Jeremy Lee Anderson received a 100-month sentence from Wasco County Circuit Court Judge Marion Weatherford after pleading guilty to first degree kidnapping, assault, and burglary charges connected to a home invasion in The Dalles in January 2021. The pleas came during the second day of a jury trial, and the 50-year-old Anderson was sentenced the same day. The home invasion occurred at The Dalles home of Donald Lewis on January 22, 2021. Wasco County District Attorney Matthew Ellis says Anderson was one of two men that forced their way into the house, and pistol-whipped and beat Lewis. They then hog-tied him, while they removed his safe and valuables from the back bedrooms, and kicked him numerous times. The men took over a hundred thousand dollars in cash, valuable coins, and jewelry, and left Lewis alone on the floor with his injuries. Ellis said Lewis managed to get a knife out of a dresser drawer and cut himself free, before running to a neighbor’s house. Three defendants have been found guilty in the home invasion, while the other person alleged to have entered the home, Jason McCollum is currently in federal custody on other charges, and his Wasco County trial is scheduled to begin in December.
November 1 Prep Sports Roundup
Boys Soccer
Oregon Class 4A First Round
The Dalles 2, Pendleton 1: Hulies Najera and Juan Camarillo provided the goals at the Riverhawks nipped the Buckaroos to advance to the quarterfinals. The Dalles will host Crook County in a quarterfinal game Saturday at Sid White Field.
Oregon Class 5A First Round
Hood River Valley 3, West Albany 1: The Eagles scored all three of their goals in the final ten minutes of the first half to secure the win. Oscar Avalos, Aran Garcia and Julian Lara were the goal scorers for HRV after West Albany opened the scoring. The Eagles will visit top seed Crescent Valley on Saturday.
Washington District 5 Class 2B Volleyball
Semi-Final
Goldendale def. Warden 25-18, 17-25, 25-20, 25-20: The Timberwolves clinched a state tournament berth, and will take on River View for the district title tonight at 7 p.m. at Granger High School.
800 MW Solar Project Proposed In Wasco & Sherman Counties
An 800-megawatt solar project is being proposed on 8,075 acres in Wasco and Sherman counties. Wasco County Planning Director Kelly Howsley-Glover told County Commissioners the Yellow Rosebush Energy Center would be adjacent to Bakeoven, and is being proposed by Savion, LLC. The County will be sending a letter to the Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council outlining the County’s criteria and overlay zone considerations for EFSEC to consider in the process. She adds her department has met with company representatives, and emphasized fire and housing considerations, and strongly encouraged reaching out to Warm Springs tribal officials. There is a public meeting on the project scheduled for Thursday at 5 p.m. at the Imperial River Company conference room in Maupin.
HR Bridge Closure Starts Friday
The long-anticipated 96-hour closure of the Hood River-White Salmon Interstate Bridge will get underway at 12:01 Friday morning. The closure is to allow for the replacement of the wire ropes that support the bridge lift counterweights. Port of Hood River Executive Director Kevin Greenwood notes the closure was originally planned for spring but had to be delayed for supply reasons. The work is not weather dependent and will be taking place continuously during the closure. The closure will end at 11:59 on Monday night.
GOBHI Moves Headquarters To The Dalles Waterfront
Greater Oregon Behavioral Health has moved its headquarters to another location in The Dalles. As of Wednesday, GOBHI’s new office is located at 3729 Klindt Drive on The Dalles’ waterfront. GOBHI is in the process of selling its former location at 401 East 3rd in downtown The Dalles to Wasco County, which plans to establish an administrative services building there. GOBHI is a nonprofit health and human services organization responsible for administering behavioral health and non-emergent medical transportation benefits and leading community engagement efforts on behalf of Eastern Oregon Coordinated Care Organization. The organization also provides human services programs helping children, adults, and families around the state, including the Columbia River Gorge.
Satus Pass Radio System Operating
Klickitat County Emergency Management says its Satus Pass Public Safety Radio Site became fully operational this week as part of the County’s existing Public Safety Radio System. The Satus Pass Radio Site’s primary coverage area is along Highway 97 from Jenkins Creek Rd, north to the Klickitat County line and the Box Canyon Road area. Additionally, there is new coverage on Bickleton Highway in the Rock Creek drainage area and along most of Rock Creek Road from the Bickleton Hwy to State Route 14. This new radio system coverage will benefit responders and public safety in all of these areas by providing public safety radio coverage to areas that had limited or no radio system coverage until now. Field testing on Monday demonstrated that mobile radio coverage in the Satus Pass site coverage area was very good and portable radio coverage was loud and clear at locations that had no radio system coverage previously. The system coverage is expected to greatly increase their ability to provide for public and personnel safety as they respond to these areas for motor vehicle collisions, wildfires, medical emergencies, criminal activity of all kinds, and plowing and maintenance of County roads.
Sturgeon Retention Season Plans Set
Fishery managers from Oregon and Washington set 2024 Columbia River sturgeon retention seasons upstream of Bonneville Dam during a hearing this week. Fisheries in both The Dalles Pool and Bonneville Pool will be open three days a week, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays, beginning January 1, similar to retention seasons in 2023. Angler effort has generally increased in these fisheries over the last three years. Due to this, and the inherent volatility of these fisheries, the states moved to a three-day-a-week approach for The Dalles Pool starting in 2022, and Bonneville Pool starting in 2023. With this new management approach, angler interest has remained high, and anglers have more of a chance to plan a fishing trip before retention closes. The John Day Pool fishery will remain open seven days per week in 2024, as listed in the permanent regulations pamphlet, until the harvest guideline is met. Catch-and-release sturgeon angling remains open all year, except angling for sturgeon is prohibited May 1 through Aug. 31 within the designated sanctuary areas in each of the dam tailraces.
CWD Station To Be Open At Celilo Park
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is reminding hunters that Chronic Wasting Disease check stations are mandatory to stop at if you pass one along the highway or interstate while transporting a harvested deer or elk. A check station will be open at Celilo Park off Interstate 84 exit 97 this Saturday through Monday from 9 a.m. to dusk each day. In addition, the ODFW office at 3701 West 13th in The Dalles is available for advance appointments, and will have a collection barrel for hunters to drop off heads for examination. CWD was detected in northern Idaho in 2021 near the Oregon border. It is always fatal to deer and elk and there is no cure. If it is detected, ODFW will implement its response plan to contain the spread of CWD. For more information, go to myodfw.com.
Wasco County Certifies Tax Assessments
Wasco County certified over $53.41 million in property tax assessments for this year. The County’s assessment and taxation office says assessed values were calculated upward the annual 3% unless additional changes were made to a property. New construction, remodels, additions, etc., may increase the assessed value more than 3%. Tax statements were mailed ten days ago, and first payments are due on November 15. Real market values continued to trend upward during 2022 for most residential properties in Wasco County. Commercial properties shifted back down slightly this year according to market sales. Tax or value information is available online on the Assessment and Taxation page on the Wasco County website.
D21 Election Returns Remain High
Ballots in the North Wasco County School District 21 bond measure vote continue to be returned. Wasco County Chief Deputy Clerk Chrissy Zaugg says as of the end of Tuesday, they had received 4,184 ballots back. That’s out of 14,617 eligible voters, for a return rate of 28.62%. By comparison, the return rate at this time in the 2022 general election was 24.18%. Ballots must be postmarked or returned to the County Courthouse or place in authorized drop boxes by November 7. D-21 is asking voters to approve a 30-year, 140-million dollar bond measure to build a new high school at the Wahtonka campus.