Two incumbents seeking re-election to the North Wasco County School District 21 board were successful in Tuesday night’s special districts election.  Rebecca Thistlethwaite received 264 votes in Zone 1 to 206 for Mary Morehouse, and John Nelson polled 230 votes in Zone 4 to 127 for Carla McQuade.  In Zone 5, Brian Stevens received 378 votes to 202 for Holly Gove.  Voting for two contested seats on the Port of The Dalles Commission saw incumbent Robert Wallace re-elected to Position 1 with 1,965 votes while Jack Hay received 1,341, and John Willer narrowly outpolled Marcus Swift 1,768 to 1,730 for Position 3.  Rachel Carter won a three-way contest for Position 1 on the Northern Wasco County Parks and Recreation District board with 1,230 votes to 1,091 for Michael Held and 362 for Justin Brock, while Annette Byers was elected to Position 5 with 1,833 votes to 721 for Curtis Eggers.  Nate Stice won the Position 1 seat on the Columbia Gorge Community College Board 2,762 to 1,229 to over Frank Polehn.  Stacy Holeman was elected to Position 2 on the Columbia Gorge Education Service District Board with 665 votes to 489 for Holly Price.  In Zone 1 of the South Wasco County School District, Paul Koerschgen totaled 190 votes to 152 for Howard Fetz.  And Barb Ayers was tabbed for Position 3 on the Mosier Fire District board, tallying 193 votes to 55 for Jim Appleton and 40 for Peter Lawson.

In Hood River County, Mike Fox won a close vote for Position 3 on the Port of Hood River Commission with 1,401 votes to 1,322 for Lach Litwer.  Jennifer Kelly won the at-large seat on the Hood River County School District Board, receiving 1,795 votes to 1,155 for Heidi Parr.  Craig Mallon topped the vote count for three seats on the Wy’east Fire District board, receiving 343 votes while Rob Graves totaled 311 and Dick Virk 303, followed by Don Moore with 275.  And for two seats on the Crystal Springs Water District board, Craig Ortega had 497 votes, Erick Cedarstam 428, and Antonio Baptista 323.  

Klickitat County Commissioners will wait another a week to decide if they already have the tools in place to deal with potential applications for solar projects.  Commissioners spent an hour discussing what they are actually trying to accomplish, and received guidance from County Natural Resources and Economic Development Director Dave McClure that if they wanted to craft an ordinance specific to solar, it would be a multi-year process.  The group noted that in many ways two issues are being pushed together, one involving setbacks and protections for adjacent property owners, and the other involving overall county policy.  Commissioner Jacob Anderson said he believes in the already required environmental impact processes for conditional use permits.  Commissioner Dan Christopher said he believes many citizens would like to see more specifics in writing.  There is currently a six month moratorium on commercial and industrial solar projects that are subject to a conditional use process.  

The Klickitat County Health Department says there were three positive COVID-19 cases associated with Goldendale High School reported over the course of the weekend.   The health department says the school has taken all standard precautions during the pandemic, and the Goldendale School District is actively working with the health district to identify and notify anyone who may have been exposed to COVID-19.  The district says there are a large number of identified close contacts associated with this case.  Students and staff who do not experience any symptoms five days after their last known exposure may return to school on day seven with proof of a negative COVID-19 test.  Students and staff without proof of a negative COVID-19 test, and who do not have symptoms of COVID-19 may return to school ten days after their last known exposure.  

Following a run upgrade, Oregon and Washington fishery managers added fishing days for recreational spring Chinook salmon in the Columbia River during a joint state hearing.  The move is based on a projected return of 87,000 adult upriver spring Chinook to the Columbia River mouth, which exceeds the preseason forecast of 75,200 adults.  Below Bonneville Dam, the season will be this Friday through Sunday, and also the first 15 days in June, with a bag limit of one Chinook and one steelhead.  From Bonneville to the Oregon/Washington border, the season will the next two Saturdays and Sundays, with the same bag limit.  Given the low passage of Skamania stock steelhead over Bonneville Dam to-date, managers elected to reduce the steelhead bag limit to one fish starting this Friday and continuing through the spring management period which ends June 15

Baseball Dufur 16, Portland Christian 0:  The Rangers advance to visit Kennedy on Thursday in the 1A/2A Title Week series.   Boys Basketball Ione-Arlington 59, Sherman 49   Girls Basketball Toledo 53, Stevenson 24 Ione-Arlington 46, Sherman 27 Goldendale 61, Seton Catholic 23   Girls Lacrosse Summit 10, Hood River Valley 9

Hood River County: https://results.oregonvotes.gov/ResultsSW.aspx?type=CTYALL&cty=25&map=CTY

  Wasco County: https://results.oregonvotes.gov/ResultsSW.aspx?type=CTYALL&cty=24&map=CTY

  Sherman County: https://results.oregonvotes.gov/ResultsSW.aspx?type=CTYALL&cty=27&map=CTY

 

The Oregon Department of Human Services Child Welfare Division is asking the public for help in finding a 15-year-old child in foster care who went missing in Portland about two months ago and is believed to be in danger.  ODHS says Payton Brazell Smith is known to frequent Goodwill stores in The Dalles and Portland, and may be at a hotel or motel in the area near where Portland borders Gresham.  She is suspected to be in the company of two to three adults.  Payton is described by ODHS as being five-feet-six inches tall and weighing 140 pounds, with hazel green eyes and brown hair that is frequently dyed purple, red, or other colors.  She also has a tattoo on her right inner arm that says “Hati.”  Anyone who suspects they have information about Payton’s location should call 911 or local law enforcement.  

Hood River County Commissioners have agreed to place a letter of support in the City of Hood River’s packet soliciting developers interested in pursuing an affordable housing project on over seven acres on Rand Road.  The County has two acres to the west of that property, and the letter indicates a willingness to include that land in the project along with a possible contribution of $300,000 of County construction excise taxes.  County Administrator Jeff Hecksel said the Commission did make some wording changes to the letter to give them more flexibility as they review the project moving forward.  Hecksel noted the County does see the potential for this project to help address the area’s housing issues.  Much like the City, Hood River County officials have for many years considered affordable housing to be a vital issue to address.  

North Central Public Health District is hosting multiple vaccine clinics this week.  Pfizer clinics for students 12 and older and their families will be held Wednesday at Dufur School and Saturday at The Dalles Middle School, and for an appointment go to ncphd.org.  Thursday, the district will take walk-ins for the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine at our clinic at the Fort Dalles Readiness Center from 9 a.m. to 2:15 p.m.  On Friday, NCPHD will be at the Bargeway Pub from 5-7 p.m. for its second “Take a Bite Out of COVID” event.  Get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and $10 in tokens toward your food bill, with no appointment needed.  And on Saturday there will be a walk-in Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson clinic at the Mid-Columbia Senior Center from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. with ice cream and live bluegrass music.  Appointments can also be made for that clinic by calling the senior center at 541-296-4788 or the health district at 541-506- 2600.