The Hood River Watershed Group presented draft elements of the Hood River Watershed Strategic Action Plan at its meeting this week.  Group Coordinator Cindy Thieman says the plan has a goal of strengthening native fish conditions through a series of strategies and actions.  Thieman says the current overall health of the watershed is good, but not good enough to sustain the native wild fish populations in the long run.  Elements of the plan will included a conceptual model of strategies and actions along with a prioritized list and map of proposed restoration projects.  The plan should be finalized in June.

 

The Dallesport Community Council has asked the Klickitat County Commission to consider allowing all-terrain vehicles to be driven on some roads within that community.  Klickitat County has allowed ATV’s to use some roads in Glenwood in a pilot project initiated a few years ago.  Commissioner David Sauter says they’ve referred the request to public works for review, but he said at this point everything appears to be in line to move forward.  Sauter says the request will need to go through a public comment process, and a list of applicable roads developed, before it is approved.

Cycle Oregon has announced that its gravel ride in May will be based out of Tygh Valley.  The two-day ride will feature challenging hills as well as easy rollers through the wildflowers, wheat fields and forested roads east of Mount Hood.  Both gravel and paved roads will be used for the fully supported ride, which will be limited to 500 participants.  The event will take place May 15-17.  Cycle Oregon’s flagship seven-day ride in September will be in eastern Oregon, including stops in John Day, Monument, Fossil, Mitchell and Dayville.

 

Girls Basketball

Columbia 50, Seton Catholic 37:  Maggie Bryan scored 15 points for the Bruins while Tegan Blankenship added 10 as the Bruins moved into third place in the Trico League.

King’s Way Christian 43, Stevenson 38:  King’s Way took control early with a 17-4 first quarter run and held off the Bulldogs.  Ashley Brannan led Stevenson with 17 points.

 

Wrestling

Pendleton 59, The Dalles 24:  Steven Preston, Dusty Dodge, and Mauricio Carrera scored wins by fall for the Riverhawks.

There will be intermittent, single lane closures on the Hood River-White Salmon Interstate Bridge beginning at 9:00 a.m. Friday for repair inspections of the guardrail.  Flaggers will direct traffic around the moving work zone.  Minimal delays of 10-15 minutes are expected, depending on traffic volume.  Work is expected to conclude by noon the same day. 

The section of the Historic Columbia River Highway between Multnomah Falls and Angel’s Rest reopened Thursday morning, two days after a slide closed the road.  Oregon Department of Transportation geologists and hydrologists hiked up the hillside above the slide Thursday morning to inspect conditions before deciding to re-open the road.  ODOT does advise travelers to use caution in the Gorge, which is prone to slides under the best conditions.  ODOT will close that section of road again on Monday morning to complete slide cleanup.  This will include clearing a culvert blocked by slide material.

 

While The Dalles was not picked to be featured on the “Small Business Revolution” program, civic leaders are enthused about the amount of community involvement it generated, and believe it can lead to great things in the future.  Don Warren of The Dalles Main Street program, which helped lead the effort to get the community to campaign, says a lot of the business owners in The Dalles are now younger people bringing a new energy to move forward.  Warren says while the Main Street group is focused on downtown, they’ve been working with other groups in the community to better work together to advance economic development and continue to build civic pride.

Bids for a new Klickitat County Courthouse Annex in Goldendale have come in under the estimated cost of the project.  County Commissioners opened bids on Tuesday, and both of the qualifying bids were under the $30,000,000 engineer’s estimate, and Commissioner David Sauter says the apparent low bid was about one million dollars under that amount.  The County Public Works Department will now review the bids and come back to the Commission with its recommendation.  Sauter says the County is on track to break ground on the project this spring.

The Dalles City Council approved a contract with the local law firm Campbell Phillips to provide legal services to take over for retiring City Attorney Gene Parker.  Mayor Rich Mays says Diana McDougle will be the principal attorney serving the City, with Kristin Campbell also involved.  Mays says in his over 30 years involved in municipal government, he’s worked with both an attorney on staff and contracting with one, and the most important element is the quality of the people involved.  Parker is retiring in March after over 28 years in the City Attorney position.

The effort to do needed maintenance and reinvestment on the Riverfront Trail in The Dalles is continuing, with work to raise the estimated $315,000 to fix aging and damaged portions of the trail.  North Wasco Parks and Recreation District Executive Director Scott Baker says the City of The Dalles has committed $100,000 for the work, while the Port of The Dalles and the North Wasco PUD have chipped in $50,000 each.  Baker says the effort to fundraise for the rest is underway.  Baker adds they can start work this spring, and plan to start at the western end of the trail at the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center and move eastward.  For information on how to donate, go to nwprd.org.