The History Museum of Hood River County’s annual presentation of Cemetery Tales will take place this weekend in Idlewild Cemetery.  The museum’s Dottie Gilbertson says this year’s theme for the tour through the cemetery featuring actors depicting former County residents buried in the cemetery is “Choices and Decisions.”  Performances will take place Friday through Sunday.  Tickets are $17, or $15 for museum members, and are available at the Museum in Port Marina Park or on-line at cemeterytales.eventbrite.com and thehistorymuseum.com.

Boys Soccer Glencoe 5, The Dalles 0 Horizon Christian 4, Crosshill Christian 1:  The Hawks received first half goals from Makoa Whitaker and Salvador Ramirez on the way to their first victory of the season.   Girls Soccer Glencoe 9, The Dalles 0   Volleyball Stevenson def. Lyle 3 games to 1

Northwest Aluminum Specialties has been purchased by SAPA AS…an international company headquartered in Norway that has 110 locations worldwide, including 23 in the United States, and company officials say they plan to add to the workforce at the The Dalles plant next year.  Plant Manager Wade Ellertson says the company’s first order of business is to make equipment improvements that Northwest Aluminum Specialties had been unable to do due to financial challenges.  Ellertson added they see plenty of growth potential in The Dalles plant, which will now be known as SAPA Aluminum The Dalles Cast, and would like to double current output.  He said they are looking at adding 15 employees after the start of 2016.  Northwest Aluminum Specialties was worker owned, and President/CEO Bill Reid said they had been looking since the economic downturn of 2008 to find refinancing or a change in equity owners.  He noted Bank of the West worked with the company to keep the business going.  With the sale complete, Reid said he plans to retire, which he had intended to do two years ago but stayed on to help facilitate a sale.

Critics of a plan to build a bottled water plant in Cascade Locks hope to take their case to the voters of Hood River County.  The group Local Water Alliance on Monday announced plans to put a measure on the County ballot.  Spokeswoman Aurora del Val says water shouldn’t be trucked out of state in a time of drought.  She says the group is going to county voters because city and state officials haven’t stopped the plant.  A county elections official says the group would need to collect just under 500 signatures from registered voters.  Their initial filing was turned down after the County ruled it dealt with two separate issues, prohibiting both transport of bottled water and the act of producing commercial bottled water, and the group is appealing in Circuit Court while also filing new measures separating the two.  Cascade Locks City Administrator Gordon Zimmerman says he can’t comment on the proposed ballot measure until lawyers have reviewed it.  But he says the city council views the facility proposed by Nestle as a critical economic boost for the town.

Football Ridgeview 36, Hood River Valley 22 The Dalles 43, Mac-Hi 0 Columbia 32, Fort Vancouver 0 Estacada 40, Stevenson 0 Dufur 44, Hosanna Christian 14 Sherman 60, Ione 28 Arlington 60, South Wasco 0 Goldendale 20, White Swan 0   Boys Soccer Hood River Valley 2, Summit 1   Girls Soccer West Albany 3, Hood River Valley 0   Cross Country The Dalles girls were fifth and the boys ninth at the Oregon City Invitational.  Jony Nelson had the top finish for the Riverhawk boys in 16^th, while Emily Morin topped The Dalles in the girls’ run in 17^th.   Volleyball Horizon Christian def. Firm Foundation 15-25, 25-10, 25-8, 17-25, 15-9 Perrydale def. Dufur 25-27, 20-25, 25-16, 25-16, 15-10 St. Paul def. Dufur 25-10, 25-14, 25-7 South Wasco won two out of three matches in its Redside Tournament, while Sherman split two, Klickitat was 1-2, and Horizon Christian 0-3.

The Port of Hood River has a lot of engineering work taking place on the Interstate Bridge at this time.  Core samples of the concrete piers to determine their condition, seismic analysis to determine points of vulnerability, a check of auxiliary truss connections, and an initial analysis of the impact of overweight trucks on the bridge have either just taken place or are on-going.  Port Executive Director Michael McElwee added there is some state legislation pending that could be helpful.  Repairs to the auxiliary truss connections are slated to take place in the next fiscal year, while the analysis on the impact of overweight trucks on the bridge is to be presented to the Port Commission at their next meeting.

The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Lisa Farquharson says tourism in the city seemed to be busier this year.  Farquharson says most of their indicators show an increase in activity, including visits to the Chamber for information and hits on the Chamber’s website.  She said much of the visitation came from the Western region.  Farquharson noted they are still getting large numbers of tourists now, primarily people who do not have children.  She added they are seeing an uptick in international visitors.

Volleyball The Dalles def. Hermiston 25-13, 26-24, 25-15 Culver def. Dufur 25-13, 25-11, 25-23 Goldendale def. Highland 25-11, 25-10, 25-17   Boys Soccer Madras 4, The Dalles 0 Life Christian 1, Horizon Christian 0   Girls Soccer Summit 4, Hood River Valley 0 The Dalles 2, Madras 1 LaCenter 4, Columbia 0  

Cross Country Hood River Valley topped Hermiston for both the boys and girls varsity titles of HRV’s Skip Sparks Invitational.  The Eagles’ Justin Crosswhite, Quinn Fetkenhour, and Jesse Wiley were the top three finishers in the boys’ race, while HRV’s Lauren Robinson and Daisy Dolan finished one-two in the girls’ run.   Columbia won the boys’ race at a Trico League meet at Seton Catholic.  Will Nuckoles and Colin Howe led the Bruins to the win by claiming the top two individual places.  Stevenson was fourth in the team standings, led by a sixth place finish by Jordan Vigil.  CHS was second to LaCenter in the girls’ race, paced by a second place run from Haley Blair.   Volleyball Fort Vancouver def. Columbia 3 games to 1 LaCenter def. Stevenson 25-22, 25-21, 16-25, 25-18 Trinity Lutheran def. South Wasco 25-5, 25-17, 25-20    

Maryhill Museum of Art has received a $1,000,000 grant from the State of Washington to support the repair and replacement of the exterior stucco on the museum’s historic building.   The total cost of the project is estimated at $1,394,000, with the remainder to be raised from private sources.  The state’s grant will allow the museum to properly address the underlying causes of water damage by removing old repairs and applying new solutions to the problems.  The project will repair and replace the exterior stucco on the museum’s historic building, replace decking on the building’s roofs and ramps, and make repairs to the flashing and gutters to prevent further deterioration of the facade.  The entire stucco exterior will be painted in the original historic color, placing the building within its historic context.  Fundraising for the remaining $394,000 is underway, with a goal to secure all of the funding by spring 2016 so work can begin in early summer and be finished by late fall 2016.