Visitors to the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area are reminded to leave fireworks at home when heading out to federal public lands.  Fireworks and other explosive devices are illegal on public lands, and violators can have fireworks confiscated or receive citations.  Even small, seemingly innocent, fireworks such as sparklers can start wildfires.  Most wildfires in the Gorge are human-caused, so visitors can help reduce risks by disposing of cigarette debris in some type of an ashtray, attending to campfires at all times with water and a shovel nearby and putting out the campfire to the point it is cool to the touch, and avoiding driving and parking in tall grass or on roads with heavy fine fuels accumulations.  Bring life jackets if you are boating on a river, and if you are hiking respect signs, barriers, and closures and take precautions near steep drop-offs.

A group of Pacific Northwest Representatives including Oregon Second District Congressman Greg Walden and Washington Third District Congresswoman Jamie Herrera Beutler have introduced bipartisan legislation to approve the Federal Columbia River Power System Biological Opinion until 2022.  The quintet of four Republicans and Oregon Democrat Kurt Schrader say they are against removal of Snake River dams, saying they benefit the region through clean, renewable, and affordable energy they provide while allowing salmon runs to recover.  A court ruling earlier this year orders steps to be taken to improve salmon returns, impacting the operations at the lower four Snake River dams by requiring the dams to spill more water, decreasing the electrical output of the dams and estimating an increase in cost of two to three percent.  The legislators say the biological opinion was the product of unprecedented collaboration between President Barack Obama’s administration, states, and sovereign Northwest tribes, and needs to be reaffirmed.

Mid-Columbia Council of Governments interim executive director David Meriwether has recommended to the organization’s board that a new home be found for the Area Agency on Aging.  It was part of a series of recommendations Meriwether made as part of a report this week as the MCCOG board considers the future of the agency that serves governmental entities in Hood River, Wasco, Sherman, Gilliam, and Wheeler counties.  Meriwether says the Area Agency on Aging has historically not been well served by MCCOG.  He adds there are several private, non-profit, and government entities that could take over administration of the program.  The MCCOG board will meet August 8 to continue the discussion about the organization’s future.

A large crowd assembled in Hood River City Hall as the Project Advisory Committee for the Westside Area Concept Plan met Wednesday evening.  Most of those who spoke were from Citizens For Responsible Development, which has formed to oppose the perceived current direction of the plan.  Speakers for the most part criticized up-zoning for increased density painting too broad a brush over the Westside area, felt it would not meet City goals for providing more affordable housing, and questioned whether transportation and infrastructure needs for growth were receiving enough attention.  Two members of the committee, Bob Schuppe and Susan Garrett Crowley, questioned why they were never presented leaving current zoning in place as an alternative.  Consultant Joe Dills of the Angelo Planning Group said that was because the starting point was that existing zoning would not meet objectives.  Committee members were asked to study new maps presented at the meeting and determined if they were confident in the preferred plan, and give feedback to create an alternative.  It had been originally planned to be the final meeting of the group, but additional meetings have now been set for August and September before they send a final draft to City Planning Commission to begin a hearings process.

A man accused with his wife of robbing a gas station in The Dalles last October and later shot by police in Portland after he and his wife robbed a hotel and led authorities on a car chase with three of their children in the backseat has been sentenced by in Washington County to 25 years in prison.  The Oregonian and OregonLive reports Joshua Luther admitted repeatedly firing a rifle at pursuing officers in Portland last October.  His wife, Michelle Luther, was sentenced in April to 10 years in prison for her role as the getaway driver in the chase through suburban Portland.  Joshua Luther was shot twice in the buttocks, and no officers were injured.  The Luthers are charged in Wasco County with three counts each of first-degree robbery and unlawful use of a weapon.

A bill to restore legal immunity for employees and volunteers who do work on publicly owned properties used for recreation has passed both the Oregon House and Senate and is awaiting Governor Kate Brown’s signature. The bill was in reaction to a recent court decision that found while the government entity that owned the property had immunity from legal action, individuals did not.  52nd District Representative Mark Johnson says the legislation is needed.  However, there has been no progress toward recreational liability reform for private sector businesses.  Johnson says there was no attempt at such a bill this session after efforts during last year’s session found no success.

Mid-Columbia Council of Governments interim executive director David Meriwether gave a report and recommendations on the future of the organization to its board on Tuesday.  MCCOG involves Hood River, Wasco, Sherman, Gilliam, and Wheeler counties plus cities and other entities in those counties, and is intended to provide services that can be done more efficiently as a group than through each individual entity.  But a shrinking number of programs and overhead concerns have led to a review of whether the organization is still useful.  Meriwether addressed several topics and gave the board a basic recommendation:  decide whether to do what’s necessary to make MCCOG what it can be or not, and if not then what will be done with the programs.  The MCCOG board will discuss the recommendations and the future of the organization at a meeting on August 8.

The Washington State Department of Transportation has reopened Highway 14 near Salmon Falls Road between Washougal and Stevenson.  The road had been closed since Tuesday morning for cleanup work where a tractor-trailer hauling two tankers of hot oil crashed and spilled about 3,000 gallons of oil.  The oil is used in asphalt for road construction and becomes sticky when cooled.  Before the highway could be reopened, crews had to grind down and repave portions of the highway.  The road will still only have one lane open, alternating directions for several days.  According to the Washington State Patrol, the driver approached a curve when the rear tanker began to drift.  The driver then overcorrected and hit a guardrail.

Washington state lawmakers say they have reached agreement “in principle” on a new two-year operating budget, but won’t release any details.  After budget negotiators met throughout the night, Governor Jay Inslee released a statement about the agreement this morning, saying that legislative leaders were confident they would have a vote on the budget before the end of the day Friday, within hours of a deadline to avert a partial government shutdown.  The Democratic-controlled House and Republican-led Senate have been struggling for months to find compromise on a budget that addresses a state Supreme Court mandate on education funding, and Senate Majority Leader Mark Schoesler thinks what they have come up will work for students.  The rest of the Legislature wasn’t expected to be briefed on details of the agreement until Thursday, and the public won’t see the information until after that occurs.

Mid-Columbia Senior Center’s long-awaited elevator has arrived, and the installation process is underway.  The elevator has long been a goal of the Center to improve access to the lower level of the building.  Joan Silver chaired the fundraising project, and she says it should increase use of the lower level.  Once construction is done, Silver says an inspection must be done before the elevator can be used, and a ribbon-cutting celebration is set for July 18 at 8:15 a.m.  The elevator, along with a 400-square foot building addition to house the Center’s Nu-2-U shop, cost about $400,000.  Silver noted the original Community Development Block Grant that built the Center 30 years ago was $386,000.