North Wasco County School District 21 is seeking interested individuals to sit on a Community Bond Planning Committee.  District officials say they are seeking interested parents and students from each of its schools, and community and business partners to join school and district staff on this committee.  The group will meet to discuss issues and needs such as safety, security, accessibility, capacity, and overall facility needs to help identify and prioritize capital improvement projects, and eventually make recommendations for a potential bond measure to the D-21 Board of Directors. The committee application can be found on the North Wasco County School District website at nwasco.k12.or.us.  The deadline to apply is Tuesday, May 17th.

For the first time in a couple of years, the Wasco County Children’s Fair will take place later this month.  A number of local agencies will put on the event at The Dalles City Park on May 21.  Nancey Patten of Child Care Partners emphasizes it is a free event for parents and their children.  There will be opportunities for children to be entertained while parents can learn about resources available to them.  The fair will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on May 21 at The Dalles City Park.

Columbia Gorge Orchestra Association Stages will perform the rock musical Rent over the next three weekends at the Bingen Theater.  Jonathan Larson’s story of young artists struggling to survive in Lower Manhattan’s East Village had a twelve-year run on Broadway.  CGOA’s Mark Steighner says Larson was writing shows about everyday people, and translated that into a musical.  There are eight performances scheduled over the next three weekends.  For time and ticket information, go to gorgeorchestra.org.  

Baseball

Hood River Valley sweeps Pendleton 5-0 and 13-4:  The Eagles move two games in front of the Buckaroos atop the Intermountain Conference with the victories.  In game one Jacob von Lubken pitched a five-hit shutout while Ryles Buckley drove in a pair of runs and Mason Spellecy homered.  In the nightcap Buckley drove in three more runs, while Spellecy and Hunter Hough had three hits apiece.

Redmond sweeps The Dalles 8-7 and 14-0:  The Panthers scored in the bottom of the seventh to with the opener after the Riverhawks had come back from a six-run deficit to tie.  Joseph Teixeira pitched a five-inning no-hitter for Redmond in the second contest.

Dufur sweeps Heppner 5-0 and 11-7:  The Rangers stay tied for first with Weston-McEwen in District 7.

Seton Catholic 13, Columbia 5

  Softball

The Dalles sweeps Redmond 9-4 and 15-0:  Zoe LeBreton homered and drove in two runs in the opener, then homered and drove in four runs while Despina Seufalemua had two home runs and four RBI in a nightcap that saw the Riverhawks score 14 runs in the first inning.

Pendleton sweeps Hood River Valley 17-0 and 15-0:  The Buckaroos scored in every inning of the twinbill as both games were shortened to four innings.

Columbia 10, Seton Catholic 2:  Sydney Aman drove in three runs and Macee Barnes two for the Bruins, who are now 12-2 on the year.

Stevenson 12, Winlock 10

  Track and Field

Hood River Valley’s Simone Tillman won the girls’ 100 meters and The Dalles’ Zoe Dunn the girls’ triple jump to highlight the local effort at the Dean Nice Invitational in Gresham.

  Boys Tennis

Redmond 5, Hood River Valley 3

  Boys Lacrosse

Central Catholic 10, Hood River Valley 8

  The Dalles High School has tabbed Marc Schilling as the Riverhawks’ new head football coach.  Schilling spent the last six years as the defensive coordinator at Estacada High School, where the Rangers reached the Class 4A playoffs five straight times, including a semi-final appearance this past season.  Schilling was raised in Nyssa and graduated from Riverside High School in Boardman.  The school says Schilling is planning an upcoming visit to The Dalles to meet with parents and players.

Washington Gorge Action Programs will be opening a drop-in center for its Homeless Youth Housing Program in June.  The center will be located in a former bank building on West Main Street in Goldendale.  WAGAP Homeless Youth Housing Program Department Supervisor Bobby Casey says the center is designed to be a safe place for ages 13 to 24 to find help and connect them with services.  He adds the center will be run by people who have experienced youth homelessness in their lifetime.  An open house is planned on Friday, June 3.

The City of The Dalles budget committee will start its work at the meeting on Monday.  Mayor Rich Mays says the City’s fiscal picture is a good one, thanks in part to funds from Google developments and conservative budgeting.  Mays says the general fund will be the first topic for the committee.  He adds inflation does impact the budget, between the rising costs of supplies and wage negotiations with the City’s employee unions.  The budget committee meets on Monday at 5:30 in The Dalles City Hall.

The Hood River City Council approved turning over a small piece of land on Tucker Road to the Big River Community Land Trust for development of a unit of affordable housing.  The narrow .07-acre lot once housed a pressure reducing valve for the City’s water supply, but the municipal transmission main is no longer in that area.  City officials say turning the property over to the land trust fits with their goals of developing more affordable housing.  If the land trust does not make substantial progress on developing the property within two years, the City can buy it back for a dollar.

The Bonneville Power Administration says substantial reward increases for the Northern Pikeminnow Sport Reward Fishery have been put in place for the 2022 season.   Opening day for the northern pikeminnow sport reward season is May 1 and this year anglers will earn $6, $8 or $10 – up from $5, $6 and $8 – for each pikeminnow that is at least nine inches long.   It’s the first reward increase since 2015.  The more fish caught, the more each pikeminnow is worth.  Specially tagged northern pikeminnow released by state fish and wildlife biologists into the Columbia and Snake rivers are each worth $200 to $500.  In addition to increasing reward amounts, program managers are making it easier to participate.  Online registration and an app are expected to debut early in the 2022 season, for more information go to pikeminnow.org.  Northern pikeminnow consume millions of young salmon and steelhead each year.  Since 1990, anglers paid through the program have removed nearly 5 million pikeminnow from the Columbia and Snake rivers.  

The Oregon Department of Human Services Child Welfare Division is asking the public to help find a 16-year-old girl in foster care who went missing from Junction City, and The Dalles is one of four locations DHS officials suspect she may be.  Payton Brazell Smith is 5-feet-6-inches tall and weighs 145 pounds, with green eyes and black hair with blue and other colors.  She has two nose piercings, a tattoo on her right inner arm that says “Hati,” and a tattoo of a heart on her upper left arm.  She also may be wearing a small black backpack, black Vans shoes with a blue butterfly on them, and a grey hoodie sweatshirt that says “Junction City.”  She is suspected to be in Portland, Junction City, The Dalles, or Tillamook, and is believed to be in danger.  DHS asks the public to contact 911 or local law enforcement if they believe they see her.

Columbia Gorge Community College will hold a memorial celebration of the life of Dr. Ernie Keller on June 11 at its campus in The Dalles.  Keller passed away in July of 2020 from complications of COVID-19, but services were deferred through the pandemic.  Keller became regional coordinator for career and vocational education with the Wasco County Educational Service District in 1977, earned his Doctorate of Education in 1989, and served as chair of the Wasco County Planning Commission during the Rajneesh era.  He retired in 2001, a year later winning election to the Columbia Gorge Community College board of trustees, where he served for the next 17 years.  Keller was instrumental in the college’s subsequent growth, both on The Dalles Campus and establishment of the Hood River – Indian Creek Campus in 2008.  The June 11 memorial is open to the public, hosted in the Columbia Gorge Regional Skills Center by the CGCC Foundation and the Keller Family.  Family members wish to raise $25,000 to fully endow the Dr. Ernest and Gloria Keller Scholarship Fund so this can continue to support students enrolled at CGCC.  If you would like to support the family’s efforts, please make your donation to the CGCC Foundation through its secure website at www.cgccfoundation.org.