There will be intermittent single lane bridge closures on the Hood River/White Salmon Interstate Bridge through Wednesday as crews work to repair damage to the guardrail of the northbound lane.  Each closure is expected to be up to 15 minutes in duration.  Bridge users should expect delays at all hours.  About 260 feet of guardrail was damaged by an unknown large vehicle on Thursday afternoon.  

As North Wasco County School District 21 wraps up its 2015-16 academic year, preparation is underway to convert the entire district to a trimester schedule in 2016-17.  Superintendent Candy Armstrong says the shift to the trimester system at The Dalles High School brought positive results, with overall grade point averages and attendance improving.  She adds the trimester system also provides more checkpoints for teachers and parents to measure student progress.  The Dalles Middle School and all elementary schools will be on trimesters in 2016-17.

The Hood River County Chamber of Commerce has received a study showing the financial impact of visitors on the City of Hood River’s economy.  Chamber Executive Director Mike Glover says they have always had breakdowns for the County from Travel Oregon but not specific to the City, so the Chamber asked Dean Runyon and Associates, who authored the Travel Oregon study, to put together those numbers.  Glover says the report confirms much of what those in Hood River felt…that tourism in the community has grown substantially over the last five years.  The report shows each overnight visitor spends an average of $91 per day while in the City of Hood River, and that there were 226,000 overnight person trips in 2015.  Travel-generated employment in Hood River represents about six percent of all employment in the City.

Oregon Class 5A Baseball Championship Summit 12, Hood River Valley 2:  Summit used a six-run third inning to blow the game open and grab the championship away from Hood River Valley.  Troy Viola had two run scoring doubles, while Dylan Albertazzi and Alex Bailey also drove in two runs each to lead the Storm to their first ever state baseball title.  Adam Cameron had two hits and drove in a run for the Eagles.  HRV finished the season at 23-7, and were making a third straight trip to the state championship game.  It was the first time in Oregon School Activities Association history that a school has made three consecutive state baseball championship appearances twice, having done it previously from 1986 to 1988.

The North Central Public Health District this evening announced the advisory for Mosier residents to not flush toilets, shower, or do dishes has been lifted.  Work to build a bypass line for wastewater has taken place.  Mosier City Engineer John Grim said the temporary fix they have made to the sewer system will involve hauling the City’s wastewater to the Hood River treatment plant by truck. A main line from Mosier’s wastewater treatment plant was impacted by Friday’s train derailment, and the plant was shut down as a precaution, Mosier officials continue to recommend people in the community to boil their water while water from a backup well is tested.  Mosier City Councilor Emily Reed says the boil advisory will probably continue into Monday.  Reed said the City’s main water source was used to fight the fire that resulted from the derailment. Evacuated Mosier residents are being allowed to return home.  Mosier Manor is now on a Level 2 (be set to go) notice, while all other Mosier residents are on a Level 1 (Be ready) notice. North Wasco County School District 21 announced there will be no school for students of Mosier Community School this week.  Eighth grade promotion will be rescheduled, and the Oaks Park trip for Mosier Middle School students has been cancelled.  An end of year celebration will be held at a date to be announced.  At that time parents and students will be able to pick up report cards and items left at the school last week.  At this time no one is allowed in Mosier Community School buildings. Union Pacific spokeswoman Raquel Espinoza said at the news conference there is still more investigation to be done, but they do have a preliminary finding on the cause of the derailment.  That finding shows it is very likely a failure with the fastener that connects a railroad tie with the rail probably contributed to the accident.  Espinoza said thirteen rail cars were still at the derailment location waiting to be hauled off, adding ten of the cars need to have the oil taken out of the tanker into a temporary storage tank to be trucked out of the area. Evacuated residents needing assistance should contact the Union Pacific Claim Center located across from the Mosier Market or call the claim center at 877-877-2567, option 6.  Wasco County Emergency Management’s information hotline is operational, call 541-506-2792 to hear updates.  Citizen questions can be emailed to MosierMP70@gmail.com.

  Work continues at the site of Friday’s Union Pacific train derailment near Mosier. Fourteen oil tankers derailed and four caught fire. The tank fire has been extinguished. There were no injuries and no structures were lost. Water and air monitoring is being conducted. At first light this morning, a light sheen of oil was observed about six feet offshore in the Columbia River at the mouth of Rock Creek. Environmental crews are working to identify and control the source of the sheen. Containment booms are being used in the Columbia and Rock Creek. A boil water order is still in place for Mosier, mainly as a precaution in case an untested well is used for fire suppression. Residents in an area about a quarter of a mile around the incident were evacuated by the Wasco County Sheriff’s Department. Deputies are patrolling the evacuated area. A decision whether the evacuation needs to be continued will be made this evening. Federal. state, tribal and local authorities have established a command center near the area to coordinate response, cleanup and investigation. I-84 between Hood River and The Dalles has been reopened, but the Mosier exit is still closed. The public information number is (541)506-2792.

Wasco County Emergency Manager, Juston Huffman, has established a hotline at 541-506-2792 with information about the following topics:  As of 8 p.m., approximately 125 Mosier residents have been evacuated.  The American Red Cross has set up a shelter for evacuees at Dry Hollow Elementary, 1314 E. 19th St., The Dalles, OR. Call 888-680-1455 with questions about the shelter.  Home at Last is offering to house pets of Mosier evacuees. Call 775-430-0882.  Portable toilets have been set up in downtown Mosier due to the order to refrain from putting water down the drain (No showers, no flushing, no rinsing dishes, etc.).  A Boil Water Notice has been issued to Mosier residents until further notice.  I84 is closed at exit 87 (The Dalles) and exit 64 (Hood River).  Citizen Alert, Wasco County’s reverse 911, is also sending information. To register for Citizen Alert visit the Wasco County Web page at co.wasco.or.us. The hotline will be updated as the situation changes. Call 541-506-2792

One or two cars on an oil-train derailed near Mosier are on fire and has sent up plumes of black smoke. The accident occured about 12:15 this afternoon. According to Jennifer Flynt, spokeswoman for the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, 10 cars derailed and some oil was leaking. It was not known if any oil reached the Columbia or caused damage to the river. Flynt said oil spill response crews from the US Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Environmental Quality, and National Response Corporation, a contractor that works with Union Pacific Railroad are en route. UP has confirmed the train is theirs. An Oregon Department of Transportation official, Hal Gard, said 2 cars were on fire. The fire burned about a quarter of an acre in the area of the fire. ODOT has closed I-84 EB beginning at milepost 64 and westbound at milepost 87. The Westbound Rowena ramp is also closed. Klickitat County Emergency Management has asked motorists to stay off Highway 14 because of extreme traffic conditions. Traffic throughout the region is very heavy. Local health officials put out an air quality advisory for people with asthma, respiratory infections, lung or heart disease and diabetes, recommending they stay inside and limit physical activity. Mosier Volunteer Fire Department workers first responded to the incident. They were joined by Mid-Columbia Fire & Rescue, Westside Rural Fire Protection District from Hood River, Wy’East Fire District and the Dallesport Fire Department. (Photo courtesy Sean Aiken)

Oregon Class 5A Baseball Championship Hood River Valley vs. Summit, 5 p.m.:  The Eagles look to defend their title against the Storm, who were the top team in the OSAA Class 5A rankings heading into the post-season.  As they did last year, the Eagles are riding defense and pitching in their playoff run.  After a 17-3 win over Eagle Point in round one, HRV defeated Ashland 2-0 on Connor Coerper’s two-hitter, and then knocked off Churchill on a two-hitter by Patrick Harvey, who has also homered twice and driven all of the Eagles runs in the last two victories.  Summit brings in a potent offense led by Washington State-bound catcher Cal Waterman.  The Storm have outscored their playoff opponents 35-8.  The two teams have met twice in the last two years, with HRV defeating Summit 10-0 in a play-in game two years ago, and the Storm winning a regular season game in Bend last year 3-1.  Game time at Volcanoes Stadium in Keizer will be at 5 p.m., and you can hear the game on KIHR AM 1340/98.3 FM.

There will be intermittent single lane delays on the Hood River Interstate Bridge for the next several days after an unknown large vehicle severely damaged a guardrail Thursday afternoon.  Port of Hood River Executive Director Michael McElwee says the damage occurred in what he termed a “hit and run” around 1:30 p.m., and while he noted the guardrails on the bridge are hit frequently, this is the largest amount of damage anyone can recall.  McElwee says the vehicle rode hard against the east side guard rail for about 260 feet.  Crews have knocked back sections of the rail that were sticking out onto the bridge deck, but the rail must be replaced.  A contractor will look at the damage Friday, and McElwee hopes repair work that will take several days can begin early next week.  Bridge users should expect delays at all hours.