Work will take place Sunday on two pavement preservation projects in the West 6^th Street Commercial District.  One will take place on West 6^th Street between Motel 6 and Cherry Heights Road, where traffic will be redirected to the center turn lane from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.  The other will be on West 3^rd Place between Trevitt and Lincoln streets, where a full road closure will occur between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m.  Motorists are asked to drive with caution around the work zones while the chip sealing takes place.

Klickitat County has set an outdoor burning ban within its Burn Ban Zone 3 in the western part of the county from June 17 through September 30.  The zone includes lands between the western boundaries of Klickitat County Fire Districts #4, 12 and 15 then north on the Klickitat River to the north county line, to the west county line that are outside the jurisdiction of the Yakama Nation and the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission.  The ban prohibits the issuance of burning permits except for authorized agricultural burning.  Residential barbecues will be allowed.  Klickitat County had already established burn bans in the other two zones in the central and eastern part of the county.

The NORCOR budget committee has approved a fiscal plan for 2019-20 that includes a 9.7% contribution increase from the four participating counties.  That’s the number budget-strapped Hood River County had indicated earlier in the month it was willing to do, and Wasco, Sherman, and Gilliam counties are agreeing to do the same, but below a proposed 18.4% increase jail officials sought after seeing no increases in the last four years.  Wasco County Sheriff Lane Magill says the committee-approved increase will allow the jail to maintain its current operations and gives them a little more for some of the jail’s programming.  The budget will go to the NORCOR board for approval at a meeting in June.

Oregon 59th District State Representative Daniel Bonham is expecting a bill on the long-discussed cap-and-trade carbon reduction program will move in the Legislature next week.  The Dalles Republican says it is in Ways and Means after moving out of committee on a party-line vote.  Bonham remains skeptical that the program would have much of an impact on dealing with climate change, and he doesn’t believe a jurisdiction can be found where it has.  Bonham says Republicans have offered amendments to make the program as close to revenue neutral as possible, but he is unsure whether that can gain traction.

Klickitat County Commissioner David Sauter and County Prosecutor David Quesnel went to Washington, D.C. this month to talk with Department of Justice officials about the upcoming federal case over the long-standing question surrounding the boundary of the Yakama Nation Reservation in the Glenwood area.  Sauter says they talked with attorneys preparing the federal government’s opinion in the case, noting he believes the County’s legal representation has put together a strong case through the historical record.  The case will be tried in U.S. District Court in Yakima in late July, with Sauter noting they are prepared for the possibility that this could go all the way to the Supreme Court.  The county maintains it has authority in Tract D in and around Glenwood.  The tribe considers the land to be part of its reservation within the exterior boundaries under an 1855 treaty and says the land is not subject to state or county jurisdiction.

White Salmon Spring Festival is this coming weekend.  It opens up on Friday in Rheingarten Park and continues through Sunday.  The festival’s Amanda McDonald says the Festival parade will take place on Saturday morning at 11 a.m., and they are continuing to take entries.  Forms are available at whitesalmonspringfestival.com.  Whitson Elementary School Principal Todd McCauley will be the parade’s grand marshal.  The parade will lineup at the Little League park on Main Street in White Salmon and head down Main to Rheingarten Park.

Hood River Mayor Paul Blackburn announced at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting that he will be resigning soon because he and his family will move out of state.  Blackburn says the move will occur in September, and he will resign as at that time.  Blackburn’s wife, Kristen Dillon, is the Director of Medicaid for the Columbia Gorge region and has been offered a chance to work on health policy at the national level.  Blackburn could not elaborate on that new position, saying her new employer will issue a press release in June with additional details.  In a statement, Blackburn said he had profoundly mixed emotions, saying he was honored to serve as Hood River’s mayor of the last five years and leaving will be hard, but his wife’s new job is a “real opportunity for her to work to improve our health care system on a much larger stage.”  When Blackburn steps down later this summer, the City Council will decide on a replacement.

Hood River Urban Renewal Agency board members will be asked Tuesday to formally approve bringing on a consulting firm to create an implementation plan for redevelopment projects in the Heights area, while at the same time the Oregon Department of Transportation is moving ahead with doing crosswalk modifications on 12th and 13th Streets.  Mayor Paul Blackburn says ODOT plans to reduce the number of crosswalks on those streets, but the ones that will be there will be emphasized more, utilizing parallel striping rather than horizontal.  Increased signage for the crosswalks is also planned.  Greenworks PC is the firm the URA board will be voting on to serve as the consulting firm to develop plans for Heights redevelopment.  Tuesday evening’s Urban Renewal meeting will take place during the Hood River City Council meeting at 6 p.m. in City Hall.  A community meeting on Heights urban renewal is scheduled for next Tuesday, June 4, at 6 p.m. in the Hood River Armory.

The Dalles City Council will discuss the proposed 2019-20 budget at its next meeting in two weeks.  The municipal budget committee went over the fiscal plan earlier this month.  Mayor Rich Mays says that process went well, with a substantial amount of time spent on providing funding for different organizations.  Mays said the Blue Zones Project does receive funding in the 2019-20 budget.  Blue Zones is earmarked for $50,000, provided it can show the City progress in other fundraising.  Another element of the budget includes moving $300,000 from the general fund to the street fund for street projects and to help start to meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements to install sidewalk ramps.

Oregon Class 5A Track and Field Championships

A big performance from Frances Dickinson led Hood River Valley to a fourth place finish in the girls’ portion of the Oregon Class 5A Track and Field Championships at Mount Hood Community College.  Dickinson won the 3,000 meters with a time of 10:12.83, and then finished second in the 1500.  Poppy Miller also was an individual champion for HRV winning the pole vault at 10′ 6″.  Lottie Bromham finished fourth in the 3,000, and the Eagles’ 4 x 400 meter relay team finished fifth.  For The Dalles, Emma Mullins finished third in the 800 and anchored the Riverhawks’ 4 x 400 meter relay team to an eighth place finish.

In the boys’ portion of the 5A meet, Hood River Valley’s Henry Buckles won the shot put with a 59′ 5 ½” effort, then took second in the discus.  Justin Conklin of The Dalles was third in the high jump, while teammates Reed Twidwell finished sixth in the 200 meters and Steven Stanley seventh in the pole vault.  Also, HRV’s Jose Marquez finished second in the para-athlete shot put.

Washington Track and Field Championships at Eastern Washington University

Trout Lake’s girls were second to Oakesdale and the boys third behind victorious Mt. Vernon Christian in the Washington Class 1B track and field championships at Eastern Washington University.  Micah Colburn won the pole vault for the Mustang boys at 14′ while taking second in the 110 meter hurdles, while Justin Peck was third in both the 1600 and 3200 meters.  In the girls’ half of the meet, Trout Lake’s Liz Fink won the shot put at 38′ 10 ¼” and was second in the javelin, Isabella Dean had a second in the pole vault, fourth in the triple jump, and fifth in the 100 hurdles, the Mustang 4 x 200 meter relay team was second, and Gynel Duke was third in the pole vault.  For Glenwood Brooklyn Emerson won the girls’ pole vault at 9′ 9″ and was second in the long jump, while Derek Gimlin was second in the boys’ javelin.

Stevenson’s Lincoln Krog was a triple winner as the Bulldogs finished third in the Washington Class 1A boys’ championships.  Krog won the high jump at 6′ 7 ¼”, the long jump at 22′ ¾’, and the triple jump with 45′ 2 ¾”.   He also was third in the 100 meters.  Stevenson also received placing efforts from Issac Hoidal in the long jump, a sixth from Ethan Haight in the 800, and an eight from Garret Bernt in the discus.  Columbia’s 4 x 400 meter relay team finished second, while Stanley Hylton was fifth in the javelin.

In the 1A girls’ championships, Goldendale’s Ellie Rising was second in the 800 and fifth in the 1600, and Tiana Watson third in the javelin.  Stevenson’s Sydney Cole was eighth in the pole vault.

Lyle-Wishram’s Brandon Montoya won three events to give the Cougars a fifth place finish in the Washington Class 2B boys’ championships.  Montoya won the 100 meters in a time of 11.28 seconds, the 200 in 22.47, and the long jump with a leap of 22′ 8 1/2″.

Oregon Class 5A Softball Playoffs

Quarterfinal

Dallas 5, Hood River Valley 3:  Kaelynn Simmons’ two-out two-run single in the top of the seventh inning gave the Dragons the win, and ended the Eagles’ season in the quarterfinals for the third straight season.  HRV had taken a 3-2 lead in the fifth on Molly Routson’s two-run single.  But Dallas tied the game in the sixth and scored the winning runs in the seventh.

Washington Class 1A Girls Tennis Tournament in Yakima

Doubles

Goldendale’s Kelli and Kristin Bighorn won one of three matches.  The Bighorns defeated Abby Kwan and Zoha Ahmad of Charles Wright Academy 6-2, 6-3 in the first round, then fell in the quarterfinals to Kamila Meghji and Mihika Srinivasan of Overlake 6-4, 6-4.  They finished the tourney with a 6-3, 7-5 consolation round loss to Kaylee Schow and Ally Vestal of Tenino.