Five people have been arrested after the Hood River County Sheriff’s Office and the Portland FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force conducted a joint operation with assistance from the Columbia Gorge Major Crimes Team and Hood River County District Attorney’s Office, to identify and apprehend individuals seeking to commit sexual acts with minor children.  Four adult men and one juvenile male were arrested and lodged at NORCOR on various charges.  30-year-old John Grover Morgan III of Rhododendron and 23-year-old Daniel Garcia of The Dalles are charged with first degree online sexual corruption of a child and luring a minor…44-year-old Brandon David Backman of Hood River and 27-year-old Francisco Ramirez Rendon of The Dalles are charged with first degree online sexual corruption of a child…and a 16-year-old juvenile male from White Salmon is charged with attempted sodomy in the first degree.  Online sexual corruption in the first degree is a Class B felony in Oregon and requires that a person knowingly uses an online communication to solicit a child to engage in sexual contact or sexually explicit conduct and intentionally takes a substantial step toward physically meeting with or encountering a child.

More signs of a long, hard fire season in the Mid-Columbia.  The Squally Point Fire four miles northwest of The Dalles was held to 19 acres thanks to the rapid response from numerous firefighting agencies and emergency responders.  An Oregon Department of Forestry spokesperson reported the fire started just before 2 p.m. Tuesday in grass and brush near the Columbia River Gorge Discovery Center.  Two FireBoss scooper air tankers, a helicopter, and an air attack platform from Washington Department of Natural Resources assisted firefighters in containment efforts.  Firefighters from the U.S. Forest Service, Mid-Columbia Fire and Rescue, Dallesport and Mosier fire departments, and the Oregon Department of Forestry were part of the initial attack firefighters.  Firefighters remained on the scene through the evening working to extinguish hot spots and flames in the interior of the fire.  Overnight a twenty person crew and overhead personnel was to continue mop-up activities and monitor for heat.  The fire is human caused and under investigation, but is not suspicious in nature.  Mid-Columbia Fire and Rescue indicated on Facebook that a blown truck tire led to a hot rim flying off and igniting the brush on the north side of the freeway.  The Discovery Center was evacuated and closed as a precautionary measure on Tuesday, but plans to re-open Wednesday morning.  Meanwhile, Wasco County deputies as well as forestry departments and Wamic Fire were all dispatched to reports of a forest fire in the White River Canyon area in Southwest Wasco County.  No other details were available.  

Blasting will occur between now and August 8 on property located at the end of the Lone Pine development in The Dalles.  The blasting will help to remove rock outcroppings that the contractor is not able to excavate with heavy equipment for site preparation prior to construction.  The blasting plan has been submitted and approved by the City of The Dalles.  Pre-blast surveys will be performed on all structures within 200 feet of the blast zone and required signage and traffic control measures will be set-up along the interior road systems in the Lone Pine area during the procedure.  Those with questions can call Crestline Construction Project Manager Greg Jensen at 541-506-4000 or The Dalles Senior Planner Dawn Marie Hert at 541-296-5481 ext. 1129.

The Hood River City Council has picked Rachael Fuller as its next City Manager.  Mayor Paul Blackburn was pleased with the wide range of applicants for the position, noting the Council was impressed by Fuller’s experience and qualifications with administrative roles in Oregon and in rural communities similar to Hood River.  Fuller, originally from Seattle, lived and worked in Jackson Hole, Wyoming as a program coordinator and special project coordinator before moving back to the Northwest.   She most recently served as assistant city manager for Gresham for the past seven years.  Fuller has a master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Wyoming, and a bachelor’s degree from Williams College.  Fuller will start on the job August 20, taking over for the retiring Steve Wheeler.

In the aftermath of the Substation Fire one week ago, wheat growers in fire-impacted areas of Wasco and Sherman counties begin to assess the damage done to not only the current crop but crops in the immediate future.  Oregon State University Extension Agent Brian Tuck says the nearly 80-thousand acre fire burned a significant amount of wheat that was about to be harvested, along with a significant amount of rangeland.  He said current issues they are dealing with include the loss of that harvestable wheat along with an increase in the potential for wind and water erosion.  The erosion issues are in part caused by the loss of stubble on land that would have been planted for next year.  Tuck says the stubble keeps the ground cooler, helps retain moisture, and prevents the wind from blowing away top soil.  Tuck says there is no numerical figure on how much of this year’s wheat crop was lost to the fire, but he did say it was “significant.”

Evacuation advisories for the Substation Fire have been lifted.  The Wasco County Sheriff’s Office removed all advisories in its jurisdiction Monday morning, and the Sherman County Sheriff’s Office did the same.  The containment level for the Substation Fire nudged up to 92 percent, with a revised size of 78,425 acres.  Monday command of the fire was transferred from a Type 1 to a Type 3 team, which will continue mop up work over the next couple of weeks.  Type 3 incident commander Kenny Gaynor noted smoke will continue to be seen in the interior of the fire perimeter for some time.  Gaynor adds those who see a lot of smoke or flames spreading should call the Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch Center at 541-316-7700.

A family was displaced in a fire Saturday afternoon at the Budget Inn on 118 West 4th in The Dalles.  Mid-Columbia Fire and Rescue Division Chief Jay Wood says the fire was electrical in nature.  It started on the outside of the building and went into a sign, and then spread into the wall and attic space.  Firefighters had to open up the wall and the ceiling to make sure fire did not progress any farther.  Wood said they did not have a cause of the fire determined.  The family that was displaced was helped by both MCFR’s benevolence fund and the American Red Cross.  The fire call came in at about 5:45 p.m. on Saturday.

With a prolonged stretch of hot weather forecast in the region this week, health officials are reminding people to be mindful of heat-related illness.  North Central Public Health District Director Teri Thalofer says it’s important for people to stay hydrated and drink plenty of water during these periods of heat.  Avoid alcohol or liquids containing a high amount of sugar.  In addition, stay cool by staying inside air-conditioned locations, don’t rely on a fan as your primary cooling device, avoid direct sunlight, wear lightweight, light-colored clothing, and take cool showers or baths.  

A new “Explore The Dalles” shuttle service debuted on Saturday, and will continue on Saturdays through September 15.  It’s a pilot program launced by The Dalles Chamber of Commerce, the Army Corps of Engineers at The Dalles Dam and Gray Line of Oregon.  This service will connect at Hood River in the morning with the New Columbia Gorge Express and return in the afternoon to connect with the service back to Portland.  The shuttle will operate five loops a day in The Dalles, beginning and ending at the Chamber of Commerce office. The ten stops will include the Fort Dalles Museum, three downtown locations, The Dalles Dam Visitor Center and Dam, Sunshine Mills, and The Columbia Gorge Discovery Center.  The Dalles Dam stop will include tours of the Dam at no charge.  The service will be provided with 35 seat “Park Coaches” with glass top roofs and large picture windows; they are modeled after 1930’s era “National Park Buses” used in Yellowstone and other park locations.

The opening of Hood River’s Children’s Park has been pushed back into August.  City Manager Steve Wheeler says the Poured-In-Place surfacing was put in last week, but there is still some more work to do, including allowing the surfacing to cure.  Officials had hoped to open it this coming Saturday, but Wheeler says he is confident the opening will take place in August.  He added the park could open before a grand opening event takes place.