The Port of Hood River has received a market study from EcoNorthwest for the Lower Mill property in Odell. Port Executive Director Kevin Greenwood says the 22-acre property is about ready for development. Greenwood says the study shows putting up a 10,000 square foot building to be available for tenants would be a good initial step. Greenwood notes that the current high costs of construction is an impediment, but lease rates figure to be lower than in the waterfront area. Selling some pieces of the property would be an option, in part to potentially help pay for building a facility there.
Two Area Projects Receive Carbon Reduction Funding
There are two Mid-Columbia projects among the 15 across Oregon to receive funding from the federal Carbon Reduction Program. Sherman County will receive $370,704 for an EV Pilot and Charging Infrastructure project that will purchase three electric fleet vehicles and chargers to support those vehicles, including one DC fast charger and one Level 2 charger. The Hood River County Transportation District was awarded $203,819 for the Hood River County Rural Mobility Project to offer e-bike lending options located at 3 transit mobility hubs located in the City of Hood River. The Carbon Reduction Program’s first round of competitive grant funding, which ran in spring this year, had $13 million available for “small urban and rural” projects in Oregon that reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation.
Vaccine To Be Available
North Central Public Health District says it will get a limited supply of the updated COVID-19 vaccine, and will offer it to any who is uninsured as well as those under the age of 19 who are on the Oregon Health Plan or are American Indian, or Alaskan Native. The district says since the federal government ended the COVID-19 public health emergency in May, the nation’s health system has returned to traditional channels of vaccine distribution through doctor’s offices and pharmacies. For those with private health insurance, those plans will cover the updated vaccine, with no out of pocket costs. Federal Health Agencies approved an updated COVID-19 vaccine last week and it should be available early this week. The health district says it is recommended for everyone 6 months and older. NCPHD also has a limited supply of the flu vaccine and will offer it to the same groups of people as the COVID-19 vaccine. To book an appointment for either vaccine, please call the health district at 541-506-2600.
Camp Creek Fire At 51% Containment
Containment on the Camp Creek Fire remains at 51% as of Monday morning. Acreage remained steady at 2,055 on the fire located in the Mount Hood National Forest near the Bull Run Watershed. Pacific Northwest Team 3 Field Operations Chief Brett Thomas says they continue to focus on the Forest Service Road 12 as a primary line at the northwest corner of the fire near the watershed. Fire activity on the east end of the fire is limited and with little to no growth.
Cowlitz Complex At 34% Containment
The Cowlitz Complex of fires in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest is 34% contained with a total of 695 acres and 342 personnel. Forest Service officials say firefighters worked around the 22-acre Mission Fire near Forest Road 21 to contain the fire from a spillover that occurred on Saturday. There was slight growth in the Grassy Mountain Fire but it still poses no threat to the communities of Randle or Packwood. Crews will continue to monitor and patrol the Mission and other smaller fires in the forthcoming days. There was less smoke Sunday and it will likely be light this week, although fires from outside the area may add to regional haze. There are 30 fires in the complex. The fires started August 25 after a lightning event across the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. All fires are being managed under full suppression strategy.
September 15-16 Prep Sports Scoreboard
Football
Scappoose 41, Hood River Valley 21
Goldendale 34, The Dalles 13
Montesano 48, Columbia 6
Stevenson 20, Fort Vancouver 0
Sherman 26, Dufur 20, OT
Perrydale 54, Lyle-Wishram-Klickitat 14
South Wasco 62, Spray-Mitchell-Wheeler 37
Boys Soccer
Trout Lake 1, Grand View Christian Academy 1
Girls Soccer
Oregon Episcopal 0, Trout Lake 0
Volleyball
The Dalles split a pair of matches at the Sisters Tournament
Columbia won two matches at the Riverside Tournament
South Wasco won three out of six matches at the East-West Classic at Powder Valley
Stevenson def. Elma 3-0
Cross Country
The Dalles girls were sixth and boys eighth at the Oregon City Invitational. Alaina Casady was 13th in the girls race and Tyson Long 27th in the boys race.
Quick Action By Hotel Worker Leads To Rescue Of Kidnapping Victim
Hood River Police say the quick actions of a Hood River Best Western employee allowed officers to rescue a kidnapping victim from Trout Lake and arrest the suspect. According to a statement by the Hood River Police Department, officers were sent to the Hood River Best Western on Tuesday evening on a report of a possible kidnapping. An employee had called the police to report suspicious activity between a man and a woman. Responding officers located the pair and found the woman to be visibly distressed, and after an investigation they learned the 36-year-old woman had been taken by force from a Trout Lake residence. Police say 32-year-old Logan Olmstead of Hood River was booked and lodged at NORCOR on charges of kidnapping, menacing, reckless endangering, coercion, and interfering with making a report.
DNR Preliminary Report Finds Human/Railroad Ops Likely Tunnel 5 Fire Cause
The Washington Department of Natural Resources has released a preliminary report indicating the cause of the Tunnel 5 Fire near Underwood in early July was most likely human and railroad operations related. The preliminary findings of the cause of the fire is based on scene observations, witness statements, first responder accounts, and evidence collected on-scene. Burlington Northern-Santa Fe was listed as the train company responsible for emitting “some object(s) which started fire” in three areas over a distance of approximately 690 feet. The DNR report says with these emissions from the train, paired with dry vegetation and west winds, the Tunnel 5 fire began, burning over 500 acres and numerous homes in Eastern Skamania County. The report from Department of Natural Resources is preliminary and the investigation is still on-going.
California Man Dies In I-84 Motorcycle Accident
A California man died in a Thursday evening motorcycle accident on Interstate 84 in Gilliam County. According to the Oregon State Police, a preliminary investigation indicated a motorcycle operated by 60-year-old Scott Bastin of Simi Valley, California was westbound on I-84 near milepost 134 at around 6:40 Thursday evening when he traveled out of the lane of travel and onto the inside gravel median for unknown reasons. The motorcycle continued several hundred feet down the median and struck the cable divider. The OSP says Bastin was pronounced deceased at the scene.
WDFW Biologist Dies In Wind River
A 31-year-old Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist drowned in the Wind River north of Carson on Wednesday. According to the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office, emergency dispatchers received a report of a woman entrapped in the Wind River. In spite of efforts from numerous search and rescue personnel the woman, who was conducting a summer steelhead survey for the Fish and Wildlife Department, was recovered deceased. Skamania County Sheriff Summer Scheyer says a full investigation of the incident was conducted, and it was found to be a “tragic accident.”