Wasco County Commissioners approved the ordinances necessary to begin providing building codes services on July 1.  Fee schedules and regulations were all approved as part of the ordinances.  The County decided to take on the building codes program when the state informed them they would not have a local office in The Dalles if they had to reclaim the program in the wake of the dissolution of the Mid-Columbia Council of Governments.

The Central Gorge Master Gardeners will celebrate the tenth anniversary of its Japanese Heritage Garden on Friday.  The Gardeners’ Margo Dameier says they will have a program commemorating the establishment of the Japanese garden and the heritage that inspired it.  The program will culminate with a performance by Portland Taiko.  The celebration begins at 3 p.m. Friday at the Japanese Heritage Garden between the OSU Extension office and the Mid-Columbia Agriculture Research and Experiment Station on 2990 Experiment Station Drive in Hood River.

This year’s Wasco County Children’s Fair will be Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at The Dalles City Park.  Child Care Partners, with the support of the Wasco County Early Childhood Committee, puts on the Children’s Fair, which focuses on connecting families with local organizations while encouraging parent-child interactions through family-friendly, enjoyable activities.  About 30 to 40 local organizations take part each year.  All activities are free, and some organizations give out prizes, goodies, or an additional activity to take home.  There will be food available at a low cost for families.  Families are welcome to bring a picnic lunch if they wish. 

Oregon High School Girls Lacrosse Association Playoffs

First Round

Hood River Valley 10, Summit 9:  The Eagles win on the road in central Oregon and will go to Oregon Episcopal for a quarterfinal match on Friday.

Boys Golf

Goldendale’s Luke Gerchak advanced to the Washington Class 1A tournament with a second place finish at the SCAC district tournament at Suncadia.  Gerchak shot an 83, finishing five shots back of medalist Conner Bolton of Zillah.  The state tournament will be Tuesday and Wednesday at Olympia Country and Golf Club.

Klickitat County has established an outdoor burn ban in its Burn Ban Zone Two in the central section of the county to begin June 1 and continue through September 30.  Zone Two includes lands outside the jurisdiction of the Yakama Nation and Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission, and runs from the eastern boundary of Klickitat County Fire District #7 to the western boundaries of districts 4, 12, 1nd 15 then north on the Klickitat River north to the north county line.  The ban will prohibit the issuance of burning permits except for authorized agricultural burning.  Residential barbecues will be allowed.  Klickitat County Burn Ban Zone One in the eastern end of the county went into effect on Wednesday, and will also continue through September 30.

The Hood River County School District announced the appointment of three people to serve as elementary school vice-principals.  The district is adding the positions for the upcoming school year.  Two of the new vice-principals already have been working for the district, with Vickie Schmidt taking the new position at May Street and Amy McConnell appointed to the job at Westside.  Jim Mangan, most recently a principal at a dual-language immersion school in the West Linn-Wilsonville School District, will become vice-principal at Mid-Valley Elementary.  Superintendent Dan Goldman said the district was “thrilled” to be adding support at the three schools.  The hires are pending school board approval.

Ballots are slowly being returned to county election offices for the May 21 special districts election.  The Hood River County elections office reported on Tuesday afternoon that 17.6 percent of ballots had been returned, while Wasco County was at 13.42 percent at the end of Tuesday.  Election officials say Wednesday is the last day to mail ballots.  After Wednesday they recommend delivering them to County election offices or designated official drop boxes to meet the May 21 deadline.  Also, Wasco County Clerk Lisa Gambee issued a reminder that it’s a Class C Felony to sign another person’s ballot.  If you get all the way to the ballot drop box and realize your spouse or family member forgot to sign the envelope, take it back home to them.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center are partnering to put on Migratory Bird Day on Saturday at The Dalles Dam Visitor Center.  There will be a high-tech scavenger hunt, bird bingo, kids crafts, and a presentation at 10 a.m. from the Discovery Center featuring an American Kestrel.  The Dalles Lock and Dam park ranger Amber Tilton says this year’s theme for the event is “Protect birds:  Be the solution to plastic pollution.”  The event runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at The Dalles Dam Visitor Center.  To get there take Interstate 84 exit 87 and travel east on Bret Clodfelter Way.  Visitors are encouraged to bring their own scopes, binoculars, GPS units, and cameras.

Boys Golf

The Dalles’ Aidan Telles finished in a tie for third and teammate Tyler Vassar tied for eighth at the Oregon Class 5A Boys’ Golf Tournament at Trysting Tree in Corvallis.  Telles shot a 76 in the final round on Tuesday, while Vassar fired a 75.  Issac Buerger of Ridgeview won the title with a four-under 67 on the final day to clear the field by eight shots.  Hood River Valley finished seventh in the team standings, with Crescent Valley taking the championship.

Girls Golf

The Dalles’ Samantha Stansbury shot a 98 in the final round to finish in a tie for thirteenth at the Oregon Class 5A Girls’ Golf Tournament at Quail Valley in Banks.  Hood River Valley’s Victoria Ervin finished in 27^th.

Baseball

Hood River Valley 8, The Dalles 0:  Harrison Howell pitched a one-hitter as the Eagles finished Intermountain Conference play with their fourth straight win.  Ben Nelson led off for the Riverhawks with an infield single, but Howell retired the remaining 21 batters he faced, walking no one and striking out ten.  Howell, Caden Leiblien, and Jeremiah Brittle had two hits apiece to lead the HRV offense.

Dufur sweeps Weston-McEwen 10-0 and 15-2:  The sweep lifts the Rangers into a tie for second in Class 2A/1A Special District 7, qualifying them for the state playoffs.

Softball

Hood River Valley 6, The Dalles 0:  Lauren Decker pitched a five-hit shutout as HRV won for the sixth straight time to close out its IMC schedule.  Makenzie Chambers drove in two runs as the Eagles never looked back after scoring three runs in the first inning.

The Dalles City Council approved an ordinance to give local police more tools in dealing with recreational and oversized vehicles parked on public streets.  The ordinance would allow people to get a five-day permit to park such vehicles on a street adjacent to an occupied single-family dwelling at no cost, with an annual limit of six permits per property.  RVs which are found to be parked upon a public street without a permit would be subject to issuance of a citation and impoundment within 24 hours of the issuance of the citation, with similar regulations for trailers.  City officials say in some cases, the RVs are abandoned, and in other cases they are being used for long term residential use.  Police Chief Pat Ashmore says they hope to use education to eliminate the problem rather than resorting to towing the vehicle away.