The Horseshoe Fire continues to burn on the southwest flank of Mt. Adams and in the Mt. Adams Wilderness. As of Tuesday morning, the fire had not grown since the weekend, with 250 acres burned so far. According to incident commander Brian Gales, a scout team found the fire had burned to the 2012 Cascade Creek Fire boundary along the fire’s south and east perimeter. Minimum impact suppression techniques, or MIST, are being used in all firefighting activities in the Mt. Adams Wilderness. Crews are attempting to limit impacts on the wilderness and cultural resources. A spike camp for firefighters is being established to increase efficiency. At last report, there were 5 crews onsite, 3 helicopters and 1 water tender. 170 personnel are fighting the fire, which has a containment of zero precent. The cause is undetermined at this point.

The Junction Fire in south central Klickitat County is being reported by Klickitat County Emergency Management as 60 percent contained as of Friday morning. The fire started late Thursday as two separate fast moving grass fires in the area of the junction of Highways 14 and 97, and quickly grew together. The fire has burned about 2,000 acres between mile markers 100 and 105 on Highway 14 and mile markers 2 and 3 on Highway 97. Klickitat County Emergency Management confirmed that one home, an apartment, a hay barn, and seven outbuildings have been destroyed in the fire. Three people were displaced from their homes. There are a total of twelve Klickitat County fire departments involved in the firefighting effort along with the Washington Department of Natural Resources and Sherman County. One firefighter is reported to have sustained a minor leg injury.   Another set of fires nearby on the eastside of Highway 97 at about milepost 7 that grew together are now fully contained. The Viewpoint Fire burned approximately 1,025 acres.  

A Celebration of Life will be held on July 12 in honor of Gary Honald of The Dalles, who recently passed away.  It will take place in The Dalles Civic Auditorium ballroom from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on what would have been Honald’s 80th birthday.   The Dalles Kiwanis Club is sponsoring the event as a way to provide the community a way to share their memories of Honald, who was involved in numerous community events, as well as enjoy his favorite desserts: cherry pie and apple pie.  Honald drove the Santa Sleigh in the Starlight Parade every year, and The Dalles Kiwanis Club is working to ensure the tradition continues in his honor through a fund has been set up by The Dalles Kiwanis Club to make sure that the sleigh continues to operate and continues to be filled with toys.  There will be an opportunity to contribute to the fund at the celebration.  Donations may also be sent to The Dalles Kiwanis, P.O. Box 604, The Dalles, Oregon  97058.   For more information contact The Dalles Kiwanis Secretary, Sherry Munro at 541-298-4825.  

A White Swan man was killed Wednesday afternoon in a one-vehicle accident on Highway 141 in Klickitat County.  Sheriff Bob Songer says a pickup driven by 31-year-old Samuel Smartlovit of White Swan was southbound at milepost five at around 2:15 p.m. Wednesday when the truck failed to negotiate a curve, went off the road, hit a rock and two trees, then rolled over on its side.  Smartlovit died in the accident.  Songer says two passengers in the pickup suffered non-life threatening injuries.

North Central Public Health District has schedule a free T-DAP vaccine clinic for July 9 to deal with an ongoing outbreak of Pertussis.  The clinic will be on July 9 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at The Dalles Middle School, and will offer free vaccinations to all persons age seven and older that are not up to date on their T-DAP vaccine.  As of July 1, there were 16 cases of Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, reported in The Dalles.  The clinic is targeted for those who are not up to date on their T-DAP vaccination, those who work closely with people vulnerable to Pertussis like infants and young children, pregnant women, and those with a weakened immune system, and those without insurance.  The vaccine is also available at doctor’s offices and pharmacies

Crews have entered the mop-up stage on the five-acre Willow Springs Fire in the Mill Creek area near The Dalles.  Rod Nichols of the Oregon Department of Forestry says quick response to the fire that was reported Wednesday morning was crucial to keep it small. ODF and other agencies put together several engines, two hand crews, and air support to fight the fire.  Nichols added conditions were such that had the fire gotten away, it could have become very large very quickly.  The fire was on a ridgeline that was at the northern edge of the Government Flats Fire two years ago.

Farmers Irrigation District in Hood River County has declared an emergency and is implementing three-and-a-half day on, three-and-a-half day off water rotation procedures in its Upper and Middle districts to address drought conditions.  District Manager Jer Camarata says the rotation schedule is an effort to cut the flow from their Kingsley Reservoir by half to help get through the drought and have water through the end of the harvest.  The lower part of the district gets irrigation water from a diversion off the Hood River.  The district is asking all of its water users to voluntarily stop watering lawns and any non-essential landscapes for the duration of the summer to help farmers.  The list of roads and their assigned days for watering is available on the Farmers Irrigation District website at fidhr.org and will be mailed to all of the district’s users, and anyone with questions can call 541-387-5261.

Local officials in Washington are urging people that if they choose to use fireworks, to do so Saturday evening at Bingen Point rather than in drier locations.  The Port of Klickitat is once again hosting the annual do-it-yourself legal fireworks event in a section of Bingen Point’s Sailboard Park in cooperation with the cities of White Salmon and Bingen, the Klickitat County Sheriff’s Office, Fire District 13, and others.  White Salmon Mayor David Poucher says it will be set up for a family-friendly event, with fire engines on site and places to dispose of fireworks.  Bingen Point will be open for the do-it-yourself fireworks event Saturday evening between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m.  Alcohol, weapons, drugs, pets, and illegal fireworks will not be allowed at the event.

White Salmon’s City Council and Planning Commission are planning a joint meeting later this month to discuss affordable housing issues in that community.  Mayor David Poucher says he is concerned increases in density are leading to more houses being snapped up as second homes, and it’s making it more difficult for people with average income jobs to live there.  Poucher says rentals get snapped up quickly in White Salmon, but they do have the advantage of a substantial supply of buildable land for housing.  The joint City Council/Planning Commission meeting is set for July 29, with a place and time still to be determined.  Poucher says Joel Madsen of Mid-Columbia Housing Authority will take part in the meeting.

After dealing with a hard freeze in the early winter, and heat during an early harvest in a warmer than normal late spring, in the end the Wasco County cherry crop appears to have come out in good shape.  OSU Extension Agent Lynn Long says even though his crop estimates of 25,000 tons would be around half of last year’s record haul, that would have been considered average just a decade ago, so he’s relatively pleased with it.  He adds quality has varied, noting Chelans at the start of the harvest were very good, but Bings were impacted by high heat.  Long adds mid- and late-season fruit quality has been excellent, with growers working to get them off the tree in a manner to prevent them from major heat impacts.