Retailers in the Hood River area have come together for an all-day event Saturday in support of efforts to help those affected by the wildfires in Maui. Participating retailers will donate a percentage of their daily sales to World Central Kitchen’s Emergency Response Team. That organization is on the ground to support food and water needs for first responders, evacuated residents, and tourists. A list of participating business is available at visithoodriver.com.
Wonderworks Children’s Museum will host its “Touch-A-Truck” event this Saturday in front of their location on Madison Street in The Dalles. They will have police cars, fire trucks, ambulances, tow trucks, dump trucks, military vehicles, excavators, bucket trucks, and more on location for youngsters to explore. Krysta Youngquist of Wonderworks says it should be a fun and engaging experience for families. Oregon Safekids will be onsite for free bike helmets, life jackets, and car seat checks. The event will run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday outside Wonderworks at 206 Madison in The Dalles. It’s a free event, but donations to Wonderworks are welcomed.
Columbia Gorge Community College is accepting applications for fall term through September 18. Classes begin on September 25. CGCC Vice President of Student Services Mike Espinoza says they still have openings in a number of their most popular programs of study. Espinoza also says applications are still being taken for space in the Chinook Residence Hall. Information is available at cgcc.edu.
The City of The Dalles is planning to hold a public meeting on September 12 to highlight the Brownfield program. The program helps defray the cost of assessing property conditions for buried and forgotten fuel tanks, asbestos, other regulated building materials and other potentially hazardous substances. Administered jointly by the City of The Dalles, Wasco County, Port of The Dalles and Mid-Columbia Economic Development District, The Dalles Economic Development Officer Dan Spatz says the program is an important tool to help properties be redeveloped. Loans are available to private parties for site clean-up. The program is made possible through funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and BusinessOregon. The meeting will be on September 12 at 4 p.m. in the Council chambers in The Dalles City Hall, followed by a walking tour of downtown properties that have taken advantage of the Brownfield program.
Washington Gorge Action Programs is bringing back “El Grito” during September. It will be in White Salmon’s Rhinegarten Park to kickoff Hispanic Heritage Month. WAGAP’s Sasha Bentley says after a successful inaugural event one year ago, they have a bigger festival planned this year. “El Grito” will feature live music, family activities, free food, cultural vendors, and community organizations sharing resources. It will run from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on September 17 at Rhinegarten Park.
Hood River County Commissioners adopted a resolution to allow the City of Hood River’s Westside Urban Renewal District to move forward. Commissioners were for the most part supportive of the district. Commission Chair Jennifer Euwer did say she was concerned about the revenue the County will forego through tax increment financing for the district, and also said they can’t control the open market, and that there is a need to be realistic about the affordable housing that this will stimulate. Hood River City Councilors will be the next to make a decision on the Westside district. In an associated motion by Commissioner Arthur Babitz, the County will ask the City to take part in an effort to study the costs and benefits of the City annexing all remaining properties within the urban growth boundary.
The Hood River County Commission is planning to hold a public hearing on a proposed carbon credit project on the County Forest as soon as its next meeting in September. Commissioners discussed the potential sale of carbon credits through The Climate Trust for about 90 minutes on Monday, including what would happen if a catastrophic event on County forestlands such as fire could impact such a deal, which would commit the County to continuing to manage forestlands in the manner they have been for the next 40 years. Commissioner Les Perkins says the public should like that future commissions won’t be able to change practices that citizens have approved of. Commissioner Arthur Babitz noted this is a complicated deal, and it will important to explain it to Hood River County citizens.
SafeSpace Child Advocacy Center of the Gorge is working with school districts in the area to help them meet training requirements under Erin’s Law. Erin’s Law requires every child in public schools to receive four one-hour “bodily harm awareness” classes each year from kindergarten to 12th grade. SafeSpace prevention coordinator Amanda Holste says her organization is acting as a partner with schools to find effective ways to meet that goal. Holste says bullying and teen dating violence get covered in their trainings as part of the effort. She adds SafeSpace also is providing child abuse prevention trainings to organizations of all types.
Periods of wildfire smoke do not help to attract tourists to the region. And sometimes it’s not actual smoke that causes a dip in visitors like this past weekend, but merely reports of fires in the Pacific Northwest. The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce CEO Lisa Farquharson says they are constantly fighting perceptions when the word fire is mentioned in association in the Gorge. She says they are constantly reminding potential visitors that most of the summer, fire and smoke does not prevent the Gorge from being open for business. Farquharson adds she urges everyone in the community to have a consistent message about what is available in the Gorge and what is actually an accurate picture of smoke and fire issues in the region.
The lift on the Hood River/White Salmon Interstate Bridge is currently inoperable. Port of Hood River Executive Director Kevin Greenwood says the south end of the lift would not raise during a monthly maintenance lift earlier in August. He says the problem is in a gear box, where cotton to keep moisture out and grease in got caught up on the axle and froze the machinery up. The unit was disassembled by a firm out of Pasco and it is now being repaired. Greenwood was unsure of when the repairs will be finished. He adds the lift if very rarely raised, usually only for tall sailboats a couple of times a year.
