Wednesday night’s planned Project ELFF canned food drive through the western portion of The Dalles has been cancelled due to a forecast of continued icy conditions.  Bob Mazzrillo of the Mid-Columbia Fire and Rescue Volunteer Association said they will be accepting donations of non-perishable food at the MCFR station on Eighth and Webber.  The drive collected 82-hundred units of food in the east end of The Dalles on Tuesday night.  Project ELFF is planning to collect donations in Dallesport on Thursday night.

The Oregon Department of Transportation is advising travelers to frequently check road conditions and use extreme caution or delay travel plans altogether.   ODOT crews, working 12-hour shifts, have applied deicer along all lanes of Interstate 84 between Hood River and Troutdale.   Other roads treated with deicer include U.S. Highway 26, and Oregon Highways  224/212 and 211.  In addition, an I-84 maintenance project between mileposts 51 and 56 has been postponed.  The project would have closed one lane in both directions.  Maintenance crews will be checking I-84 and other roads Tuesday night.

The 30th annual Project ELFF (Everyone Loves a Firefighter) canned food drive will take place in The Dalles and Dallesport over the next three nights.  Bob Mazzrillo is one of those in charge of the project sponsored by the Mid-Columbia Fire and Rescue Volunteer Association. Dallesport Fire District, The Salvation Army, and St. Vincent DePaul, and he says all of the food collected stays in The Dalles and Dallesport.  Fire trucks will be collecting food in The Dalles east of Union Street this evening, on the west side of The Dalles Wednesday evening, and in Dallesport on Thursday, with collection taking place from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. all three nights.  Simply leave your donation of non-perishable food items on the front porch.

The Hood River City Council approved the purchase of a 12-by-44-foot mobile office for the municipal building department to be located at the City Public Works yard.  City Manager Steve Wheeler said with the department about to add a third employee, it needs more room than is currently available in the back of the Public Works’ office building.  Total cost of the building, including utilities and permitting, is $50,000.  In other business, Councilors approved a less than one percent average increase in garbage disposal rates.  Hood River Garbage requested the move, citing rising operational costs and disposal fees.

Fire damaged a shed being used as a shelter by two people at 1112 East 10th in The Dalles early Monday morning.  Mid-Columbia Fire and Rescue Chief Bob Palmer said there has been no determination of the cause of the fire at this point.  Palmer said the two individuals staying in the 15 by 20 foot building were able to escape the fire, with one sustaining burns on the hand while attempting to put out the fire.  The two occupants were assisted by the American Red Cross with temporary lodging, basic needs, and recovery services.  The fire occurred at about 4:30 a.m. Monday.

All Hood River County School District after school activities are cancelled. Columbia Gorge Community College classes scheduled to start at 4:00 p.m. or later are cancelled for today because of weather concerns. Columbia Gorge Community College Board of Education meeting is cancelled. White Salmon Valley School District CLC will not take place tonight. All Hood River County Library District locations are closing at 3 p.m. today. Weight Watchers meeting at Hood River Valley Adult Center is cancelled. Mid-Columbia Senior Center Tuesday night music is cancelled. CAST “Miracle on 34th Street” rehearsal has been cancelled tonight.

An ad hoc group is in the midst of developing strategies to deal with homelessness in The Dalles.  A group of about 17 people met in October to discuss the issues surrounding homelessness, from safety issues for both those who are homeless and the community to finding housing for those people.      City Councilor Tim McGlothlin says he was sparked to take action after the Council received a letter from a resident concerned about what was going on in the West 2nd and Thompson Park area, where many who are homeless gather.  McGlothlin says there are some short-term steps that have been identified, but there are long-term goals as well…including looking into turning an abandoned hotel into homeless housing, and supporting tiny homes such as those proposed in the Spruce Village project.  The committee will meet again Wednesday morning at nine at The Dalles City Hall, and the public is welcome to attend.

For the second straight holiday season, CAST of Hood River will perform a radio play.  This year’s play will be Miracle On 34th Street, with the performers recreating the feel of doing a radio play in the late 1940’s, complete with sound effects, in front of a live studio audience.  Gary Young of CAST says a radio play engages the mind in the story.  The show will premiere this Saturday evening at 7:30 at Columbia Center for the Arts, with performances Fridays and Saturdays the following two weeks at the same time, and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. starting this weekend and continuing the next two weeks.  Tickets are available on-line at columbiaarts.org.

Oregon Class 1A Football Championship Dufur 36, Crane 32:  Bailey Keever ran for 159 yards, threw three touchdown passes, and returned a kickoff 78 yards for a score to lead the Rangers to their seventh state football title.  Keever’s 14 yard touchdown pass to Curtis Crawford gave the Rangers the lead for good late in the third quarter, and his 58 yard run with 5:53 remaining proved to be the winning score.  Keever also had 20 tackles on defense, 14 unassisted.  Dufur recovered from two early season losses to win eight straight games on the way to the championship.

Klickitat PUD held hearings this week in both White Salmon and Goldendale on a proposal to increase electric rates by three percent at the beginning of 2016 and another two to three percent in July.  PUD General Manager Jim Smith says a combination of Bonneville Power Administration cost increases and a drop in wholesale revenues is leading to the rate hike.  He expects the wholesale revenue situation will be a long-term concern.  Smith says the PUD is looking at options for replacing the wholesale revenue losses, with the potential to sell carbon credits off its existing generation if Washington Governor Jay Inslee’s carbon legislation initiatives come to fruition.  The PUD board will vote on the rate increases at a meeting in December, when they will also conduct a 2016 budget hearing.