A pair of public hearings that had been scheduled before the Hood River City Council Monday night will be opened and quickly continued as both issues remain at the planning commission level.  The proposed rezoning of Morrison Park to allow multi-family housing and amendments to the City’s land use ordinance to allow townhouses as an outright permitted use in R-2 and R-3 residential zones both remain at the planning commission level.  Mayor Paul Blackburn says they had hoped to hold Council hearings on the subjects in October, but work on them has taken longer than originally planned.  The City Planning Commission continues deliberations on both subjects on November 7, with the townhouse amendments now expected to come before the Council on November 14 and Morrison Park on November 28.

Football Mountain View 40, Hood River Valley 13 Benson 14, The Dalles 0 Dufur 62, Ione 0 Sherman 62, Perrydale 22   Volleyball Big Sky Tournament First Round Arlington def. Ione 25-14, 25-16, 26-24 Dufur def. South Wasco 25-15, 25-20, 26-24   Third Place Ione def. South Wasco 25-17, 25-19, 25-21 (winner to state) Championship Arlington def. Dufur 3 sets to 0 (both to state)   Lyle-Wishram def. Klickitat-Glenwood 25-13, 25-16, 18-25, 22-25, 15-11

The Port of Hood River will carry out multiple lifts of the Hood River Interstate Bridge lift span throughout the daylight hours of next Thursday through Saturday.  Each lift will require closure of both lanes on the bridge up to 30 minutes in duration.  Closures will occur between the hours of 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. on those three days.  Bridge users are strongly encouraged to plan for up to 40 minute delays or seek alternate routes during those hours.  The lifts are required for the Port’s contract engineers to inspect the bridge’s trunnions and conduct magnetic particle testing of the rack pinion shafts.  The trunnions are critical mechanical systems of the bridge’s lift span, with four located on each of the two bridge towers.  The magnetic particle testing is required to determine their condition and expected longevity of key components.

Recreational salmon and steelhead fishing will close starting Saturday on the Columbia River from Buoy 10 to the Highway 395 Bridge near Pasco under rules adopted this week by fishery managers from Oregon and Washington.  The closure is based on the latest fall Chinook run forecast, which includes ESA-listed Snake River wild Chinook, is tracking at 71 percent of the preseason forecast of 579,600 Chinook.  Coho salmon and steelhead returns have also been revised downward from pre-season forecasts.  Based on the revised run-size projection, fishery managers estimate that combined non-treaty fisheries have exceeded the allowed harvest limit on Upriver Bright Chinook.  The states opted to also close the recreational coho salmon and steelhead seasons to prevent any additional Chinook mortalities that might have occurred as the result of incidental bycatch.

Cross Country Columbia took five of the top ten places to win the boys’ title at the Trico League cross country championships at Vancouver Lake.  The Bruins’ Will Nuckoles, Dylan Beneventi, and Colin Howe took the top three individual spots.  Stevenson was fourth, as Julio Ramos-Vazquez led the Bulldogs in 15^th.  Columbia finished second in the girls’ run to LaCenter.  Joules Hope was the fastest Bruin, taking third place.  Stevenson was fourth, as Kimberly Chestnut was twelfth individually.   Volleyball Scappoose def. The Dalles 25-15, 23-25, 25-9, 25-15:  The Riverhawks will be in a Class 5-A play-in match on the road early next week. Granger def. Goldendale 27-25, 29-27, 25-22 Castle Rock def. Columbia 3 sets to 0 Seton Catholic def. Stevenson 3 sets to 0   Girls Soccer King’s Way Christian 5, Columbia 0

Property tax statements in Wasco County were mailed out on Tuesday.  Wasco County Assessor Jill Amery says the County is seeing some increases in Real Market Value with a bounce back in the local real estate market, and that could lead to some questions from taxpayers.  Property owners are taxed on Maximum Assessed Value when it drops below the Real Market Value, and that can only be increased by three percent under Measures 5 and 50.  But Amery says when the market bounces back and the RMV starts to come back, some property owners might see larger jumps in their property tax assessment.  If the RMV has the potential to increase 20 percent before reaching the MAV, a property owner is taxed on the lower of the two, which would be the RMV, and Amery is concerned some property owners will see more than a three percent increase if they are caught in that.  Amery says they have added additional information in the Assessment and Tax Department section of the Wasco County website to help answer taxpayer questions.  She adds customers with questions can come into the Assessor’s office in the Wasco County Courthouse for assistance.

With the numbers in, they show bad weather in Western Oregon did have an impact on attendance at last weekend’s Hood River Valley Harvest Festival.  Hood River County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Mike Glover says they estimate about 7,500 people attended the festival, down from 10,000 to 11,000 in a good year.  He adds while the weather in Hood River was not nearly as bad as it was in Portland, the storm in the metro area discouraged those who would have traveled here.  Glover did say local participation seemed to hold up, adding he doesn’t think this year’s attendance drop will have an impact on attracting visitors to the festival in the future.

A group of area agencies and students have started the It’s On Us Hood River campaign.  Hood River County School District Director of Special Education and Student Services and Columbia Gorge CASA board member Anne Carloss says It’s On Us is a national campaign to stand up against sexual and dating violence.  She says one of their goals is to start a conversation about what is consent, and create bystander awareness to encourage people to stand up for each other.  The campaign is in the soft launch stage, using signs create by a committee with one liners posted around Hood River Valley High School with one-line messages on things people can do to prevent sexual assault.  A public education effort will take place in April.

Boys Soccer Hood River Valley 4, Hermiston:  The Eagles clinched the Columbia River Conference title with the win.  HRV also ran its three-year unbeaten streak to 49 games. The Dalles 7, Pendleton 0:  The Riverhawks nailed down a berth in the Class 5-A play-in round.   Girls Soccer Hood River Valley 1, Hermiston 0:  Mona Diaz broke a scoreless tie with a goal from 18 yards out in the 76^th minute to give HRV the conference championship. The Dalles 4, Pendleton 1 Seton Catholic 4, Columbia 0 LaCenter 5, Stevenson 1 Naches Valley 11, Goldendale 0   Volleyball Hood River Valley def. The Dalles 25-20, 19-25, 25-22, 25-14 LaCenter def. Columbia 25-20, 25-10, 25-12 King’s Way Christian def. Stevenson 25-10, 25-8, 25-14 Dufur def. Mitchell-Spray 25-18, 25-14, 25-10 Condon-Wheeler def. Horizon Christian 25-12, 16-25, 25-17, 25-10 Arlington def. South Wasco 3 sets to 1 Lyle-Wishram def. Yakama Tribal 25-15, 25-21, 25-19 Sunnyside Christian def. Klickitat-Glenwood 25-15, 25-21, 25-19 Goldendale def. LaSalle 25-22, 25-13, 25-22   Girls Water Polo Hood River Valley 12, Gresham 4

After three hours of testimony and deliberation, the Hood River County Commission reached consensus on a time, place, and manner ordinance for placement of marijuana businesses.  Most in attendance sought changes in the document that was before the panel, and the Commission made changes in a number of areas.  That included allowing multiple operations within one business on one lot, indoor growing in industrial zones, allowing processing on exclusive farm use lands, and making setbacks 50 feet from the property line and 80 feet from homes.  They left in a prohibition on new marijuana businesses in rural residential zone, with current medical marijuana businesses grandfathered in.  Commissioners will receive the final document for approval on November 21.  They extended a moratorium on marijuana businesses in rural residential zones during the meeting.