NW Natural will be working in Bingen and White Salmon over the next two-and-a-half months on a project designed to improve distribution system pressures and reliability in that community. Project managers said during a virtual meeting with various stakeholders this week the existing natural gas system configuration is approaching capacity to supply customer needs on very cold days, and modeling shows the potential for outages during peak times if changes were not made.  Phase 1 work will begin Monday and continue through September 10 starting at the intersection of Ash and Humboldt in Bingen and working north up Jewett Boulevard to Dock Grade Road. The second phase set for September 16 to October 17 and continue on Jewett to NE Estes, then up to NE Tohomish ending at N Main.  NW Natural has sent letters to homes and businesses on the work route…and will provide updates on traffic impacts to local media throughout the project.  

Columbia Gorge Community College Child Care Partners is doing a study to determine the feasibility of a child care center on the school’s campus in The Dalles.  Program director Nancey Patten says the Ford Family Foundation provided the grant to do the feasibility study, but it will also provide information on overall child care needs in Wasco, Hood River, Sherman, Gilliam, and Wheeler counties.  Patten noted the child care center would have two goals:  provide affordable child care for families who are unable to place children in Head Start programs, and provide real-world instructional experience for students enrolled in CGCC’s Early Childhood Education program.  The survey is available at cgcc.edu, and at libraries, schools, and other locations.

Hood River County School District Superintendent Rich Polkinghorn says the district is working on its plans for the upcoming school year.  Polkinghorn said they are receiving guidance from the Centers for Disease Control, Oregon Health Authority, and the Hood River County Health Department as they get ready for welcoming students for regular school days on a daily basis.  Polkinghorn noted they will be submitting an operational blueprint to the Oregon Department of Education in the near future.

A 59-year-old White Salmon woman was taken to a hospital after a one-vehicle accident Wednesday morning on Highway 14 east of Dallesport.  According to the Washington State Patrol, the car she was driving was eastbound on Highway 14 near milepost 88 when the accident occurred.  The vehicle left the roadway to the right, rolled, and came to rest on a fence.  The woman was taken to Mid-Columbia Medical Center in The Dalles with unspecified injuries.  The WSP said the woman was not wearing a seatbelt, and the vehicle was totaled.  The accident occurred around 9:25 Wednesday morning.

The Hood River Valley Parks and Recreation District continues to consider whether to purchase 20 acres at the intersection of Fairview and Belmont just west of Hood River for a potential park.  District executive director Mark Hickox says the district is looking to make a decision on whether to pay for a second year of option on the land.  Hickox says a recent survey and virtual open house showed support for a park for a variety of potential uses, but he added that purchasing the land does not mean building a park on it would be imminent.  Hickox noted the district is considering going to voters next year to deal with both capital needs like renovating the aging Hood River Aquatic Center and increasing operational capacity.

With last week’s announcement by Southwest Washington Congresswoman Jamie Herrera-Beutler that over $583,000 has been included in a federal appropriations bill to help develop a child care center in Goldendale, local officials backing the project have been energized.  Washington Gorge Action Programs executive director Leslie Naramore says the federal dollars are a good start toward generating the estimated $2 million needed to construct the center.  Naramore says they are seeking grants from other federal, state, and private sources.  A recent study done by the Klickitat County Childcare Committee showed there are no licensed care providers for infants and toddlers in Goldendale, and just one Head Start program for pre-schoolers.

North Central Public Health District reports it is seeing more people seeking first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in light of the highly transmissible Delta variant.  There has been an uptick in COVID cases in Wasco County, with 31 in the most recent 14-day lookback released on Monday.  The district also reports Mid-Columbia Medical Center has begun offering COVID-19 vaccine at its Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, and Immediate Care locations for patients coming in for routine appointments.  The district called that encouraging, as nationwide polling has consistently shown that healthcare providers are the most trusted source for accurate information regarding the vaccines, and many people may prefer getting the vaccine in a private setting rather than at a vaccine clinic.  The vaccine is also offered every weekday at One Community Health in The Dalles, and is offered Thursdays and Fridays at North Central Public Health District in The Dalles.  Wasco County has vaccinated 64.3 percent of those 18 and older, Sherman County 55.1 percent and Gilliam County 43.5 percent.

The Oregon State Marine Board will be partnering with county sheriff’s offices and the Oregon State Police, looking for expired motorboat boat registrations as part of a targeted annual “Operation Ship Shape” exercise on August 7 and 8.   If you own a motorboat in Oregon, check your “OR” numbers on the front of your boat and make sure you’ve applied your current registration decals.  The OR numbers are a boat’s license plate and registration decals are the tags that tell marine officers if your boat is legally registered and to whom it belongs, similar to motor vehicles.  Registrations are valid for two calendar years.  If you’ve just purchased the boat or are in the process of registering it, be sure to carry the temporary registration and present it to marine officers, just like vehicle registration.  Boaters can renew their motorboat registration online at boat.oregon.gov or by visiting their local registration agent.

Oregon’s entire congressional delegation joined with Western colleagues in the House and Senate to urge the U.S. Department of Agriculture to secure more relief for farmers, ranchers, and other agriculture producers in the West affected by historic wildfires, droughts, and extreme heat.  In a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack signed by Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and Representatives Cliff Bentz, Peter DeFazio, Earl Blumenauer, Kurt Schrader, and Suzanne Bonamici, the Western lawmakers seek to open USDA relief programs up to more producers that have lost crops and livestock to the ongoing droughts, extreme heat, and wildfires.  The legislators say Cherry growers in the west have so far lost an estimated 20 percent of their overall crop, and the full extent of losses for apple and pear growers may not be known until harvest in the fall, or later if damage manifests in storage.

The City of The Dalles is looking for high resolution photos of the community to include on its new website that is under development, so they’ve started a contest to find some.  E-mail photos to cityinfo@ci.the-dalles.or.us or post tem to the Facebook by tagging City of The Dalles-City Hall and adding the hashtag #CityofTheDallesPhotos2021.  There are prizes for the top three photos:  $100 for first prize, $50 for second and $25 for third.  The contest is open until August 31 at 5 p.m.  All photos will receive proper credit to the photographer.