The Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area announced that a timed use permit will be required for visitors using the Multnomah Falls parking lot off I-84 daily between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. from May 23 through September 1. The Scenic Area says the purpose of the permit system is to help reduce congestion, increase safety and improve overall visitor experience. Timed Use Permits will be available online at recreation.gov for a $2 transaction fee per vehicle. Permits will be released two weeks prior to the visit date. There will also be a limited amount of in-person, same-day permits, with no fee, at the Gateway to the Gorge Visitor Center in Troutdale and the Cascade Locks Historical Museum. Each permit lists a one-hour time slot in which you can arrive and then stay for as long as you would like that day. A timed use permit does not guarantee parking. To visit Multnomah Falls without a permit, take Columbia Area Transit, including service from Cascade Locks, Hood River, and the Gateway Transit Center in Portland, modify the timing of your trip to before or after the permit times and peak visitation, or plan your visit prior to Memorial Day or after Labor Day, when there is less congestion.
May 7 Prep Sports Roundup
Baseball
Canby 6, Hood River Valley 1: Canby scored all of their runs in the first two innings to stay unbeaten in Northwest Oregon Conference play.
The Dalles 7, Crook County 6: Spencer Dray singled home Trey Hodges with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning to keep the Riverhawks one game ahead of Molalla in the Trico League.
Columbia 23, Stevenson 0: Jaden Wang drove in five runs while Brody Landgren and Dylan Landgren drove in three apiece as CHS cruised to the win.
Softball
Canby 9, Hood River Valley 0: Aly Hayzlett handcuffed the Eagle batters in pitching a two-hit shutout, while Taylor Saucedo had three hits and drove in four runs.
The Dalles 7, Crook County 3: Aizlynn Rubio homered and drove in two runs for the Riverhawks, who remained a game behind Gladstone in the TVC.
Track and Field
Hood River Valley’s girls topped Parkrose 79-50 in a Northwest Oregon Conference dual meet, while the Broncos won the boys’ half 69-57. Lilah Tactay and Georgiana Williams won two events apiece for the HRV girls while Matt Trickey and Wyeth Droege did the same for the Eagle boys.
Boys Tennis
Hood River Valley 8, Hillsboro 0
Girls Tennis
Hood River Valley 8, Hillsboro 1
Girls Lacrosse
Oregon Episcopal 13, Hood River Valley 9
D21 Budget Committee Starts Work
North Wasco County School District 21’s budget committee convened for the first time on Tuesday evening, hearing reports from both Superintendent Carolyn Bernal and Chief Financial Officer Randy Anderson. In her budget message, Bernal told the group the 2025-26 budget is being built on a state school fund estimate of $11.4 billion for the biennium, pending approval by the Oregon Legislature. She said like all school districts in the state, D-21 is dealing with increasing costs. Anderson says nine positions have been removed from the budget, but much of that will be achieved through attrition. Three of the eliminated positions are at the administrative level. They will meet again on next Tuesday.
The Dalles Budget Committee Wraps Up Work
The Dalles municipal budget committee wrapped up its work on Tuesday evening, sending a recommendation to approve the budget with a few changes to it. Once again, there was substantial discussion on the process for awarding grants to local non-profits groups and other non-profits from the tourism promotion fund that gets shifted to the general fund. The committee did approve giving the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center its full request of just over $10,000 to continue digital archiving of historic photos, increase the grant from a proposed $6,000. Councilor Dan Richardson says they need to give the staff a dollar amount and guidelines for the process. The budget now goes to the City Council for final approval in June.
May 6 Prep Sports Roundup
Baseball
LaSalle 9, Hood River Valley 5: A six-run fifth inning including a grand slam by the Falcons’ Tersom Horsom sent LaSalle to a sweep of the two-game series.
Irrigon 11, Sherman 8
EWAC First Round: River View 9, Goldendale 2
Softball
LaSalle 7, Hood River Valley 6: The Falcons score three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to hand the Eagles’ their first Northwest Oregon Conference loss and snap HRV’s 11-game winning streak.
Columbia 10, Stevenson 7: Hailie Kock drove in five runs on three hits to lead the Bruins to the win.
EWAC First Round: Warden 12, Goldendale 2
Boys Soccer
Columbia 4, King’s Way Christian 0
Fort Vancouver 7, Stevenson 1
Track and Field
The Dalles’ Derek Goulart, Olivia Prado, Willow Ziegenhagen, and Marie-Louise McCracken and Trout Lake’s Melody Stock and Violette Anderson all won two events each at The Dalles Small School Invitational at Sid White Field.
Goldendale’s boys were second and the girls’ third at a five-school EWAC Meet at Cle Elum-Roslyn. Emma Meagher won three events for the Timberwolf girls, and Matthew Gray two for the Goldendale boys,
Boys Tennis
The Dalles 3, Molalla 0
Wilsonville 5, Hood River Valley 3
Girls Golf
The Dalles finished seventh at the Catlin Gabel Invitational at Rock Creek Golf Course. Hailey Cain was the top Riverhawk finisher in 20th.
Boys Lacrosse
Central Catholic 12, Hood River Valley 6
Boys Volleyball
Hood River Valley def. LaSalle 25-16, 25-18, 25-20
May 5 Prep Sports Roundup
Baseball
Molalla 12, The Dalles 2: Molalla scored in every inning except the third to tighten the Tri-Valley Conference race, moving back within a game of the Riverhawks and earning a split of the two-game series.
Columbia 18, Stevenson 2: Kai Brausell homered and drove in five runs at the plate and struck out 11 on the mound to lead the Bruins.
Softball
The Dalles 15, Molalla 2: Morgan Donivan and Siyra Faulkner drove in three runs each as the Riverhawks stay a game back of Gladstone in the Tri-Valley Conference.
Goldendale 10, Granger 6: BryLee Mulrony had a single, a double, and a triple and drove in four runs to lead the Timberwolves, while Maggie Gutierrez also had three hits and drove in two runs.
Boys Golf
Hood River Valley held off Canby by one shot to win the Hood River Invitational at Indian Creek. The Eagles’ Aksel Betz was co-medalist with a two-over-par 74, tying Connor Holden of Canby and Jonas Caddell of LaSalle.
Girls Golf
Wilsonville won the Hood River Invitational with the host Eagles in fourth, grabbing the top four individual places. Kristin Fox was the top finisher for HRV in seventh.
Girls Lacrosse
Hood River Valley 13, Central Catholic 5
The Dalles Budget Committee Starts Work
The Dalles municipal budget committee began its work on Monday, spending about three hours listening to staff presentations on the various sections of the 2025-26 fiscal plan. In his budget message, City Manager Matthew Klebes told the panel made up of Councilors and citizen volunteers that in an era when many cities are facing budget difficulties with restricted revenue growth, increasing costs, the end of temporary funding, and compounding long-term needs, the City of The Dalles has a more positive outlook, thanks to strategic planning. Klebes says the 25-26 budget fulfills core services focused on infrastructure and public safety while funding key economic development efforts and supporting key partners. He notes it maintains a contingency reserve in the general fund of 10% of the budget. The committee will continue its work Tuesday evening at 5:30 in The Dalles City Hall.
May 2-3 Prep Sports
Baseball
LaSalle 3, Hood River Valley 0: The Eagles lost for the first time in the Northwest Oregon Conference after six straight wins, as the Falcons’ Declan O’Brien pitched a three-hitter.
Sherman splits with Weston-McEwen, winning game one 3-0 on a three-hit shutout by Leven Whitbeck, who struck out 13, but losing game two 15-14 when the Tiger-Scots scored six runs in the fifth inning to overcome Whitbeck’s three hits and six runs batted in.
Softball
Hood River Valley 8, LaSalle 3: The Eagles won their eleventh straight game and took over first place in the Northwest Oregon Conference. Bella Belcher went four for four at the plate, and Kenadie Lucas registered a three-run double.
LaCenter 14, Stevenson 4
Goldendale split with Granger, winning game one 11-8 on a three-run inside-the-park home run by Hayden Sheridan in the eighth inning, but dropping the nightcap 21-20 as Granger scored four in the bottom of the sixth to tie and got the game winning run in the seventh.
Track and Field
Logan King won both the 1500 and 3000 meters as Hood River Valley’s boys finished in a tie for third at the Centennial Invitational
Horizon Christian won the boys’ title while Trout Lake was the girls’ winner at the South Wasco Invitational. Dufur’s Nolan Cates won three boys events, while Cora Sharp, Violette Anderson, and Melody Stock won two events each in the girls’ competition.
The Dalles’ Derek Goulart won the boys’ high jump, and he joined David McCracken, River McClure, and Zachary Rawls in winning the four-by-100 meter relay at the Hermiston Kiwanis Twilight Invitational
Victories by Sara Miller, Samantha Evans, and the four-by-100 meter relay team lifted Columbia’s girls to a second place finish at the Panther Twilight in Washougal
Boys Soccer
Columbia 4, LaCenter 0
Seton Catholic 2, Stevenson 0
Boys Tennis
Pendleton 4, The Dalles 2
Girls Tennis
Pendleton 5, The Dalles 0
The Dalles 4, Sherman 1
Big River CLT Part Of First Capacity Building Grants
Oregon Housing and Community Services says it is seeing promising progress from the first recipients of its Pre-Development and Capacity-Building grants designed to expand homeownership development across the state, including a project in Hood River. Big River Community Land Trust has broken ground on its first house and purchased 2.7 acres of land in Hood River. Big River CLT board president Doug Baker says they hope to build 40 to 50 affordable and sustainable cottages. The organization used the funding to hire Alysha Sherburne as their executive director, who reached out to a wide array of community groups, businesses, local government, and individuals. That culminated in a significant donation to support the trust’s operating expenses for the year. The PDCB program was established in 2023 as part of the larger Homeownership Development Incubator Program, which uses General Funds to support partners and projects not typically eligible for other homeownership development funds.
ODF Sees Uptick In Escaped Burn Pile Fires
The Oregon Department of Forestry’s Central Oregon District is seeing an uptick in escaped debris burn piles, with several over the past few weeks burning up to 30 acres in size. The agency says a recent 8-acre fire resulted from a week-old burn pile that was assumed to be out cold but rekindled several days later, requiring suppression action by firefighters. Not following burn day instructions, one of which is thoroughly checking the burn piles later when the weather shifts, are the leading causes of these escapes. Central Oregon District Forester Rob Pentzer reminds residents that escaped debris burns can lead to citations and cost collection from the responsible party for any suppression costs. ODF Fire Managers and Fire District Chiefs want to remind residents to check with their local fire district to ensure that burning is allowed on a given day, follow all instructions after obtaining any necessary permits, watch weather forecasts for wind and rapid changes, ensure you have a safe fire area cleared around your pile with water and tools readily available, and monitor your pile until it has consumed all fuels, then stir with water until the area is out cold. May is Wildfire Awareness Month.