After a year’s absence, the Pig Bowl returns to Sid White Field in The Dalles Saturday night, with Oregon and Washington law enforcement playing flag football to raise funds for the families of two area youngsters.  The families benefiting from the game include that of three-year-old Ezra Blue Duckwall, who was diagnosed with Medulloblastoma, a particularly aggressive and malignant cancer, and 15-year-old Maleigha Barrett, who has Quadriplegic Cerebral Palsy and whose family needs a new van equipped to be able to transport her.  The game will be Saturday at 7 p.m., but you can donate by buying points for your preferred team at pigbowl.net.  Washington currently leads 2,235 to 2,017.

Columbia Gorge Community College will host a pair of COVID-19 vaccination events this week.  The first event will be held at The Dalles campus amphitheater Wednesday and the second Thursday at the Hood River campus parking lot, with both running from noon to 2 p.m.  CGCC is offering an incentive to get the shot:  four free credits for enrolled students, and vouchers for two Community Education classes for non-students.  Those choosing the single-shot Johnson and Johnson vaccine will be given a voucher on site, while those taking the first of a two-dose series will receive information on how to get their voucher once the second shot is completed.  And those who are already vaccinated and show their completed card at the events will be entered into drawings for credits and community education vouchers.

Boys Soccer Trout Lake 5, Central Christian 0 Horizon Christian 2, Southwest Christian 2   Girls Soccer Toledo 4, Stevenson 0

The Washington State Department of Transportation says crews on Wednesday were able to successfully remove large portions of loose, unstable rock from a slope adjacent to Highway 14 about two miles east of Bingen, so they are cancelling upcoming blasting work that would have required 45 minute full highway closures.  Daytime travelers on Highway 14 will still need to plan for some delays throughout the fall.  Mondays through Thursdays until further notice, travelers in both directions going through the work zone should expect delays of up to 20 minutes from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.  Travelers should use caution and lower travel speeds through the area.  This work is part of a $1.6 million slope stabilization project scheduled for completion this fall.

The City of White Salmon has scheduled a planned water outage on Tuesday night from 8 p.m. to midnight for properties that receive their water from the Strawberry Mountain Reservoir.  Areas affected included NW Country View Rd, Rio Vista, Palos Verdes, Via Casa, El Camino Real, Alta Vista, NW Spring St west of Strawberry Mountain Rd, NW Strawberry Mountain Rd, Northview Dr, Schoolview Pl, Champion Ln, Kiowa Ln, Shambo Dr, Cochran Ln, NW Holli Ln, Patricia Ln, Jordan Rd, Sundown Ln, Nickols St, N Main from Spring to Nickols St, S Indian Ln, Snowden Rd to Krenz Rd, NE Krenz Rd, Off Rd, NW Wedrick Dr, NW Simmons Rd, and Florence Dr.  If you have questions, please contact White Salmon City Hall at (509) 493-1133.

Boys Soccer Hood River Valley 6, Ridgeview 1 The Dalles 3, Crook County 1 Trout Lake 7, Willamette Valley Christian 0   Girls Soccer Ridgeview 2, Hood River Valley 1 The Dalles 6, Crook County 0 Tenino 7, Columbia 0 Goldendale 3, Granger 3   Volleyball Redmond def. Hood River Valley 3-0 Kalama def. Stevenson 25-21, 25-11, 25-6 Goldendale def. Cle Elum-Roslyn 3-0   Cross Country Columbia was the boys’ winner and Stevenson topped the girls’ standings in a four-school race at Stevenson.  Camden Uffelman led the Bruins as they took six of the top seven places in the boys’ race.  The Bulldogs’ Isabella Spencer was the girls’ victor.

Columbia Gorge Community College’s fall semester get underway on Monday.  CGCC Vice-President of Instructional Services Jarett Gilbert says they are looking forward to seeing students back in classrooms after spending the last academic year in a completely virtual mode.  He says this fall they are offering both face-to-face and virtual courses.  Gilbert says enrollment is looking good as they near the start of the term.  Those who would like to take courses at CGCC this fall can still do so.  Go to cgcc.edu for information.

The Oregon Health Authority’s latest COVID-19 Weekly Report shows decreases in daily cases and hospitalizations and an increase in deaths.  OHA reported 11,655 new cases of COVID-19 during the week ending September 19.  That represents a 10% decrease from the previous week.  There were 579 new COVID-19 hospitalizations, down slightly from 592 last week.  There were 148 reported COVID-19 related deaths, up from 120 reported the previous week.  There were 140,538 tests for COVID-19 for the week of Sept. 12 through Sept. 18.   The percentage of positive tests was 10.5%, down from 12% the previous week and the lowest level of test positivity in six weeks.

As of Monday, the Bridge of the Gods across the Columbia River at Cascade Locks will be restricted to loads no heavier than 11 tons, 22,000 pounds gross vehicle weight.  The Port of Cascade Locks and the Oregon Department of Transportation say the restriction will be in place while crews strengthen the bridge to comply with new requirements.  The work is scheduled to conclude by October 31, when the standard load limit of 40 tons will return.  The nearest alternative Columbia River crossings for larger trucks are Interstate 205 in Portland and the Hood River-White Salmon Interstate Bridge.

Senators Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Tim Kaine of Virginia have introduced legislation aimed at changing how the debt ceiling is raised, enabling the executive branch to initiate a process to raise the debt ceiling subject to a congressional override.  The Senators believe the legislation would help prevent political brinksmanship like that of standoffs in 2011 and 2013, when some in Congress threatened to force the United States to default on its debt unless separate political demands were met.  Senate Republicans are currently vowing to filibuster House-passed legislation that would raise the debt limit.  The two Senators say the idea of having the President increase the debt ceiling, subject to a vote of congressional disapproval, was originally proposed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in 2011 to allow a debt limit increase to go forward without requiring Republicans to take an affirmative vote.  McConnell’s proposal was incorporated into the Budget Control Act of 2011, which passed in August, and the two Democrat senators are looking to make the process permanent to end what they called using the debt ceiling as a “tool for political blackmail.”