Northwest Cherry Festival weekend kicks off Thursday evening with the Columbia Gorge Community College Foundation’s “Saddle Up and Celebrate” fundraiser.  The event is in its second year, and CGCC Foundation executive director Stephanie Hoppe says it features line dancing, a prime rib and chicken dinner, and a live auction.  The event will be held in the Fort Dalles Readiness Center.  The evening begins with line dancing lessons at 5 p.m., followed by dinner and dancing at 6 p.m., the auction at 7 p.m., and then more dancing at 7:30 p.m.  Tickets will be $40 at the door.

A bill authored by Washington 14^th District State Representative Gina Mosbrucker that would provide information to domestic violence victims about the signs and symptoms of traumatic brain injuries was signed into law by Governor Jay Inslee.  Under House Bill 1532, the Department of Social and Health Services will work with the Washington Traumatic Brain Injury Strategic Partnership Advisory Council to develop a statewide website for domestic violence victims with information regarding TBI.  An educational TBI handout will also be developed.  The measure also seeks to increase law enforcement training to recognize the signs and symptoms of TBI and encourages officers responding to domestic violence incidents to inform victims of the website.  Mosbrucker says battered domestic violence survivors frequently do not recognize the severity of their injuries.  The measure takes effect in late July.

The City of The Dalles Public Works Department will be flushing fire hydrants throughout the city over the next few weeks.  Fire hydrants are flushed in order to clean out deposits, sediments and rust from distribution pipelines, help minimize water quality problems, test fire protection water pressures, exercise hydrant valves, and identify hydrants needing repair or replacement.  Motorists and pedestrians are asked to avoid driving or walking through the water coming directly from a hydrant while it is being flushed.  Occasionally main flushing causes water flowing from a tap to be discolored from stirred up sediment or milky white caused by tiny air bubbles.  Although discolored water won’t make you sick, you might want to flush the pipe by running the water for several minutes before drinking or washing.

The Port of Hood River is recommending motorists avoid the Hood River-White Salmon Interstate Bridge on Thursday between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. as electrical and engineering crews work to re-commission newly installed electrical controls and systems for the bridge lift span.  Delays of an hour or more are anticipated, as the work entails testing and troubleshooting any issues as they arise, there is no set schedule for the closures.  Port Executive Director Michael McElwee says they will try to open the bridge if possible during the work, but they can’t guarantee it.  McElwee adds motorists will be turned around at the Highway 14 and south of the toll booths to prevent vehicles from becoming stacked up on the bridge.

The future of the Blue Zones Project in The Dalles is in doubt after City Councilors turned down a request for funding during the current fiscal year.  By 3-2 votes, the Council voted down motions to either make a one-time $100,000 contribution during the current fiscal year or $50,000 this year and having the municipal budget committee review the rest for Fiscal Year 2019-20.  Another 3-2 vote approved declining the request for this fiscal year, and sending the matter to the budget committee to consider for 19-20.  Councilors Russ Brown, Linda Miller, and Rod Runyon indicated the process for funding from outside groups was recently established, and needed to be followed.  Councilor Tim McGlothlin said he feared this would be the “death knell” for Blue Zones, but Mayor Richard Mays says it’s still possible for the organization to receive funding through the budget process that will begin next week.  The local Blue Zones organization has reported it has a $192,000 deficit for the final two years of the four-year project, and sought the City money as a way to leverage more dollars from other sources.

The Hood River City Council approved changes to the ordinance for accessory dwelling units, hoping to removal obstacles to their construction.  The biggest point of discussion revolved around a planning commission recommendation to eliminate the requirement of one parking space per ADU.  There were concerns about already crowded parking situations in some neighborhoods, but the cost of providing the parking is an obstacle, and Councilors decided to go with the recommendation.  Mayor Paul Blackburn says they will monitor the impact of that decision.  The Council is hoping eliminating barriers to ADU construction will encourage more of them to be built in response to Hood River’s on-going housing issue.

An arrest has been made in connection with the death of a 24-year-old Newberg man whose body was found in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in late January.  Skamania County Sheriff Dave Brown says 22-year-old Damian Bradley Belander of Dayton was served an arrest warrant in the Yamhill County Jail, where he is lodged on unrelated charges.  Brown adds efforts are underway to ensure Belander is eventually transferred to Skamania County to face the charges.  Belander is accused in the death of Brian Bodle.  Bodle’s body was discovered on January 24 seven miles east of Cougar off Forest Road 83.

Baseball

Dufur sweeps Union 4-3 and 5-4:  The Rangers move into third place in Special District 7.

Boys Golf

Ridgeview held off Hood River Valley and The Dalles in an Intermountain Conference tournament at The Dalles Country Club.  Issac Buerger of Ridgeview shot a 73 to earn medalist honors, with Aiden Telles of The Dalles second and Ben Tappert of Hood River Valley third.

Boys Tennis

The Dalles 5, Hood River Valley 3

Girls Lacrosse

Hood River Valley 13, Central Catholic 2:  Elena Kroll scored three goals as the Eagles went to 3-0 in the Portland League of the Oregon High School Girls Lacrosse Association.

The Hood River City Council will receive the neighborhoods and districts framework plan for the Westside Area Concept Plan at the Council’s meeting tonight.  City Planning Director Dustin Nilson says this is the first opportunity the City has had to organize a master plan into neighborhoods.  No alternative or specified code changes are proposed with this framework, but the associated vision and guiding principles will influence the design of the other framework plans as well as future code work.  Other frameworks will include streets, pedestrian and bicycle connections, parks and open space, and land use.  Tonight’s Council meeting is at 6 p.m. in Hood River City Hall.

Klickitat County is considering whether to open up roads to help with firefighting efforts in the Columbia Hills area of the County.  County Commissioner Jim Sizemore says he was asked by Centerville fire officials to organize a meeting with property owners to discuss the issue.  Sizemore adds the goal would be to increase the accessibility for firefighting equipment to get into the Columbia Hills and extinguish blazes rather than letting them burn.  The meeting is at 7 p.m. Monday evening in the Centerville Fire Hall.