North Wasco County School District 21 will host an Innovative Programs forum on Thursday.  Innovative programs include Riverbend Community School, the Youth Corrections Education Program at NORCOR, the Alternative Learning Center at Wahtonka, and K-8 virtual students.  New Director of Educational Success and Innovative Programs Dr. Kim Tyskiewicz will be on hand.  There will be opportunities to provide input about the programs, share stories about the district, and ask questions.  The meeting will be Thursday evening at 6 p.m. in the Wahtonka Cafeteria, and Zoom access is available for those who wish to participate remotely.

A bill sponsored by Washington 14^th District State Representative Gina Mosbrucker to extend the requirement for the Department of Commerce and the Utilities and Transportation Commission to jointly convene resource adequacy stakeholder meetings annually through 2029 has passed unanimously in the House.  The purpose of the meetings is to discuss the adequacy of the state’s energy resources and to address steps utilities can take to coordinate planning that would ensure sufficient electrical energy supplies to meet demand.  The measure also requires the 2022 energy resource adequacy stakeholder meeting to address the risk of rolling blackouts and electrical inadequacy events, discuss how proposed electrification laws and regulations may require new state policy for resource adequacy, and identify incentives to ensure sufficient electrical supplies.  Lawmakers in the House approved the measure, 93-0.  It now goes to the Senate for further consideration.

Hood River Valley’s Sean FitzSimons finished 17th in qualifying in the men’s snowboarding Big Air event at the Winter Olympics in Beijing Monday, ending up outside of the top 12 finish needed to qualify for the final.  The 2019 HRV valedictorian entered his third in final run with a chance to advance after scoring 53.25 on his first attempt and 68.76 on the second.  But he could only score 16.25 on the final run, ending his 2022 Olympic competition.  Last week, FitzSimons reached the final in slopestyle, finishing in 12th.  Max Parrot of Canada was the leader in the Big Air event after qualifying, with American Red Gerard in third.

Boys Basketball

Hood River Valley 82, The Dalles 76

Dufur 43, Horizon Christian 39

Horizon Christian 48, Klickitat-Glenwood 30

South Wasco 72, Klickitat-Glenwood 32

South Wasco 84, Lyle-Wishram 36

Ione-Arlington 52, Sherman 42

EWAC Tournament Second Round:  River View 62, Goldendale 59

  Girls Basketball

The Dalles 51, Hood River Valley 45

Dufur 49, Horizon Christian 19

Trout Lake 55, Dufur 46

Horizon Christian 45, Klickitat-Glenwood 29

South Wasco 56, Klickitat-Glenwood 14

Ione=Arlington 56, Sherman 37

Southwest Washington Class 1A District Tournament:  Montesano 79, Columbia 29…The Bruins will play at Eatonville on Tuesday.

EWAC Tournament Second Round:  White Swan 50, Goldendale 46

    Boys Wrestling

Hood River Valley’s Carson Farlow won the 132-pound weight class at the Intermountain Conference Tournament in Prineville.   Farlow defeated Jared Ake of Redmond by a 16-9 decision in the final.  Farlow will be joined at the Oregon Class 5A state tournament by HRV teammates Connor Farlow and Robert Wood, who each earned invitations with fourth place finishes.  Taylor Moorhouse and Silas Parsons of The Dalles also qualified for the state meet in two weeks at Ridgeview High School in Redmond.

  Columbia’s Sawyer Muehlbauer finished sixth at 170 pounds at the Washington Class 1A Regional in Hoquiam to advance to next week’s Washington Mat Classic in Tacoma.

  Soloman Mahoney and Gavin Gantner earned state meet invitations with second place finishes while helping Stevenson to fourth in the team standings at the Washington Class 1B/2B Regional at Adna,

  Top five finishes for Goldendale’s Bryce Waddell and Matthew Gray at the Class 2B Regionals at Warden will send them to the Mat Classic.

  Girls Wrestling

Kali Watson and Madison Kiemle of Goldendale grabbed state meet invitations with top finishes at Regionals in Ephrata.

  Swimming

Hood River Valley’s Emma Titus and Sarah Arpag won two races each at the Intermountain Conference Championships at the Hood River Aquatic Center to earn automatic invitations to the Oregon Class 5A Championships at Tualatin Hills on Friday.  Nora Sandoval and the 400 yard freestyle relay team also grabbed first place finishes to advance to state, along with Lucas Elliott for the HRV boys and The Dalles boys’ 400 yard freestyle relay team.  After wild cards were awarded Sunday…Hood River Valley received 16 total entries to state, and The Dalles seven.

Hood River Police earlier this week arrested two men after the vehicle they were in was found to contain a significant amount of fentanyl.  In a statement Hood River Police Chief Neal Holste said after the vehicle was stop and the driver arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of a controlled substance, further investigation led to 71 grams of suspected pure uncut fentanyl and 111 suspected fentanyl pills being seized.  The street value of the drugs was estimated at between $12,000 and $16,000.  Holste says the two men were lodged at the Northern Oregon Regional Corrections Facility on a number of charges including possession and distribution of a Schedule II drug, tampering with physical evidence, giving false information to a peace officer, and a felony fugitive warrant.  

A bill that would pave the way for a bi-state commission to oversee efforts to replace the Hood River-White Salmon Interstate Bridge has unanimously passed the Oregon Legislature’s Joint Committee on Transportation.  The next stop for the bill that establishes a framework for local governments to create the bi-state commission for a new bridge is the Ways and Means Committee.  52nd District Representative Anna Williams says the bill received the Transportation Committee’s unanimous recommendation for approval, and would set the stage for funding opportunities for the bridge.  A similar bill is being considered in the Washington Legislature.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s mobile COVID-19 vaccination clinic will be at the Hood River County Fairgrounds through next Saturday.  Even though Hood River County continues to be at the top of the state’s vaccination rates with nearly 89 percent of those 18 and over receiving at least one dose, County Health Department Director Trish Elliott says they want to get more second dose and booster shots done.  The vaccination clinic at the Fairgrounds will be over from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily through February 19.  It will then go to The Dalles beginning February 21.

Mid-Columbia Center for Living and PacificSource Community Solutions have reached an agreement that will see PacificSource provide Center for Living $2 million in two payments between now and August to help the facility continue to provide services to Columbia Gorge Community Care Organization members and help mitigate the Center’s financial challenges  Center board member and Wasco County Commissioner Scott Hege says they have been providing the services at a loss, and this will allow Center for Living to move forward, particularly toward filling currently vacant positions.  Hege noted like in many other sectors, it has been difficult to find mental health workers to fill vacancies.

There is a critical need for blood donations in the Pacific Northwest. Central and Eastern Oregon Red Cross Executive Director Nadine McCrindle says with the amount of blood drives lost to the pandemic and weather conditions the supply of blood is very low, down to a one day supply in some cases. Usually a five-day supply is available. McCrindle did say as pandemic restrictions wind down, they are hoping to see blood donations increase as people become more comfortable going out and doing things. To find Red Cross blood drive information, visit redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-REDCROSS.

EWAC Boys Basketball Tournament First Round

Columbia (Burbank) 74, Goldendale 28:  The Timberwolves next play at River View on Friday evening at 6 p.m.

  Girls Basketball

Milwaukie 72, Hood River Valley 30