Klickitat County officials have been working on their budget for 2024. County Commission Chair Dan Christopher says for the most part it is a status quo plan, and very bare bones. He thinks people would be pleased with what they’ve done, but does acknowledge rising costs are becoming a challenge that property tax increases can’t keep up with. He said they did not have to do much in the way of cuts, adding some budgets went down slightly but others went up in the same way.
September 25 Prep Sports Scoreboard
Volleyball
The Dalles def. Gladstone 25-16, 25-12, 25-18
Boys Soccer
The Dalles 1, Madras 0
Trout Lake 9, Central Christian 3
Grand View Christian 8, Horizon Christian 0
Girls Soccer
The Dalles 8, Madras 0
Banks 0, Trout Lake 0
The Dalles Man Victim In Fatal Car Accident
A man from The Dalles died in a motor vehicle accident in Clackamas County early Saturday morning. The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office says 21-year-old Giovanny Alberto Avila of The Dalles was found unresponsive in the passenger seat of a car that crashed into dense vegetation shortly before 12:15 Saturday morning in Happy Valley. Avila was pronounced deceased at the scene. The driver of the car, 21-year-old Gavin Elliott Wallis was taken to a hospital and later arrested and booked into the Clackamas County Jail on charges of second degree manslaughter and DUII. The Sheriff’s Office said he was being held without bail, and the case referred to the Clackamas County District Attorney’s office for prosecution.
Extension Of 780 Rand Road Purchase Option Expected
There will likely be an extension of the purchase option for Community Development Partners and Columbia Cascade Housing Corporation to acquire the 780 Rand Road property from the City of Hood River for 129 units of affordable housing. City Manager Abigail Elder says the current option expires at the end of this year, and it will likely take another year to assemble all the financing elements required for the project. CDP expects to apply to the state this fall for low income housing tax credits and private activity bonds. In July the project was approved for over $15 million in Local Innovation and Fast Track funding.
Motorcycle Accident Injures Two
Two motorcyclists were injured Sunday afternoon in an accident on Washington Highway 14 east of the Highway 97 junction. According to the Washington State Patrol, the two motorcyclists, both from Kennewick, were traveling eastbound side-by-side when the motorcycle operated by 72-year-old Curtis Frye lost control, cut in front of the other driven by 64-year-old Donald Murphy, and went into the westbound ditch. The WSP says Frye was taken by ambulance to Mid-Columbia Medical Center in The Dalles, and Murphy to Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in Portland. The accident occurred just before 4:30 Sunday afternoon.
Sheriff’s Office Reports Man Attempting To Lure Pre-Teen Into Car
The Hood River County Sheriff’s Office says it responded on Friday evening to a report of a man in the Odell area who had attempted to lure a pre-teen into a car with him. The Sheriff’s Office says the pre-teen responded appropriately, saying no and immediately running to a place of safety. The male subject left the area prior to the arrival of deputies and has not yet been identified, though the Sheriff’s Office says it is working to do so. The Sheriff’s Office adds it was sharing this information not to cause fear or paranoia, but to let parents know so that they can have good conversations with their kids about how to respond appropriately to strangers. They encourage kids to play in groups, not be out after dark, and talk to them about what they should do if they find themselves around a stranger who is trying to interact with them.
Klickitat County Developing STR Code
Klickitat County is working on developing code to legalize short-term rentals in unincorporated areas. County Commission Chair Dan Christopher says STR’s have never actually been legalized in the County, even though they estimate about 490 are currently in operation outside of incorporated cities…but they don’t know where they area. Christopher says they aren’t looking at limits on STR’s at this point, noting they need to actually know how many there are before moving in that direction. Christopher says the STR’s will be required to be in a properly permitted residential structure and have a 14-foot wide driveway for emergency vehicle access. Public hearings will be held on the subject.
Lamprey Returns Increase
Pacific lamprey, an ancient, eel-like fish species, are seeing returns 170 percent higher than the 10-year average at Bonneville Lock and Dam this year. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers biologists say Lamprey numbers are also 252 percent higher than the four-year average. So far, fish counters have tallied 63,863 lampreys moving through the fish ladders during the daytime at Bonneville as of last Monday. The 10-year average daytime fish ladder count total is 41,414. Corps biologists are optimistic about the numbers they’re seeing, crediting ongoing efforts to modify fishways to make them more “lamprey friendly.” Lamprey are also very active at night and pass via special ramp-like lamprey passage structures, so daytime counts are just minimum estimates, and tribal biologists collect many lampreys at Bonneville for upstream transport to tributaries such as the Umatilla, Clearwater and Yakama rivers. So far, most of the Corps’ work has focused on fixing adult lamprey passage at the dams, but agency biologists are also now studying downstream passage of juvenile and larval lamprey at the dams so they can better understand how operations and structures may affect passage and survival of these life stages.
Fake Movie Bill Used At Restaurant
The Skamania County Sheriff’s Office says it received a report Friday of a fake $100 bill used to pay for a restaurant tab. The $100 bill was movie prop money, possibly originating from bills located at Multnomah Falls on August 4th. The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office originally reported hikers locating fake $100 bills scattered around Multnomah Falls on that day. On Friday, the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office reported that Red Bluff Tap House in Stevenson reported receiving one of these bills as payment from an unknown patron. They reported the incident to warn other businesses and citizens of the issue. The bills are marked “FOR MOTION PICTURE PURPOSES” and should be reported to law enforcement if located.
CWD Testing Planned For Hunting Season
During the 2023 deer and elk hunting seasons, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife will increase sampling efforts for Chronic Wasting Disease throughout the state by providing hunters with quick and easy opportunities to have their harvested animal tested. CWD check stations are mandatory to stop at if you pass one along the highway or interstate while transporting a harvested deer or elk. There will be one open at Celilo Park the weekends of October 8 to 10 and November 4 to 6, operating from 9 a.m. to dusk. Several taxidermy and meat processing businesses have agreed to collect CWD samples from deer or elk they receive from their clients and provide it to ODFW. Successful hunters can also contact some ODFW field offices to have a biologist collect a sample. CWD was detected in northern Idaho in 2021, just 30 miles from the Oregon border. It is always fatal to deer and elk and there is no cure.