Hood River County Commissioners are gearing up for a goal-setting session later this month.  County Administrator David Meriwether says once again finances will be at the top of the discussion points, including dealing with public safety needs.  Workforce housing will be another high priority issue, as it has been in recent goal-setting sessions.  The goal-setting session will take place on Saturday, January 23 at 9 a.m. in the Hood River County Administration Building.

The City of White Salmon is moving forward with having a complete study of municipal water and sewer rates done.  The City is contracting with Anderson and Perry Associates to do the study, which Mayor David Poucher says will look at all aspects of the utility rates.  The study will include how rates for different types of dwellings are arrived at.  Poucher says the study will take six to eight months to complete.  He notes it has been a number of years since the City has done this type of study.

Boys Basketball King’s Way Christian 41, Columbia 38 Kalama 71, Stevenson 49 Sherman 69, Horizon Christian 39 Sherman 83, Ione 43 Horizon Christian 61, Condon-Wheeler 49 South Wasco 55, Dufur 33 South Wasco 49, Arlington 26 Dufur 53, Mitchell-Spray 30 Lyle-Wishram 49, Trout Lake 23 Sunnyside Christian 72, Lyle-Wishram 37 Yakama Tribal 78, Klickitat 29 Zillah 95, Goldendale 26 Naches Valley 48, Goldendale 21   Girls Basketball Hood River Valley 50, Jefferson 46 Sherman 38, Horizon Christian 33 Ione 51, Sherman 40 Condon-Wheeler 39, Horizon Christian 18 South Wasco 43, Dufur 29 Dufur 54, Mitchell-Spray 33 Arlington 38, South Wasco 26 Lyle-Wishram 61, Trout Lake 19 Sunnyside Christian 73, Lyle-Wishram 26 Zillah 63, Goldendale 45 Naches Valley 70, Goldendale 25   Wrestling Joe Linebarger of The Dalles won the 220 pound division at the Don York Tournament at Cleveland High School in Portland.  Linebarger won all of his matches by fall. Hood River Valley finished in a tie for twelfth at the 65-team Kelso girls’ wrestling tournament.  HRV’s Alexis McCafferty was second at 110 pounds while Payton Rigert was fourth at 155. Goldendale finished fourth at the Grandview Classic, led by three individual winners.  Mark Briggs, Zane Cully, and Cameron Pond all won their weight classes.

The City of White Salmon has received a state grant to change all of the bulbs in their street lights to money saving LED bulbs.  Mayor David Poucher says he has been working on doing this for some time, noting it can save the City about 50 percent of the cost of operating the lights.  The work is being paid for through the state Transportation Improvement Board Relight Washington project.  In other business, White Salmon councilors will consider moving forward with a contract for renovation of City Hall during their retreat scheduled for Monday.

Girls Basketball Summit 36, The Dalles 34:  The Riverhawks came back from an 11-point second half deficit, but the Storm prevented them from getting a shot off in their final seconds of the game. Columbia 55, King’s Way Christian 46:  Lauren Thiesies scored 14 points and Kathirin Hylton added 11 to lead the Bruins to the Trico League win. Kalama 60, Stevenson 33 Lyle-Wishram 59, Hood River Valley JV 38

Wasco County Commissioners have decided to move forward with establishing a non-taxing parks and recreation district in South Wasco County.  The district concept has come about as efforts to fix a broken boat ramp at Pine Hollow Reservoir led to a survey that found substantial support for a South Wasco County Parks and Recreation District to deal with other issues as well.  Commissioner Scott Hege says this kind of non-taxing district has had success in that portion of the county in other areas, adding the district would be eligible for funds through the Oregon Marine Board and state Fish and Wildlife.  The County Commission can form the non-taxing district, and directed staff to prepare documents and bring them back as soon as the end of next week so selection of directors can take place in the May election.  The district would essentially start south of Tygh Ridge.

Last week’s Natural Resources Conservation Service survey of the snow pack on Mount Hood brought good news, finding snow water equivalent at 113 percent of normal, way above the 33 percent of one year ago.  But it’s too early to make any conclusions about what the irrigation season will bring.  Scott Oviatt of NRCS says they are cautiously optimistic, but it is an El Nino year, and that can bring unpredictability for this region.  He notes the one-to-three month forecast from the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center calls for above normal temperatures and below normal precipitation.

A group of sustainable energy advocates have partnered with two of Oregon’s largest power companies to try to reduce coal consumption in the state.  The coalition of environmental groups has agreed to drop its bid to force power companies to offer 50 percent renewable energy by 2040, but instead will ask the Legislature to pass a similar proposal.  The coalition has reached an agreement with Pacific Power and Portland General Electric to draft a proposal that will debut next week when the House Committee on Energy and Environment meets.  Citizens Utility Board of Oregon executive director Bob Jenks says the plan keeps a four percent cost cap on any new power generated from renewables, and outlines an orderly transition to cleaner power.  The proposal would grant the utility companies flexibility in how they use renewable-energy credits, the ability to build electric charging stations into rates, and the ability to block an entity from acquiring service territory without consent.

There will be a planned electric outage late tonight in the Underwood, Mill A, Willard, and Cook areas.  Skamania PUD says the outage will impact all customers served from the Underwood substation.  It is being done to facilitate substation construction.  The outage will begin at about 11:30 p.m., and last for about two hours.  PUD water service in the Underwood region will not be interrupted.

Girls Basketball Hood River Valley 26, McKay 21 LaCenter 67, Columbia 23   Boys Basketball LaCenter 62, Columbia 35 South Wasco 55, Willamette Valley Christian 39