What is believed to be the body of a missing 74-year-old Ridgefield man was found in Klickitat County over the weekend.  Albert Chace had been reported as a missing and endangered person who had not been seen by family and friends for several months.  The Klickitat County Sheriff’s Office says the cause and manner of death is not known, with an autopsy to be performed by the Clark County Medical Examiner’s office in Vancouver.  Chace’s vehicle was found Saturday afternoon south of the Trout Lake Highway in the area of the S1400 Road.  Deputies found the body believed to be Chase during a search of that area.

A 62-year-old Trout Lake man was transported to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver over the weekend after the motorcycle he was operating collided with a deer.  Klickitat County Sheriff’s Chief Criminal Deputy Pat Kaley says David Meyer was ejected from the motorcycle and sustained serious head, arm, and torso injuries.  The collision occurred at about 2:10 p.m. Saturday on the Trout Lake-Glenwood Highway near Wildlife Refuge Road.  Kaley says Meyer was transported by LifeFlight to Southwest Medical Center, where he remains in critical condition.

The Hood River City Planning Commission will once again consider Naito Development’s proposed hotel and office building at the southern end of the Nichols Boat Basin on July.7.  It’s the second time the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals has remanded the hotel issue back to the City.  City Manager Steve Wheeler notes this remand is limited to flood plain issues.  The City is working on a 90-day clock to make a determination, which means a decision must be made by August 25.  That’s why any appeal from the Planning Commission to the City Council is already scheduled for August 11.

Klickitat County’s new emergency communications dispatch center is now operating.  County dispatchers moved into their new location late last week.  County Commissioner David Sauter says there have been a few glitches in the move, but the system is up and running, noting it will provide much better communications coverage than they had in the past.  Sauter added there was some discussion of delaying implementation with the onset of fire season, but he said both law enforcement and fire officials in the County indicated it was important to get the new system up and running.  

The annual Maryhill Festival of Speed is this week on Maryhill Loops Road, featuring downhill skateboarding and street luge.  More than 250 races from 24 countries are expected to take part in the event that is part of the International Downhill Federation World Cup circuit.  Racers will go down the curvy 2.2 mile course on the road created a century ago by Sam Hill.  Practice runs are set for Wednesday and Thursday, with qualification on Friday, eliminations on Saturday, and the finals on Sunday.  There is no admission fee.  Maryhill Loops Road is east of Highway 97 off Highway 14.

The 20-acre Owens Fire south of Hood River is listed by the Oregon Department of Forestry as 85 percent contained.  Full mop-up operations are underway.  Due to the large, felled timber on the site, full containment may be a few days off, but fire behavior is minimal and spread is not expected.   The U.S. Forest Service assisted ODF with equipment and personnel in the firefighting effort.   The Owens Fire occurred on forestland owned by Hood River County.  Cause of  the fire is under investigation.

The City of The Dalles has removed notices posted along Mill Creek warning of E. Coli contamination, but is also reminding people the water still contains E. Coli and other pathogens from various sources.  Repairs to a sewer main last week drastically reduced the amount of E. Coli in Mill Creek, with tests Thursday finding 157 organisms per 100 milliliters of water, way down from the over 2400 prior to the repair, but still above the chronic water quality standard of 126.  City officials say monitoring last year by the Wasco County Soil and Water Conservation District showed 30 percent of the samples collected from Mill Creek upstream from the “mystery pipe” that was dispensing large amounts of contaminated water into the creek contained E. Coli from sources outside the City at levels greater that acute water quality standard of 406 per 100 milliliters.  Care should always be taken in contacting surface waters, and the water should never be consumed without treatment.

Seven people were arrested Friday as the Mid-Columbia Narcotics Task Force culminated a lengthy investigation into drug sales from two locations in The Dalles.  The Dalles Police Department Captain Ed Goodman says at one location, 1630 East 14th, four adults were arrested:  35-year-old Tina Linville, 20-year-old Alonzo Gutierrez, 46-year-old Laraine Rogers, and 35-year-old Jason James.  At the other location at 1627 Nevada Street three more people were arrested:  43-year-old Jeremy Otten, 31-year-old Maverick Mangold, and 30-year-old Cassi Lamas-Juhnke.  Several children were taken into protective custody.  Goodman says charges vary, but include various drug charges, warrants, probation violations, and child neglect allegations.

A Hood River father/daughter team will be racing a 27-foot sailboat in July from San Francisco to Hawaii to raise funds and awareness of an organization that prevents children in nine countries from being forced into the sex trade.  Stan Perkins and Kerry Hallyburton have frequently sailed on the Columbia River, and now they will compete in the Pacific Cup to help Remember Nhu, an organization Hallyburton helped build safe homes for in Thailand in 2011.  The race begins July 7 in San Francisco, and Hallyburton says they expect it will take two weeks to make the journey.  Updates on their trek will be posted a Facebook page: sail for remember nhu..

The annual Relay For Life in The Dalles to benefit the American Cancer Society will take place this weekend at Sid White Field on the Wahtonka campus.  Over 30 teams are signed up to take part in the 24-hour walk around the track that begins at 9 a.m. Saturday.  Event organizer Marilyn Wong says they have a number of events planned throughout the Relay for the public to be involved with.  The survivor lap will be at 9:30 a.m. and the luminaria at 10 p.m. Wong says they hope to raise $60,000 for the American Cancer Society.