The Friends of the White Salmon Valley Community Library’s annual Community Reads program, KOOBDOOGA, is underway.  The organization’s Sheri Bosler says this year’s book is Danger Close:  My Epic Journey as a Combat Helicopter Pilot in Iraq and Afghanistan by Husum native Amber Smith.  The book chronicles Smith’s experiences in a male-dominated profession.  Programs take place at 2 p.m. Saturday at the library in White Salmon for the next five weeks.  For a complete schedule of KOOBDOOGA events, go to fvrl.org/koobdooga.

Football Hood River Valley 71, Benson 0:  Brandon Rivera set a school record rushing for six touchdowns, while the HRV defense also set a school record allowing the Techmen only 15 yards of total offense. The Dalles 31, Crook County 0:  The Riverhawks ran for 186 yards in gaining their first victory of the season.  J.R. Scott had a pair of short touchdown runs, while Gabe Helseth ran for one touchdown and passed for another. Hoquiam 28, Columbia 20 Irrigon 16, Stevenson 14 Dufur 52, Enterprise 16 Union 40, Sherman 32 South Wasco 65, Burnt River 12 Zillah 57, Goldendale 0 Lyle-Wishram 46, Liberty Bell 6   Cross Country The Dalles boys won the team title while the Riverhawk girls tied for first with Crescent Valley at the Bridgette Nelson Memorial Invitational in Sorosis Park.  The Riverhawks’ Emma Mullins won the girls’ race.  Sam Alvarez of The Dalles finished second to Hunter Nichols of Heppner in the boys’ race.   Volleyball Sherman def. Condon-Wheeler 25-19, 25-9, 25-19   Boys Soccer Prescott 5, Trout Lake 2   Girls Soccer Hoquiam 7, Columbia 2

Oregon Second District Congressman Greg Walden says he has accepted an invitation from KTVZ News Channel 21 in Bend to attend a televised debate on October 5.  The Hood River Republican is being opposed by Democrat Jamie McLeod-Skinner in the November election.  McLeod-Skinner has been seeking debates with the long-time representative.  The debate will be live streamed online and available through social media.  It is scheduled for 7 p.m. on October 5.

Cross Country Columbia won both the boys and girls team competition in a five-school run at North Bonneville.  The Bruins’ Jacob Lockman and Dylan Beneventi finished one-two in the boys’ race, while Columbia’s Lillian Nelson was first and Stevenson’s Isabella Spencer second in the girls’ competition.

The Oregon Court of Appeals issued a ruling today affirming a lower court decision that ruled a suit against Wasco County and members of the County Commission in how it handled a vote to issue notice of intent to withdraw from the North Central Public Health District was moot, but did direct the ruling be changed from a finding for the defendant to a judgement for dismissal.  Chip Wood’s lawsuit was filed in regard to the December 2014 vote not being on the County Commission’s meeting agenda in violation of the state’s Public Meetings Law.  Days after suit was filed in February 2015, the Commission placed the issue on its agenda and voted to rescind the December action.  In its opinion, the Court of Appeals stated the vote to rescind rendered the lawsuit moot, but the trial court erred in entering a judgement in the defendants’ favor, when the case should have been dismissed as moot.  The appeals court remanded the case back to the trial court with instructions to enter a judgment of dismissal.

Klickitat County has extended burn bans in the western and central portions of the County to October 12, and to October 31 east of the eastern boundary of Fire District #7.  The bans are being extended due to the high wildfire hazard conditions experienced this summer and a continued lack of sufficient precipitation.  The burn bans prohibit the issuance of burning permits except for authorized agricultural burning.  Residential barbecues are allowed.  Citizens are asked to check with the appropriate authorities concerning burning restrictions within the corporate limits of any city or town.

The White Salmon Valley School District is finding it is not benefiting from a new distribution system for funding K-12 schools in Washington.  Superintendent Jerry Lewis says with the loss of 40 percent of its voter-approved maintenance and operations levy and a new salary schedule, the district is having to go into its ending fund balance.  Lewis says as the 2019 legislative session draws nearer, the fixes won’t be easy, as some districts have benefited from the new funding formula, but others have not.

Volleyball Crook County def. Hood River Valley 25-18, 33-31, 22-25, 17-25, 15-13:  The Cowgirls won a wild match that saw HRV keep it alive by winning the third set thanks to a closing 9-1 run.  The Eagles’ Katie Kennedy set a school record with 39 kills. Pendleton def. The Dalles 25-17, 25-13, 25-9 Echo def. Dufur 21-25, 25-20, 16-25, 25-8, 15-7 South Wasco def. Sherman 17-25, 25-17, 25-22, 25-21 Zillah def. Goldendale 27-25, 22-25, 25-23, 15-25, 15-12   Girls Soccer LaSalle 2, Hood River Valley 0   Boys Water Polo Hood River Valley 19, Grant 8   Girls Water Polo Hood River Valley 21, Grant 6

The Dalles City Council spent a large part of a worksession on Monday night talking about whether the City is in any position to take over the building codes program for the City and all of Wasco County.  The state of Oregon has been handling building permits in Wasco County since the dissolution of the Mid-Columbia Council of Governments, which provided the service in Wasco, Sherman, Gilliam, and Wheeler counties.  Much of the conversation revolved around whether four million dollars in reserves accumulated by the MCCOG program could be used for establishing a new building codes office, and Mayor Steve Lawrence says they want to get that answer.  He also wants to know if there would be much of an impact on the general fund if the City handled building permits.  Under state law, the reserves must be used within the building permit program.  Councilors asked to staff to continue to investigate to get answers on how those funds can be used.  The Wasco County Commission will discuss the issue at its meeting Wednesday morning in the County Courthouse, with that subject scheduled for 10:20 a.m.

Hood River County Commissioners have decided to use $31,000 in contingency funds to keep the County’s Veterans Service Office open through the current fiscal year.  The County had thought it could use nearly $81,000 in state funding to operate the office, but was informed that state law requires the County to maintain its current funding level for the program to receive those monies.  County staff did recommend closing the office, but Administrator Jeff Hecksel said commissioners decided not to do that, in part because that had not been considered in budget discussions during the spring.  The Commission will look at the subject again when putting together the budget for fiscal year 2019-20.