The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce is taking nominations for its 2018 Distinguished Citizens Awards coming up in January.  Awards are presented in eight different categories.  Chamber CEO Lisa Farquharson says the award banquet shows the positivity and caring of The Dalles area and its citizens.  Nominations are being taken until December 8, call The Dalles Chamber at 541-296-2231 to receive a nomination form.  Tickets for the January 18 banquet at the Fort Dalles Readiness Center are also available by calling 541-296-2231.

The Port of Hood River has one more piece of maintenance work it wants to do on the Hood River/White Salmon Interstate Bridge before winter weather settles in.  Last week crews repaired a light fixture on the bridge that had come loose due to vibrations breaking the masthead.  Port of Hood River Executive Director Michael McElwee says other fixtures on the bridge were checked during that repair.  McElwee adds the final task to get done is deck welding that had been planned for late summer but was delayed due to the need to open up the bridge to detoured freeway traffic during the Eagle Creek Fire.  The Port has been undertaking a series of maintenance efforts in recent months to extend the lifespan of the bridge while planning for a new structure begins.

Cole Kortge caught six passes for 136 yards and three touchdowns as the Dufur Rangers moved closer to a third straight state championship with a 58-28 win over Falls City in an OSAA/U.S. Bank/Les Schwab Tires Class 1A football semi-final at Liberty High School in Hillsboro.  Tanner Masterson’s 58 yard kickoff return for a touchdown on the final play of the first half gave the Rangers a 32-22 halftime lead, and Dufur then made a couple of defensive stops in the third quarter before the offense scored two touchdowns in less than two minutes to pull away.  Derek Frakes passed for 174 yards and three touchdowns, while Hagen Pence ran for 92 yards, threw a 60-yard TD pass, and had 11 tackles on defense.  The Rangers meet Hosanna Christian for the 1A state championship this Saturday at noon at Cottage Grove High School.

The Skamania County Sheriff’s Office continued search efforts on Friday for a lost hunter in the Forlorn Lakes area on the east side of the Indian Heaven Wilderness.  37-year-old Joel Presler of Vancouver remains missing and has not been heard from since last Saturday.  Presler’s pickup was located by deputies on Wednesday off a forest road.  Search efforts Friday were focused on getting ground searchers to the area of Lake Comcomly as well attempting to locate an old cabin in the proximity of where the vehicle was located.  About ten volunteers are assisting along with snowmobiles and personnel from the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife.  Weather conditions in the area improved Friday.  Precipitation was minimal with partly cloudy skies.

The Dalles Warming Place will be operating again this winter at St. Vincent dePaul’s Ministry Building on West 3rd Street.  Volunteers run the shelter for those who find themselves on the streets in The Dalles during the winter.  Georgia Giacobbe says they once again will be open between November and March based on nightly temperatures.  The shelter will be open on nights when it is 30 degrees or below, with wind chill factored in, or 35 degrees or below in wet conditions.  Shelter hours will be from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.  The first potential night of operation will be this Sunday night.  The Dalles Warming Place could use more volunteers to help operate the shelter.  To volunteer call Ed Elliott at 541-386-5857.

A garbage truck turning into a driveway and hitting a power pole led to Friday’s power outage in Hood River.  Hood River County Sheriff Matt English says no one was injured in the accident on the 1000 block of Tucker Road, near a Pacific Power substation.  Tom Gauntt of Pacific Power said about 7,700 customers in Hood River and Wasco counties were impacted by the outage, which started at about 6:55 a.m.  Power was restored by 8 a.m.

Installation of a new track and synthetic turf field at Hood River Valley High School’s Henderson Stadium will start in April.  The school has been discussing the project for some time, and will be paid for through a matching grant from the state from their bond sale of over a year ago along with a good bond rate that brought in additional funds.  HRV Athletic Director Tom Ames says it will lead to some inconveniences for the school’s track and field and lacrosse teams this spring, but when it is done will improve playing conditions for a number of sports and allow the field in particular to receive more use.  Ames pointed out finding practice facilities for the track team will be the biggest issue.  The new field should be ready for the start of the 2018 fall sports season.

The Hood River Warming Shelter will open for the winter this Sunday night.  For the first time the shelter has hired a part-time director, Laura Westmeyer, and she says they also will have a permanent location for the winter at Riverside Church on State Street next to the Hood River County Courthouse.  The shelter will be open from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. every night until March 10.  There is still a need for volunteers and donations to help the shelter serve those in need of a place to stay during the cold winter nights.  For information on how to help, go to hoodrivercares.org.

There will be intermittent, single-lane closures on the Hood River/White Salmon Interstate Bridge Friday between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.  Port crews and Gorge Electric contract crews will be on the bridge making the repairs to bridge lights.  Bridge users are encouraged to plan for delays during these hours.  Delays are expected throughout the day from 15-30 minutes depending on traffic volume.

White Salmon City Councilors are looking at revising sewer and water rates to better differentiate between the types of usage by customers of the system.  Mayor David Poucher expects that for most people, rates won’t change significantly.  White Salmon reviews water and sewer rates about every five years.  Poucher said new rate structures would be approved as the municipal budget for 2018 is passed over the next month.