The White Salmon City Council will hold a public hearing Wednesday evening on new water use and efficiency goals.  The proposed new goals are a two percent reduction in average gallons per equivalent resident unit per day, and distribution system leakage of under 25 percent by 2028.  The City set similar goals in 2014, but was never been able to achieve them.  Mayor Marla Keethler says it’s important for the City to be more efficient use in its of water as it grows.  The Council meets at 5:30 Wednesday in the White Salmon Fire Hall, and the meeting can be accessed remotely, go to white-salmon.net for information.  

Hood River County Commissioners talked about Congressman Earl Blumenauer’s Mt. Hood and Columbia River Gorge Recreation Enhancement and Conservation Act, noting that while they like parts of the bill, there are still details to work out before they can fully support it.  Commission Chair Mike Oates says getting into the specifics of the mapping involved is one piece, along with getting federal officers to assist with patrolling and search and rescue around Mt. Hood.  Another topic County officials want addressed is ensuring the Middle Fork Irrigation District can do necessary work on Coe Creek.  The bill is to be heard in a House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Wednesday.

People traveling along Washington Highway142 should plan extra time for travel as work to resurface the roadway gets underway.  The Washington State Department of Transportation says work will start Wednesday to resurface a nearly 33-mile section of the highway between Lyle and Goldendale, in Klickitat County.  Travelers should expect daytime delays of up to 20 minutes, Mondays through Fridays, from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m., and should follow the direction of flaggers or pilot car.  Crews will work during daytime hours until all work is complete later this summer.

Baseball

Hood River Valley 7, Gresham 2:  Jordan Webber pitched four-and-a-third hitless innings while striking out ten, and Mason Spellecy drove in five runs on a single, double, and a triple.

Dufur 21, Union-Cove 0

  Softball

Southwest Washington Class 2B District Tournament

Rainier 6, Stevenson 2

  Boys Golf

The Dalles is in seventh in the team standings at the Oregon Class 5A Tournament at Trysting Tree in Corvallis.  Joe Codding is in a tie for 17^th after shooting an 81, while Keeler Lawson is in a tie for 28^th with an 86.  Hood River Valley’s Davis Kerr is tied for 34^th with an 88, and Kiernan Chown is tied for 37^th at 89.

  Girls Golf

The Dalles’ Katelynn Vassar is tied for 16^th at the Oregon Class 5A Tournament at Emerald Valley in Creswell after shooting 100.

  Boys Tennis

Goldendale’s Eli Golding and Kyden Blunt won the boys’ doubles tournament at the EWAC Regionals at Toppenish

A 51-year-old Gresham man has been arrested on charges connected to a home invasion burglary in Hood River last Tuesday.  According to the Hood River County Sheriff’s Office, Kevin Alexander McCallum was taken into custody on Thursday in Gresham with assistance from the U.S. Marshal’s Service.  The Sheriff’s Office says an 89-year-old female resident at home in the 1200 block of Tucker Road reported that a man had threatened her with a weapon and forced his way into her residence. Once inside, the bound the woman to a chair while burglarizing her residence, and left her there while burglarizing an adjacent unoccupied residence.  The victim was able to free herself after the suspect left the area.  McCallum has been lodged at NORCOR on kidnapping, burglary, coercion, and menacing charges.  

Hood River County Health Department Chief Health Officer Dr. Christopher Van Tilburg says there is a surge of COVID-19 cases locally, but how many actual cases are occurring is difficult to tell.  That’s because some people are testing positive and not reporting it, some are testing negative when they are actually positive often due to not getting a good sample for a COVID test, some have mild symptoms and don’t test, and some are asymptomatic.  Van Tilburg said in a social media video post over the weekend that COVID vaccines are working, and most hospitalizations for COVID involve people who are unvaccinated.  Hood River County is holding a COVID-19 vaccination and testing event on Friday from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Mt. Hood Town Hall.

The Hood River County Library District is getting ready to take delivery on a new bookmobile in the latter part of this month or in early June.  District Director Rachael Fox says many community members were asking the library to come to where they are at, so during the pandemic the Friends of the Hood River County Library and the district raised money to purchase a large sprinter van that people can get into, and it can be stocked with 2,000 library materials.  Fox says a route schedule will be developed once the bookmobile arrives, with a primary focus on the Mid-Valley and then spreading out to the rest of the County.

If you see a lot of fishing boats with plenty of logos in The Dalles area this week, that’s because the APEX Pro Tour Spartan 580 bass fishing tournament is in the area.  Lisa Farquharson of The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce says the location of the tournament is kept secret until just a few days before the competitors’ arrival, and they have arrived in The Dalles after beng in Arlington over the weekend.  Farquharson said a community day event associated with the tournament is planned for later this week at The Dalles Dam Visitor Center.

The Port of Hood River Commission will get a recommendation Tuesday from a committee on the engineering firm to select as the project manager for replacement of the Hood River-White Salmon Interstate Bridge.  Port Executive Director Michael McElwee likens this to hiring a “Department of Bridge Replacement,” to oversee all facets of the project.  McElwee says the intention is for the selected firm to stay on the project until the existing bridge is removed.  An evaluation committee has been going through candidates.  The Port Commission meets at 5 p.m. Tuesday in the Port Marina Center Conference Room.

Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area officials report a section of the Eagle Creek trail that had been closed due to a significant landslide over the weekend has been reopened.  CRGNSA officials say members of the Mount Hood Chapter of the Pacific Crest Trail Association and a Forest Service trail crew came together to clear the trail of mudslide debris.  The fencing has been removed and the trail is now open to the public.  The slide took place on the Eagle Creek Trail about one mile from the trailhead measuring approximately 25 feet wide, forcing a temporary closure until trail crews can get in to clear it.  According to the U.S. Forest Service, slides like these are more likely in post-burn areas and will likely continue during and following heavy rain storms in the foreseeable future.  If you are hiking in the area, the Forest Service recommends selecting trails in non-post-fire burn areas.