The Oregon Legislature’s Joint Committee on Ways and Means awarded $500,000 for construction of a proposed Mosier Civic Center before the legislature adjourned last week.  The City/Fire District joint-use facility is still in the feasibility stage, with a final feasibility report due at the end of August, then the Mosier City Council and the Mosier Fire District Board will finalize their process on whether or how to develop the Center.  The Civic Center has a projected total budget of between $2.5 million to $4 million.  The Mosier Civic Center would be a joint use facility, encompassing a City Hall, main fire station for the Mosier Fire District, and multi-purpose assembly rooms.

Starting Wednesday and continuing through Friday, Underground Specialties will be paving along River Road in The Dalles between Crates Way and River Trail Way.  Traffic will be down to one lane between 5:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. all three days, and motorists should expect delays.  Motorists are asked to observe all traffic control measures.

Hood River County Administrator Jeff Hecksel expects staff to bring County Commissioners some options for revenue generation in late summer or early fall.  Hecksel says his staff is focusing on two possibilities requested by the Commission:  a targeted sales tax and a public safety district to fund law enforcement operations.  Hecksel notes there are a number of different limited sales tax in existence in Oregon, noting Ashland has a food and beverage tax and Multnomah County taxes rental car purchases.  County officials have been concerned about the viability of the County budget after using one million dollars of reserves to balance the new fiscal year’s budget.  Hecksel notes the County would like to do something where visitors to the area help pay for the services they use.

A group of businesses and the Port of The Dalles is working on an internship program they are looking to launch next summer.  Port of The Dalles Executive Director Andrea Klaas says they had heard from businesses about their need for trained employees and a willingness to do the training, and that sparked the idea.  Klaas says the program, called GorgeWorks and would be Gorge-wide, is currently planning to work with five to seven businesses that will offer a similar type of job so high school graduates 18 years or older will be able to apply for an internship in the program.  The program aims to begin in the summer of 2018.

Oregon District 5 Little League Baseball Tournament at Redmond Majors Championship The Dalles 15, Bend North 14:  The Dalles scored five runs in the sixth inning to pull out the victory and take the title.  The Dalles advances to the state tournament beginning this Saturday in LaGrande.   10 and under Championship The Dalles 9, Bend North 5:  The Dalles moves on to the state tournament beginning on July 22 in Portland.

Regulated closure restrictions are now in effect for lands protected by the Oregon Department of Forestry in the Gorge and throughout central Oregon.  These lands include private, municipal and state lands protected by the Central Oregon District.  Warm summer temperatures over the last few weeks have dried forest fuels, increasing fire behavior and the potential for rapid fire growth throughout the region.  Beginning Saturday open burning including burn barrels in Hood River and Wasco counties will be prohibited.  A complete list of restrictions as a result of the regulated closure is available online at ODFcentraloregon.com, and anyone with questions should call their local fire agency.  The public is also reminded that the use of tracer ammunition or exploding targets is illegal within the District during fire season.  As of the first of the year sky lanterns and other luminaries are prohibited in Oregon.  Klickitat County’s burn ban in unincorporated areas goes into effect on Saturday.

Visitors to the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area are reminded to leave fireworks at home when heading out to federal public lands.  Fireworks and other explosive devices are illegal on public lands, and violators can have fireworks confiscated or receive citations.  Even small, seemingly innocent, fireworks such as sparklers can start wildfires.  Most wildfires in the Gorge are human-caused, so visitors can help reduce risks by disposing of cigarette debris in some type of an ashtray, attending to campfires at all times with water and a shovel nearby and putting out the campfire to the point it is cool to the touch, and avoiding driving and parking in tall grass or on roads with heavy fine fuels accumulations.  Bring life jackets if you are boating on a river, and if you are hiking respect signs, barriers, and closures and take precautions near steep drop-offs.

A group of Pacific Northwest Representatives including Oregon Second District Congressman Greg Walden and Washington Third District Congresswoman Jamie Herrera Beutler have introduced bipartisan legislation to approve the Federal Columbia River Power System Biological Opinion until 2022.  The quintet of four Republicans and Oregon Democrat Kurt Schrader say they are against removal of Snake River dams, saying they benefit the region through clean, renewable, and affordable energy they provide while allowing salmon runs to recover.  A court ruling earlier this year orders steps to be taken to improve salmon returns, impacting the operations at the lower four Snake River dams by requiring the dams to spill more water, decreasing the electrical output of the dams and estimating an increase in cost of two to three percent.  The legislators say the biological opinion was the product of unprecedented collaboration between President Barack Obama’s administration, states, and sovereign Northwest tribes, and needs to be reaffirmed.

Mid-Columbia Council of Governments interim executive director David Meriwether has recommended to the organization’s board that a new home be found for the Area Agency on Aging.  It was part of a series of recommendations Meriwether made as part of a report this week as the MCCOG board considers the future of the agency that serves governmental entities in Hood River, Wasco, Sherman, Gilliam, and Wheeler counties.  Meriwether says the Area Agency on Aging has historically not been well served by MCCOG.  He adds there are several private, non-profit, and government entities that could take over administration of the program.  The MCCOG board will meet August 8 to continue the discussion about the organization’s future.

A large crowd assembled in Hood River City Hall as the Project Advisory Committee for the Westside Area Concept Plan met Wednesday evening.  Most of those who spoke were from Citizens For Responsible Development, which has formed to oppose the perceived current direction of the plan.  Speakers for the most part criticized up-zoning for increased density painting too broad a brush over the Westside area, felt it would not meet City goals for providing more affordable housing, and questioned whether transportation and infrastructure needs for growth were receiving enough attention.  Two members of the committee, Bob Schuppe and Susan Garrett Crowley, questioned why they were never presented leaving current zoning in place as an alternative.  Consultant Joe Dills of the Angelo Planning Group said that was because the starting point was that existing zoning would not meet objectives.  Committee members were asked to study new maps presented at the meeting and determined if they were confident in the preferred plan, and give feedback to create an alternative.  It had been originally planned to be the final meeting of the group, but additional meetings have now been set for August and September before they send a final draft to City Planning Commission to begin a hearings process.