Maryhill Museum of Art’s “Exquisite Gorge” project is underway, with artists doing wood carvings at different locations along the Columbia River from the confluence with the Willamette to the confluence with the Snake that will eventually be put together this summer into one long print.  Maryhill’s Lou Palermo says the project draws its inspiration from the surrealists of the 1920’s who would play a game where everyone would draw a part of human form, but couldn’t see what the others had drawn, and then it was all put together.  Palermo thought the Columbia River would be a good subject for this approach.  The carvings will be put together at Maryhill on August 24, and a steamroller will be used to create one 66-foot long print.  More information on the project is available at maryhillmuseum.org.

Boys Golf

Crook County takes a 12-shot lead over Hood River Valley into today’s second round of the Oregon Class 5A Special District 1 Regional Tournament at Indian Creek Golf Course.  The Dalles is in third, 31 back of the first place Cowboys.  The top two teams advance to next week’s state tournament.  The Riverhawks’ Tyler Vassar is the individual leader after a four-over-par 76 in round one.  Aidan Telles of The Dalles shot an 81 and is in third, while Hood River Valley’s Dylan Sartee is in a tie for fourth at 83.

Southwest Washington Class 1A Baseball Tournament

First Round

Columbia 1, Forks 0:  The Bruins play Hoquiam today at 4 p.m. at Castle Rock, with the winner clinching a berth in the state tournament.

Southwest Washington Class 1A Boys Soccer Tournament

First Round

Elma 3, Columbia 2:  The Bruins will meet Montesano in a loser-out game tomorrow at 5 p.m. at Seton Catholic.

The Hood River County School District’s boundary review committee has issued its recommendations for the district board to review at its meeting on Wednesday.  The committee is recommending four different changes to help alleviate population pressures on lower valley elementary schools and the district’s two middle schools.  Proposed elementary school changes include moving the area around Cascade Avenue and Wine Country Avenue from May Street Elementary to Westside, while the area from Tucker Road up to the Indian Creek Road area would shift from Westside to May Street, and the areas south of Dee Highway near the Summit and Wheeler intersection and the area south of Central Vale Drive will move from Mid-Valley Elementary to Parkdale.  The existing middle school boundary will be revised to include the neighborhood of Riordan Hill, Country Club Road, York Hill, and households north and south of Barrett Drive into Wy’east Middle School.  The elementary school changes would start in the upcoming school year and the middle school change in 2020-21, with some grandfathering rights recommended.  The district board will review the recommendations at their meeting beginning at 6:30 Wednesday evening in the district office, and take action at a subsequent meeting.

A 65-year-old man from The Dalles was taken by Lifeflight to Oregon Health Sciences University Hospital in Portland following a motorcycle accident on Washington Highway 142 on Sunday.  According to the Washington State Patrol, the motorcycle was eastbound on Highway 142 one mile north of Lyle at about 3:45 Sunday afternoon when the driver lost control entering a curve.  The motorcycle flipped and the pair riding it were ejected.  The passenger, a 52-year-old woman from Alexandria, Virginia, was transported to Mid-Columbia Medical Center.  The WSP did not indicate the condition of either person.

North Wasco County School District 21 is taking pre-registrations for kindergarten in 2019-20.  Registrations will be taken at all three elementary schools in The Dalles this week during regular school hours.  D-21 Superintendent Candy Armstrong says pre-registration is important for the district to plan for the upcoming school year, most notably because Colonel Wright Elementary only has space for two kindergarten classes.  The pre-registration also allows the district an opportunity to estimate how many kindergarteners they will have, and gives parents a chance to ask questions they have as they prepare to send their children to kindergarten.

The Hood River County Chamber of Commerce is looking to put together a springtime art and wine event to start next year.  The Chamber’s Kate Schroeder says they intend to get started in 2020, but they don’t have a date yet.  Schroeder says target markets for the event are similar to those for other Hood River events, including Portland, Yakima, the Tri-Cities, and Bend.  She adds they have been working with artists involved in the Gorge Artists Open Studios Tour to work on jurying on that would be on display at the event.

Baseball

Pendleton sweeps Hood River Valley 4-1 and 6-5:  Seven errors proved to be the Eagles’ undoing in game two in spite of home runs by Caden Leiblien and Juan Luis Jimenez, as HRV fell to third in the Intermountain Conference.

Crook County sweeps The Dalles 6-5 and 7-6

Columbia 14, Stevenson 4:  The Bruins being district tournament play vs. Forks today at 4 p.m. at Castle Rock.

Sherman sweeps Heppner 12-2 and 19-8.

Softball

Hood River Valley sweeps Pendleton 2-0 and 6-5:  Lauren Decker pitched a one-hitter while Aunika Yasui drove in both runs in the opener, and then Makenzie Chambers drove in the game winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning to give HRV the sweep and move into a tie for second place with The Dalles in the IMC.

Cle Elum-Roslyn 11, Goldendale 1

Track and Field

The Dalles boys finished third and the Hood River Valley girls fifth at Dean Nice Invitational in Gresham.  Justin Conklin won the boys’ high jump and Emma Mullins won the girls’ 800 meters for The Dalles, while Robby Running was first in the boys’ 400 meters and Poppy Miller was victorious in the girls’ pole vault for HRV.

Dufur’s boys won the Regis Community Twilight meet.  The Rangers did not win an event, but had five second place finishes and three thirds.

Horizon Christian’s boys were fourth and the girls sixth at the Dick Horyna Invitational at Stanfield.  Alec Coats, Kyle Brown, and Josh Rogers all had individual second place finishes.

South Wasco’s girls were second at the Perrydale Invitational.  Holly Miles won the 300 meters and Madisen Davis the javelin for the Redside girls, while Oscar Thomas took first in the boys’ javelin.

Sherman received first place efforts from Owen Christiansen in the boys’ triple jump and Mercedez Cardona the girls’ high jump at the Madras Rotary Invitational.

Goldendale’s Ellie Rising won the girls’ 800 meters and Glenwood’s Nahaleigh Schuster was first in the girls’ high jump at the High Mountain Classic in Cle Elum

Trout Lake’s Liz Fink won the girls’ shot put at the Spudder Classic in Ridgefield

Boys Tennis

Redmond 6, Hood River Valley 2

Girls Lacrosse
Lincoln 11, Hood River Valley 9:  The Eagles lose their first league game of the season after winning four in a row.

Hood River fire crews dealt with two separate fires overnight.  At 10:15 p.m., Hood River Fire & EMS crews were dispatched to 115 State Street at the Big Horse Brew Pub in downtown Hood River.  Multiple callers to 9-1-1 reported heavy black smoke from the roof on the east side of the building.  The first arriving engine company reported smoke showing from the roof and windows of the building.  Though crews quickly isolated the fire, the complete extinguishment was challenging and took time due to the numerous voids above the kitchen area.  Then at 1:45 a.m., crews went to a residential fire on the 3100 block of Elliot Drive, where significant flames and smoke were coming from the rear of the structure.  The fire was contained to the structure and nearby vegetation.  Two adults and two pets were displaced and assisted by the American Red Cross.  The causes and damages from both fires have not yet determined, and there were no injuries.  HRFD was assisted by units from West Side Fire District, Wy’East Fire District, Parkdale Fire District, and Underwood Fire. 

A grass fire burned about three to five acres about five miles east of Hood River between the Union Pacific Railroad tracks and Interstate 84.  The Wasco County Sheriff’s Office reported the fire at about 4 p.m. on Thursday, burning in thick vegetation, and then indicated crews were mopping it up at about 6:30 p.m.  Union Pacific stopped train traffic for a time during the fire.  Mid-Columbia Fire and Rescue, Mosier Fire, Oregon Department of Forestry, and Union Pacific crews all went to the scene to knock the fire down.  The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Hood River County Commissioners decided Thursday they are willing to increase their contribution to NORCOR by a little under ten percent in the upcoming fiscal year, but not the over 16 percent in a budget proposal by jail administration.  Commissioners decided that even with an already challenging budget situation, they could agree with a $150,000 jump.  County Commission Chair Mike Oates said the panel believes it is very important to maintain NORCOR, even though it is going to be difficult for the rest of the County’s budget.  Commissioner Bob Benton, who is Hood River County’s representative on the NORCOR board and its chair, had asked the rest of the Commission for direction to take back to the other counties involved in the jail.  NORCOR has not had a jump in financial contributions from its counties in for years, and is facing major expense increases in the areas of food, PERS liability, a capital fund line item to address aging facilities, and wages and compensation increases currently in negotiation.