Production for the now virtual presentation of The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce’s Distinguished Citizens Awards will take place later this week in preparation for it to be shown on January 27.  An awards banquet had been planned for this Thursday, but Chamber CEO Lisa Farquharson says the current situation with the Omicron variant led to slow ticket sales and the decision to go virtual, which they did last year.  The awards presentation video will be shown on the Chamber’s Facebook page on the 27th at 6 p.m.

The name of the National Scenic Area Fund of the Gorge Community Foundation has been changed to the Katharine Leadbetter Mills National Scenic Area Fund in honor of Kate Mills, who passed away on December 7.  A joint statement by the Columbia River Gorge Commission and the Gorge Community Foundation said the change is to honor Mills’ efforts for 60 years to champion the natural beauty of the Gorge and the Hood River Valley.  The Katharine Leadbetter Mills National Scenic Area Fund is an endowed Designated Fund of the Gorge Community Foundation.  It uses an annual distribution to support conservation, climate change action, education and outreach programming and services for historically excluded or vulnerable individuals in the Columbia River Gorge’s National Scenic Area to protect its scenic, natural, recreation and cultural values and to support the economic vitality of Gorge communities.  Contributions to the Fund may be made to the Gorge Community Foundation at gorgecf.org.

Boys Basketball Hood River Valley 59, Crook County 51 Winlock 55, Stevenson 45 Toutle Lake 71, Stevenson 35 Horizon Christian 56, Sherman 48 South Wasco 77, Spray-Mitchell-Wheeler 68 South Wasco 76, Condon 43 Ione-Arlington 67, Trout Lake 39 Ione-Arlington 62, Klickitat-Glenwood 20 Cle Elum 74, Goldendale 48   Girls Basketball Crook County 32, Hood River Valley 10 Horizon Christian 34, Sherman 30 South Wasco 45, Spray-Mitchell-Wheeler 25 South Wasco 50, Condon 44 Ione-Arlington 31, Trout Lake 30 Trout Lake 40, Spray-Mitchell-Wheeler 21 Ione-Arlington 49, Klickitat-Glenwood 20 Onalaska 69, Stevenson 32 Toutle Lake 45, Stevenson 25   Boys Wrestling Goldendale’s Bryce Waddell won all five of his matches by fall to win the 126-pound division at the Ray Westberg Invitational in Ellensburg   Skiing Thorsen Welch of Hood River Valley was fourth, while The Dalles’ Cooper Klindt was fifth and Grey Roetcisoender sixth in the boys’ portion of the Mt. Hood League boys’ slalom.  Ella Smith of The Dalles was ninth in the girls’ slalom.

The Wasco County Medical Reserve Corps is hosting its 9th Annual Blanket Drive Saturday at the former Chronicle building at Third and Federal in downtown The Dalles from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.  All items collected will be donated to The Warming Place in The Dalles, which distributes them to those in need.  Donors can simply pull up to the curb to drop off their items, and volunteers will be outside the building to collect them.  In addition to warm blankets and socks, the Warming Place is also looking for sleeping bags, tarps, tents, warm coats, hats, gloves and travel-size soap and shampoo.  All items should be new or gently used and washed, and in good condition.  All donors are asked to wear a mask and minimize contact when dropping off donations.

Pathways Health Connect says it can provide home deliveries of groceries, shelf-stable meals, and personal protective equipment to help families in Klickitat and Skamania Counties recovering from COVID-19 at home.  The Washington State Department of Health established the Care Connect grant for local agencies to support residents to quarantine in the comfort of their homes and further prevent the spread of the virus.  To participate, the affected individual must have a positive COVID-19 test administered by a medical professional.  Home tests do not qualify the household to receive this assistance.  Once the positive COVID-19 test results are registered with the medical professional, contact Pathways Health Connect at 509-281-0829 or 509-281-2277 to apply for the home deliveries.  A community health worker will arrange for a no-contact delivery of the supplies to be brought to your home.

Commerce moving up and down the Columbia River will be at a stand-still for up to five weeks beginning February 13.  The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is extending its annual closure of navigation locks on the Columbia and Snake river dams annual basis for maintenance and repairs an extra three weeks, in part to repair the downstream miter gate at The Dalles Dam.  Technicians found damage at The Dalles navigation lock during last year’s planned closure, forcing an emergency extended outage.  Engineers will perform repairs during the five-week closure, which will end March 19.  Engineers will also perform annual maintenance on the navigation locks at Bonneville Dam and John Day Dam during the outage.  

Hood River Rotary’s annual Ski Night at Mt. Hood Meadows will be Monday night.  The event runs from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m., and ticket prices run from $24 to $49.  Rotary’s Michael Schock says funds raised from Ski Night goes toward scholarships for local students, and other community projects.  Tickets must be purchased in advance, and are available at skihood.com.

Boys Basketball Redmond 65, The Dalles 52:  The Panthers used a 22-7 second quarter run to pull away for the win in the Intermountain Conference opener for both teams.  Styles DeLeon led the Riverhawks with 25 points, while Henry Begay added 11.   Girls Basketball Redmond 54, The Dalles 26 Winlock 68, Stevenson 20   Wrestling Hood River Valley 52, The Dalles 29:  The Eagles won five matches by fall on the way to the Intermountain Conference win.  The Riverhawks won a pair of matches by fall.

Mid-Columbia Medical Center announced Thursday it is going to begin a process to whether to remain independent, or partner with a compatible healthcare organization that will invest in and grow the health system.  This comes in the wake of MCMC ending several aspects of their collaboration agreement with OHSU Health last month.  In a statement, MCMC officials say its Board of Trustees, in conjunction with senior and physician leadership, has begun a strategic process to evaluate potential partners based on a number of factors, including the capacity to make needed investments in a new hospital campus, the ability to achieve economies of scale and maximize access for the community, and develop information systems, expand provider care resources and create access to needed service lines.  The hospital says no decision has been made about whether to form a partnership or stay independent.  CEO Dennis Knox said it the statement that MCMC “will explore whether to remain independent, or partner with a like-minded healthcare organization that is open to collaboration and interested in further investing in the advancement of healthcare” in the region.

The Hood River County Commission will conduct a first reading on Tuesday of a proposed change to commission district boundaries that would see the Cascade Locks area move from District 1 with the Westside area to District 4 with the Upper Valley.  Commissioners are in the midst of the boundary revisions done every ten years using updated census information, but have struggled with how to best balance the population size of each district and allow for growth over the next ten years.  Commission Chair Mike Oates says after looking at a number of possible configurations, this seemed to be the best for population balance.  A public hearing will be held on the subject in February.