It’s been a busy time for the Columbia Gorge Community College Foundation.  Foundation director Stephanie Hoppe reports a number of major donations in recent weeks.  She says a pair of dedicated scholarships in the school’s new education program to train new teachers in partnership with Oregon State University have been established.  General Pacific, a wholesale distributor to public utilities based in Fairview, has donated a drone that Hoppe says will help CGCC’s unmanned aerial vehicle flight training program.  And Hoppe adds Caithness Energy has committed to supporting CGCC’s renewable energy program with $25,000 per year for the next ten years.

Girls Basketball

Trout Lake 43, Hood River Valley 36

Columbia 78, Castle Rock 49

Stevenson 49, Seton Catholic 38

The City of Hood River’s boil water advisory has been lifted.

City officials said in a statement Wednesday afternoon that test results confirmed no evidence of harmful bacteria in the municipal water system due to a water line break on Sunday in the downtown area, and the City’s water is safe for drinking.

Hood River City water customers are advised to flush all household plumbing prior to consuming water as a precaution.

Some customers may experience air in their water lines in the form of spitting or burping at the faucet or cloudiness in the water that rapidly dissipates as it settles, which is normal and not a cause for concern.

Sediment scoured from water lines may be observed due to higher than normal velocities in the pipes, and that can be resolved by flushing household plumbing until it is removed.

Hood River County Environmental Health is advising city water users who use ice machines to discard the ice and thoroughly sanitize the machine, water filters should be replaced, and any other appliances that use water should be sanitized.

Any food prepared or washed after Sunday night using raw water should be discarded.

Those with questions or concerns can call the City of Hood River water department at 541-387-5216.

 

The Hood River County Commission has settled on a rate of 78 cents per thousand dollars of assessed property value for a five-year public safety levy that will be put before voters on the May ballot.  County Commissioners had been somewhat split on a rate between 78 and 83 cents during recent worksessions, trying to balance the desire to allow the Sheriff’s Department to be able to staff 24-hour coverage with concerns about asking for too high a rate from voters as the County desperately tries to dig out of a budget shortfall.  Commission Chair Mike Oates indicated a week ago he wanted the 83 cent rate, but decided to move to 78 cents, saying passage is more important than the exact number.  He added the final decision was unanimous.  Oates said the 78 cent rate would allow for two additional deputies to be added in the Sheriff’s Department over the life of the levy.  Commissioners will hold a worksession on Monday, February 3 at 1 p.m. in the County Administration Building to work on the final wording for the ballot measure, which will be the subject of a public hearing on February 18 during the Commissioners’ regular meeting at 6 p.m.

 

Wasco 2040, Wasco County’s Comprehensive Plan update, will be discussing goals relating to wildlife, forests, and recreation over the next few months.  Wasco County Long-Range Planner Kelly Howsley-Glover this could be one of the most contentious parts of the process, noting wildlife map revisions in the past have brought up both private property and conservation issues.  She says they will be updating two overlay maps based on new data from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.  Four public meetings are scheduled in February on the topic starting February 19 at Columbia Gorge Community College in The Dalles, and moving on to Dufur School on February 20, Wamic School on February 26, and Mosier Grange Hall on February 27, all at 5:30 p.m.  More information is available at wasco2040.com.

Entries are being taken from high school and middle school teams to compete in the annual Wind Challenge set for March 14 at the Fort Dalles Readiness Center.  Google, Columbia Gorge Community College, and the Gorge Technology Alliance sponsor the event.  Jessica Metta of the Gorge Tech Alliance says it’s a unique one-day event where the participants don’t have to prepare much ahead of time, and they are given a box of wind turbines parts along with a mentor to help guide them in putting the turbine together.  To enter teams can sign-up at windchallenge.org.  The deadline to enter is February 3.

After a furious week of getting out the vote, The Dalles will now wait to see if it has paid off.

Voting to determine which of five hopeful towns will be featured on the “Small Business Revolution” program finished last night…and the winning community will be announced next week.

There will be a watch party in The Dalles next Tuesday at 5 p.m. at The Dalles Civic Auditorium to watch the video presentation to announce the winner.

Program co-host and Deluxe Corporation Chief Brand and Communications Officer Amanda Brinkman will step on the stage at the watch party of the winning town

Fredonia, New York had led every update issued on the program’s Facebook page, with The Dalles in second.

Main Street The Dalles led a massive voting push featuring its lovethedalles.com website and establishing a number of locations where people could vote multiple times per day on a number of different devices.

The “Small Business Revolution” program and Deluxe Corporation will invest $500,000 in the selected city to improve six small businesses over eight episodes during the fifth season of the program, which is distributed on Amazon Prime and Hulu.

Boys Basketball

Pendleton 78, Hood River Valley 61:  Tanner Sweek scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half as the Buckaroos dominated the paint on the way to the win in the Intermountain Conference season opener for both teams.  Dakota Sams led for Pendleton players in double figures with 25 points, while Noah Webster scored 19 and Ian Searcy 12 for Hood River.

 

Seton Catholic 76, Stevenson 69:  Seton Catholic held off a fourth quarter push by the Bulldogs.  Xavian Rushing paced Seton Catholic with 23 points, while Jonathan Blackledge scored 21 for Stevenson.

 

Castle Rock 64, Columbia 44:  Davis Koester led the CHS effort with 16 points.

 

Horizon Christian 53, South Wasco 49:  The Hawks moved into a three-way tie for first place in what is shaping up to be a wild Big Sky Conference race, with six teams within one game of each other.

 

Dufur 42, Sherman 32:  The Rangers are also now tied for first in the Big Sky.

 

Sunnyside Christian 72, Lyle-Wishram 22

 

Goldendale 50, Highland 34

 

Girls Basketball

Dufur 56, Sherman 30

Highland 46, Goldendale 39

 

Wrestling

Hood River Valley 51, Pendleton 29:  Chad Muenzer, Javier Galvez, Timothy Fletcher, Andrew McCreery, and Abraham Tirajero all recorded victiories by fall for the Eagles, as HRV won the Intermountain Conference dual match.

 

Klickitat County honored its search and rescue volunteers at a recent appreciation night event in Goldendale.  Three new members were recognized with commemorative SAR pins, including K9 Ellie and handler Jim Jones.  Recognition went to Jeff Adams and Tom Cochrane for 5 years of volunteer service and LeRoy Booth for 10 years of volunteer service.  Special recognition was given to 2019 “Rookie of the Year”, Chuck Pullen and “Volunteer of the Year”, Leandra Paasch.  In 2019 the Klickitat County SAR volunteers donated a total of 5,158 hours, including 941 hours on 15 missions, 3,655 training hours and 271 hours on preventative SAR public relations events.  Those who would like information about joining the Klickitat County Search & Rescue Team can contact the Sheriff’s Office at 509-773-4455 or download an application at www.klickitatsar.org.

A measure authored by Washington 14^th District State Representative Gina Mosbrucker to create a Joint Legislative Task Force to identify the role of the workplace in helping to curb domestic violence gained unanimous approval in the House.  Under House Bill 1056, the new task force must review the role of the workplace in the lives of individuals experiencing domestic violence, the appropriate role of employers and employees in helping reduce the incidence of domestic violence, and whether legislation is needed to address these issues.  The task force would be made up of one member each from a number of different business, labor, and domestic violence prevention organizations.  A preliminary report of the task force findings would be provided to the Legislature by December 1 of this year, with a final report due next year.