Registration is now open for one of the nation’s longest-running and most iconic open water swimming events, the Columbia River Cross Channel Swim, returning for its 81st year on Saturday, Aug. 30. It started in the 1940s, when Hood River local Roy Webster first began swimming the river with his family. This year’s event will again be hosted at the Sternwheeler paddleboat dock in Cascade Locks. Swimmers board the historic Columbia Gorge Sternwheeler and are ferried across the channel to Washington’s shore. Participants leap from the decks into the river, commencing a 1.1-mile open water swim toward the Columbia River’s Oregon shore. There is a dedicated swim lane, flanked by volunteers on sailboats, kayaks, and paddleboards, ensuring guidance, encouragement, and safety. Swimmers will now be required to use a tow buoy to enhance safety by improving visibility and providing participants a more efficient way to rest during the event if needed. To register for the Columbia River Cross Channel Swim, visit columbiariverswim.com.
Fire Hydrant Flushing In The Dalles
The City of The Dalles Public Works Department will be flushing fire hydrants throughout the city over the next few weeks, weather permitting. Fire hydrants are flushed in order to clean out deposits, sediments and rust from our distribution pipelines, help minimize water quality problems, test fire protection water pressures, exercise hydrant valves, and identify hydrants needing repair or replacement. Motorists and pedestrians are asked to avoid driving or walking through the water coming directly from a hydrant while it is being flushed. If it is not possible to avoid the area, please proceed with caution. Occasionally main flushing causes water flowing from a tap to be discolored from stirred up sediment or milky white caused by tiny air bubbles. Although discolored water won’t make you sick, you might want to flush the pipe by running the water for several minutes before drinking or washing. If the water does not clear, please contact the Public Works office at 541-296-5401, 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. weekdays, or after hours at (541) 980-7703.
Fire Prevention Program Available In Klickitat & Skamania Counties
Property owners in Klickitat and Skamania counties can get help in protecting their homes and land through the Wildfire Ready Neighbors Program put on the Washington Department of Natural Resources in conjunction with numerous local partner fire agencies. DNR Community Resilience Coordinator Charlie Landsman says the program connects people with a local wildfire mitigation specialist to develop a personalized action plan and identify any risk factors to their home. To sign-up for the program, go to wildfireready.com. Landsman notes there are other programs to help people protect their homes, including Firewise USA which looks at the effort on a community-wide level. He says there are incentive programs and grants available to assist with the cost of implementation.
Body Found Along Columbia River Shore
The Skamania County Sheriff’s Office recovered a body along the shore of the Columbia River last week. The Sheriff’s Office says it received a report of a deceased subject located by kayakers along the shore of the Columbia River. Deputies from the Clark County Sheriff’s Office Marine Unit assisted in the response with their boat, while Skamania County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue volunteers responded from land. After an arduous response due to weather and terrain conditions, both on water and land, the decedent was recovered and transported to shore. Based on an investigation, the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office does not suspect any criminal activity involved in the subject’s death and the community is not in danger. The identity of the body found was not released.
April 4-5 Prep Sports Roundup
Baseball
Lincoln 22, Hood River Valley 9: Eagle pitching issued 14 walks on the way to the loss that drops them to 4-4 on the season.
Henley 8, The Dalles 0
North Marion 6, The Dalles 2
Elma sweeps Columbia 8-6 and 11-4
Cove-Union sweeps Sherman 15-5 and 22-2
Goldendale sweeps White Swan 5-3 and 2-1: Brock Armstrong drove in two runs in the first game, then doubled home the game winner in the bottom of the seventh inning of the nightcap.
Softball
Hood River Valley sweeps Mountain View 17-1 and 7-4: Grace Rowan homered and drove in six runs of the opener while Bella Belcher also had a home run with three RBI, then the pair each homered again in game two.
Henley sweeps The Dalles 7-6 and 5-4: Henley got tiebreaking runs in the seventh inning of both games.
Track and Field
Renan Christiansen of Sherman won the boys’ shot put at Prairie City.
Horizon Christian finished second and South Wasco third in both the boys’ and girls’ portions of the Redside Invitational in Maupin. Bailey Udey won a pair of events for the South Wasco girls.
Boys Tennis
Hood River Valley 7, The Dalles 1
Girls Tennis
Hood River Valley 8, The Dalles 0
Boys Lacrosse
Glencoe 8, Hood River Valley 2
Sherwood 9, Hood River Valley 7
Girls Lacrosse
Westview 12, Hood River Valley 11
April 3 Prep Sports Roundup
Track and Field
Hood River Valley boys and girls topped Canby in a Northwest Oregon Conference dual meet, with the Eagle boys winning 64-57 and the girls 77-45. Sam Knoll, Omar Sedano, and Georgiana Williams won two events apiece for HRV.
Health District Losing $65,000 In Grant Money; More Unknowns Remain
North Central Public Health District knows about $65,000 in federal grant funding frozen and rescinded, and there are still plenty of unknowns to deal with. District Executive Director Martha McInnes says that doesn’t sound like a lot for an agency with a $5 million budget, but its money that was focused on public health in Wasco and Sherman counties, and now it’s gone. McInnes adds what is most difficult right now is the inability to plan. The district receives federal grants passed down through the state. McInnes says their budget includes about $450,000 of those kinds of funds, representing around ten percent of the district’s budget.
Wasco County Launches Mapping Platform For Emergency Response
Wasco County has launched a dynamic mapping platform designed to significantly enhance public safety messaging and emergency response capabilities. The County says Perimeter will serve as a central hub for disseminating critical information in real-time to residents during emergencies. A user-friendly map interface provides a clear and visual representation of emergency situations, enabling residents to quickly understand the scope and impact of an event. The County says 9fficials will be able to post rapid updates on evacuation orders, road closures, and resource locations, ensuring swift and accurate information dissemination. In addition to providing real-time updates, Perimeter allows first responders to draw evacuation zones and share them directly from the scene of an emergency, significantly cutting down on delays in broadcasting evacuation information. Perimeter works in conjunction with the existing Citizen Alert system, ensuring multi-channel emergency notifications to those in affected areas. The public can access Perimeter and view real-time updates by visiting perimetermap.com/wascocounty-or from any internet-connected device.
NWPUD Receives Reliability Award
Northern Wasco County People’s Utility District has received national recognition for achieving exceptional electric reliability in 2024, one of only three recipients in Oregon. The recognition comes from the American Public Power Association, a trade group that represents more than 2,000 not-for-profit, community-owned electric utilities. APPA helps electric utilities track power outage and restoration data through its subscription-based eReliability Tracker service, and once per year, its Reliability Team compares this data to national statistics tracked by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The Certificate of Excellence in Reliability recognizes utilities with in the top quartile based on EIA data from 2019-2023, meaning they experienced the shortest outage durations. Northern Wasco County PUD Chief Operating Officer Jeff Teel says the recognition reflects the dedication of their lineworkers, engineers, and field personnel who work in all conditions to maintain our infrastructure and quickly restore power when outages occur. Nationwide, the average public power customer has their lights out for less than half the amount of time that customers of other types of utilities do.
April 2 Prep Sports Roundup
Baseball
Hood River Valley 6, Pendleton 0: Bodie Stuben threw a three-hit shutout to outduel Pendleton ace Evan Lehnert. Stuben struck out five while walking just one, and the Eagle defense played errorless ball behind him.
Softball
Pendleton 4, Hood River Valley 1: Kendall Murphy pitched a no-hitter for the Buckaroos while striking out 15, handing the Eagles their second loss of the season.
Track and Field
Dufur’s Zeb Stelzer won the boys’ 3,000 meters and Ellie Brock the girls’ 400 meters at the Buckaroo Roundup at St. Paul