The Oregon State Police dealt with a pair of incidents involving high rates of speed on Interstate 84 west of Hood River on Wednesday. In the morning, the OSP reports a vehicle took off at over 100 miles per hour after a trooper attempted a traffic stop, and witnessed it recklessly cutting in between other traffic and going into the dirt before exiting at Cascade Locks. The vehicle was later found with a search reveal drugs and paraphernalia. The driver was not located. Then in the evening, an SUV was stopped after going 96 miles per hour on the freeway. A 52-year-old Portland woman was charged with DUII.
Hood River Receives Transportation Grant
The City of Hood River has been awarded an Accelerated Mobility Playbook Technical Grant from City Thread, a national non-profit organization that aims to make communities safer and better connected through transportation. The grant is to provide expert guidance, facilitating collaboration among local leaders and stakeholders, and connecting the City with a national network of peer communities working toward similar goals. While the City of Hood River has no walking or biking master plan, active transportation has been a focus through several planning efforts, including the creation of a Safe Routes to School plan funded by the Oregon Department of Transportation. Since the plan was accepted by City Council in 2022, nearly $10 million in funding has been raised for programs and infrastructure. The grant will provide a strategy to assist with Safe Routes to School network implementation and project coordination, build effective community partnerships, and amplify public support for the program’s infrastructure improvements.
Goldendale Woman Injured In I-84 Accident
A 53-year-old Goldendale woman was injured in a Tuesday afternoon motor vehicle accident on Interstate 84 east of The Dalles. According to Oregon State Police reports, a tote filled with Christmas decorations fell out of a utility trailer into the left lane of westbound Interstate 84 near milepost 96 at around 1:55 Tuesday afternoon. A car following the trailer attempted to avoid the box and hit the brakes. An SUV driven by the Goldendale woman tried to avoid the car by going to the right between it and a semi and box trailer in the right lane. The SUV rear-ended the car, and the semi- driver reported it then pinballed back and forth striking the median, pushing a couple of barriers into the eastbound median. The woman was taken to an area hospital, where the OSP says she was warned for careless driving and cited for following too close.
April 15 Prep Sports Roundup
Baseball
Hood River Valley 10, Parkrose 3: Kingston McAdam and Tyson Harjo both drove in two runs while Addison Postlewait had three hits as the Eagles won their Northwest Oregon Conference opener.
Seton Catholic 13, Columbia 3
Fort Vancouver 18, Stevenson 6
Pendleton JV 17, Sherman 5
Warden sweeps Goldendale 5-2 and 10-6
Softball
Hood River Valley 17, Parkrose 1: Grace Rowan hit three homers and drove in five runs, and Isa Rivera’s bases loaded double capped an 11-run fourth inning.
Seton Catholic 13, Columbia 0
Stevenson 21, Fort Vancouver 4: Rebecca Townsend went four for five with three RBI, while Cayden Hulsey-Bible drove in four runs.
Cle Elum-Roslyn sweeps Goldendale 23-9 and 16-2
Track and Field
Goldendale’s Matthew Gray won three events and Emma Meagher two at a five-school EWAC meet at Cle Elum-Roslyn.
Girls Golf
Hood River Valley’s Kristin Fox shot a 14-over-par 78 to finish fifth at a Northwest Oregon Conference tournament at Charbonneau Golf Course.
Girls Lacrosse
Hood River Valley 13, Ida B. Wells 4: The Eagles won their sixth match in a row after a season-opening loss.
Third Person Arrested In Connection With Hayes Death
A third person has been arrested in connection with the death of a Hood River man on Friday afternoon. Hood River Police Chief Neal Holste says the Columbia Gorge Major Crimes Team arrested 31-year-old Johnathan Bradly Matthews in The Dalles on Tuesday afternoon. Matthews was booked and charged with second degree murder, first degree robbery and theft, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, reckless driving, and reckless endangering. Matthews and two others arrested over the weekend, 36-year-old William Edward Hardy Jr. and 41-year-old Elizabeth June Bowman, are accused in the death of 38-year-old Stephen Hayes of Hood River. Hayes was hit by a truck on Friday afternoon following a confrontation with someone he had caught stealing property from his vehicle. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call Hood River Police Detective Erin Mason at 541-387-5257.
MCCAC Receives State Funding For Housing 360 Pilot Program
Mid-Columbia Community Action Council has been awarded $1 million as part of Governor Tina Kotek’s new Housing 360 pilot program announced last week. The funding will support innovative approaches to housing individuals experiencing homelessness who face mental health challenges, with a special focus on Tribal communities in the Wasco County region who are disproportionately affected by homelessness. MCCAC’s partners in the Housing 360 pilot program include Nch’i Wana Housing, the Bridges to Health Pathways program of the Columbia Gorge Health Council, and Mid-Columbia Center for Living. The pilot projects aim to build a foundation for an informed, data-driven approach to helping residents struggling with mental illness transition from unsheltered homelessness into housing stability. Mid-Columbia Community Action is one of four organizations receiving Housing 360 grants, along with Benton County, Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action, and Washington County.
Pavement Work Planned For West 6th In The Dalles
The Dalles Public Works Department will work on a pavement preservation project next week on West 6th Street west of Cherry Heights Road. The eastbound lane on West 6th Street will be closed during work hours on Monday and Tuesday, while the westbound lane on West 6th Street will be closed next Wednesday and Thursday. Work hours will be 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. each day. Motorists, bicycles and pedestrians are asked to use detours around the work zone during work hours. The street will be reopened to the traveling public each evening. Walk up business access will be open during construction. For safety reasons, parking on West 6th Street within the work zone will not be allowed until the project is complete. The purpose of this project is to grind out the wheel ruts and replace approximately 500 feet of pavement in each lane. Crews will also grind and replace pavement in a larger area that needs to be patched.
Volunteers Sought For Pika Count
The Oregon Zoo is recruiting volunteers to seek out one of the Columbia River Gorge’s fluffiest residents: the American pika. Cascades Pika Watch is a collaboration between organizations and volunteers convened by the zoo to locate and map pika populations. Pikas are potato-sized members of the rabbit family, known for their squeak-toy alarm calls frequently heard among the rocky slopes of the Cascade volcanoes throughout the Columbia River Gorge. Pikas’ particular habitat and temperature requirements may make them especially vulnerable to a warming climate — and especially interesting to biologists studying the effects of climate change. Pika Watch volunteers helped document the gorge population’s recovery following the 2017 Eagle Creek fire. This year, volunteers will begin monitoring sites at the edges of the pika’s core habitat, where the Gorge passes into the dry, eastern rain shadow of the Cascades. Cascades Pika Watch volunteers conduct regular surveys to track pika presence across the region. Sites are accessed via public hiking trails, and no special skills are required. A training session is set for May 10 at 5:30 p.m. at the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center. Go to gorgediscovery.org for sign-up information.
HR City Council Approves SDC Changes
The Hood River City Council approved implementing changes to system development charges over the next five years, including using analytically-based and supportable scaling methodology for residential SDC’s. City Finance Director Chris Longentti said the scaling will allow the City to assess SDC’s by the square foot to encourage more affordable housing developments. SDC’s for water, sewer, stormwater, and transportation will go up gradually over the next five years. Councilors passed the new plan unanimously.
TD Council Approves Fireworks Ordinance
The Dalles City Council approved an ordinance to declare a local state of emergency in extreme weather conditions and restrict the personal use of fireworks. The ordinance sets two trigger points to automatically put a ban on personal use fireworks in effect: either the state of Oregon declares a drought emergency relating to fire danger in Wasco County, or Wasco County prohibits the use of fireworks. City Manager Matthew Klebes says the Council has discussed this kind of move for a number of years to avoid having to take emergency measures in the days before July 4. The City Council could still declare a state of emergency restricting fireworks use through additional action if it was to choose to, but the ordinance should help avoid last minute firework regulations being adopted going forward.