The North Central Public Health District and The Dalles Main Street Program have set up a “Story Walk” in downtown The Dalles for families to enjoy and combine physical activity with literacy.  Pages of a book are transformed into signs that are then posted, inviting people to follow along and read the story.  A “Story Walk” book is located in the windows of the currently vacant Recreation Building and Granada Theater.  Begin the walk on the west end of the Recreation Building at 213 East 2nd in The Dalles.  

Klickitat PUD experienced an outage at 10:00am today on the transmission line serving the Darland substation.  The outage has affected approximately 600 customers from west of Goldendale to Klickitat. Main areas currently out of power are Garrison Road west to Turkey Run Road, Counts Road to Zelinski Road, Pine Forest and Turkey Ranch Road to Knight Road, Cedar Valley area, Glenwood highway, and Klickitat. Crews are on the scene and we expect to have our customers back online within 2-3 hours.

A Dallesport woman who crashed her SUV after falling asleep while drunk driving, killing one of her children, has been sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to criminally negligent homicide and other charges.  Mattie Spino was driving home from a visit to Mount Hood last November when she fell asleep. All five of her children were in the SUV, and the crash killed her 9-year-old daughter.  The Oregonian reported that Spino’s blood alcohol level was .15 percent.  At Friday’s court appearance in Portland, public defender Kasia Rutledge said her 32-year-old client has had a lot of trauma in life. Rutledge noted that one of Spino’s sons died after her arrest. The boy was crushed by a boulder while hiking in Washington.      

The paving project on Cherry Heights Road in The Dalles between West 6th and West 10th will continue the next couple of days.  Monday, the four block section of Cherry Heights will be partially closed until about 5 p.m., with traffic flagged across 10th Street.  Tuesday there will be a complete closure of Cherry Heights Road from 4 a.m. until 7 p.m.  The intersection of West 6th and Cherry Heights will remain open both Monday and Tuesday, but the intersection of West 10th and Cherry Heights will be partially closed Monday and completely closed Tuesday.  Motorists are asked to use alternate routes if possible.

Water quality at the Hood River Waterfront Park Beach is back to safe parameters.  An E. Coli advisory at that location was lifted late Friday afternoon, and all signs with that advisory have been removed.  Columbia Riverkeeper, which conducts weekly monitoring for bacterial contamination at five recreational sites in the Gorge, had reported E. Coli levels beyond federal water quality standards during the middle of last week.  Tests do indicate E. Coli is in the water most of the year, so the Hood River County Public Health officials continue to urge people who frequent the park to use caution if entering the water.  Children, the elderly, and people with immune deficiencies are most at risk of illnesses after exposure to contaminated water and should always avoid ingesting the water.  None of the other recreational sites that are tested for water quality in the Gorge were affected by the advisory.

By a two to one vote, the Wasco County Commission has decided not to put a road district measure on the November ballot. Commissioner Scott Hege said the commission thought a rate of 2 dollars and one cent per thousand dollars of assessed value was just too high. Hege said the commission will keep looking for solutions because the problem won’t go away any time soon. He added the commssion may decide to put an advisory question on the district on the November ballot.

According to the Oregon State police, Thursday morning at about 7:30, a 1992 Chervrolet Blazer driven by a 59-year-old woman from Wamic was traveling northbound on Highway 197 when a 2005 Chevrolet pickup driven by 73-year-old Peter D. Kelly of The Dalles was westbound on Ward Road and turned in front of the Blazer. The SUV struck the pickup’s left side near milepost 8. After impact, the pickup came to rest off the side of the highway and the SUV came to rest in the southbound lane. The Blazer’s 72-year-old male front seat passenger was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver was transported by Life Flight to Oregon Health & Science University with serious injuries. The 17-year-old right rear passenger was taken by ground ambulance to Mid-Columbia Medical Center in The Dalles with non-life threatening injuries. All three were using safety restraints. Kelly was not injured. OSP Troopers are investigating and Kelly is cooperating with investigators.

The Westbound lanes of I-84 were closed for a while Wednesday morning because of a motorhome fire at MP72, east of Mosier. By Noon, one lane had been cleared and traffic is now moving again. No injuries were reported. There is no word on the condition of the motorhome.

The Wasco County Fair gets underway Thursday in Tygh Valley and runs through Sunday. According to Fair Board member Zach Harvey, they are celebrating a real milestone this year. This is the 100th County Fair held at Hunt Park in Tygh Valley. Gates open each day at 7am with the exhibit and commercial buildings open at 10am. Many 4-H events take place each morning. Thursday is Free Family Day – everyone gets in free courtesy of Mel’s Sanitation. The Senior Picnic is Thursday morning at 11:30….2015 Fair Queen Tryouts are at 3 and the 4-H Fashion Show and Senior Recognition are at 7. Friday events include Lego Robotics at 11….Farmer’s Fun Day at Noon and the Rodeo and Grand Entry is at 7:30. A dance with the group Brewer’s Grade runs from 9 until midnight. Saturday highlights include the Rodeo and Grand Entry, again at 7:30, then a dance with the group Jager Bumz finishes the day from 9 until midnight. Several big events are Sunday including the free breakfast, sponsored by Safeway from 6:30 to 9….the Youth Livestock Auction at 9:30 and the Demolition Derby at 1. OMSI returns to the fair this year and there are lots of other activities all 4 days.

Fire crews continued to make good progress on the Rowena Fire Monday. All evacuation levels have been lifted, so there are no active evacuations at this time. Highway 30 is now open. Residents are reminded to remain alert for changing conditions and cautious of firefighting efforts. For additional fire status information, call Mid-Columbia Fire and Rescue at (541)296-9445. The Wasco County Sheriff’s Office Rowena Fire Hotline remains active at (541)506-2782. The last numbers showed the fire at 68% containment and the area burned was at 3,680 acres Evacuation notices have been conducted using the Citizen Alert Emergency Notification Program. Wasco County residents can register for Citizen Alert at www.co.wasco.or.us.