Human remains found Friday evening in the area of Dry Creek in the Trapper Creek Wilderness Area about 16 miles north of Carson have been identified as those of a 24-year-old Sunriver man who had been suspected of stealing a truck last month and fled on foot in the Government Mineral Springs area after a high speed pursuit.  The Skamania County Sheriff’s Office says a hiker found the remains of Joshua A. Brown.  Deputies and Wind River Search & Rescue, Silver Star Search & Rescue, and Clark County Sheriff’s Office Search & Rescue personnel retrieved the body early Saturday morning after navigating through waist deep snowdrifts and several downed trees.  Brown was the suspected driver of a stolen truck involved in a high speed pursuit on March 20 in an area that was snowbound and reachable only by snowshoe or snowmobile during the winter months.

A 26-year-old Mill A man died in a one car accident on Cook-Underwood Road just west of the Skamania County Road Shop.  The Skamania County Sheriff’s Office says the accident occurred at about 3 a.m. Friday.  The Sheriff’s Office says a vehicle driven by 26-year-old John Salazar of Mill A was westbound on Cook-Underwood Road when he lost control of the vehicle, left the roadway, and struck multiple trees.  The vehicle came to rest facing westbound in the eastbound lane.  The Sheriff’s Office says Salazar was partially ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene from injuries sustained in the crash.  An investigation is on-going, but the Sheriff’s Office indicates speed may have been a contributing factor in the accident.

The Dalles High School Riverhawk marching band were the winners of both People’s Choice and Walking Group awards at the Cherry Festival parade on Saturday.  In results announced by The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce, Canton Wok Lion and Dragon Dancers finished second in the Walking Group with Gorge Surf Dog third.  Renken Farms won the Float division with Polehn Farms second and the Cherry Pit Queens third, while Ketchum Kalf won the Equestrian group with Wasco County second and Klickitat County third.  Taylor Beeks won the Cherry Idol competition with Kaya Byrd second and Hillary Langdon and Kellina Coy third.

Residents in the Hood River city limits started receiving new refuse bins from Hood River Garbage last week and deliveries will continue this week, but they won’t be put into use until next week.  Every residential customer is receiving three bins, one for garbage, one for compost and yard waste, and the third for mixed recycling, but the bins won’t start being picked up until May 1.  When the expanded service begins next week, the compost bin will be picked up weekly, and the garbage and recycling bins collected on alternate weeks.  The first week garbage will be picked up, with recycling the following week.

The Washington State Department of Transportation will hold an open house on Thursday in Bingen for the public to learn about the project to place an overpass on Highway 14 at Bingen Point.  The open house will take place from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursday at 113 West Steuben in Bingen.  The project is funded by the 2015 Connection Washington transportation package passed by the Legislature in 2015, with construction scheduled to begin in 2020.

Baseball Hood River Valley sweeps Pendleton 12-9 and 4-2:  Caden Leiblien had two home runs and six runs batted in to lead the Eagles to the win in game one, while the Eagles plated two runs in the sixth inning of game two to finish the sweep. The Dalles sweeps Hermiston 10-0 and 4-3:  Spencer Honald’s squeeze bunt scored Tyler Weston in the bottom of the seventh inning to secure the win in game two.  In the opener, Jordan Wetmore pitched a three-hitter to earn the victory on the mound. Columbia sweeps Stevenson 21-5 and 9-2 Dufur sweeps Union 12-1 and 15-5:  The Rangers extended their winning streak to 15 games. Sherman sweeps Grant Union 5-4 and 15-1 Lyle-Wishram sweeps Walla Walla Academy 15-5 and 7-0 Zillah sweeps Goldendale 7-1 and 11-1   Softball Hood River Valley split with Pendleton, losing game one 12-2 and winning the second game 9-8:  Makena Zeller doubled to lead off the seventh inning and then scored on a two-out error to give the Eagles the winning run in the nightcap to leave them tied for first in the Columbia River Conference with Pendleton.  Kaylin Winans homered and drove in five runs for HRV. The Dalles sweeps Hermiston 8-1 and 9-8:  The Riverhawks win their first two league games of the season.   Track and Field Trout Lake won the girls’ title and LaCenter the boys’ crown at the Bruin Invitational in White Salmon.  Lyle-Wishram’s Brandon Montoya finished first in three boys’ events, while Lincoln Krog of Stevenson won two. The Dalles boys were fifth and the girls sixth at the Kiwanis Invitational in Hermiston.  Julian Hernandez had the only event win for the Riverhawks in the boys’ javelin. Hood River Valley’s boys were ninth at the Summit Invitational in Bend.  Jesse Wiley had the top HRV finish with a second in the 3,000 meters. Sherman’s boys were eighth at the Pepsi Invitational at Union.  Keenan Coles had two seconds and a third for the Huskies.   Boys Soccer Columbia 1, Hoquiam 0   Girls Tennis Montesano 3, Columbia 2   Girls Lacrosse Hood River Valley 20, Liberty 5:  Kathryn Koenig and Abigail Bartles scored four goals each as the Eagles moved to 6-3 on the year.

An increase in tolls for the Port of Hood River Interstate Bridge were a part of a 2017-18 budget being recommended by the Port’s budget committee this week.  The budget calls for an increase in cash tolls for passenger cars from $1 to $2, and from 93 cents to $1 for electronic tolling.  For large trucks the cash toll would jump to $3 per axle and to $2 for those using electronic tolling.  Port Executive Director Michael McElwee says the increase would help the Port prepare for either a local match for funding bridge replacement or maintaining the current structure over the next 20 years.  For the toll increase to take effect, the Port Commission would have to first pass the proposed budget, and then approve the increase in a separate action.  The Port will hold a budget hearing on May 21.  The budget committee approved a toll increase in last year’s fiscal plan, but the Port Commission elected not to enact it.

The Dalles Riverfront Trail Committee presented City Councilors with a plan to complete the final section of the ten-mile long pedestrian and bicycle connection between the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center and The Dalles Dam, but it comes with a hefty price tag.  Committee chair Dan Durow says the plan involves either constructing a pedestrian bridge over Interstate 84 near Brewery Grade or attaching a cantilever addition to the existing bridge at that location, which puts the estimated cost of the section at $7,000,000.  The committee currently has $1,200,000 in Oregon Department of Transportation grant funds available, so Durow says trail construction would have to take place in stages, and fundraising and grant applications would be needed to generate the rest of the money.  Original plans to keep the entire trail on the north side of Interstate 84 were scuttled when the Yakama Nation raised cultural and fishing site access concerns.  City Councilors have to approve the plan, and will discuss it at their May 8 meeting.

The Dalles has been selected to be one of the three latest Blue Zones Project Demonstration Communities in Oregon, which is intended to bring a community-led cross-sector approach to make it easier for people to make local choices.  Oregon Healthiest State, a privately led partnership supported by Cambia Health Foundation, announced The Dalles, Grants Pass, and Roseburg were chosen to join Klamath Falls in the three-year program.  Lauren Kraemer of Oregon State University Extension is part of the stakeholder group that developed the Blue Zone application, and she says the next step includes a discovery process to bring community partners to the table to determine the health issues they want to tackle first, and hiring four people to work on the project.  Total operational cost for the Blue Zone Community is $2,500,000 over the next three years, and the local group will need to provide one-third of that.  Kraemer says they have some commitments from OSU and other funders, and they will be looking for grant monies and local business partnerships.

Boys Soccer LaCenter 4, Columbia 1 King’s Way Christian 3, Stevenson 0   Track and Field Horizon Christian’s boys finished second and the girls sixth at the Southwest Christian Invitational.  Quinn Roetcisoender won the pole vault and the four by 100 meter relay team finished first for the Hawk boys, while for the girls Kaitlin Wenz won the long jump and Paulina Finn was first in the triple jump.   South Wasco finished second in both the boys and girls standings at a five-team meet in Madras.  Dawson Herlocker and Michael Cuevas won two events for the Redside boys, while Ana Popchock won a pair for the girls.