Boys Basketball

Hood River Valley 75, Crook County 64: The Eagles move into sole possession of second place in the Intermountain Conference with the win…as HRV got their lead up to 22 points in the third quarter before cruising to the victory.

Redmond 85, The Dalles 57:  The Riverhawks are now tied for third in the IMC with Ridgeview after falling to the conference leaders.

Horizon Christian 47, Lyle-Wishram 31

Dufur 78, Klickitat-Glenwood 9

  Girls Basketball

Crook County 52, Hood River Valley 37

Redmond 49, The Dalles 37

Trout Lake 59, South Wasco 28

Dufur 55, Klickitat-Glenwood 25

Central Christian 23, Horizon Christian 14

Sherman 32, Bickleton 26

SW Washington Class 2B District Tournament:  Ilwaco 56, Stevenson 22

Wasco County Commissioners are starting to look ahead toward preparing a budget for the 2022-23 Fiscal Year.  And one of the large topics of discussion is what to do with over $5 million in American Rescue Plan Act dollars, half of which is in hand and the rest coming soon.  Commissioner Scott Hege says the federal guidelines for use of the funds gives them quite a bit of leeway, and it is very wide open for use as revenue replacement.  He noted other agencies have expressed interest in receiving a portion of the funds.  Hege says the final payment of those funds will be coming in the next month or so.  

A bill authored by Washington 14th District State Representative Chris Corry targeting the reduction of lane departure accidents and fatalities in rural communities has passed out of the House Transportation Committee.  The Yakima Republican’s House Bill 1605 is based on research provided by the Washington State Strategic Highway Safety Plan, Target Zero.  The plan offers several ways to address top areas of concern, including lane departure accidents, including wider markings on roads, improved lighting, and surface road treatments.  According to the Target Zero report, in Washington state between 2015-2017, there were 796 fatalities and 2,458 serious injuries involving lane departures.  Lane departure accidents make up 48% of all motor vehicle accidents.  Corry’s bill now waits for a vote by the full House of Representatives.

Oregon Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden have announced legislation to reauthorize the Deschutes River Conservancy’s federal eligibility to receive federal funding for water quality and conservation projects.  Founded in 1996, the DRC initially focused on grazing and timber issues impacting river health, but has shifted to water management in recent years.  Following its reauthorization in 2005, DRC was eligible to receive $2 million per year for ten years, but no allocations were made during that time period and the organization currently relies on private donations or local government entities.  The bill would provide up to $2 million in funding per year for ten years.  Since its creation, the DRC has helped restore 250 cubic feet per second of water to parts of the Deschutes River and surrounding tributaries.  Upcoming projects will include addressing water quality issues in the Crooked River.

Harmony of the Gorge, the Sweet Adelines chorus in the region, is doing its Singing Valentines fundraiser again this year.  The group’s Judy Galloway says they are offering phone, electronic, and in-person options to give the gift of romantic music to someone you love.  Quartets from the chorus will sing two romantic songs to your loved one for $25 for local in-person, or for $10 via phone, text, e-mail, or Facebook.  To purchase call 541-806-1388 or go to harmonyofthegorge.com.

Google announced a $50,000 grant to The Dalles Main Street to support the upcoming 2022 Northwest MuralFest.  MuralFest will be held in late August, when a large group of muralists known as the Walldogs will travel to Oregon to paint 15 new murals chosen by residents of The Dalles.  A group of The Dalles business owners and city leaders convinced the Walldogs to choose The Dalles for the home of its 2022 festival which organizers believe will be only the second MuralFest to occur in the Western U.S.  Residents of The Dalles voted on themes for the 15 murals that will be painted during the festival.  Each mural will have a lead painter guiding multiple artists to paint and complete the murals through the festival weekend.  Along with the painting, the festival will include food, crafts, music, and vendors.

Vic Wild, a native of White Salmon who competes for Russia, won the bronze medal Tuesday in parallel giant slalom snowboarding at the Winter Olympics.  Wild defeated Roland Fischnaller of Italy in the bronze medal race, with Fischnaller unable to complete the course.  Wild finished ninth in qualifying runs, then topped Russian teammate Dmitry Loginov in the first knockout round and nipped Korea’s Sang-Ho Lee by one-one hundredth of a second in the quarterfinal.  He lost the semi-final to Tim Mastnak of Slovenia.  The 35-year-old Wild was a gold medalist in 2014 in both the parallel slalom and the parallel giant slalom events.  He placed 10th in parallel giant slalom in 2018, with parallel slalom having been dropped from the Olympic program.

State health officials announced Monday Oregon will remove general mask requirements for indoor public places no later than March 31.  By late March, health scientists expect that about 400 or fewer Oregonians would be hospitalized with COVID-19, the level of hospitalizations the state experienced before the Omicron variant began to spread.  Mask requirements for schools will be lifted on March 31.  However, Oregon state epidemiologist Dr. Dean Sidelinger said the mask requirements need to remain in place for now as COVID-19 hospitalizations crest and Oregon’s health care system strains to treat high numbers of severely ill patients.  Oregon has the third lowest cumulative COVID-19 case rate in the nation and the seventh lowest COVID-19 death rate since the start of the pandemic.  Health experts are strongly recommend high-risk individuals continue wearing masks in indoor public settings after mask requirements are lifted.  Once requirements are lifted, employers and businesses may continue to establish their own mask requirements to protect employees and customers.

Klickitat County Public Health Director Erinn Quinn says COVID-19 case counts in the County are starting to trend downward after reaching a peak in January.  Quinn says there were 788 reported COVID cases in Klickitat County in January, more than in the first 13 months of the pandemic.  But she says they are seeing evidence of the numbers going down, noting COVID trends in Klickitat County have tended to run a bit behind the western part of Washington.  Quinn added local hospitals are doing well at this point, but transfers to higher levels of care in larger cities remain difficult.  

Vic Wild, a native of White Salmon who competes for Russia, will compete tonight in snowboarding’s parallel giant slalom.  The 35-year-old Wild was a gold medalist in 2014 in both the parallel slalom and the parallel giant slalom events.  He placed 10th in parallel giant slalom in 2018, with parallel slalom having been dropped from the Olympic program.  Wild began to compete for Russia after marrying a snowboarder from the country, and seeking to leave the American snowboarding program due to what he considered a lack of funding and support for the Alpine portion of the program.  Qualifying runs take place at 7 p.m. Pacific time this evening.