The Next Door and Greater Oregon Behavioral Health will hold informal open houses in October for anyone interested in becoming a foster parent in Wasco and Hood River counties.  Amy Lindley of The Next Door says they will be holding the sessions at lunch time to educate people about the need for more foster parents to help children between six and 18.  She says most of the children that come to them with emotional, behavioral, and medical needs, and they work with the children in treatment and skill building to get to a place where they can go home and better able to handle the things they are working through.  The open houses will run from noon to one this Monday, October 9, and Monday, October 16 from noon to 1 p.m. at Mid-Columbia Fire and Rescue in The Dalles.  Lunch will be provided, call 541-399-4276 to RSVP.

Boys Soccer Hood River Valley 1, Hermiston 1:  Robby Running’s goal on a cross by Erik Pitones gave the Eagles the equalizing goal in the 55^th minute.  Hermiston had opened the scoring in the 15^th minute on a goal by Joel Mendez. The Dalles 4, Pendleton 2   Girls Soccer Hood River Valley 0, Hermiston 0 The Dalles 1, Pendleton 0 Royal 4, Goldendale 0   Volleyball Hood River Valley def. The Dalles 25-16, 25-14, 17-25, 17-25, 15-8 Sherman def. Mitchell-Spray 25-12, 25-13, 25-8 Dufur def. Ione 25-18, 25-21, 25-13 Seton Catholic def. Stevenson 25-17, 25-22, 25-13 Castle Rock def. Columbia 3 sets to 0 Goldendale def. Highland 25-9, 25-15, 25-4   Girls Water Polo Hood River Valley 12, David Douglas 3

The new Gorge Works internship and apprenticeship program is going to mark Friday’s U.S. Manufacturing Day with business tours and job seeker skills help.  Kathy Ursprung of the Port of The Dalles says they are trying to show the well-paying skilled career opportunities in the Columbia Gorge.  Drop-in job seeker skills help will be available from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursday at Worksource Oregon’s Hood River affiliate office at Columbia Gorge Community College’s Indian Creek campus, and Friday at the same time at Worksource Oregon’s office in The Dalles.  Tours of different businesses are being offered Thursday and Friday.  A complete schedule is at Gorgeworks.com, but sign up is required for the tours by Wednesday by calling the Port of The Dalles at 541-298-4148.

Oregon Senator Ron Wyden will hold a town hall next week in The Dalles.  Wyden will be at the Stan and Jean Adams Veterans Community Center in the Oregon Veterans Home in The Dalles next Friday, October 13 at 5 p.m.  Wyden will also hold town halls next week in Malheur, Baker, and Union counties.  It will be the second town hall in Wasco County for Wyden this year.  The four scheduled in the state next week will move the number of town halls he has held in Oregon this year to 73.

Cooler temperatures and increased precipitation have led the Oregon Department of Forestry to end its regulated closure in the Central Oregon District as of Tuesday.  Fire season is still in effect for the district, restricting the use of tracer ammunition and exploding targets as well as other forestry activities.  Campfires are allowed on ODF protected lands in central Oregon, however open burning in The Dalles Unit requires a burn permit.  The Industrial Fire Precaution Level (IFPL) for Hood River and Wasco counties has been reduced to Level 1.  Fire season restrictions are still in place in for the district, including requirements for hand tools, fire watch, equipment standards, and water supply.  Smoking is not allowed while working or traveling in an operation area.

The History Museum of Hood River County has opened a new called “Sharing History, Building Community:  the Latino Experience in Hood River County.”  The museum’s Lynn Orr says the exhibition was designed through a narrative developed by a Latino advisory committee, starting with the path of Hispanic explorations in the 16th to 18th centuries and the various nations Oregon’s Latino community comes from.  The traditional culture is also included in the exhibit.  The exhibit will be on display until the end of the year at the museum in Hood River’s Port Marina Park.  It is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

The Step It Up! Students walk-to-school program for this year will get underway in The Dalles on Wednesday.  The program run by the North Central Public Health District and Wasco County Medical Corps aims to encourage local students, chaperones, and others to incorporate walking as a part of a healthy lifestyle.  The first walk-to-school day for this year will be held in conjunction with National Walk to School Day on Wednesday, and then will take place the first Wednesday of the month throughout the school year.  Chaperones and students gather at the designated gathering locations at 7:15 and the walk to school begins at 7:25 a.m.  Starting locations include Juanita’s Market at 2865 West 7th for Chenowith Elementary School…the parking lot on the corner of West 10th and Trevitt for Colonel Wright Elementary and St. Mary’s Academy….with another Colonel Wright meeting spot at the corner of West 14th and Lincoln…and the parking lot of Gateway Presbyterian Church at 1111 Dry Hollow Road for Dry Hollow Elementary School.

Boys Soccer North Clackamas Christian 5, Horizon Christian 0   Girls Water Polo Hood River Valley 14, Reynolds 4

Firefighters continued to work on fire suppression repair around large parts of the Eagle Creek Fire on Sunday and will likely continue for several more days.   Fire Management Office Darren Kennedy calls it the largest fire suppression repair project in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area since it was established in 1986.  A Burned Area Emergency Response Team assigned to the fire finalized a Soil Burn Severity map.  They identified 15% of the fire area as having high burn severity and 30% with moderate burn severity, with the remaining 55% at low or very low burn severity.  High burn severity is characterized by the burning of all or nearly all of the ground cover and surface organic matter, including fine roots.  Moderate burn severity has consumption of up to 80% of the ground cover.  In areas with low burn severity, much of the organic matter on the surface is not fully burned and roots are generally intact.  The fire containment level remains at 46%, and the acreage at 48,831.

North Wasco County School District 21 is continuing work toward putting together a bond measure to put before voters in the November 2018 election.  D-21 Superintendent Candy Armstrong says the public relations firm hired to do public outreach and education on the district’s building needs will spend two days this month visiting D-21’s facilities.  Armstrong says the district will start in January to take facilities planning done last year one step further, moving into strategies and design for the first proposed new building, probably a high school.  Armstrong confirms the target date to send a bond proposal to the ballot remains November of next year.