As it becomes more likely a statewide K-12 education budget of $7.255 billion will pass in the Legislature, school district officials are getting ready to deal with the budget realities that will result.  North Wasco County School District 21 Chief Financial Officer Randy Anderson says he needs to make an assumption on a budget number by the end of this month, noting he expects some change with the state’s May revenue forecast.  Anderson does say he doubts the revenue forecast can grow to the point where the state K-12 budget number would go up $7.5 billion, which education officials say they need to avoid cuts.  Majority Democrat legislative leaders have promised to put 40 percent of any increase in the revenue forecast into the K-12 budget.

Oregon Senate Republicans are upset that 68 people who planned to testify at a hearing against a bill to expand background checks for the private sale of firearms were not allowed to do so.  The Republicans claim that out of more than 100 registered witnesses, 94 percent of those who signed up in favor of Senate Bill 941 were allowed to testify, while only 19 percent of those who planned to speak in opposition go to do so.  29th District Senator Bill Hansell says many of those people who did not get to testify had traveled over 150 miles to do so.  The Senate Judiciary Committee passed the bill Monday on a party-line 3-2 vote, and it will now head to the Senate floor.

A 40-year-old woman was taken by LifeFlight to a hospital in Vancouver following a one-vehicle accident early Saturday afternoon in the Stevenson area.  Skamania County Emergency Medical Services responded to a vehicle accident in the 1100 block of SW Rock Creek Drive at 12:33 p.m. Saturday.  Crews arrived to find a small sedan about 40 feet over the embankment on the south side of the roadway.   The vehicle was occupied by the woman who was entangled and entrapped in the vehicle.  Crews performed heavy extrication work to free her from the vehicle, and a ropes system was used to raise the injured patient up the hill to the roadway.   She was transported to a landing zone at Stevenson Elementary School and transferred by Life Flight to Peace Health Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver.

Track and Field Hood River Valley’s girls finished first and the boys second at the East County Classic at Mount Hood Community College.  The Eagles girls were led by Jestena Mattson, who won the 100 and 200 meters and the high jump, while Sascha Bockius won the 3,000 meters.  HRV took five first place finishes in boys’ competition, topped by wins by Sebastian Barajas in the shot put and the discus.  The Dalles finished sixth in both the boys and girls standings.   Horizon Christian was the girls winner and Bickleton was first in the boys at the Sherman Invitational.  Top individual performances from area schools included Mason Bloomster of Horizon Christian winning the boys’ 100 and 200 meters, Sherman’s Isaiah Coles winning the boys’ triple jump and long jump, and Taylor Darden of Dufur topping the girls’ shot put and discus.   Loreto Morelli of South Wasco had a big day at the Madras Invitational.  Morelli won the 100, 200, and 400 meters while helping the Redside boys to a fourth place finish.  The South Wasco girls finished fifth in the meet.   Baseball Hood River Valley 10, Ridgeview 5 Summit 3, Hood River Valley 1 The Dalles 10, Redmond 6 Dufur sweeps Pilot Rock 7-4 and 7-6 Sherman sweeps Weston McEwen 5-3 and 3-2   Softball Hood River Valley 9, Mountain View 3 The Dalles 11, Redmond 0   Boys Lacrosse Hood River Valley 8, Oregon City 7   Girls Lacrosse Sunset 16, Hood River Valley 6   Boys Soccer W.F. West 3, Columbia 2

Ownership of the Elks Building was officially transferred to a developer planning to establish a neon sign museum there at a ceremony April 3.  The Dalles City Council, acting in its capacity as the Columbia Gateway Urban Renewal Agency Board, approved purchasing the building for 240-thousand dollars and then turning it over to developer David Benko, whose group agreed to do an estimated one million dollars of improvements to the new building within two years to get the museum open.  Mayor Steve Lawrence and Benko signed the agreements for the deal on the steps of the building on Third and Court in downtown The Dalles.  Lawrence notes the building will house more than the museum, but also house other business space.  A fundraiser that’s been involved with the Portland Art Museum will be involved in generating funds for this project.

A section of River Road in The Dalles will be closed for about two hours on Saturday morning to accommodate the move of a large transformer towards the Celilo Convertor Station.  The move will start at seven Saturday morning, moving from Taylor Lakes Road to a staging area about a half-mile south down River Road.  That section of River Road will be closed for about two hours, and access to Taylor Lakes will be cut off as well.  Motorists needing to enter the majority of the Port of The Dalles during that time can do so from the south via Webber Street.  Flaggers will be staged along River Road on both sides of the move…as well at the intersections of River Road and Crates Way and River Road and Columbia Road.

Baseball LaSalle 5, The Dalles 3 Dufur 8, Country Christian 0   Softball Sandy 8, The Dalles 7   Boys Soccer Stevenson 4, LaCenter 3

A mild winter and an early spring have led to the early emergence of insects in area orchards.  Peter Shearer of the Mid-Columbia Agricultural Research and Extension Center says they are advising orchardists to be watchful for earlier than normal insect activity.  He says the mild conditions can have different impacts on different populations of insects.  The Hood River Experiment Station reported bloom in their orchard on March 26, twenty days earlier than the historical average.

The North Central Livestock Association is bringing back the Bull Tour after several years absence.  The association is in its third year, a combination of the former Sherman and Wasco county cattlemen’s associations.  Association president Rory Wilson says anyone is welcome to take the Bull Tour on April 10, which will visit several working ranches in both Wasco and Sherman counties to learn about modern methods now in use.  The Bull Tour will start and end at the Wasco County Fairgrounds in Tygh Valley at 8:30 a.m.  Registration $45, and includes lunch and a steak dinner.  To take part, call the Sherman County Extension Office at 541-565-3230.

Wasco County Commissioners approved a mass outdoor gathering permit for the SOAK 2015 Burning Man Festival in Portland scheduled this May on Justesen Ranch property in the White River Canyon.  County Commissioner Scott Hege felt those who expressed concerns at the hearing in Tygh Valley got responses to their issues, and he noted fire issues were the biggest concerns of many, with part of the festival involving the burning of some of the art.  Hege said there are a lot of conditions in the permit on that subject, adding if there are high winds they won’t be able to do any burning.  Hege added many in attendance were supportive of the arts festival, with previous events bringing economic benefits to the south part of the county.