The Dalles Civic Auditorium will hold its third annual open house on Sunday.  This year’s theme is “This Place Matters,” as National Historic Preservation Month begins with the arrival of May.  Tours of the Civic, displays of local historic restoration and information on historic restoration will be available.  Members of The Dalles Main Street and the City Historic Landmarks Commission will be participating, and the Civic will kickoff its capital campaign for theatre renovation.  The open house will run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday.

The Hood River Police Department, in conjunction with the Hood River Fire Department and the Hood River County Prevention Department, will hold a National Drug Take Back event on Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon.  It will take place in the parking lot at the corner of State and 2nd next to Hood River City Hall.  Residents are encouraged to turn in any expired or unwanted prescription drugs during the event.  No illegal drugs or injection needles will be accepted.

The Dalles Public Works will begin on Monday to replace a section of deteriorated pre-1909 steel water main line on Trevitt Street.  Traffic control, detours and road closures will be in effect for the duration of the water line project that is expected to take eight to ten days to complete.   This work is being done in preparation for the repaving of Trevitt Street.  On Monday Trevitt Street will be closed beginning at 7 a.m. to thru traffic from West 6th Street to West 7th Street.   Flaggers will be at the intersection of West 6th Street and Trevitt Street to direct one lane traffic through the work zone.  West 6th Street will be opened up to two lane traffic at 5:00 pm.  On Tuesday, Trevitt Street will remain closed to thru traffic.  Motorists are encouraged to use Bridge and Garrison Streets as alternative routes to avoid the work area.  Meanwhile, crack seal work will take place during the first portion of the week on various streets in The Dalles.

Boys Soccer Columbia 5, Stevenson 1:  The Bruins remain unbeaten in the Trico League at 9-0.   Girls Tennis Columbia 3, King’s Way Christian 1:  Hannah Sauter, Emily Lockman, and the doubles pair of Claire Burkhardt and Rosalyn Slater were victorious for the Bruins.

With fire season looming in the Northwest, Oregon Senator Ron Wyden underscored the urgency of passing a wildfire funding fix to allow better forest management in a floor speech.  Wyden and Idaho Senator Mike Crapo have been working to pass their bipartisan bill, which would fund the largest wildfires from a similar disaster account used to fund other natural disasters.   Wyden says the wildfire season never really ends now.  Wyden and Crapo say freeing up Forest Service funds currently used to pay for major wildfires would allow the agency to manage timber sales, restore streams and maintain trails in Oregon and across the country.

The City of The Dalles held a second public workshop this week on updating its Transportation System Plan.  Those at the sparsely attended session weighed in on a number of projects that could go into the plan to guide transportation investments through 2035.  City Public Works Director Dave Anderson says their consultant will take information gathered in recent weeks to begin to finalize a list of projects.  Once a final draft plan is ready, it will go to hearings before the municipal planning commission and the City Council.

Teams from 40 area middle and high schools will compete in the Google Wind Challenge on Saturday at The Dalles Civic Auditorium.  Google’s Dave Karlson says competitors are given a box of parts to build a wind turbine that will be judged for energy production and how well it can lift a weight.  The public is invited to attend, and there will be a STEM Fair featuring OMSI and hands-on exhibits from other areas.  The Wind Challenge runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday in The Dalles Civic Auditorium.  Columbia Gorge Community College and the Gorge Technology Alliance are also taking part in the event.

Track and Field Columbia’s boys won a four-school Trico League meet in Stevenson, while the host Bulldogs finished fourth.  The Bruins won eight events to take the victory.  CHS and Stevenson tied for third in the girls’ competition, won by Seton Catholic.  Columbia’s Stacia Bell won both the shot put and discus.   Boys Tennis Hood River Valley 5, The Dalles 3   Girls Tennis Hood River Valley 5, The Dalles 3

The Dalles Public Works Director Dave Anderson is hoping public comment can help move the City’s application for an Oregon Water Resource Department grant to pay half of the cost of replacement of the Dog River water line.  The City’s request for four million dollars ranked only 23rd out of 34 applications representing 51 million dollars, and the state has only 14 million to distribute.  Anderson is hoping public comments to OWRD can move The Dalles up the rankings for funding to replace the over 100-year-old wooden line.  He adds the pipe currently leaks one million gallons of water a day during peak flow, and replacement would mean more water would stay in the stream rather than being diverted.  Public comment is being taken through Friday, and can be done through the Oregon Water Resources Department website.  Five other projects in the region are up consideration with the Mosier Deep Water Supply Well, Kingsley Reservoir expansion, and Coe Branch Pipeline and Efficiency projects all in the top ten in the department’s rankings.

A Wasco County Planning Commission hearing on Union Pacific’s request to expand an existing railroad siding on either side of Mosier has been postponed.  It was originally scheduled for this coming Tuesday, but has been rescheduled for June 7 at 3 p.m. at the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center.  The Union Pacific application seeks to expand the existing railroad siding on either side of Mosier for just over four miles of new second mainline track and realigned existing track.  It includes five new equipment shelters, drainage structures, a retaining wall, new lighting and signage, and wireless communication poles  The request also includes off-site wetland mitigation east of the primary project site.