Baseball Oregon Class 5-A First Round Hood River Valley 5, Springfield 2:  Kellen Duffy provided the winning margin with a three-run homer in the top of the seventh inning, while Ryan Ward scattered six hits in a complete game performance on the mound to lead HRV to the victory over the third-ranked Millers and advance to the quarter-finals for the first time in two decades.  The Eagles will visit Pendleton on Friday.   Oregon Class 2-A/1-A First Round Dufur 8, Grant Union 7:  The Rangers scored the tying and winning runs in the top of the seventh inning thanks to a Prospector error.  Dufur will go to second-ranked Monroe for a quarter-final matchup on Friday.   Softball Oregon Class 5-A First Round Hood River Valley 8, Sherwood 0:  Breanna Weekly hit a home run an drove in three runs, while Annie Veatch also registered three RBI’s with a double and a triple as number two HRV cruised to the win.  They will host Willamette in a quarter-final game tomorrow.   Golf Goldendale’s Bree Wanderscheid shot a 76 to take a two-shot lead over Elma’s Laura Keating heading into the final round of the Washington Class 1-A girls’ golf tournament at Lake Spanaway.  Wanderscheid is looking for her third straight state title.  In the boys’ 1-A tourney, the Timberwolves’ Mitch Anderson made the cut with an 83, trailing the leaders by ten.

The first Hood 2 River Relay Race will take place Saturday, starting at Mount Hood Meadows and ending at the Marina in Hood River.  Chad Sperry of Breakaway Promotions says they have been thinking about this multi-sport event for a number of years, and with the completion of construction on Highway 35 it became possible.  Sperry says competitors will go from alpine skiing to nordic, then onto mountain bikes and road bikes, followed by a run, and ending with kayaking followed by a 400 meter sprint.  Many competitors will compete in teams as a relay, but some are planning to do all six events on their own.  Sperry expects it will take between three-and-a-half to five hours for competitors to make their way from the mountain to the river.

White Salmon’s annual Spring Festival gets underway tomorrow and runs through Sunday, centered around Rhinegarten Park.  There will be music and other entertainment, food, and exhibits all three days.  The festival’s Amanda McDonald says there will be plenty of things for the entire family to do.  Spring Fest opens at 3 p.m. Friday at Rhinegarten Park, and it will run all the way through Sunday.  A complete schedule of events is on-line at whitesalmonspringfestival.com.

Continued improvement in the number of upriver spring Chinook salmon returning to the Columbia River prompted fishery managers from Oregon and Washington to reopen the recreational fishing season above Bonneville Dam.  Spring Chinook fishing will reopen above Bonneville Dam from Saturday through June 15 under rules adopted during a joint state hearing of fish and wildlife officials from the two states.  The joint state action is based on a revised estimate of salmon returns issued Tuesday adjusting the expected return of upriver Chinook to 230,000 fish, up from the previous estimate of a minimum 224,000 upriver fish.  The season will open to both boat and bank fishing from the Tower Island power lines approximately six miles below The Dalles Dam, upstream to the Oregon/Washington border, plus bank fishing only from Bonneville Dam to the Tower Island power lines.  The bag limit is two fin-clipped adult salmonids per day, of which only one may be a Chinook.  Up to five adipose fin-clipped jack Chinook and shad may also be kept per permanent regulations.

A meeting involving representatives of a number of taxing districts in Wasco County will get together to discuss the potential impacts of a county-wide road district would have on property tax compression.  The Dalles Mayor Steve Lawrence says it’s important to go over how any additional taxing authority would impact others in the area.  Last week Wasco County Commissioners voted to begin the process that would create a road district, including public hearings that would eventually set up a ballot measure to send to voters.  The meeting on compression will take place next Wednesday.  

Klickitat County is closing in on getting its new emergency operations center on-line.  There have been delays in getting the final connections in place as the County tried to get a variety of companies involved to finish the project.  Commissioner Jim Sizemore says the final testing process is about to get underway.   When the tests are complete, Sizemore says dispatchers will be moved into the new facility in Goldendale.  

Hood River’s new City Manager is getting settled into his new position.  Steve Wheeler has a lengthy history in Portland area government, with experience in Tualatin, Clackamas County, and with the regional Metro agency.  Wheeler says while Hood River is the smallest city he has worked in, but he thinks it feels like a bigger location.  Wheeler notes one of the bigger challenges coming to a smaller city is the need to do things yourself at times, adding he understands that and it’s part of the deal in a job like he is undertaking, noting it is also very satisfying.

The Wasco County Fair and Rodeo has been named an Oregon Heritage Tradition by the Oregon Heritage Commission.   The Wasco County Fair is one of 10 events that have been designated.   Others include the Oregon State Fair, the Pendleton Round-Up, the Astoria Regatta and the Linn County Pioneer Picnic.  The Wasco County Fair began in 1885 in The Dalles.   The first fair at Tygh Valley started in 1913 as a picnic, but grew into a type of rodeo with passed-the-hat prize money and horse races.   W. E. Hunt, who owned the Tygh Valley fair property, donated it to the county for permanent use as a fairground.   An Oregon Heritage Tradition must have been in continuous operation for more than 50 years, demonstrate a public profile and reputation that distinguishes it from more routine events, and add to the livability and identity of the state.

For the first time in a number of weeks…State Street through downtown Hood River was open this weekend.  Most of the first layer of paving was finished last week, but City Manager Steve Wheeler says the area around 6th Street will have to be done this week, requiring detours around that area.  That will finish the asphalt work for the summer, with the second and final lift to be done after Labor Day.  During the summer, concrete work on the sidewalks will continue along with construction of restrooms at Third and State.

Interstate 84 from Portland to the Idaho border was dedicated as “Vietnam Veterans Memorial Highway” during a ceremony Monday at the Oregon Veterans Home in The Dalles.  Fifteen signs are being placed along the freeway beginning near Ontario and ending at Interstate 205.  The Dalles Mayor Steve Lawrence says it is a very special designation to honor those who served in the Vietnam War, and will provide a tangible reminder every day.  The signs are paid for by private donations.  Governor John Kitzhaber signed the designation into law after in was passed by the 2013 Oregon Legislature.