The Hood River City Council will receive affordable housing recommendations at its meeting on Monday evening.  A technical advisory committee and the consulting firm ECONorthwest have been working for a number of weeks to prepare a comprehensive housing needs analysis, buildable lands inventory, and housing strategy.  The needs analysis will include an assessment of whether Hood River has enough land within the Urban Growth Boundary to accommodate expected population growth and an inventory of vacant land in Hood River.  The strategy portion will focus on increasing residential land use efficiency, secondary housing, and a short-term rental housing policy.  The Council meeting begins at 5:30 on Monday evening in Hood River City Hall.

The Senate Appropriations Committee has moved forward a concept backed by Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley to provide for the Interior Department with funding for an expected amount of wildfires, but then pay for firefighting costs above that amount through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.  Many Western lawmakers have sought such a move for years, contending the cost of battling catastrophic wildfires has hampered the ability of the Forest Service to do fire prevention work.  Merkley says the concept is still a long way from becoming law, noting the broader bill with the plan in it passed on a split partisan vote with a series of policy riders that could be harmful to environmental programs and the Clean Power Plan.  Merkley and other Democrats voted against the broader bill.

FISH Food Bank on Saturday will celebrate the opening of their new facility in Hood River on 1130 Tucker Road adjacent to Our Redeemer Lutheran Church.  The facility has actually been open for a little over month.  A community open house is scheduled for 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, and will including a ribbon cutting, music, and dancing.  The new 5,660 square foot building will serve as a distribution center in Hood River, a storage facility for the organization’s county-wide operations, and also a community resource with a commercial kitchen and attached classroom.  There are also larger and more efficient freezers and cold storage facilities to store perishable foods.

The Dalles Area Relay For Life will take place Saturday at Sid White Field on the Wahtonka campus.  This year’s event to benefit the American Cancer Society will include opening ceremonies at 9 a.m. and continue until midnight.  Niki Piacente says they have already surpassed their goal for this year to raise $30,000.  The public is invited to come and take part in events throughout the day.  Highlights include the Survivor lap right after the opening ceremonies, and the Luminaria ceremony at 10 p.m.

Wasco County Commissioners approved a budget for the upcoming fiscal year.  The budget passed unanimously essentially as developed by the budget committee.  That left intact a $314,000 allocation for the North Central Public Health District, $81,033 lower than what the three-county district says it needs to maintain current service levels.  The County Commission and the District Board have been at odds over governance issues, but Commission Chair Scott Hege said it is possible the County could reconsider its contribution level when its review of the district wraps up near the end of 2015.  Documents presented by the health district to the Commission indicated the reduction would lead to the layoff of two people and a reduction in walk-in reproductive health and immunization services from five days a week to one.  But in an e-mail to local media after the meeting District Director Teri Thalofer said the decision on reduction in force will be reconsidered at a special board meeting next Tuesday in light of Hege’s comments.

An agreement is in hand to resolve a years-long dispute between Wasco County and the City of The Dalles over who should have responsibility to maintain nearly 15 miles of roads in areas annexed by the City.  Under the deal, the County and City will work together to chip seal the roads, and then the City will take over responsibility.  City Manager Nolan Young says a change in City in-fill development policies to allow streets to be developed with good surfaces without other infrastructure until urbanization is complete set the stage for the agreement.   County Commissioners approved the agreement Wednesday, and the City Council will vote on it on Monday.

This year’s Bing cherry crop in the Mid-Columbia has been hurt by both freeze damage to trees in November and the hot temperatures of last week.  Oregon State University Extension Agent Lynn Long told Wasco County Commissioners that the heat arrived just as the Bings, which is the predominant cherry variety in the region, were ripening.  He says that stressed the fruit, reducing fruit size.  But Long points out later varieties being picked now are sizing well and were not impacted by the heat, so he’s hopeful the overall crop will be of very good quality.  Long noted early varieties were of excellent quality, even though crop size will be down by about 50 percent this year.  Kevin McIntyre of the Farm Service Agency said Wasco County has received a federal disaster declaration for drought, which will make all farm producers eligible to receive relief, while an application for a freeze damage declaration has been submitted.

Hood River County is studying an upgrade to its emergency communications system.  County Administrator David Meriwether says they are trying to eliminate dead spots in the law enforcement radio system.  Meriwether says the problem is particularly noticeable when officers use their portable radios.  He adds many of the dead spots are in the Upper Valley.  Meriwether says a company has preformed a study of what the County already has with the hopes of improving the coverage over the next couple of years, probably through the use of repeaters.

Mid-Columbia Community Action is in the process of receiving a $300,000 grant from the federal Supportive Services for Veteran Families program.  Community Action’s Jim Slusher says the money earmarked to help identify and bring help to homeless veterans in Hood River, Wasco, and Sherman counties.  Slusher says they are in the process of hiring a person to oversee the program and do outreach.  The grant will provide three years of funding for the program.

The new swimming pool at the Northern Wasco County Aquatic Center at Thompson Park has passed health department inspections, and will be ready for its grand opening on Saturday.  Scott Hege has been overseeing construction of the pool for the Northern Wasco County Parks and Recreation District, and said the inspections took place Tuesday.  Hege says the fence around the pool was finished Tuesday morning.  The grand opening ceremonies are planned for 1 p.m. Saturday.