Helping Hands Against Violence will hold a candlelight vigil in downtown Hood River Tuesday evening.  October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.  Helping Hands Executive Director Stephanie Irving says the statistics on the number of women who are victims of domestic violence are staggering, with one out of every four women victimized in some way.  Tuesday evening’s vigil starts at 6:30 p.m. in the Georgiana Smith Park adjacent to the Hood River Library.  Participants are encouraged to wear the color purple, the symbolic color of Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

Advocates for downtown areas throughout the state will be in The Dalles this week for the Oregon Main Street state conference.  There will be over 200 visitors who work on downtown revitalization and historic preservation.  The Dalles Main Street Executive Director Matthew Klebes says the Main Street program uses a four-point approach to comprehensive downtown revitalization involving promotion, design, economic restructuring, and organization.  Conference sessions will take place at multiple locations in downtown The Dalles.  They are free and open to the public, but pre-registration is required.  Go to thedallesmainstreet.org for more information.

Boys Soccer C.S. Lewis 1, Horizon Christian 0:  C.S. Lewis win a matchup of unbeaten teams in Special District 6, dropping the Hawks into a tie for second with North Clackamas Christian. Volleyball Columbia def. Washougal 25-22, 25-21,25-23

An energy audit of three North Wasco County School District 21 schools has found some mixed results.  The Dalles High School and Colonel Wright and Chenowith elementary schools were studied.  D-21 Chief Financial Officer Randy Anderson said one recommendation is to modernize the control units of their heating systems.  Colonel Wright was of particular concern, with the energy usage 226 percent of average for a school of its size.  D-21 officials will now examine the results and begin to prioritize projects that can be undertaken to make the facilities more energy efficient that are also cost efficient, and also weave them into the district’s overall facilities planning process.

The countdown to the Hood River Valley Harvest Festival is on.  The festival will run October 16-18 at the Event Site on the Hood River Waterfront.  Hood River County Chamber of Commerce events coordinator Ashley Huckaby May says they will again have a full slate of 125 vendors mixing old favorites and new offerings.  There will also be family friendly activities and live music throughout the three days of the festival.  Detailed Hood River Valley Harvest Festival information is available on-line at hoodriver.org.

Football LaGrande 43, The Dalles 19 North Eugene 57, Hood River Valley 49 Kalama 21, Columbia 0 Stevenson 27, Seton Catholic 21 Sherman 32, Dufur 30 Perrydale 80, South Wasco 12 Goldendale 21, Granger 14 Lyle 34, Mitchell/Spray 14   Volleyball Dufur def. Condon-Wheeler 25-10, 25-19, 25-20 Dufur def. Mitchell-Spray 25-14, 25-18, 25-20 Mitchell-Spray def. Horizon Christian 25-8, 23-25, 25-21, 18-25, 15-10 Condon-Wheeler def. Horizon Christian 25-16, 25-18, 15-25, 25-22 Arlington def. Sherman 25-20, 25-21, 27-25 Ione def. Sherman 25-20, 25-13, 25-20 Arlington def. South Wasco 3 games to 0 Ione def. South Wasco 3 games to 2

Firefighters have fully contained a 300 acre grass fire that burned east of the intersection of Highways 197 and 14 in Klickitat County on Thursday evening.  Darren Lacock of the Dallesport-Murdock Fire Department says the fire burned a travel trailer and a shed.  The fire started around 6 p.m. Thursday when a flatbed truck towing a trailer lost its right side wheels, and the sparks from the metal axel cause the blaze to start.  The fire burned down to the road leading into Columbia Hills State Park.  Lacock says some hot spots in the middle of the fire where terrain makes it difficult to extinguish will burn until there is a significant rainfall, but there is a full containment line around the fire.  Ten Klickitat County fire departments along with the Washington Department of Natural Resources, Mid-Columbia Fire and Rescue, and Washington State Parks were involved in the firefighting effort.

Volleyball The Dalles def. Pendleton 25-17, 16-25, 25-17, 25-13:  The Riverhawks win their fifth straight Columbia River Conference match to remain atop the league. Hood River Valley def. Hermiston 25-23, 25-20, 25-20:  HRV moves to 4-1 in the CRC, solidify their hold on second place. Castle Rock def. Columbia 20-25, 16-25, 25-23, 25-14, 15-13 Zillah def. Goldendale 25-17, 20-25, 25-20, 26-24 Sunnyside Christian def. Klickitat 25-16, 25-9, 25-7 Lyle-Wishram def. Yakama Tribal 25-20, 25-18, 25-16   Boys Soccer LaGrande 7, The Dalles 0   Girls Soccer LaGrande 5, The Dalles 0 Kalama 6, Stevenson 0

A report from ECONorthwest presented to Hood River County Commissioners shows only two to four percent of the housing stock in unincorporated areas of the County are second homes or vacation rentals.  The number came as a bit of a surprise to County officials who met to receive the report, and it’s quite a bit lower than the rate in the City of Hood River.  Commissioners have assigned the task of deciding what, if anything, to do in regards to regulating short-term housing to the County Planning Commission.  Community Development Director John Roberts has presented a series of options, most notably three possibilities, one being a fixed cap on the number of rentals, another prohibiting them in certain zones, and a third would simply evaluate applications as they come in.  Roberts added he felt maintaining the status quo and a complete prohibition on short-term housing were both unrealistic options.  Roberts thinks he will have a draft report ready at the end of this year or early in 2016.

Over 200 visitors from around the Northwest will be in The Dalles next week for the Oregon State Main Street conference.  Main Street programs, like the current one operating in The Dalles, are devoted to comprehensive downtown revitalization.  The Dalles Main Street Executive Director Matthew Klebes says this year’s conference theme is “Build an Awesome  Revitalization Team,” and he notes local businesses and community members can attend the various sessions being offered.  The conference will run from October 7-9 at various locations throughout downtown The Dalles.  It’s free to attend but pre-registration is required.  For more information go to thedallesmainstreet.org.