Baseball
Culver at Sherman, ppd.
Boys Soccer
Skyview 3, Columbia 1
Category: Uncategorized
Man Arrest After Chase In Gilliam & Sherman Counties
A Prineville man was arrested after leading sheriff’s deputies on a pursuit through multiple counties on Sunday. According to the Gilliam County Sheriff’s Office, deputies there tried to stop a car for a traffic violation on Highway 206 about ten miles west of Condon. The driver refused to stop, and after being pursued west by deputies at speeds reaching over 110 miles per hour, officers discontinued the pursuit due to the unsafe speeds. A short time later, deputies with the Sherman County Sheriff’s Office located the same vehicle and initiated a pursuit, with the suspect ultimately crashing in Wasco, and being taken into custody without incident. 38-year-old Jason Day of Prineville is facing multiple charges in both Gilliam and Sherman counties along with multiple outstanding warrants in other counties.
Visit Hood River Matching Grant Program Opens
Visit Hood River’s Community Investment Matching Grant Program application process has opened for 2023. The program is designed to support businesses and community economic vitality through enhancement, promotion, and sustainability of Hood River as a destination. In 2023 the program will grant as much as $30,000 in total for all projects awarded. Each project requires its own application, and applicants must demonstrate the ability to meet the matching requirements for funding. The inaugural 2022 grant cycle awarded a total of $11,700 in matching grants, $5,200 of which helped bring The Heights Music Showcase to The Heights area, another $4,000 supported the creation of collateral and online advertising opportunities for lodging properties to promote mid-week visitation, and $2,500 went to support the development and expansion of programming for a non-profit created to engage people in watersports activities with a focus on water safety. The grant application process will continue through April 17, with information at visithoodriver.com.
HR County Planning To Join C-PACE Program
Hood River County is planning to become a part of the Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy program. Hood River would be the third county in Oregon to do so. County Commission Chair Jennifer Euwer says they are looking at the program at the request of the Port of Cascade Locks. but she adds it could benefit economic development around the County through long-term low-interest rate financing from private capital providers for qualified clean energy projects. County Administrator Jeff Hecksel says the program can be used for long-term financing for improvements at preferable rates that makes it attractive to develop in the County for either new or existing businesses.
Interest Rate Jump Slowing Interest In Business Expansion
The increase in interest rates is beginning to impact businesses that were considering expansion. Port of The Dalles Executive Director Andrea Klaas says the interest rate jump is making the cost of construction go up. Klaas says for smaller businesses, a number of their projects are going on hold. She adds while the Port doesn’t have a lot of developable land at this time, they are looking for grant funds to help with local projects. Klaas noted smaller businesses tend to be more impacted by the increase in interest rates than larger companies with more resources available to them.
March 11 Prep Sports Roundup
Baseball
Goldendale sweeps Columbia (Burbank) 21-7 and 17-9
Softball
Columbia (Burbank) sweeps Goldendale 19-7 and 18-17
DEQ & EPA Monitor Air Quality In Vicinity Of AmerTies Tank Fire
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and the Environmental Protection Agency are monitoring air quality after diesel sludge and residue caught fire in a tank on Thursday night at the AmeriTies West Plant in The Dalles. EPA deployed air monitors this afternoon in neighborhoods and other areas downwind from the facility. Thus far, particulate matter and volatile organic compounds are at normal “background” levels. Wasco County Emergency Management says the fire is under control, and Mid-Columbia Fire & Rescue is on-site to respond until it is fully extinguished. The tank normally contains a solution of 99 percent diesel and one percent copper naphthenate. Crews had taken the tank out of service earlier on Thursday and the copper naphthenate had been safely drained, though some amount of diesel sludge and wood residue remained in the tank and later caught fire. Vapors inside the tank heated and expanded, causing an explosion inside the tank about 30 minutes after the fire started. The cause of the fire is still being investigated. The two firefighters that were hurt in the explosion were released late on Thursday and are home and recuperating. Neither firefighter sustained long-term injuries.
Governor’s Housing Council Meets Friday
Oregon Governor Tina Kotek’s Housing Production Advisory Council will meet for the first time Friday, tasked with developing an action plan to meet her goals for new housing construction, and will include two local members. Mid-Columbia Housing Authority Executive Director Joel Madsen is one of those members. Madsen says he is excited for the challenge, and to be able to communicate the housing needs of the Columbia Gorge. Madsen adds the group is on an aggressive timeline to provide a framework by April 1. 52nd District State Representative Jeff Helfrich is also on the Council, one of four legislators in the group. The Governor appointed 18 members, and the directors of Oregon Housing and Community Services and the Department of Land Conservation and Development area also on the panel.
Waters Bill To Ease Employment Age Restrictions Passes House
The Washington State House passed a bill authored by Stevenson Republican Kevin Waters intended to help ease Washington’s workforce issue by allowing, under specific and limited circumstances, youth between the ages of 18 and 21 to be employed in establishments traditionally classified as off-limits to persons under the age of 21. It passed just before a deadline to for bills to pass their chamber of origin, and Waters had thought earlier in the day the bill would not make it out. Waters says it is a move that many restaurants and taverns need to keep their businesses staffed. The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration.
Fire Destroys TA Express In Biggs Junction
An early morning fire destroyed the Biggs Junction TA Express building. According to the Sherman County Sheriff’s Office, the initial call came in at 5 a.m. Tuesday, with thick smoke reported in a dryer. The fire was in mop-up stage by 9 a.m. North Sherman Fire Department reports the building is a total loss, with most of the exterior completely burned away, leaving only a charred frame. There were no injuries reported. The Sheriff’s Office says the fire will be investigated by the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s office. Volunteer firefighters from throughout Sherman County were involved in battling the blaze.