Hood River County Commissioners denied an appeal by the Hood River Valley Residents Committee of a decision at the staff level to extend the commercial land use permit to build the DeeTour amphitheater at the former Dee Mill site.  Project proponent Apollo Land Holdings had asked for the one-year extension of the permit initially approved in 2014.  The Residents Committee appealed, claiming the initial approval of the extension was improperly processed as a ministerial decision, and because the approval criteria changed with the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals decision that led to eventual denial of a permit to build a hotel on the site.  The County Planning Commission had initially denied the appeal in January.

There will be a brief full closure of the Hood River/White Salmon Interstate Bridge on Wednesday beginning at 9:30 a.m. for a bridge lift.   The closure is expected to last about 20 minutes.  Delays of up to 30 minutes are expected, depending on traffic volume.  Bridge users are advised to plan for delay or seek alternate routes during the lift.  For more information, call (541) 386-1645.

The Oregon Department of Transportation’s Columbia Gorge Express bus service begins its third year on Friday, and now it will go as far east as Hood River and operate seven days a week, year-round.  On Friday the bus will begin Friday-Saturday-Sunday service – plus Memorial Day — from Gateway Transit Center in Portland to Rooster Rock State Park, Multnomah Falls, Cascade Locks and Hood River.  On June 11, the bus will start service seven days a week, year-round.  Service will begin at 8:30 a.m. Friday when the first bus of the day leaves Gateway Transit Center.  The last bus of the day departs Hood River for Portland at 7:10 p.m.  In 2016, season one surpassed expectations with nearly 30,000 trips over 18 weekends between Portland and Multnomah Falls, and season two in summer 2017 saw average daily ridership increase by about ten percent over just 15 weekends, with the last three weekends cancelled because of the Eagle Creek Fire.  For a full schedule, tickets, and more information go to www.ColumbiaGorgeExpress.com.

The Dalles Public Works Department will be flushing water mains through fire hydrants over the next few weeks.  Water mains are flushed annually in order to clean out deposits, sediments and rust from distribution pipelines, minimize water quality problems, test fire protection water pressures, exercise hydrant valves, and identify hydrants that need to be repaired or replaced.  Motorists and pedestrians are asked to avoid driving or walking through the water coming directly from a hydrant while the main is being flushed.  Occasionally main flushing causes water flowing from a tap to be discolored from stirred up sediment or milky white caused by tiny air bubbles.  Although discolored water won’t make you sick, you might want to flush the pipe by running the water for several minutes before drinking or washing.  If the water does not clear, please contact The Dalles Public Works office at 541-296-5401.

Hood River County Circuit Judge John Olson issued a ruling today that calls for a Vancouver teenager to pay restitution of over 36 million dollars to cover the costs of dealing with the Eagle Creek Fire while acknowledging it is unlikely the juvenile will ever cover that bill.  Olson’s order says a payment plan can be set up, and payments can be stopped in a decade as long as the teen complies with it, finishes his probation requirements, and stays out of trouble.  The costs involve fighting the massive fire the juvenile caused when he threw fireworks into Eagle Creek Canyon last September and repair and restoration for the damage it caused.  The U.S. Forest Service was the largest claimant, seeking over 21 million dollars.  The teenager’s attorney, Jack Morris, called the request figures “absurd” during a hearing last Thursday.

Four people have filed to run for one District 14 position in the Washington State House of Representatives, while two Democrats are challenging Republican incumbent Gina Mosbrucker for the other.  The filing period for the August 7 primary election ended on Friday.  Among those seeking the position one seat being vacated by the retiring Norm Johnson are Yakima Republicans Kathy Coffey and Chris Corry, White Salmon Democrat Sasha Bentley, and Yakima Democrat Earl Steven Lee.  Mosbrucker is being challenged by Yakima Democrats Noah Ramirez and Liz Hallock for position two.  Washington uses a “top two” primary system, with the top two vote-getters advancing to the November general election regardless of party affiliation.  Locally, Klickitat County Commissioner David Sauter is opposed by Raymond Clough of Dallesport, and Sheriff Bob Songer is being challenged by Douglas Charters of Bingen.  In Skamania County, current Assessor Gabriel Spencer is on the ballot for the position with Tom Dillon of North Bonneville, and incumbent Prosecuting Attorney Adam Kick is opposed by Dan McGill of Stevenson.

As part of its new contract with the City of The Dalles to continue to provide tourism marketing services, The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce will be hiring a tourism director.  Chamber CEO Lisa Farquharson says the position doesn’t have a name yet, but it has a job description.  It includes overseeing tourism marketing under the new contract, supervising a “tourism team,” and involvement in a new campaign being put together.  In addition, Farquharson says they will be working with the City in putting together a tourism committee made up of people involved with businesses that are dependent on the tourist business.  Farquharson adds the goal of the effort is to take tourism in The Dalles to a new level.

Port of Hood River Executive Director Michael McElwee says a couple of developments have hopefully helped to bring noise down at the Ken Jernstedt Airfield.  McElwee says one of those involved a tenant moving some pilot training operations to other locations.  In addition, voluntary “fly friendly” rules asking pilots to take steps to reduce noise were put in place.  McElwee says with the summer season arriving and airport use picking up, the Port will keep monitoring the situation.

Track and Field Hood River Valley’s boys won the 4×400 meter relay to grab fourth place and a trophy at the Oregon Class 5A Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene.  The relay team of Matthew Tichenor, Gabriel Campos-Davis, Chad Klaas, and Robby Running won in a time of 3:24.74.  Klaas also finished second in the pole vault, while Tichenor was fourth in the 400.  HRV’s Jonah Tactay and the 4×100 relay squad also had fourth place finishes.  For the HRV girls, Katie Kennedy was second in the long jump and fourth in the 100 meter hurdles, and Frances Dickinson was fourth in the 3,000 to match the same finish in the 1500 on Friday.  Justin Conklin of The Dalles was third in the boys’ 110 meter hurdles, while the Riverhawks’ Paulina Finn was fifth in the girls’ high jump.   South Wasco’s Ana Popchock set a meet record while winning the girls’ triple jump in the Oregon Class 1-A championships.  She jumped 37′ 4 ¾” to set the record.  Popchock also finished second in the 100 meter hurdles and the 300 meter hurdles to lead the Redsides to a fifth place team finish.  In the boys’ portion of the meet, Dufur’s 4×100 meter relay team of Cole Kortge, Abraham Kilby, Anthony Thomas, and Tanner Masterson was a winner in a time of 45.25 seconds.  Horizon Christian’s Andrew Wells finished second in the boys’ discuss.   Trout Lake won the girls title and was second in the boys’ standings at the Washington District 5/6 Class 1B meet.  Hannah Funkhouser, Liz Fink, and Isabella Dean won two events each for the Mustang girls, while the Trout Lake boys had seven first place finishes.   Lyle-Wishram’s Brandon Montoya won three events at the Washington District 5/6 Class 2B meet.  Montoya won the boys’ 100, 200, and long jump.  Teammates Elijah McCullough won the boys’ discus and Larissa McConville the girls’ javelin.   Goldendale’s Dillon Rising and Allison Gilliam won two events each at the SCAC meet.  Rising won the 1600 and 3200 meters, while Gilliam won the 100 meter hurdles and 300 meter hurdles.   Oregon Class 5A Boys Tennis Tournaments Quarterfinals Rox Rogers, Ashland def. Vaughn Reardon, HRV 6-2, 6-1 Logan Hausler, Summit def. Sawyer Bogard, HRV 6-0, 6-0   Oregon High School Lacrosse Association Playoffs First Round Central Catholic 11, Hood River Valley 10 (overtime)   Oregon Class 5A Baseball Play-In Round Hood River Valley 8, St. Helens 0:  Connor Coerper and Grayson Losee combined on a no-hitter.  Coerper struck out 14 in going six innings, while Losee pitched a 1-2-3 seventh.  Coeper, Caden Leiblien, and Issac Beaman drove in two runs each.  The Eagles will visit Sandy in the first round of the state playoffs on Wednesday.   Wilsonville 11, The Dalles 0   Oregon Class 2-A/1-A Special District 6 Playoff Pilot Rock 4, Sherman 1:  Sherman will begin the state playoffs on Wednesday.   Oregon Class 5A Softball Play-In Round Hood River Valley 14, Wilsonville 0:  The Eagles will host Thurston in the first round of the state playoffs on Wednesday.   Southwest Washington Class 1-A District Softball Tournament Elma 11, Columbia 6

Three trails accessible from Starvation Creek State Park and several short trails leading to lakes in the Mt. Hood National Forest reopened Friday for the first time since Eagle Creek Fire.  The newly reopened portion of the paved Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail segment passes by four waterfalls and is the entry point for the rugged Starvation Ridge Trail and Mt. Defiance Trail.  Several short trails leading to Wahtum, Black, Bear, North, Rainy, and Warren Lakes on the Mt. Hood National Forest also reopened, along with the lakes themselves.  Those trails are accessible from Forest Road 2820 or Forest Road 1310 in Mt. Hood National Forest.  All the newly reopened trails are located on the eastern fringe of the Eagle Creek Fire perimeter, and may have increased hazards and damage from the fire.  Some adjacent trails in the vicinity remain closed, because they lead into dangerous, heavily impacted areas.  Hikers are advised to respect closure signs and remain only on open trails.  Violators that enter closed areas are subject to citations and fines.  Go to the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area website for complete closure information.