There was still smoke Thursday night from a small fire in the Mitchell Point area west of Hood River, but crews expect to mop that up today (Friday).  Christie Shaw of the Oregon Department of Forestry said crews had hoped to finish mop up of the one acre fire on Thursday.  But steep and inaccessible terrain slowed work.  Shaw said ropes are being used to reach those locations.  The fire that was sparked during Wednesday evening’s lightning in the area burned about one acre.

The Port of Hood River Commission authorized a contract with a consulting firm to plan an infrastructure framework for Lot 1 on the waterfront.  That’s a key step to move toward a discussion with Hood River’s Urban Renewal Agency on whether there should be public investment to establish the infrastructure to allow development of the property.  Port Executive Director Michael McElwee says that will determine how development takes place.  McElwee says they hope to have the framework back from the Walker/Macy firm by the end of the year.

Crews are dealing with a fire that started overnight near Mitchell Point.  The Oregon Department of Forestry estimated the fire is less than one acre in size.  It is burning on steep terrain not far from the footprint of last year’s Eagle Creek Fire.  Spread of the fire has been stopped.  Two ODF engines responded to the fire along with a pair of engines from the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area and an engine each from the Hood River and Westsde Fire Departments.  Cause of the fire is not yet known.  The Oregon Department of Transportation temporarily closed the right eastbound lane of Interstate 84 in that area as a precaution.

About 560 Klickitat PUD customers northwest of Goldendale were affected by an early morning power outage.  Klickitat PUD says an equipment failure at the L.E. Darland substation at around 2 a.m. Thursday caused the outage.  Crews were able to replace a high-voltage primary fuse in the Substation and restore power.  The cause of the equipment failure is under investigation.  As a result, Klickitat PUD is planning a scheduled power outage this coming from Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. to complete transformer testing in the substation and investigate the cause of Thursday morning’s outage.  That will again affect portions of Highway 142, the Glenwood Highway, Garrison, Turkey Ranch, Cedar Valley, Fish Hatchery, and Block House areas.

A pair of experts talked to the Port of Hood River Commission and other area elected officials about the process for putting an environmental impact statement together and financing options for a new Hood River-White Salmon Interstate Bridge.  Angela Findley of WSP Engineering and Lowell Clary of Clary Consulting outlined the range of possibilities regarding the bridge replacement effort.  Port Executive Direcror Michael McElwee says two things stood out.  One is that a new bridge won’t happen quickly, and the other is that all entities in Oregon and Washington have to work together to make a new bridge a reality, noting the attendance of Washington 14th District State Senator Curtis King was significant.  McElwee says the next step is for the Port to finalize its contract with WSP Engineering to handle the environmental impact statement process.  He expects that to happen by a Port meeting on July 24.  

There has been no change in recycling markets over the past few months since China drastically reduced the amount of contaminants they would accept in any shipment.  Jim Winterbottom of Hood River Garbage and The Dalles Disposal says they have continued to collect curbside co-mingled recyclables…take them to the Wasco County Landfill, and handle them as if they are about to be recycled in hopes of a market rebound.  But he says that won’t be sustainable for much longer, given the financial impacts of paying increased tipping fees at the landfill.  He adds there will be conversations with the nine jurisdictions they serve to see how those governments want to go forward.  Winterbottom says one of the steps they are taking is to educate customers on what can and cannot be recycled and how items should be cleaned before disposal.  He says the hope is they can clean up the recycling stream to the point where they can get it back to market.

Another set of build days for Hood River’s Children’s Park play structure are set for Thursday through Saturday.  The structure was 85 percent complete at the conclusion of seven days of work in early June, and the goal is to finish this week.  Work will take place each day from 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., and volunteers are needed.  Sign up at cityofhoodriver.com. There is also a need for tools to help finish the structure.  Those willing to lend their tools to the effort can drop them off at the build site today between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.  A list of needed tools is located at cityofhoodriver.com.

School is out in the White Salmon Valley School District, but that does not mean there is no activity taking place.  District Superintendent Jerry Lewis says maintenance work will be taking place at all of their facilities over the next couple of months.  One project that will take place is construction of a livestock pavilion at Columbia High School.  Lewis says supporters of the school’s agriculture program have helped to provide volunteer labor and materials to make this happen.  Lewis says the permitting is done for the 20 foot-by-40 foot building.

North Wasco County School District 21 says it is accepting applications for out-of-district students who wish to pay tuition.  Applicants may apply for any school within the District and will be accepted on a space-available basis.  The cost of tuition for out-of-district students for the 2018-2019 school year is $9,300.00.   An application form may be found on the District’s website, under the scrolling announcements, at nwasco.k12.or.us.  Applications for tuition-based registration must be submitted to the D-21 office no later than August 15.  For additional information, contact the D-21 Superintendent’s Office at 541-506-3420.

The Hood River County Commission voted to adopt an ordinance establishing a three-year pilot program to make community identification cards available.  The program will be funded by private grants and card fees.  Gorge Ecumenical Ministries has received nearly $70,000 in grant funds to launch the program, which is slated to begin as early as January.  The cards are expected to cost $20 each. The County will contract with a local organization to administer the ID program.  Applicants will need several forms of identification and proof of at least 60 days residency in Hood River County to obtain an ID card.  The local ID card cannot be used to buy alcohol, tobacco, or marijuana, and will not be recognized as a form of identification by state or federal officials, or outside of Hood River County.  Proponents of the cards claim changes in federal law make getting state-issued ID more difficult or impossible for some.  Seniors, immigrants unable to gain legal status, survivors of domestic violence, and people who are homeless or who have recently been in jail are all among those who may face additional barriers.  In other business, the Commission approved the 2018-19 fiscal year budget, including use of reserve funds while the panel determines how it would like to seek a measure to increase revenues.