Solea Kabakov has been selected to fill the Zone 5 seat on the North Wasco County School District 21 board.  Kabakov was one of four people who applied for the position that was vacated when Bethany Frantz-Studebaker, who was elected to the seat in May, moved out of the area.  Kabakov is a parent to four children, is on the budget committees for both the City of The Dalles and the Columbia Gateway Urban Renewal Agency, and is a senior sales associate for Powder Pure.  Josh Farris and John Grant were also interviewed for the position, while Brian Stevens also applied but had to bow out because he is employed by the district as a basketball coach.  Stevens told the board he plans to run once he his finished with his tenure as coach.

 

Recent cool temperatures and precipitation have brought an end to the 2019 fire season for the Oregon Department of Forestry’s Central Oregon District as of Thursday morning.  ODF officials say wildland fuels across the district do not pose a significant risk of rapid fire growth, but they also note weather and fuel conditions during the fall can change quickly.  The public is reminded to follow all local burning restrictions to reduce the risk of escaped debris burns.  Landowners who plan to burn industrial logging slash, fuel reduction or defensible space materials, or other debris from forest activities should contact their local ODF Office to obtain a burn permit.  On ODF protected lands in Wasco and Hood River counties, small yard debris piles and burn barrels are allowed from dawn until 11:00 a.m.  Burn permits are required by ODF.  Mid-Columbia Fire and Rescue has opened outdoor burning within the fire district but only outside The Dalles city limits.  Residents within the city limits must wait until October 16th as required by municipal ordinance.

Oregon Second District Congressman Greg Walden highlighted counterfeit THC cartridges during a House Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee hearing on e-cigarettes on Thursday.  Walden said with an unidentified lung illness that appears to be related to vaping and has killed seven people and sickened over 500 across at least 38 states, the government is right to look for solutions to curtail youth access to e-cigarettes.  But he said they need to include a full investigation into counterfeit THC cartridges along with the vaping and cannabis black markets.  Walden noted a third-part lab test of counterfeit THC cartridges requested by the California Department of Public Health found as common contaminants pesticides and a fungicide that when vaporized converted into a chemical used as a weapon during World War I.

Klickitat County Commissioners have decided to appeal a federal judge’s ruling that the disputed Tract D, over 121,000 acres at the southwestern corner of the Yakama Reservation that includes Mt. Adams and the Glenwood Valley, is within the reservation’s boundaries.   Commissioner David Sauter says they had legal analysis done by the firm Foster Pepper, which had assisted the County in the original case, and it raised arguments they feel the judge did not consider or came to wrong conclusion based on the evidence presented.  Sauter expects the appeals process to take at least a year.  Commissioners put a cap on the cost of the appeal at $100,000, with Sauter noting the bulk of the expense came in the run up to the original case, and the County has spent north of $1,000,000 to this point.

The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce is looking for ideas for a theme for this November’s Starlight Parade.  Chamber CEO Lisa Farquharson says they hope to get a theme selected for the annual holiday parade in the next couple of weeks.  Farquharson says ideas can be delivered to the Chamber by phone at 541-296-2231, e-mail at lisa@thedalleschamber.com, or in person at the Chamber office on 404 West 2nd.  She adds the person who comes up with the winning theme will receive a gift certificate for dinner in The Dalles.

Helping Hands Against Violence, Hood River’s sexual assault and domestic violence shelter serving the Gorge, will be starting its annual volunteer training for its crisis line.  Serra Perrino will be conducting the classes, and she says listening is the most important skill to have.  Helping Hands receives about 15 calls a day on its crisis line.  The volunteer training will take place for four consecutive Wednesdays beginning on October 2.  To sign up for the training, call Helping Hands at 541-386-4808.

Fisheries managers from Oregon and Washington Tuesday announced that recreational salmon and steelhead fishing will close effective at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday for the mainstem Columbia River from the Tongue Point/Rocky Point line upstream to Highway 395 near Pasco.  The closure remains in effect through October 31 downstream of Bonneville Dam and through December 31 upstream of Bonneville Dam.  Based on recent harvest estimates, recreational fisheries have exceeded their allocation of upriver bright fall Chinook.  Fisheries officials say the action was necessary to avoid additional Chinook mortalities resulting from ongoing fisheries, and to provide additional protection for upriver steelhead.  Recreational fishing for hatchery coho remains open from Buoy 10 at the river mouth upstream approximately 18 miles to Tongue Point.

Boys Soccer

Mac-Hi 4, The Dalles 3

LaSalle 4, Hood River Valley 0

 

Girls Soccer

LaSalle 3, Hood River Valley 0

Stevenson 5, Riverside 3

Columbia 2, Irrigon 1

 

Volleyball

The Dalles def. Pendleton 25-11, 25-17, 7-25, 26-24

Crook County def. Hood River Valley 25-14, 25-22, 25-5

South Wasco def. Dufur 25-11, 25-23, 25-16

Echo def. Sherman 3 sets to 0

Goldendale def. Zillah 20-25, 25-19, 24-26, 25-23, 15-11

 

Cross Country

Trout Lake took four of the top five places to finish first in the boys’ portion of a Class 2B Central meet at Rainbow Lake.  Justin Peck, Mason Stock, and Shane Pearson finished 1-2-3 for the Mustangs, while Gabe Harpe was fifth.  Trout Lake finished second to Rainier in the girls’ race, with Myana Stock the top individual Mustang runner in third place.

 

Kate McBride was appointed by the Hood River City Council to serve for the next 15 months as Mayor.  McBride has been on the City Council since 2012, and will finish the term of Paul Blackburn, who resigned at the start of the month with his family moving out of the area.  During the interview process with Council when she was asked what she hoped to accomplish as Mayor, McBride included moving toward land banking for affordable housing development, working on new parking strategies for downtown, continuing development of a transportation systems plan, and the City becoming more energy efficient in its day to day operations.  McBride says it’s the same list the Council identified in its goal setting earlier this year.  McBride was selected over Ed Wilder, who emphasized road improvements and police department needs, and Jason Gibson, who objected to the process as he claimed he did not have enough to time to adequately prepare for the two minutes the candidates were given for each of the six questions they were asked.  The City will now work on filling McBride’s seat on the Council, with materials to be posted on the City’s website by the beginning of next week.

The Dalles City Council accepted the first phase of an economic opportunities analysis for the city, but asked for more cost information on an action plan.  The analysis is the result of a committee made up of various local stakeholders, economic development partners, industry representatives, and developers.  It identifies likely economic development opportunities over the next 20 years, with goals including expanding the existing industrial base, growing and attracting talent, and creating a place for all of that to happen.  The action plan is a short-term five-year implementation plan for immediate programs and projects.  Councilors indicated they wanted to see more cost data for some of the programs before making a commitment to that plan.