The Northern Oregon Regional Correctional Facility board met for about two hours Friday, mostly in executive session, to discuss a Disability Rights of Oregon report that was extremely critical of NORCOR’s juvenile detention facility, and reached consensus on having NORCOR legal counsel Will Carey and Wasco County attorney Kristen Campbell put together a public response with assistance from NORCOR administrator Bryan Brandenburg and juvenile director Jeff Justesen.  The board along with representatives from sheriff’s offices, juvenile departments, and other county commissioners all indicated they believe most of the accusations in the report are exaggerated, some areas that need correcting are being worked on, and a number of the concerns were things NORCOR is not responsible for.  NORCOR board and Wasco County Commission Chair Rod Runyon said he believes they are moving in a positive direction, adding they have to take any charges seriously.  Other county commissioners were critical of Wasco County’s letter released Wednesday evening that said they would redirect any youth in NORCOR custody to a different facility pending resolution of the findings and recommendations from the report, with Hood River County Commission Chair Ron Rivers saying “We are a four-county institution, we don’t act autonomously.”  Runyon said he feels good about Wasco County youth being at NORCOR, with fellow Wasco County Commissioner Scott Hege adding he feels it’s a quality facility.  Justesen pointed out that Umatilla County have two youth currently in the facility and are not removing them, the Bureau of Indian Affairs did a site visit and will report to the Warm Springs tribal government their children are treated well and safe, and three other counties plan to continue placing juveniles with NORCOR.  The Oregon Youth Authority has been invited to do an inspection in the near future.

Wrestling Hood River Valley 57, St. Helens 18:  The Eagles won eight matches by fall on the way to the dual meet victory. Highland 45, Goldendale 24 Naches Valley 48, Goldendale 24   Boys Basketball West Sydney, Austrailia 69, Lyle-Wishram 68:  Jason Khattar scored 25 points for the Australians, while Riley Mills paced the Cougars with 16.

The Northern Oregon Regional Correctional Facility Board of Directors will hold an emergency meeting Friday morning to discuss a Disability Rights of Oregon report that was extremely critical of NORCOR’s juvenile detention facility.  In a letter to the NORCOR board on Wednesday night, Wasco County Commissioners said they will immediately redirect any youth in NORCOR custody to a different facility pending resolution of the findings and  recommendations from the report, and also asked for an independent investigation and to have oversight of NORCOR’s juvenile facility turned over to a committee of local juvenile directors.  Wasco County Commission and NORCOR board chair Rod Runyon says before they sent the letter the Oregon Youth Authority had already indicated they would cease sending juveniles to NORCOR, and he has received word about other counties either taking or considering the same step.  Runyon added he doesn’t believe 100 percent of the accusations in the report are true and many of them have been corrected.  Hood River County Commissioner Ron Rivers, who is also on the NORCOR board, felt the report overreacted, adding “I think they were comparing maybe an adult facility to a juvenile facility.  I thought they were totally out of their realm.  There were some deficiencies that were brought up that we are addressing now.”  Friday’s meeting begins at 9 a.m. in the NORCOR juvenile detention center conference room.

A man has been sentenced to 99 months in prison for the killing another man after a fight at an apartment in The Dalles in January.  Zoey Pike received the sentence from Wasco County Circuit Judge Karen Ostrye after an all-day settlement conference.  Pike stabbed Nathan Preyapongpison after a fight in a Liberty Street apartment, with Pike claiming to police he acted in self-defense and thought Preyapongpison had a weapon.  Wasco County District Attorney Eric Nisley said during the sentencing it was a senseless and tragic crime fueled by drugs, alcohol, and jealousy, noting both men were intoxicated and used drugs prior to the fight.  According to court documents, Pike had moved to The Dalles from Seattle to live with a woman who had told him she had broken up with Preyapongpisan, but when Pike arrived it did not appear that had occurred and the two men developed an antagonistic relationship.  Both men were age 20 at the time of the incident.  The settlement conference include the family of the victim.

Boys Basketball Sandy 64, The Dalles 59:  The Riverhawks lose for the first time in three games this season.  Dakota Murr scored 27 for The Dalles while Josh Nisbet added 13.  Kaleb Hunter scored 18 for Sandy.

This is an important time of the year for FISH Food Bank in Hood River County.  The holiday season brings the bulk of donations that FISH uses to provide food to those in need all year long.  FISH Board Chair Marianne Durkan says 2017 has been a busy year for the food bank.  Hood River Valley High School’s annual food drive for FISH is underway, and donations can be made at Hood River supermarkets.  Cash donations can be made at fish-food-bank.com.

There are no local affordable housing projects that would be impacted if the tax overhaul bill at the federal level eliminates the tax-exempt status for private activity bonds that help fund that type of construction, but it would remove a potential option.  Mid-Columbia Housing Authority executive director Joel Madsen says they have not utilized the bonds in their projects and they tend to be used for larger projects than we have seen here, but he notes housing advocates don’t want to see any options taken away, and want Congress to preserve three different programs.  Officials with the housing authority in Portland say the U.S. could lose nearly one million units of affordable housing over ten years if the final bill eliminates the tax-exempt status for private activity bonds.

Wasco County Commissioners have informed the Northern Oregon Regional Correctional Facility Board of Directors that the County will immediately redirect any youth in NORCOR custody to a different facility pending resolution of the findings and recommendations from a Disability Rights of Oregon report critical of NORCOR’s juvenile detention facility.  The report called conditions there “inhumane,” but NORCOR officials dispute many of the findings.  In a letter released Wednesday night, the Wasco County Commission urged the NORCOR board call an emergency meeting to discuss the report, and demanded an independent investigation be conducted.  It also called for oversight of NORCOR’s juvenile facility to be turned over to a juvenile directors’ oversight committee has prescribed under state law.  Wasco County is one of four partner counties that operate NORCOR, and Wasco County Commissioner Rod Runyon is chair of the NORCOR board.  In Hood River County, Commission Chair Ron Rivers, who is also on the NORCOR board, was surprised by Wasco County’s move.  He feels the report over-reacted, adding “I think they were comparing maybe an adult facility to a juvenile facility.  I thought they were totally out of their realm.  There were some deficiencies that were brought up that we are addressing now.”  Rivers also wants to have an emergency meeting of the NORCOR board.

Northern Oregon Regional Correctional Facility officials are disputing many of the findings in a report by an advocacy group that claims NORCOR’s juvenile facility uses what it termed “inhumane” conditions.  Disability Rights Oregon’s report is based on interviews of youth at NORCOR conducted by an attorney for the group, Sarah Radcliffe, in which she says they told her about long stays in isolation for minor rules infractions and spending up to six hours per day in their cells.  NORCOR juvenile detention manager Jeff Justesen wrote a four page letter to the group prior to the report’s public release outlining what he felt were its inaccuracies, adding he felt the instances cited in the report were exaggerated and sensationalized, while also saying there are areas where they can improve.  Justesen says NORCOR has been revising its juvenile policies and procedures and does so on a continuous basis.  Seventeen Oregon counties, two in Washington, the Warm Springs Reservation, and federal immigration officials send detainees to NORCOR’s juvenile facility.

The Northern Wasco County PUD Board of Directors has approved an operating budget for 2018 with no change in rates.  Board members made that decision despite an over six percent increase in wholesale power costs from the Bonneville Power Administration, which represents the PUD’s largest single expense.  The Board also approved a staff recommendation to keep discounted rates for disabled and low-income customers in place all year instead of seasonally as before.  And starting the first of the year residential customers will not be charged a processing fee for using a bank card for residential bill payment.  The PUD is encouraging customers to utilize electronic bill pay through nwascopud.org.