The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will begin implementing its 2019 Fish Operations Plan at lower Columbia River dams next Wednesday.  Officials say the spring spill at the dams in 2019 will look different than previous years, as the Corps begins implementation of 24-hour flexible spill operations to support downstream juvenile fish passage.  Corps’ Northwestern Division senior fish program manager Tim Dykstra says this will help determine whether spill for juvenile fish passage further improves their survival and increase adult returns.  The most recent water supply forecast for 2019 issued by the Northwest River Forecast Center for the Columbia River Basin is 84 percent of normal as measured at The Dalles Dam.  River users, especially anglers, are reminded to be mindful of conditions and to always wear a personal flotation device when on or near the river.  Boaters should expect spill to create unusual currents, eddies and turbulent conditions, particularly immediately downstream of the dams and near navigation locks.

Baseball

Bend 6, Hood River Valley 1

Sherman 18, The Dalles JV 13

Softball

Reynolds 11, The Dalles 5

Girls Lacrosse

Jesuit 14, Hood River Valley 10

Hood River County Chamber of Commerce executive director Michael Glover says there is “a very strong possibility” that the Roy Webster Columbia River Cross Channel Swim will be moved from Hood River to Cascade Locks.  Making the statement on Bicoastal Media’s Mid-Columbia Today program Monday morning, Glover says a decision has to be made by May 1 when entries for the Labor Day event will open to the general public, and he put the chance of the move at “80 percent.”  Glover said talks with the Best Western Plus Hood River Inn, where the finish line is located in Hood River, have not resulted in an agreement, primarily due to the Inn wanting a breakfast included in connection with the swim.  Hood River Inn General Manager Chuck Hinman says they’ve asked for that to be included for a number of years, citing people coming into the Inn’s restaurant and occupying tables until family members are done with the swim, and then the hotel can’t get its guests in for breakfast.  Glover says they’ve looked at other possible sites in Hood River but the way the river channel runs through the town does not allow the Sternwheeler Columbia Gorge to drop off swimmers at other locations.  He adds they believe the swim would have more economic impact in Cascade Locks than in Hood River, and also said this is not a decision that “we took on lightly.”  The swim has taken place nearly every Labor Day in Hood River since the late 1940’s, but has not happened the last two years due to the Eagle Creek Fire in 2017 and high winds in 2018.

As the Hood River County Commission prepares to once again discuss its Short-Term Rentals Ordinance at their meeting in two weeks, another factor has entered into the discussion.  Interim Community Development Director Eric Walker talked to Commissioners at a worksession on Monday about a state law that limits the ability to grandfather existing uses on resource lands zoned exclusive farm use and forestlands.  It requires someone to actually live in the home in question to be eligible.  Commissioner Bob Benton asked Walker if there was another way to address the issue, perhaps through some kind of wind-down plan, rather than through the STR ordinance.  Walker said he was unsure how that could be done.  The Commission will talk about the STR ordinance again at their April 15 meeting.

There will be intermittent daytime single lane closures Wednesday and Thursday on the Hood River-White Salmon Interstate Bridge.  The Port of Hood River says the closures will take place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days, and delays of 20 to 30 minutes should be expected during those times.  It’s the first in a series of closures as the crews replace the lift span motors.  That will include some overnight full closures later in the month.  For a complete schedule of bridge delays and closures, go to portofhoodriver.com.

The woman behind Erin’s Law, Erin Merryn, will speak Friday night at a benefit for the Columbia Gorge Children’s Advocacy Center.  Erin’s Law has passed in 35 states, and requires personal body safety be taught in public schools every year.  Merryn was sexually abused as a child for six years, and published her childhood diary detailing her experience in the book Stolen Innocence.  Advocacy Center Executive Director Beatrice Lynch says Merryn will share some of her compelling story and her support for these kind of services.  The event will be Friday evening at 6 p.m. in Hood River Valley High School’s Bowe Theatre, and donations of any amount will be accepted.

Protecting young people from human trafficking will be the subject of YouthThink’s second presentation in their “Protecting Young Minds and Bodies” series.  Ann Atkins of Vest for Child Rescue will talk about “Citizens Against Predators.”  YouthThink coordinator Debby Jones says the presentation is designed to give parents, families, and communities tools to fight online predators and domestic minor sex trafficking.  The presentation will be Wednesday evening from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at The Dalles High School.  For more information go to youththink.net.

The recreational sturgeon season in the John Day Pool of the Columbia River from John Day Dam to McNary Dam and adjacent tributaries will close effective 12:01 a.m. Wednesday morning under rules announced by fishery managers from Oregon and Washington.  The states decided to close the fishery based on recent harvest data that indicated recreational fishermen have achieved their allowable harvest of 105 fish.  The Columbia River between The Dalles Dam and McNary Dam will now be closed to sturgeon retention, but catch and release fishing continues to be allowed except in the sturgeon spawning sanctuaries defined in the 2019 Oregon Sport Fishing Regulations.  Sturgeon retention currently remains open in the Bonneville Reservoir from Bonneville Dam upstream to The Dalles Dam, although fishermen are approaching their allowable harvest for the season of 500 fish.

The body of a 22-year-old man missing and presumed drowned in Wasco County’s Pine Hollow Reservoir was located over the weekend.  The Wasco County Sheriff’s Office says the body of Christopher Berry was located Saturday afternoon by a boater who had side scan sonar on his boat, and then located the body by diving into the lake.  Berry was located in about 22 feet of water.  The family was notified of his recovery.  Berry was one of two men who went into the water when the kayak they were in capsized in the reservoir last weekend.  The other man was able to reach the shore safely.

North Wasco County School District 21 will be holding its first in a series of community meetings on facilities April 16.  It will be the first since a facility assessment was done, giving the district more technical data on its buildings.  D-21 Superintendent Candy Armstrong said after their failed bond measure in November, people told the district they didn’t feel like they were heard.  Armstrong says this meeting will be live streamed, and they will take questions in advance in an effort to get more community involvement.  The meeting will take place at 6 p.m. on April 16 at the Mid-Columbia Senior Center in The Dalles.