A project to improve safety at Nobi’s Corner on Hood River’s Tucker Road appears to be back on.  Hood River County Commission Chair Mike Oates says he was informed by Oregon Department Of Transportation Region 1 manager Rian Windsheimer that the state should be able to pick up the tab for the work to make changes to the corner that is difficult for large trucks to get through.  Oates says funds originally planned for placing sidewalks on AGA Road in Odell will be used for the Nobi’s Corner work.  Oates said ODOT had found during preliminary study for the sidewalk project that costs were going to escalate substantially to deal with a number of obstacles to the effort.

As spring progresses, there is a lot of activity going on at the Port of The Dalles.  Port Marketing Director Kathy Ursprung says temporary fencing has been put up around new grass at Kiwanis Cove Park in the Port area to help protect it from geese.  The Port and the North Wasco County Parks and Recreation District have been partnering on that project.  In addition, a mixed commercial and residential use building is being constructed, a new veterinary clinic is about to be completed, and plans are in the works for building on a couple of more lots.  Ursprung says the Port still has some land available for development.

Those interested in running for various local boards in Washington can file to run for election this week.  Auditor’s offices in Klickitat and Skamania counties will be taking candidate filings through Friday.  All filings must be received by 5 p.m. on Friday.  Information on how to file and the offices open for election are available at the websites of Klickitat and Skamania counties.

Mid-Columbia Fire and Rescue Crews were able to quickly extinguish a deck fire Sunday afternoon on East 9th Street in The Dalles.  No injuries were reported and the home is still livable.  According to MCFR officials, improperly disposed smoking materials caused the fire.  They remind people to dispose of smoking materials in a safe manner, recommending that cigarette butts are placed in a can with sand or water inside and a lid.  Also, avoid putting out cigarettes in potted plants as the dirt in the pots may have a high percentage of combustible material that can smolder and eventually cause a fire.

Southwest Washington Class 1A Baseball Tournament

Columbia 4, Castle Rock 0

Columbia 4, LaCenter 2:   The Bruins finished third in district tournament, and will face Cedar Park Christian in round one of the state playoffs on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Anacortes.

Baseball

Hood River Valley sweeps Redmond 10-0 and 4-2 to clinch a state playoff berth:  Caden Leiblien drove in three runs while Grayson Losee limited the Panthers to two hits over five innings in the opener, while Issac Beaman and Derek Homer combined for 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief in the game two.

Pendleton sweeps The Dalles 12-2 and 2-0.

Dufur splits with Pilot Rock, winning the opener 16-1 but falling in the second contest 11-7.

Sherman splits with Weston-McEwen, losing game one 8-7 but winning the nightcap 15-14.

Softball

Hood River Valley sweeps Redmond 17-4 and 17-5, assuring the Eagles a Class 5A playoff spot:  Makenzie Chambers went 9 for 10 in the doubleheader with eight runs batted in.

Pendleton sweeps The Dalles 8-3 and 17-1, sending Pendleton to the state playoffs and eliminating the Riverhawks from post-season contention.

Naches Valley sweeps Goldendale 20-3 and 20-0.

Track and Field

Dufur won both the boys and girls titles at the Big Sky Conference Championships at Sherman.  Asa Farrell, Friedrich Stelzer, and Cole Kortge won two events apiece for the Ranger boys, while Owen Christiansen won two for Sherman.  Kiersten White won both sprints for the Dufur girls.

Stevenson finished first and Columbia second in the boys’ portion of the Trico League Sub-District meet.  Lincoln Krog won four events to lead the Bulldogs to the title.  Stevenson was second and CHS fourth in the girls’ half of the meet.  Columbia’s Hannah Polkinghorn won both sprints.

Trout Lake won both the Greater Columbia League boys and girls titles.  The Mustangs’ Micah Colburn won three boys’ events, while Liz Fink did the same in the girls’ competition.  Brooklyn Emerson of Glenwood won four girls’ events.

Southwest Washington Class 1A Boys Soccer Tournament

Seton Catholic 2, Columbia 0:  Seton Catholic advances to the state playoffs with the victory.

Boys Tennis

Hood River Valley’s Vaughn Reardon and Ben Fick advance to the state Class 5A tournament in singles thanks to third and fourth place finishes at the Intermountain Conference Tournament at Ridgeview, while Devam Patel and Ethan Martin advance to state with a fourth place finish in doubles.  The state tourney will begin Friday at the Portland Tennis Center.

Girls Tennis

Charel Gijzen of The Dalles topped Hood River Valley’s Montserrat Garrido in the singles’ championship match at the Intermountain Conference tourney in Redmond.  They both move on to the 5A tourney starting Friday at the Portland Tennis Center.

Boys and Girls Tennis

Goldendale’s Aiden Bothamely in boys’ singles, Brian Waddell and Avery Christiensen in boys’ doubles, and Kelli and Kristin Bighorn in girls’ doubles all advanced to the semi-finals at the SCAC West Sub-Districts at Sunnyside.  Play will continue today.

Girls Lacrosse

Oregon Episcopal 13, Hood River Valley 9

Boys Lacrosse

Hood River Valley 11, Wilson 8

The 16 Road, or Red Hill Road, on the Hood River Ranger District of the Mt. Hood National Forest will be closed for the remainder of May and most of June due to timber harvest operations taking place in the area.  The road is narrow and large equipment will be in or alongside the roadway making it necessary to close this section of the road for public and operator safety.  The point closure begins 7 miles from Red Hill Bridge and ends about 8 miles from the 16 and 18 Roads junction, incorporating a section of road approximately one mile long.  The 16 Road will remain open on both sides of the closure point, but visitors are encouraged to beware of log trucks.  The road occasionally will be re-opened during the weekend.  Visitors to Vista Ridge Trail coming from Hood River should turn onto the 13 Road, which connects to Lolo Pass Road in Dee.  Access to the Vista Ridge area through Parkdale will not be available during the road closure.

The lower viewing platform at Multnomah Falls was closed Monday for public access while crews break up a rock overhanging the cliffs above a trail that leads to the upper falls.  The hazards posed by the rock were discovered in April after about a cubic yard of rock split off, falling onto the trail between Benson Bridge and the upper viewing platform.  A geological assessment found that unstable sections of the rock could detach at any time, and noted it would likely impact the trail below.  To address the hazards, officials hired a contractor remove the unstable, overhanging sections of the rock.  The lower viewing platform will be closed while operations are underway to prevent risks to visitors from any falling rocks in the vicinity.  The work is expected to last up to three business days, so visitors should anticipate possible closures on the lower platform through Wednesday, and the trail to the upper viewing platform may take additional time to reopen, as crews clear the rock and repair any damages.  Geologists believe the rock likely splintered as a result of natural weathering that occurs each spring in the Gorge, when snowmelt and thawing can cause rock formations to destabilize.

Teachers in the Hood River County and North Wasco County school districts opted for after-school rallies and marches to call for passage of the Student Success Act rather than walking out of classes as teachers in some other districts in Oregon did on Wednesday.  In Hood River, Superintendent Dan Goldman told a crowd of about 200 teachers, classified staff, and other supporters in Jackson Park that the state had practiced “disinvestment” in schools for 29 years.  He also pointed out that with a local option levy, the Hood River district was in the position to add the equivalent of over 18 full-time positions in their budget for next year and add programs, but the rest of the state should experience that as well.  The Hood River group marched from Jackson Park to downtown Hood River.  Teachers in The Dalles marched from North Wasco County Aquatic Center into the downtown area.

Oregon 59th District Representative Daniel Bonham is hoping two bills to expand accountability and transparency within the Good Neighbor Authority to allow the Oregon Department of Forestry to do forest management projects on federal lands will be approved.  One bill is awaiting approval in the Senate, and Bonham says it would allow ODF to put monies earned from the projects into an account to fund further projects without having to go back to the Legislature for authorizations.  Bonham and fellow representative David Brock Smith of Port Orford have co-sponsored the Good Neighbor Authority bills.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service reports a warm April combined with above average precipitation for the month dropped the snowpack in the Hood, Sandy, and Lower Deschutes Basin to 66 percent of normal as of May 1.  April precipitation was 165 percent of average, .while it has been 86 percent of average since the beginning of the water year on October 1.  The Clear Lake SNOTEL site in Wasco County set a new record for the highest April precipitation in 35 years of measurements.  April also brought high streamflows in many locations in the basin, and NRCS forecasts for May through September streamflows range from 77 to 102 percent of average.  The NRCS report indicates water managers in the basin should expect well below normal to near normal streamflows this summer.