A 50-year-old Klickitat County man has been arrested and charged with child molestation in connection with a sexual assault of a 12-year-old girl in June of last year.  According to a statement by Klickitat County Sheriff Bob Songer, Brandon Osborn was taken into custody late last week after being found hiding in his residence north of Goldendale.  Law enforcement, including the Klickitat County Sheriff’s Office and Posse, the Washington State Patrol, and the U.S. Marshal’s Service had spent nearly a year tracking Osborn, who fled residences in Kennewick and Spokane before being traced back to his former residence near Goldendale.  Osborn is charged with child molestation in the second degree, intimidating a witness, and violation of a protection order, and was booked into the Klickitat County Jail on $250,000 bail.

The speed limit on the Hood River-White Salmon Interstate bridge will be lowered to 15 miles per hour starting on Thursday.  Port of Hood River Commissioners decided to implement the speed reduction a month ago as one immediate action to help extend the serviceable life of the nearly 100-year-old steel structure until a replacement bridge is constructed.  The Port’s consulting bridge engineers have advised that two main factors cause accelerated deterioration to the bridge deck – vehicle speed and weight.  Port crews will install new speed limit signage on the bridge on Wednesday, including digital radar speed signs.

A delegation from the bi-state group working on replacement of the Hood River-White Salmon Interstate Bridge will be going to Washington, D.C. soon to lobby federal officials for a $195 million dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation that would be a cornerstone for funding the new bridge estimated to cost $500 million.  Hood River Mayor Kate McBride says they want to talk personally with the people who would make a difference in getting the money.  She adds the grant could accelerate the timeline for the project.  A conceptual finance plan would include the $195 million federal contribution, $110 million each from Oregon and Washington, and local Port contribution funded by tolls of $85 million.  

Klickitat County is on the long path toward updating its comprehensive land use plan.  County Commissioner Dan Christopher says they haven’t been able to make a lot of progress on it to this point, in part because they have been trying to hire a long-range planner to do the updates over the last year, but haven’t been able to find one.  Christopher says Planning Director Mo-chi Lindblad is currently finishing critical areas ordinances and working on the shoreline master plan first.  But he adds with parts of the plan 25 years old, it will probably be a years-long process to get done.

The Oregon Community Foundation will award $10,000 in four scholarships to students enrolled in the Early Childhood Education program this fall at Columbia Gorge Community College.  There is a significant shortage of qualified child care professionals in the Mid-Columbia region and across the Northwest.  The college offers instruction leading to certificates and Associate’s degrees in Early Childhood Education.  Those interested in pursuing a career in early childhood care and education and would like to find out how to access the scholarships can contact Child Care Partners professional development navigator Ryan Brusco by phone at (541) 506-6133 or email at rbrusco@cgcc.edu.

May is stroke awareness month. People need to act quickly to avoid lasting damage when they happen – and remember the acronym “BE FAST.” ‘B’ stands for balance and watch if someone is losing it. ‘E’ stands for eyes and changes to vision. ‘F’ is for face and signs of it drooping. ‘A’ is for arms and looking for signs that one arm is dropping when raised. ‘S’ is for speech, listening to hear if it’s slurred. And ‘T’ stands for time to call 9-1-1 if any of these signs are present.  Dr. Jennifer Pary is a stroke neurologist at Kaiser Permanente in Spokane. She says in a stroke, time equals brain. Pary says there are factors that increase the risk of stroke, including diabetes and high cholesterol, but the main factor people should keep in mind is blood pressure.

Track and Field

The Dalles’ Taylor Morehouse won the boys’ pole vault to highlight the Gorge effort at the Oregon Class 5A Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene.  The Riverhawks’ Zoe Dunn finished second in both the girls’ long jump and triple jump while also helping The Dalles 4 by 400 meter relay team including Lilly Adams, Madelyn Harrison, and Amyrah Hill to a second place finish.  The Dalles’ Juan Diego Contreras was fourth in the 3,000 meters and sixth in the 1500.  Hood River Valley’s Lauren Griggs was fifth in the high jump.

  Stevenson’s girls finished third at the Washington Class 2B District 1/4 Championships at W.F. West in Chehalis.  The Bulldogs’ Sydney Cole won the girls’ pole vault and Olivia Fauth was first in the 400 meters.  They joined Ramy Nielson and Ema Fuller to win the 4 by 400 meter relay.   Stevenson earned eight girls and three boys entries in next week’s state meet.

  Southwest Washington Class 1A District Softball Tournament

Columbia went 2-2 in the tournament, falling just short of a state tournament invitation.  The Bruins started off by defeating Montesano 7-4, then lost to Eatonville 15-0.  CHS bounced back with a 13-8 win over Elma, but the fell to Castle Rock 5-1 in the third place game.

  EWAC District Tournament

Goldendale won two out of three games to qualify for the Washington Class 2B Tournament.  The Timberwolves lost to Kittitas 15-11, but then defeated Cle Elum 17-13 and River View 14-4 to next weekend’s tournament in Yakima.

  Oregon Class 5A Tennis Tournament at Portland Tennis Center

Boys Doubles First Round

Paul Capek & Paul Kelly of The Dalles went 3-1 to finish third in the tournament.  They opened with a 6-4, 6-3, win over Henry Pappas & Bryan Chen of Crescent Valley, then knocked off top-seeds Eldon & Breslin Nichols of LaSalle 6-3, 7-6.  Redmond’s Tanner Jones & Nico Afti took Capek & Kelly out of championship contention in the semi-final 6-2, 6-4, but the Riverhawk pair bounced back in the third place match to defeat Caleb Simpkins and Hudson Clark of West Albany 6-4, 7-6.

  Boys Singles First Round

Eric Langlouis of Hood River Valley reached the quarterfinals, defeating Chad Romrell of Corvallis 6-7, 6-0, 6-2 before falling to eventual champion Aidan McBride of LaSalle 6-1, 6-1.

  Girls Doubles First Round

Brissa Rojas & Vivian Olson of Hood River Valley lost to Adrianna Frank & Olivia Knutson of North Bend 6-3, 6-0, then fell to Shayla and Cindy Nyguen of Parkrose in a consolation match 9-8.

A Goldendale man was killed and a woman was injured in a one-vehicle accident on Highway 142 in Klickitat County Thursday evening.  According to the Washington State Patrol, a utility vehicle was westbound on Highway 142 at around 7 p.m. when it attempted a pass near milepost 24.  The driver realized the eastbound lane was not clear, and overcorrected when veering back into the westbound lane and going into a ditch.  The vehicle then struck a driveway, causing it to go airborne and flip multiple times, coming to rest on a fence in the ditch.  The WSP says 67-year-old Brock Hodson was deceased at the scene, while 60-year-old Nancy Hodson was injured and taken by Lifeflight to Portland’s Legacy Emanuel Hospital.

The Port of Hood River Commission approved choosing HNTB Corporation of Kansas City to manage replacement of the Hood River-White Salmon Interstate Bridge.  An evaluation committee made the recommendation after examining three different proposals, and the Bi-State Working Group for the bridge replacement gave its consensus to move forward with HNTB.  Port Commissioner Mike Fox said HNTB met the criteria they have been looking for.  The Port will now enter into contract negotiations with HNTB.

The Columbia Gorge Discovery Center will celebrate its 25th anniversary with a celebration on Saturday.  The free event runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. features a commemoration ceremony, wildflower pond walks, crafting demonstrations, live raptor programs, group art project, and other kids activities.  Discovery Center Marketing Director Mikey Goyette says there will also be some memories of how the Center began with people who were there.  There will also be a native salmon bake available at 11:30 a.m. for $20 that does require tickets to be purchased in advance.  For complete information, go to gorgediscovery.org.