The Port of Hood River Commission has given the go-ahead for making an application to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s FASTLANE program for funding for preliminary planning for a replacement of the Hood River/White Salmon Interstate Bridge.  Port Communications and Special Projects Director Genevieve Scholl says they will be submitting to the small grants program, which has a minimum ask amount of five million dollars and a 40 percent match requirement.  The Port will provide the matching funds through bridge toll revenues.  The deadline to make the application is December 15, but when the Port would get an answer is unknown.  Scholl says they hope to learn if the application is successful by the end of the current fiscal year.

North Wasco County School District 21 is moving into the next phase of long-term facilities planning, aiming towards going to voters with a bond measure in the near future.  Superintendent Candy Armstrong says they have a facilitator in place, and the process of coming up with names to take part in a group that will help make recommendations on the direction the district will go is underway.  Armstrong did emphasize the D-21 board continues to have a goal of putting a bond measure before voters in May 2017.  Monday evening, the district board will hold a worksession with Mosier Community School officials about future needs for that facility, beginning at 6:30 p.m. in The Dalles Middle School library.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation and Bonneville Power Administration will hold one of a series of public meetings in preparation for an environmental impact statement on operations of 14 federal dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers and salmon restoration in The Dalles on Tuesday.  The meeting is one of 15 scheduled after a U.S. District Court ruling last May sent dam operators back to the drawing board and set a new planning process in motion.  That decision rejected the federal agencies’ previous salmon restoration plan, a victory for fish advocates.  The meeting in The Dalles will take place from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center.

Boys Basketball Hood River Valley 66, Redmond 37 Sandy 73, The Dalles 54 Columbia 60, Lyle-Wishram 35 Perrydale 53, Dufur 43 Sherman 79, Grant Union 53 Sherman 85, Stanfield 67 South Wasco 53, North Lake 28 Damascus Christian 37, South Wasco 24 Damascus Christian 40, Klickitat 24 Klickitat 57, North Lake 38 Horizon Christian 61, Mitchell-Spray 15 Horizon Christian 55, Arlington 51 (overtime) Mabton 50, Goldendale 49   Girls Basketball Sandy 36, The Dalles 34 Hood River Valley 47, LaGrande 41 Madras 33, Hood River Valley 28 Columbia 53, Lyle-Wishram 38 Stevenson 57, Hudson’s Bay 32 Grant Union 55, Sherman 33 Sherman 53, Stanfield 47 Damascus Christian 44, Klickitat 24 North Lake 35, South Wasco 28 South Wasco 38, Klickitat 24 Horizon Christian 55, Mitchell-Spray 20 Arlington 34, Horizon Christian 27 Perrydale 31, Dufur 21 Mabton 62, Goldendale 33   Wrestling Jonathan Urenda of The Dalles finished sixth at 195 pounds to lead the Riverhawks effort at the Tyrone Woods Memorial Tournament in Oregon City.  The Dalles was tied for sixteenth in the team standings.   Goldendale’s Isaiah Rowley was third at 285 pounds at the A.C. Davis Invitational in Yakima, with the Timberwolves finishing 12th as a team.

Oregon Second District Congressman Greg Walden was tabbed by the House GOP Steering Committee to be the next Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.  The Republican from Hood River will be the first chair of that panel, the oldest standing legislative committee in the House, from the Pacific Northwest.  The Energy and Commerce Committee has responsibility for the nation’s telecommunications, consumer protection, food and drug safety, public health research, environmental quality, energy policy, and interstate and foreign commerce.  Walden has been on that committee since 2001.  He said he was “deeply honored to earn the support of my colleagues to chair this incredibly important committee,” adding “Americans are looking for big improvements out of Washington.”

The month-long Hood River Holidays celebration kicks off Friday evening.  Downtown merchants will start things off with a happy hour from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., followed by a parade beginning at Seventh and Oak at 6 p.m. and heading downtown, followed by the annual tree lighting and caroling at Overlook Memorial Park at 7 p.m.  Matt Werbach of the Hood River County Chamber of Commerce says while visitors do come to the town during the holiday season, the center of this event is the local community.  Werbach adds the Chamber is encouraging the local community to do their Christmas shopping in the local area.

The North Central Public Health District will kick off its community walking groups program this Saturday morning at Lewis and Clark Festival Park in The Dalles.  The district’s Dillon Melady says Step It Up! The Dalles is intended to encourage physical activity through social support.  Community-based walking groups will meet weekly and walk together in an effort to promote healthy habits.  Saturday’s event will run from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., starting at Lewis and Clark Festival Park with groups walking different routes around The Dalles.  For more information on the Step It Up! The Dalles program, call North Central Public Health District at 541-506-2600.

Hood River County has instituted a temporary seasonal closure of gates on some forest roads in the county.  Gates were closed and locked Thursday in an effort to block vehicular traffic and protect the County’s road system during a time of year when it is most vulnerable to damage.  Gates that were locked are on Post Canyon Road just to the north of Post Flats Staging Area, Riordan Hill Road approximately ¼ mile to the west of Family Man Staging Area and another near Binns Hill Road, on upper Riordan Hill Road accessing the Viento Ridge area, and across Forest Road 2400 north of Lower Kingsley Reservoir.  The gates will be closed for the remainder of winter season and will be reopened on or about April 1, 2017.

Boys Basketball Sandy 61, Hood River Valley 42 Glencoe 63, The Dalles 36 Stevenson 78, Horizon Christian 55:  Austin Brannan scored 28 points and had nine rebounds, while Issac Hoidel added 16 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs. Riverside 57, Columbia 44:  William Gross scored 16 points and Brady Trullinger 12 for the Bruins.   Girls Basketball Sandy 37, Hood River Valley 27:  The Pioneers used a second quarter run to take the lead for good.  Hannah McKinney led Sandy with 11 points, while Emily Curtis topped HRV with 11. The Dalles 57, Centennial 50 Stevenson 52, Horizon Christian 47:  Amya St. Martin led the Bulldogs with 14 points while Peighton Campbell added 12. Riverside 52, Columbia 30

Representatives of over 20 different community groups formalized on Tuesday the creation of the Food Security Coalition, pledging to work together to reduce hunger in the Gorge.  For the last six months the agencies have worked to identify gaps in the food system and set priorities to reduce food insecurity in the Gorge through an Oregon Solutions process.  Ken Bailey of Orchard View Farms, a co-convener of the Oregon Solutions project, says the coalition will allow collective resources to be used.  The Coalition has already been awarded grant monies to fund a program manager that will work out of the Gorge Grown Food Network, which will be a “backbone organization” for the coalition.  The group has also developed a collaboration between tribal members, the Department of Human Services, and the Oregon Food Bank to begin bi-monthly deliveries of produce to Celilo Village.