The Hood River County Commission conducted a worksession Monday as it begins the process of putting together a prioritization of 88 county services to reflect the community importance of each of them.  County Administrator Jeff Hecksel had made the suggestion to put together the list as the County faces budget cuts if new revenue cannot be developed.  Hecksel says the services were given raw scores by all of the Commissioners and were not put into absolute rankings.  Topping the scores after Monday’s worksession were law enforcement, managing the county forest, maternal and child health, operation of the regional jail, and tax collection.  Hecksel says the Commission’s next step is to discuss the prioritization as a group, and that will take place at the Commission’s October 21 meeting.

The Northern Oregon Regional Correctional Facility will discuss its current management arrangement at a worksession later this month.  After Brian Brandenburg stepped away as the administrator of the jail last year the NORCOR board, made up of four county commissioners from Wasco, Hood River, Sherman, and Gilliam counties, decided to use an interim structure with one of the county sheriffs overseeing the adult side of the facility and a county juvenile director doing the same for that part of NORCOR.  Wasco County Commissioner and NORCOR board vice-chair Kathy Schwartz says they will evaluate the arrangement at an October 24 worksession.  NORCOR is the only regional jail in Oregon.

The Wasco County Sheriff’s Office says a one-month-old girl was found to be dead after the child’s parents called 9-1-1 to report the baby was not breathing.  The Sheriff’s Office says medics and law enforcement responded to the call early Monday morning, and an initial investigation by the Sheriff’s Office and the Oregon State Police does not suggest foul play.  Because a child is deceased the investigation is on-going, and a post-mortem examination was to be conducted Tuesday by the Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office.  The name of the child and the family has not been released.   The death occurred in The Dalles.

A reception is scheduled Wednesday in association with a new exhibit at the History Museum of Hood River County entitled “The Columbia Gorge Sinfonietta:  Evolution of a Homegrown Orchestra.”  Columbia Gorge Orchestra Association executive director Mark Steighner says the exhibit celebrates 40 years of the Sinfonietta and its roots dating back to the mid-20th Century and a Finnish immigrant named Boris Sirpo, who envisioned Hood River becoming the “Salzburg of America.”  The reception will be from 6 p.m. to 8 pm. Wednesday at the History Museum of Hood River County in Port Marina Park.  The exhibit will be on display through December.

North Wasco County School District 21 will resume its long-range facilities planning meetings with a session Tuesday evening.  This is the first meeting during the current school year after starting in the spring.  D-21 Superintendent Candy Armstrong says district staff has taken a state survey on the educational adequacy of each building, and that will help inform those involved in the planning meeting.  The meeting will be at 6 p.m. in The Dalles Middle School Library.

Harvest Fest weekend is coming in Hood River this weekend.  The 37th annual event will take place from Friday through Sunday at the Waterfront Event Site.  Hood River County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Kate Schroeder says they will have 120 farmers, artisan food producers, wineries, cideries and artists.  Friday will be Senior Day, with admission $4 for senior citizens, and Locals Day, with local residents getting $1 off admission.  Complete Harvest Fest information is at hoodriver.org.

 

LaSalle 54, Hood River Valley 46

Gladstone 34, The Dalles 14

Castle Rock 32, Columbia 24

Stevenson 21, Seton Catholic 14

Dufur 60, Ione-Arlington 6

South Wasco 55, Echo 0

Lyle-Klickitat-Wishram 48, DeSales 44

Goldendale 40, Cle Elum-Roslyn 0

Volleyball

The Dalles def. Hood River Valley 25-18, 25-16, 25-17:  The Dalles moves into third in the Intermountain Conference at the halfway point of the season.

Dufur def. Condon 25-11, 25-12, 25-20

Ione-Arlington def. South Wasco 25-22, 25-27, 25-19, 25-20

LaCenter def. Columbia 25-13, 25-22, 21-25, 23-25, 15-13

King’s Way Christian def. Stevenson 25-8, 25-4, 25-8

Klickitat-Glenwood def. Sunnyside Christian 16-25, 25-13, 25-19, 25-19

Yakama Tribal def. Lyle-Wishram 25-22, 25-23, 16-25, 25-14

Goldendale def. Naches Valley 25-14, 25-14, 25-8

 

Boys Soccer

Hood River Valley 11, Redmond 0

Ridgeview 3, The Dalles 0

Horizon Christian 3, Central Christian 3

 

Girls Soccer

Hood River Valley 2, Redmond 1:  HRV takes sole possession of first place in the Intermountain Conference.

Ridgeview 5, The Dalles 0

LaCenter 5, Columbia 2

Naches Valley 7, Goldendale 0

 

Cross Country

The Dalles won the team title in both the boys and girls races at the Mustang Invitational in Heppner.  Juan Diego Gonzalez won the boys’ race while Friedrich Stelzer was third as the Riverhawks nipped Pasco by two points.  Hanna Ziegenhagen was second for the The Dalles girls while Fonetia Duyck was fourth as the Riverhawks held off fellow IMC school Pendleton.

 

Goldendale won both the boys and girls races in a four-school meet they hosted.  Ellie Rising and Abby Hedges had a one-two finish for the Timberwolf girls, while Corbin Riley was first and Sterling Beasley third for the Goldendale boys.

 

The White Salmon City Council has voted to ban single-use carryout plastic bags, but Mayor David Poucher says he is considering vetoing the ordinance because of a clause requiring retailers to charge no less than ten cents per paper bag.  Poucher has until October 11 to make a decision, and emphasizes he is in favor of a plastic bag ban.  The Mayor says he doesn’t think the City should enter into an agreement with private industry to require a minimum charge for any item, but he acknowledged that the majority of testimony was in favor of it, and he won’t veto the ordinance unless he gets input from citizens asking him to do it.  Poucher cannot veto only the ten-cent charge but leave the rest of the ordinance in place.  All four of the councilors present at the meeting voted for the ordinance, and if the Mayor vetoes it that could be overridden by a vote of four of the five Council members.  Poucher says he has never vetoed an ordinance in his nearly 12 years as Mayor.

Wasco County Commissioners have authorized staff to proceed toward re-establishing a resident sheriff’s deputy to be based in the southern part of the County.  Sheriff Lane Magill has been proposing placing a resident deputy in that area to improve response times to emergency calls along with developing relationships that result in more proactive policing.  County Commissioner Scott Hege says there was a resident deputy in years past, and it’s a good idea to bring it back.  Hege noted Magill has found funding for the position so it would not require general fund dollars.