Four of the educational enrichment levies on the ballot in the Mid-Columbia were being approved by wide margins after the initial vote counts Tuesday night, with one being rejected and another with an evenly split vote count.  The White Salmon Valley School District’s four-year levy is passing with a 62.5 percent approval rate…1,270 to 761.  The four-year levy for Goldendale schools was being approved by 56.7 percent of voters…1,198 to 916.  Centerville School District’s four-year levy is passing 125-65, and Wishram’s four-year levy was also being approved 52-25.  The Stevenson-Carson School District’s three-year levy was being rejected by 51.6 percent of voters…860 no to 806 yes.  In Glenwood, the vote count on a two-year levy was dead even, 78-78.  Klickitat and Skamania county election officials will release updated vote counts later Wednesday.  The levies provide funding for school district programs that are not funded under “basic education” by the state of Washington.

Two recreational white sturgeon fisheries in the Columbia River upstream of Bonneville Dam will close within the next few days under rules adopted by Oregon and Washington fishery managers from Oregon and Washington.  Retention sturgeon fishing will close in Bonneville Pool and adjacent tributaries effective at 12:01 this Friday morning, and in The Dalles Pool and adjacent tributaries effective at 12:01 this coming Tuesday morning.  The closures were adopted by the two states after reviewing survey data that indicated the fisheries are approaching their respective harvest guidelines.  Recreational sturgeon anglers have harvested an estimated 83% of the Bonneville Pool guideline and 76% of The Dalles Pool guideline as of February 9, and improved weather has allowed catch rates to improve.  Retention sturgeon fishing remains open in John Day Pool, where anglers have harvested an estimated 37 sturgeon toward their guideline of 105 legal-sized fish.   Catch-and-release sturgeon fishing remains open in all three pools, except in the spawning closure areas which will be in effect May 1 through August 31.

Boys Basketball

Hood River Valley 50, Ridgeview 45:  The Eagles withstood a late challenge from the Ravens to hold on for the Intermountain Conference win.  Jack Siekkinen scored 12 points and Emanuel Romero 11 to lead HRV.  Nolan Conroyd scored 19 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter for Ridgeview.

 

Redmond 82, The Dalles 27:  Styles DeLeon scored seven points to lead the Riverhawks.

 

South Wasco 67, Sherman 55:  The Redsides take a one-game lead over Ione atop the Big Sky Conference with one game remaining in the regular season.

 

Horizon Christian 52, Echo 18:  Horizon remained in the hunt for a Big Sky tournament berth with the win.

 

Trico League Girls Basketball Tiebreaker

Stevenson 64, Columbia 44:  Katie Rathgeber scored 20 points and Cassie MacNab added 18 for the Bulldogs, who advance to the district tournament to play at Montesano on Thursday at 6 p.m.  Maggie Bryan scored 11 for Columbia.

 

Girls Basketball

The Dalles 54, Redmond 31:  The Riverhawks trailed by one at halftime, but dominated the second half to stay a game back of Ridgeview atop the Intermountain Conference standings.  Kilee Hoylman paced the Riverhawks with 17 points.

 

Ridgeview 59, Hood River Valley 30

 

South Wasco 43, Sherman 29

Russ Brown has resigned from The Dalles City Council.  Brown had won re-election to position three on the Council during the November 2018 election, having served one term before that.  The Council will fill the vacancy by appointment, as prescribed by the City Charter.  Interested candidates must have lived within The Dalles city limits for a least a year, and in the eastern district the position represents for 90 days.  Whoever is appointed will fill the remaining three years of Brown’s term.  The City plans to issue details on the application process this week, and is expected to take applications for three weeks.

Washington 14th District Representative Chris Corry’s bill to provide compensation to ranchers and farmers whose land leases are terminated early by the Washington Department of Natural Resources continues to make it way through the Legislature.  Corry says the bill it will be moved on Tuesday out of the Appropriations Committee onto the House floor, noting a year’s worth of work has brought a number of different groups to get behind it, and he expects it will get through both chambers of the Legislature and get to the Governor for a signature.  The bill provides for a compensation plan that would give the farmer or rancher net returns for the remaining years of a DNR lease that is being terminated.  State law allows DNR to use a non-default termination to replace a lessee with a higher-revenue tenant.  The terminations have been occurring as the state receives offers from companies interested in locating solar farms DNR lands.

Wasco County Commissioners have been holding worksessions with local contractors about increases in building code services fees as they try to recover costs incurred since the County took on responsibility for those services last July.  Commissioner Steve Kramer says they’ve been running in the red, and there is a need to increase the fees they charge, with the latest recommendation out of a meeting with County staff and building contractors is a 15 percent increase.  Kramer noted the contractor group also wanted the County to address codes enforcement involving unlicensed contractors.

A bill that would require Washington’s Secretary of State’s office to send statewide voters’ pamphlets along with election ballots to military service members where they are deployed passed the House State Government and Tribal Affairs Committee.  Goldendale Representative Gina Mosbrucker introduced House Bill 2916 after a military soldier testified before the committee that when deployed overseas, he receives his ballot, but not the voters’ guide.  The bill would require voters’ pamphlets to be mailed simultaneously as ballots are mailed so they are received at the same time.  It also requires any local voters’ pamphlets to also be sent at the same time.  The measure has been referred to the House Appropriations Committee for further consideration.

In a short meeting, The Dalles City Council decided not to continue to study the possibility of contracting out public works services.  A contingent from The Dalles recently visited Ontario, where the firm Jacobs Engineering is contracted to provide those services.  Jacobs handles operation of The Dalles’ wastewater treatment plant.  City Manager Julie Krueger told the Council that Ontario went with Jacobs after losing a number of experienced public works employees at the same time.  But she noted The Dalles does not have that situation, adding a private firm seeks to make a profit, while The Dalles is able to take revenue from public works services and put it back into infrastructure.  Councilors agreed they saw no reason to continue the discussion, even though some did say they should keep the information learned from the Ontario visit on file should circumstances change in the future.

Hood River County Commissioners on Monday morning reached consensus on the exact wording for the ballot measure and explanatory statement for a five-year public safety local option levy to go on the May ballot.  Commissioners discussed the balance between specifics of exactly what the 78 cents per thousand dollars of assessed property value will go to with keeping some flexibility to deal with unforeseen financial issues.  Commission Chair Mike Oates says the number one thing he’s heard from the public is they want 24/7 sheriff’s coverage, and it needs to be clear in the measure and explanatory statement that’s the intent of the levy.  The next step is a public hearing on the measure during the Commission’s February 18 meeting that begins at 6 p.m. in the County Administration Building.

 

The Dalles Community Action Team will make its semi-annual trip to Washington, D.C. next month.  The City and Port of The Dalles, Wasco County, North Wasco County School District 21, Columbia Gorge Community College, Northern Wasco PUD, The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Mid-Columbia Economic Development District take part in the long-running effort.  Port Executive Director Andrea Klaas says the group’s representatives will be seeking support of a number of different local projects that could be helped by federal policy support or money.  During this year’s trip, the team will be looking help for getting a back-up facility located in Wasco County for Internet service connecting to the east, ensuring a two million dollar appropriation for Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area counties for economic development comes through, and forest management issues.