A group of Columbia River Gorge governmental agencies held an event in Salem last week to talk with legislators about various issues of importance to them.  Port of The Dalles Executive Director Andrea Klaas says one of those topics was trying to get the $40,000 per year to Hood River and Wasco counties to help administer Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area ordinances back into the state budget.  Klaas noted local officials reminded legislators that the money has been a part of the state budget since 1991 to help counties deal with the additional responsibility.

Search operations for a missing skier at Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Resort entered a third full day Friday.  Searchers have been looking since Tuesday night for 57-year-old Steve Leavitt of The Dalles.  Hood River County Sheriff’s Sergeant Pete Hughes says they have been assisted in the air Friday by the Sheriff’s office airplane and an Air National Guard helicopter.  He added weather conditions have been more conducive to search operations.  Leavitt was last seen when his ski pass was scanned at 11:20 Tuesday morning on the Heather Canyon Chair Lift.

Columbia Gorge Community College has become the first Hispanic-serving institution of higher education in Oregon to become a member of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU), a national organization centered on improving educational achievement for America’s largest minority group.   CGCC is the only college in the state to meet the U.S. Department of Education’s standards as a Hispanic-serving institution of higher education as of the end of the 2016 calendar year.  CGCC’s Hispanic enrollment currently stands at 26 percent, but school officials have noted that does not reflect the region’s demographics.  Hispanics now constitute 34 percent of the student population in North Wasco County School District 21 and 43.5 percent of students enrolled in Hood River County School District.  The school has made increasing Hispanic enrollment one of its goals.

26th District Oregon State Senator Chuck Thomsen and 52nd District Representative Mark Johnson will take part in a press conference on Monday calling for the Legislature to fund Measure 98 approved by voters last fall.  The ballot measure requires school districts to allocate $800 per student for career-technical courses, college credit courses, and dropout intervention programs.  But many in the legislature want to amend or delay the measure as the state budget faces a one-point-eight billion dollar budget gap.  Thomsen says the funds should be added on top of K-12 education allotments.  Three Portland-area Democrats:  Rod Monroe, Jeff Reardon, and Janeen Sollman, will take part with the two Hood River-area Republicans in the press conference.

Crystal Springs Water District has lifted a boil water order that had been effect since Tuesday afternoon for customers in the areas of Kollas, Gilhouley, and Shute roads.  Mike Garrett of Crystal Springs says test results the district received today on water samples came back showing the water was safe to drink.  A mainline break occurred on Massee Grade Road Tuesday afternoon that caused customers in the higher elevation areas of Kollas, Gilhouley, and Shute roads to experience low water pressure.

Search operations for a missing skier at Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Resort resumed today.  Searchers have been looking since Tuesday night for 57-year-old Steve Leavitt of The Dalles.  Hood River County Sheriff’s Sergeant Pete Hughes says 33 searchers are out this morning, representing the Crag Rats, Portland Mountain Rescue, the 304th Air Force Reserves Rescue Squadron, Deschutes County, and Mountainwave Commuications.  Hughes says weather is difficult, with rainy conditions on the heels of over five feet of snow over the last five days leading to high avalanche danger, which has closed off a portion of the search area.  Leavitt was last seen when his ski pass was scanned at 11:20 Tuesday morning on the Heather Canyon Chair Lift.  Hughes said members of Leavitt’s family are at the site.

Union Pacific Railroad’s lawsuit that argued the railroad should be able to proceed with an expansion of railroad tracks in the Mosier area without approval under Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area rules was dismissed by a federal judge on Wednesday.  In her written order, District Court Judge Ann Aiken dismissed the lawsuit because the railroad had failed to include three Northwest Indian Treaty Tribes as defendants in the case.  Union Pacific filed a land use application with Wasco County pursuant to the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area Act, seeking to build a second mainline track in the Mosier area, but the Wasco County Commission denied the rail expansion project because treaty tribes did not give their approval to the project, as required under the County’s National Scenic Area ordinance.  That decision is scheduled to be the subject of an appeal hearing before the Columbia River Gorge Commission on June 13.  In their suit, Union Pacific named Wasco County Commissioners, Wasco County planning director Angie Brewer, and six of the thirteen Gorge Commissioners as defendants.

Time is running out for those wishing to run for special district boards in Oregon during the May 16 election.  Seats on boards that oversee port, school, fire, water, public health, and parks and recreation districts are on the ballot in both Hood River and Wasco counties.  Deadline to file for these elections is next Thursday at 5 p.m.  For information on how to file, contact the Hood River County Elections office at 541-386-1442 or the Wasco County Elections office at 541-506-2530.

The annual Columbia Gorge Wind Challenge will be at the Fort Dalles Readiness Center on Saturday.  Over 50 middle and high school teams will take part in the event.  Google’s Dave Karlson says those teams will be given a box of parts when they arrive and will make working wind turbines.  There will also be a STEM fair featuring hands-on exhibits from OMSI, Gorge Makerspace, Bonneville Power Administration, and more.  The Challenge will run from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Fort Dalles Readiness Center.  It is put on by Google, the Gorge Technology Alliance, and Columbia Gorge Community College.

Crystal Springs Water District customers in the areas of Kollas, Gilhouley, and Shute roads are being advised to boil their water for the next couple of days.  Mike Garrett of Crystal Springs says a mainline break occurred on Massee Grade Road on Tuesday at around 4 p.m.  That caused customers in the higher elevation areas of Kollas, Gilhouley, and Shute roads to experience low water pressure.  The boil notice will be in place for 48 hours.