The Bingen City Council is contracting with an engineering firm to develop options for dealing with stormwater and traffic issues on some streets, in particular Jefferson Street.  Mayor Betty Barnes says they are dealing with two problems:  people taking shortcuts from main streets and going too fast through neighborhoods, and stormwater runoff going on to private property.  Barnes says the stormwater project is the top priority, adding they hope the solutions provided for Jefferson Street can be applied to other streets as well.

One of two inmates who escaped while assigned to a firefighting crew at the Headwater Fire north of Goldendale was arrested in Portland Wednesday morning.  KATU-TV reports that the other escaped inmate is still at large.  Police say Tyray Munter and Maksim Petrovskiy escaped from their Department of Natural Resources fire crew early Tuesday morning.  Portland police say a citizen spotted Munter, who was arrested him at a convenience store in southeast Portland.  Officials are still searching for Petrovskiy.  Both inmates had been held at the Olympic Corrections Center near Forks.  Munter is serving a six-year sentence on assault and theft charges. Petrovskiy was convicted of stealing a vehicle.

Columbia Gorge Community College President Frank Toda will be leaving that position at the end of September.  The CGCC Board of Education unanimously approved a mutually acceptable separation agreement with Toda at a special meeting Tuesday.  Board chair Stu Watson thanked Toda for numerous contributions to the growth of the college in his sixteen years in the position, noting expansion of the school’s physical footprint including establishment of a Hood River campus, adding a health sciences building in The Dalles, and securing classroom space in the Fort Dalles Readiness Center, along with the school achieving independent accreditation status.  Watson says with a college board featuring four members that took their seats in July, it is an opportunity to go in a new direction to improve programs and enrollment.  Toda was under contract until 2020, but says he will enter into retirement and the decision to part ways was mutual.  Toda will leave the position on September 29.  Under terms of the agreement the college will pay Toda the equivalent of six months salary, $89,425, while Toda agrees not to pursue any legal action.  The college board will begin an immediate search for an interim president while it conducts a national search for a permanent replacement.

Washington State Department of Corrections and local law enforcement are searching for two inmates who escaped early this morning (Tuesday) from a Department of Natural Resources fire work crew at the Headwater Fire.  30-year-old Tyray Munter and 22-year-old Maksim Petrovskiy were both serving sentences out of Snohomish County.  They are described as wearing khaki pants or grey sweat pants, grey sweat shirt, khaki coat and khaki beanie hats.  Petrovskiy is six feet tall and weighs 178 pounds, while Munter is six feet and one inch, and weighs 180 pounds.  Officials says they are possibly in a stolen 2014 black Jeep Wrangler, Washington license APX 3286.  If you see them do not approach them, and call 911.

Containment of the Headwater Fire 11 miles northeast of Goldendale is expected to reach 60 percent today (Tuesday).  Officials with the Southeast Washington Interagency Team at the site say smoke from the fire will increase today as crews implement small burnouts on the fire perimeter to solidify containment lines.  West winds are expected to push smoke away from Goldendale towards Box Canyon.  More accurate mapping has reduced the current size of the fire to 89 acres.  The Headwater Fire started Saturday afternoon on private property near Jenkins Creek.  236 firefighters from local, state, private, and federal agencies are involved in the containment effort.  Commanders expect the fire to be fully contained by the end of Thursday.

Containment of the Nena Springs Fire is now up to 80 percent.  The fire on the Warm Springs Reservation remains at 40,000 acres in size.  A few scattered hot locations within the fire perimeter began to increase in smoke and flame activity in the afternoon.  But they were well within the fire perimeter, and the potential for escape is low, even though they will generate additional smoke during the peak burning period of the day.  Several crews are spiked-out near the northern edge of the fire to secure the line along the fire’s edge from Nena Creek east to the Deschutes River.  As progress continues toward containment, some of the crews, engines, and heavy equipment are being released from this incident and being made available for other fires in the region.

Efforts to contain odors at the City of Hood River’s wastewater treatment plant are continuing.  City Manager Steve Wheeler says a specialist from plant manager CH2M will visit on Friday to offer suggestions.  Wheeler notes eliminating the odors from the plant on the waterfront has been a long-time pursuit, intensified by increased development in the waterfront area.  At the start of this month dumping at the plant was limited to mornings, which has resulted in odor reduction along the Waterfront in the afternoon and evenings.  A cover will be installed over a the plant’s splitter box and waste activated sludge storage tank to capture odorous air and run in through a biofilter, with construction to start in mid-September and expected to be finished in January.  There are plans in the future to install a similar cover on the east aeration basin.

Plans to expand the greenscape in the Klindt Cove Park on Port of The Dalles property are in the works.  Port Executive Director Andrea Klaas says they are partnering with the Northern Wasco County Parks and Recreation District, The Dalles Kiwanis Club and local businesses, and they have a grant from the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department for $70,000 to pay for the expansion.  Klaas says plans include a children’s play area and family barbecue area, and they have a site plan ready to submit to the City for approval.  Klaas added they would like to find a way to have limited infrastructure in place to aid in holding events at the park.

Hood River County staff expects to present County Commissioners options to generate revenue to deal with an ever-tightening budget.  County Administrator Jeff Hecksel expects to provide commissioners with options in the next 30 days.  He adds two options being looked at it are a limited scope sales tax to generate more revenue from tourists in the area, and a public safety district.  Commission Chair Ron Rivers has been warning of substantial cuts in county services if a new source of revenue is not developed, adding property tax growth is limited by Measure 5 laws and forest receipts can’t keep pace with cost increases.

An accident involving a semi-trailer and three Oregon Department of Transportation vehicles has clogged up traffic on westbound Interstate 84 between The Dalles and Mayer State Park.  An ODOT spokesman says no one was hurt, but a lot of material was spilled on the freeway at milepost 77, making for lengthy clean-up.  Westbound I-84 has reportedly had up to four mile backups since the accident occurred around 10:30 Monday morning.  The accident occurred on the inside westbound lane next to the median.