The U.S. Forest Service is hosting a listening session on forest planning for the Mt. Hood and Gifford Pinchot National Forest on Monday evening in Hood River.  After an opening presentation, session participants will break out into small groups to address a number of questions with Forest Service representatives.  Those questions include what should the Forest Service consider when revising Northwest forest plans, how science should be incorporated in the process, and how should the public be engaged.  The session will take place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday at the Columbia Gorge Hotel in Hood River.  The Forest Service is holding a dozen of the sessions around the Northwest.

Road work is planned in both The Dalles and Hood River next week.  In The Dalles, street surface upgrade work on West 3rd Place from the intersection with Trevitt eastward to Lincoln Street will begin on Monday and continue through Thursday.  On Monday and Tuesday both lanes of West 3rd Place will be close to thru traffic, with workers trying to accommodate local access for residents.  On Wednesday and Thursday both lanes of West 3rd Place will be completely closed to all traffic as final surface paving begins, and residents will need to use alternate access and parking.  Meanwhile, the Hood River-White Salmon Interstate Bridge will have single lane closures all of next week between the hours of 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.  Commuters using the bridge during those hours should expect up to 15 minute delays as crews perform maintenance welding to the bridge deck.

Wasco County will be considering whether or not to seek a drought declaration from the state.  Commissioners have directed County staff to consult with agricultural partners on whether or not the County should seek the declaration.  County Administrative Officer Tyler Stone says if it’s appropriate a drought declaration can provide assistance to the ag industry in the form of providing state resources and help producers with insurance contracts they have.  Stone said there was not timeline to make a decision on whether to send a letter requesting a drought declaration, but he thought they would be shooting for the next Commission meeting later in the month.  The last time Wasco County sought a drought declaration was in 2003.

It’s been close to three years since a water pipe broke in White Salmon’s City Hall and caused significant damage, but it appears the City and its insurance company are close enough to reaching a settlement figure to allow renovations to finally take place.  Mayor David Poucher says the settlement has not been finalized, but the offer has gone up enough to allow the City to proceed with going out for bid.  A combination of the insurance settlement and money budgeted for the project since 2013 will be used to pay for the work.  Poucher noted the City intends to move its police department from the Park Center into the renovated City Hall.  City offices have been in a temporary downtown location since the water line break.

Oregon Senator Ron Wyden is calling a federal appeals court ruling saying the National Security Agency’s mass collection of Americans’ phone records goes beyond what Congress authorized “a huge win for individual rights.”  Wyden has contended the program violates the law without making the country safer, and is calling on President Obama to end it, adding if he doesn’t Congress should.  The court ruling still allows NSA to continue the program, but calls on Congress to step in and decide how to best balance national security and privacy interests.

Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed a bill aimed at helping voters better understand the fiscal impacts of a ballot measure before they vote.  Under the bill introduced by 14th District Representative Norm Johnson, the secretary of state would request an explanatory statement from the Attorney General’s office and a fiscal impact statement from the Office of Financial Management, and a timeline for those offices to meet the requests in order to be printed in the Voters’ Pamphlet.   Those statements would also be provided in advance to the committees who are developing arguments for and against each measure.  Johnson introduced the bill following voter approval in November of Initiative 1351, which directed the Legislature to allocate funds to reduce class sizes and increase staffing support for K-12 students.  Johnson said the idea behind the initiative is commendable, but he didn’t believe voters understood what it would cost, estimated by some at four billion to seven billion dollars.

Baseball Regis 9, Dufur 3:  The Rangers’ 15-game winning streak was snapped, as they were tagged with only their second loss in 23 games.   Track and Field The Columbia girls grabbed six first place finishes on the way to winning a ten-school meet in Kalama.  Claire Anderson, Aidan Liddiard, Savannah Story, and Lauren Thiesies all earned wins, along with a pair of Bruin relay teams.  Madison McCrum was first in two events to help Stevenson to seventh place finish.  Columbia was third and Stevenson fifth in the boys’ standings.  For the Bruins, Cabot Roe won the 1600 meters while CHS finished first in the four by 400 meter relay.  Stevenson’s Brandon Campbell won the pole vault.   Boys Tennis Hood River Valley 5, Hermiston 3:  HRV clinched the Columbia River Conference boys’ tennis title with the win.  

The Columbia Gorge Community College budget committee voted to recommend a reserve policy to help restore the college to a sustainable path.  Committee chair Arthur Babitz says the policy involves three different pieces, which would be ten percent of the general fund’s operating amount, a contingency fund of two-and-a-half percent, and a third piece that Babitz called an operations reserve which would go up and down depending on the economy and enrollment levels, with the fund going up when enrollment levels are high and then drawn down when they drop to provide some level of stability.  Committee members asked staff to bring back proposals involving cuts in administration and overhead or class offerings that could help restore money for student services, where several committee members felt cuts would cause problems for the college in delivering on its mission.  The CGCC budget committee meets again Thursday evening at 6 p.m. at the college campus in The Dalles.

Klickitat County Commissioners approved a resolution requesting the Washington Department of Transportation rename the section of Highway 14 from Lyle to Murdock for a sheriff’s deputy who was killed by a drunk driver in the line of duty in 1986.  County Commissioner David Sauter says they want to name the road in honor of Klickitat County Sheriff’s Deputy Michael McNabb.  Sauter noted they included letters of support from the Washington 14th District Legislative delegation.

A Steller sea lion died w hen it became entangled between two traps at Bonneville Dam.  The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife says there were no witnesses to the incident, which occurred sometime Monday night.  Biologists believe the animal got between the two cage traps onto a narrow area where the wooden floors of each trap extended beyond the cages, coming together to create a makeshift platform.  It appears that as the animal tried to back out of the narrow area, it became entangled in the tethering cables holding the traps together.  A veterinarian on site determined the animal drowned, and a complete necropsy will be performed.  ODFW spokesman Rick Hargrave says the agency’s focus now is to prevent this from happening again.  Trapping operations at Bonneville Dam have been suspended while ODFW consults with NOAA.  In the meantime, cage trap doors will be closed and locked, and a temporary barricade will be installed between the two cage traps to prevent access.