A 45-year-old Portland man died in a snowboarding accident on Mount Hood Meadows on Sunday.  The Hood River County Sheriff’s Office identified the victim as 45-year-old Ryan Zeitner.  According to the Sheriff’s Office, medics had been dispatched to Meadows on Sunday morning after receiving a report of a snowboarding fall and attempted life-saving efforts, but Zeitner was pronounced dead shorty after their arrival.  Zeitner had been snowboarding in the Heather Canyon area.

Mid-Columbia Fire and Rescue and the Mid-Columbia Firefighters Association have reached an agreement in their dispute over using similar logos.  In a press release issued by both organizations, there is no longer a dispute on how the logo was developed and used, and as a result of the resolution the Firefighters will no longer use the disputed logo.  There was no admission of fault or wrongdoing, and each agency will be responsible for their own attorney fees and costs.  Both parties indicated they have agreed to put their relationship into an evaluation process and follow through on recommendations that come out of it in an effort to strengthen future communication and interaction.

Hood River County Commissioners will hold a public hearing Tuesday evening on the proposed public safety levy the Commission plans to put on the May ballot.  It is a near-given that the Commission will place the five-year levy of 78-cents-per-thousand dollars of assessed property value on the ballot in a second attempt to address the County’s budget shortfalls.  Commission Chair Mike Oates says input he has received so far has left him with a positive feeling about this measure.  The public hearing is at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.  The Commission need to approve the measure so it can be filed to be placed on the May ballot.

The City of White Salmon is starting the replacement of a water main along Jewett Boulevard.  The contractor started work Monday, and it is expected to continue through September, and that will involve lane closures and detours along Jewett from the Bingen city limits through downtown White Salmon to Garfield Street.  Monday and Tuesday the first half of the first block of 5th Place in White Salmon will be closed.  The eastbound lane of Jewett will be closed with flaggers directing traffic.  Construction work will be taking place between the hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.  Information and updates about the project are available on the city’s webpage http://www.white-salmon.net.

The directors of the Washington and Oregon departments of Fish and Wildlife reached an agreement this week on allocations and gear types for Columbia River salmon fisheries in 2020.  Under the 2020 plan, 75 percent of the spring Chinook would be allocated to recreational anglers – a 5 percent increase from the allocation outlined in Washington’s Columbia River policy – with the other 25 percent allocated to the commercial fishery.  Only tangle nets would be allowed in the mainstem during the commercial spring fishery after the run size update in mid- to late-May.  The summer fishery will feature an 80 percent and 20 percent split for the recreational and commercial fisheries, respectively.  No gillnets will be permitted on the mainstem for the summer Chinook fishery.  The 2020 fall Chinook fishery will be the same as 2019, with a maximum of 70 percent allocated to the recreational fishery, and no less than 30 percent allocated to commercial fishers.  Additionally, the use of barbless hooks in Columbia River fisheries will again be mandatory under the new agreement.

Swimming

Hood River Valley won the Intermountain Conference girls’ swimming championship for the second straight year, outdistancing Pendleton by 128 points.  HRV won all three of the relays to advance to this coming weekend’s Oregon Class 5A meet at Tualatin Hills Aquatic Center in Beaverton, along with first place finishes for Sarah Arpag in the 100 yard butterfly and the 100 backstroke, Madaket Greenleaf in the 200 freestyle, and Abigail McCormack in the 100 breaststroke.    The Dalles finished third, as Lydia DeGennaro advanced to state with wins in the 50 and 100 freestyle, and Kendall Webber did the same by winning the 500 freestyle.  In the boys’ competition, Redmond nipped HRV by 10 points for first place, while The Dalles was fifth.  Hood River event winners going to state include Luke Southall in the 200 freestyle, Clayton Lee in the 100 butterfly, David Hecksel in the 100 backstroke, and the 200 and 400 freestyle relay teams.

 

Wrestling

Columbia was fourth and Stevenson sixth at the Southwest Washington Class 1A Regional Tournament at Hoquiam.  Payden Webster, Bowen Durkee, and Jose Evangelista had second place finishes and David Durham and Jake Kelly had thirds for CHS, while Stevenson received second place finishes from Solomon Mahoney, Landon Pearson, and Brenden Dudley, and fourths from Logan Hoffberger and Tristen Turner.

 

Goldendale’s Blake Waddell finished second at 195 pounds at the SCAC Regional Tournament at Granger.

 

Alpine Skiing

Hood River Valley’s Aidan Haynie-Gonzalez was second and Hugh Dalbey sixth in a Mt. Hood League giant slalom at Ski Bowl.  George Harrison was ninth for The Dalles.  In the girls’ race, HRV’s Julia Olson was sixth and Eva Jones eighth, while Lucy Booth was the top finisher for The Dalles in 11^th. 

 

Boys Basketball

Hood River Valley 64, Pendleton 56

South Wasco 91, Mitchell-Spray 36:  The Redsides win the Big Sky Conference regular season title.

Dufur 49, Sherman 47:  Claims third in the Big Sky with the victory.

Ione 58, Horizon Christian 47

Horizon Christian 43, Condon-Wheeler 42:  Horizon, Sherman, and Condon-Wheeler end up in a three-way tie for the fourth and final spot in the Big Sky Tournament.  Sherman meets Condon-Wheeler in a playoff this evening at 6 p.m. at Kurtz Gym in The Dalles, with the winner playing Horizon Christian in Dufur on Tuesday.

 

Southwest Washington Class 1A Boys Basketball Tournament

First Round

Stevenson 74, Montesano 71:  The Bulldogs advance to meet LaCenter on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at King’s Way Christian.

 

Girls Basketball

Pendleton 56, Hood River Valley 14

South Wasco 55, Mitchell-Spray 11

Dufur 40, Sherman 27

Dufur 53, Elkton 47

 

Greater Columbia League District Basketball Tournament

Girls

Trout Lake 65, Klickitat-Glenwood 23

Yakama Tribal 53, Trout Lake 50:  Trout Lake plays Sunnyside Christian on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Goldendale.

Sunnyside Christian 58, Klickitat-Glenwood 16

 

Boys

Yakama Tribal 100, Trout Lake 16

Bickleton 67, Trout Lake 57

 

Cheerleading

The Dalles finished second to Westview in the Coed Small Division at the OSAA Cheerleading Championships in Portland.  Hood River Valley finished ninth in the competition.

 

Democrats in the Oregon Legislature made last-minute changes to their controversial climate change policy Thursday before voting it out of committee along party lines amid strenuous objections from Republicans in the Senate.  Senate Bill 1530 now moves to the Joint Ways and Means committee.  Thursday’s hearing before the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources was contentious as Democrats delivered a 177-page amendment to the bill late Wednesday, and Republican 30th District Senator and committee member Lynn Findley said with its complexity more time was needed to examine it.  The House Committee on Energy and Environment voted on a different cap-and-trade bill earlier Thursday that Democrats can keep a backup to the Senate version alive in case they need it later in the session.  But Republicans on the House committee registered their objection by stepping out of the hearing room before the vote.

A chemical waste landfill near Arlington accepted radioactive fracking waste from North Dakota in violation of Oregon regulations. Oregon Energy Department authorities say the company won’t be fined because state officials believe landfill operators misunderstood state guidelines and were unaware of the violations.  The Oregonian/OregonLive reported that Oregon Department of Energy officials issued a violation notice to Chemical Waste Management for accepting a total of 2 million pounds of Bakken oil field waste delivered by rail to Arlington in three of the last four years.  A Montana company dumped the waste with landfill officials permission, some of which registered radium at 300 times the state’s limits.  State nuclear waste remediation specialist Jeff Burright says on average, the waste dumped at the landfill about eight miles from the Columbia River registered radium at 140 picocuries per gram, while the state’s maximum level is 5 picocuries. Regulators said they determined the biggest risks would be if the waste were ingested or inhaled, if people faced direct exposure or if it emitted radon.  Currently, Burright says the state does not believe there is a risk because of how the waste is stored at the landfill facility, including being covered by at least 10 feet of other material.  State officials say they learned the material was at the landfill through a phone tip from a citizen.

No change in outcomes for educational enrichment levies on the ballot in the Mid-Columbia after updated vote counts were released on Thursday, even though the margin in the close numbers in Glenwood was down to a single vote.  Glenwood’s two-year levy is now failing 92-91 after it was trailing by three in Wednesday’s results.  The White Salmon Valley School District’s four-year levy continues to pass…1,444 to 841.  The four-year levy for Goldendale schools was being approved…1,406 to 1,029.  Centerville School District’s four-year levy is passing 149-74, and Wishram’s four-year levy was also being approved 60-27.  The Stevenson-Carson School District’s three-year levy was still being rejected…1,001 no to 952 yes.  Under Washington law, mail-in ballots only had to be postmarked by Tuesday night, so ballots that continue to arrive are counted.  The levies provide funding for school district programs that are not funded under “basic education” by the state of Washington.

Girls Basketball

The Dalles 52, Crook County 32:  The Riverhawks blew open a close game in the third quarter to stay right behind Ridgeview at the top of the Intermountain Conference standings.  Jenna Miller paced The Dalles with 18 points, while Raine Codding added 12  and Lauryn Belanger 10.  The Riverhawks visit Ridgeview on Tuesday night.

 

Southwest Washington Class 1A Girls Basketball Tournament

First Round

Montesano 60, Stevenson 26

 

Boys Basketball

Crook County 67, The Dalles 51:  The Cowboys stayed in the league title hunt, using a 23-14 third quarter run to pull away.  Freshman Styles DeLeon lead the Riverhawks with 12 points.