directors that the County will immediately redirect any youth in NORCOR custody to a different facility pending resolution of the findings and recommendations from a Disability Rights of Oregon report critical of NORCOR’s juvenile detention facility.  The report called conditions there “inhumane,” but NORCOR officials dispute many of the findings.  In a letter released Wednesday night, the Wasco County Commission urged the NORCOR board call an emergency meeting to discuss the report, and demanded an independent investigation be conducted.  It also called for oversight of NORCOR’s juvenile facility to be turned over to a juvenile directors’ oversight committee has prescribed under state law.  Wasco County is one of four partner counties that operate NORCOR, and Wasco County Commissioner Rod Runyon is chair of the NORCOR board.  In Hood River County, Commission Chair Ron Rivers, who is also on the NORCOR board, was surprised by Wasco County’s move.  He feels the report over-reacted, adding “I think they were comparing maybe an adult facility to a juvenile facility.  I thought they were totally out of their realm.  There were some deficiencies that were brought up that we are addressing now.”  Rivers also wants to have an emergency meeting of the NORCOR board.

Northern Oregon Regional Correctional Facility officials are disputing many of the findings in a report by an advocacy group that claims NORCOR’s juvenile facility uses what it termed “inhumane” conditions.  Disability Rights Oregon’s report is based on interviews of youth at NORCOR conducted by an attorney for the group, Sarah Radcliffe, in which she says they told her about long stays in isolation for minor rules infractions and spending up to six hours per day in their cells.  NORCOR juvenile detention manager Jeff Justesen wrote a four page letter to the group prior to the report’s public release outlining what he felt were its inaccuracies, adding he felt the instances cited in the report were exaggerated and sensationalized, while also saying there are areas where they can improve.  Justesen says NORCOR has been revising its juvenile policies and procedures and does so on a continuous basis.  Seventeen Oregon counties, two in Washington, the Warm Springs Reservation, and federal immigration officials send detainees to NORCOR’s juvenile facility.

The Northern Wasco County PUD Board of Directors has approved an operating budget for 2018 with no change in rates.  Board members made that decision despite an over six percent increase in wholesale power costs from the Bonneville Power Administration, which represents the PUD’s largest single expense.  The Board also approved a staff recommendation to keep discounted rates for disabled and low-income customers in place all year instead of seasonally as before.  And starting the first of the year residential customers will not be charged a processing fee for using a bank card for residential bill payment.  The PUD is encouraging customers to utilize electronic bill pay through nwascopud.org.

The Port of Hood River Commission has approved an increase in tolls for the Hood River-White Salmon Interstate Bridge.  Cash tolls for automobiles will go from one dollar to two dollars, while those using Breeze-By electronic accounts will see their toll move up from 80 cents to one dollar.  The new tolls are scheduled to go into effect on February 1, but the Commission adopted a suggestion from board member David Meriwether to push back the implementation date if the new web portal for BreezeBy customer account management isn’t up and running at least six weeks before the implementation date.  Port Executive Director Michael McElwee says they are closing in on a soft launch for the new portal, but adds there are many examples of computer systems having initial problems, and they want to make sure it’s ready for public use.  Commissioners have said the toll increase is to provide the Port with the necessary resources to both prepare for an estimated $51 million in expenditures over the next 15 years to keep the bridge safe and operational, and to enable ongoing bridge pre-replacement efforts.

The Washington State Department of Transportation has a proposed design for a new connection from Highway 14 to Bingen Point, and will show it at an open house in White Salmon next week.  Bart Treece of Washington DOT says the design would build a new route underneath the tracks to keep traffic moving with as minimal a footprint as possible that would impact property owners.  The 22-point-nine million dollar project is being by the Connecting Washington transportation package approved by the 2015 Legislature.  Treece adds a roundabout would be installed at the location.  The open house will be next Wednesday (December 13) from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the White Salmon Valley Community Library.

Boys Basketball The Dalles 63, Columbia 48:  The Riverhawks win their second straight game to begin the season. Heritage 64, Hood River Valley 60 Stevenson 86, Goldendale 57 Dufur 43, Culver 35   Girls Basketball Hood River Valley 40, Heritage 39:  Haylee Baker’s steal and lay-in with 30 seconds to play gave the Eagles the win after Heritage had come back from an eight point deficit in the fourth quarter. The Dalles 47, Columbia 12 Stevenson 63, Goldendale 56 Culver 52, Dufur 35

122 miles of trail in the Mount Hood National Forest and the Columbia River Gorge Scenic Area remain closed in the aftermath of September’s Eagle Creek Fire, and when they will open will remain a question for some time.  Rachel Pawlitz of the U.S. Forest Service Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area says she is hopeful that some of the trails will open in mid- to late-spring, but some assessments won’t begin until spring, when freeze/thaw cycles that can trigger landslides will have played out.  Pawlitz reminds people that the closures are for the public’s safety, noting the trails are a network, and some locations may remain closed because of how they can access trails that are unsafe for use.  Multnomah Falls Lodge opened one week ago but the nearby waterfall viewing areas, including the popular lower viewing platform, and the surrounding trail system remain closed until the next round of repairs is completed.

YouthThink has rolled out a teen-focused version of its Toddler to Teens parent boot camp.  Debby Jones of YouthThink says this version is for parents and influencers of children between the ages of 11 to 17.  Jones says it was put together at the request of those who want to go deeper into the feelings and workings of the brain of a teenager, adding once puberty starts there is as much going on in the brain and body as during the first year of life.  The two hour parent boot camp is offered on a periodic basis.  The next session focused on teens is January 29 at 6 p.m. at the YouthThink office on 610 Court Street in The Dalles.  For more information, go to youththink.org.