A windmill transformer headed for a windfarm in Goldendale will be the largest commercial load recorded in Washington state history.  The Washington State Patrol Commercial Vehicle Division was set to weigh the transformer Wednesday when it is removed from a train at Sundale Road off Highway 14 at milepost 28.  It’s estimate to weigh 1,034,000 pounds, and is 21-feet high and 360-feet long.  After it’s weighed, troopers will escort the trailer and transformer up Highway 14 to milepost 100. It will then travel up Highway 97 to milepost 3 and break overnight.  On Thursday evening the load will make its way from milepost 3 to Hoctor Road, and then carry on to the Goldendale windfarms.   Drivers who travel on Highways 14 and 97 should be aware that because of the transformer’s significant size and difficult terrain, both highways will have traffic impacts Wednesday evening from 10:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m.

With fall Chinook salmon returns to the Columbia River tracking well below preseason predictions, fishery managers announced Tuesday the Columbia River from the mouth at Buoy 10 to the Highway 395 Bridge near Pasco will close for angling and retention of all salmon and steelhead at 12:01 a.m. Thursday.  As of Monday only 75 percent of the expected adult fall Chinook have passed Bonneville Dam based on pre-season forecasts.  The upriver bright Chinook return, which includes ESA-listed Snake River fish, are currently projected to return at 69 percent of expectations which means if left open fisheries could exceed the allowable harvest rate.  ODFW Columbia River program manager Tucker Jones says if the return continues on its current pace, this could be the lowest fall Chinook return to the mouth of the Columbia since 2007.  Except for upper Columbia sockeye most runs will come in at 30 percent or less of pre-season forecast.

The Dalles City Council on Monday heard about Columbia Gorge Community College’s planned ask for three-point-five million dollars in enterprise zone funds from the Google projects to help build a skills center and on-campus housing.  CGCC Community Outreach Director Dan Spatz outlined the project, which has seven-point-three million dollars in state funding provided a local match can be provided by January, noting the need for flexible space to train workers in various trades that the skills center would provide, while building campus housing has qualified for part of the project match.  The College board has approved taking on three-point-eight million dollars in debt for part of the match, and wants the City and Wasco County to approve use of the enterprise zone funds.  The Dalles Mayor Steve Lawrence says when payments on the third Google agreement begin coming in, they will be at least one-point two million dollars annually for 15 years, and felt the best way to accomplish the project is for the College to sell bonds and have the enterprise zone funds pay them off over that time.  CGCC will have a similar discussion with the Wasco County Commission on September 19, and Spatz noted they have not given up on seeking other forms of funding.

The Klickitat County Emergency Medical Services District is seeking a new six-year operating levy of 50 cents per thousand dollars of assessed property value to put the five-year-old district on a solid financial footing.  District interim operations manager Bruce Brending says the district, which was established by a vote in 2013 to provide EMS services throughout the county, has found that the current levy of 30-cents-per-thousand is not enough to effectively operate the service given the low rates of reimbursement from Medicare and Medicaid, the number of bills they can collect on, outstanding debt, and increased costs of doing business.  Brending says the levy replacement will allow them to keep up with equipment replacement, provide a competitive wage to retain employees, resume operation of a fourth ambulance, provide required trainings, and outfit a mass casualty incident trailer.  The levy is on the November ballot.

Wasco County officials continue to seek assistance opportunities for those impacted by wildfires this summer.  County Commissioner Steve Kramer says the County has been working with Nate Stice from the state’s Regional Solutions program to gather as many resources as possible.  Kramer says they are talking with federal officials on a nearly daily basis as more data on fire-related losses come in.  The County has a post-fire resources guide available on its website, wascocounty.org.  County Commissioners will hold a town hall Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. at Dufur City Hall.

A 44-year-old man from Lake Oswego died as the result of a motorcycle accident on Highway 218 near Antelope on Sunday afternoon.  According to the Oregon State Police, an investigation revealed two motorcycles were traveling together northbound on Highway 218 near milepost 11 when one of the motorcyclists, Gabriel Spaccarelli, became distracted and traveled off the roadway and into an adjacent field.  The OSP says Spaccarelli sustained fatal injuries in the crash and was pronounced dead at the scene.  Emergency personnel responded to the accident at about 1:05 Sunday afternoon.

A 22-year-old Parkdale man died in a single vehicle accident early Saturday morning on Highway 281.  According to the Oregon State Police, an investigation showed a pickup truck driven by James Tickner was southbound on Highway 281 when the vehicle left the roadway, went through a ditch and then struck an embankment before crossing over Blackburn Road and coming to rest.  The truck then caught fire.  The OSP says Tickner sustained fatal injuries in the crash and was pronounced dead at the scene.  

Gorgeworks, the community-based internship program rolled out this past year, is gearing up for a bigger second round.  Kathy Ursprung of the Port of The Dalles says they are currently seeking employers as they try to get ten or more internship offerings next summer.  Businesses interested in being part of the Gorgeworks internship program can contact Ursprung through the Port of The Dalles.

Hood River County Commissioners, coming off a series of focus groups on individual areas of the County’s budget, will bring those issues back together with town hall meetings this fall.  The County is dealing with a large budget shortfall, and the Commission is considering revenue measures to fill it.  County Administrator Jeff Hecksel says the focus group sessions went well, and he felt most of the input from those who took part was geared toward finding answers.  The next step will be open house-type meetings that will include solution ideas for people to give their input on.  Hecksel says they hope to have the meetings sometime in the latter part of the fall.

Volleyball Hood River Valley won the Canby Tournament, defeating the host Cougars in the final 27-29, 25-19, 16-14.  The Eagles scored the last three points of the final game to grab the victory.  Katie Kennedy led the Eagles with 13 kills. South Wasco def. Trinity Lutheran 25-12, 25-8, 25-18 LaSalle (Yakima) def. Goldendale 25-18, 25-22, 25-13   Boys Soccer Corvallis 2, Hood River Valley 0 Trout Lake 5, Irrigon 0   Girls Soccer West Albany 6, Hood River Valley 0 Toppenish 10, Goldendale 1   Cross Country The Dalles was the boys’ winner and Hood River Valley won the girls’ run at a five-school meet in Prineville.  The Riverhawks’ Sam Alvarez won the boys’ race with teammates Friedrich Stelzer in third and Gabe Lira in fourth.  HRV’s top finisher was Josh Haynes in sixth.  Frances Dickinson, Brinna Weiseth, and Evelyn Nunez grabbed a 1-2-3 finish for Hood River in the girls’ race, while Emma Mullins of The Dalles was fourth.   Columbia’s boys were second and girls fourth, while both the Trout Lake boys and girls were seventh in the Steve Maas Run-A-Ree at Hudson’s Bay High School.  Trout Lake’s Justin Peck was second and Columbia’s Jacob Lockman third in the boys’ race, while in the girls’ race Joules Hope of CHS was sixth and Joanna Peck was the top Trout Lake finisher in 14th.   Goldendale finished third in the Ellensburg Invitational relays.   Football Pendleton 46, Hood River Valley 0 LaGrande 48, The Dalles 20 Columbia 40, Ilwaco 0 Stevenson 34, Corbett 0 Dufur 56, Arlington 0 Pilot Rock 50, Sherman 0 Lyle-Klickitat-Wishram 76, Oakville 6 Goldendale 40, White Swan 14 South Wasco 55, Triangle Lake 0