White Salmon City Councilors approved a $100 a month stipend to the volunteer assistant fire chief and captains.  Mayor David Poucher says they recognize the amount of work required from those positions goes beyond a simple volunteer position, particularly with today’s training requirements.  In other business, the Council approved awarding a contract to the firm of Yost Grube Hall for design and engineering services for the proposed swimming pool project.  The firm will meet with the City’s pool committee and staff, and hold a public workshop to gather information to guide design work.

The Columbia Gateway Urban Renewal Agency board has authorized The Dalles City Manager Julie Krueger to proceed with negotiations with an Illinois couple interested in reconditioning and operating the Granada Theater.  Charles Gomez and Debra Liddell of Watseka, Illinois made a presentation to the agency in executive session, and Mayor Steve Lawrence says the board followed up in open session by authorizing the negotiations.  Earlier this year, the Illinois couple had submitted a proposal that also would have involved the Blue and Recreation buildings, with the Granada as a cultural and performing arts center.  This negotiation will center on the Granada only.  The URA board recently authorized negotiations with other parties to sell the Blue and Recreation buildings.

As the summer winds down, most indicators show it was another big tourist season in the Hood River area.  Hood River County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Mike Glover says Travel Oregon statistics show transient room tax receipts for the Mt. Hood region, which runs from the Troutdale area to The Dalles, is once again showing double digit percentage point growth.  He adds area businesses are reporting that they’ve had a good summer, noting a trip he recently took around the Hood River Valley Fruit Loop.  And there still appears to be more to come, with Glover noting most Hood River hotels are reporting they will be full for Hops Fest the weekend of September 24.

Boys Soccer Hood River Valley 4, Hillsboro 1:  Robby Running scored twice, while Noe Magana and Domingo Barragan also scored to lead the Eagles to their second win to begin the season. Mac-Hi 7, The Dalles 0   Girls Soccer Hillsboro 4, Hood River Valley 2:  Cielo Rivera and Hallie Campos scored for the Eagles, but HRV lost for the first time this season. Mac-Hi 4, The Dalles 0:  The Riverhawks lose for the first time in three games this year.   Volleyball Columbia def. Goldendale 14-25, 25-16, 25-22, 25-18 Dufur def. Horizon Christian 25-16, 25-11, 25-13 South Wasco def. Sherman 3 games to 0

A standing room only crowd for the Wasco County Planning Commission’s public hearing on a Union Pacific application to add four miles of mainline railroad track on either side of Mosier at the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center had essentially one message:  deny the application.  No one besides Union Pacific officials spoke in favor of the proposal, which County planning staff has recommended be approved with a laundry list of conditions.  Union Pacific’s Clint Schelbitzki said the track expansion would improve efficiency, and claimed it would not bring about increased train traffic.  But the criticism came from just about every angle, with Mosier officials coming off of last June’s oil train derailment there questioning its safety and recommending denial of the project, joined by representatives from Hood River and Stevenson.  Friends of the Columbia Gorge officials said the application should be rejected not just for safety reasons but also for impacts to the river, salmon, cultural resources, and visual impacts in the National Scenic Area, while also noting an expert study they had done indicated train traffic would increase.  Written testimony will be taken through September 13, with the proceedings to be continued on September 26.

The North Wasco County School District 21 board is tentatively planning a worksession later this month to consider next steps toward going out for an eventual bond measure for facilities, including construction of a new school.  D-21 Chief Financial Officer Randy Anderson says a new concept to be considered would be to build a new high school on the current district administrative office property across from the Wahtonka campus.  Superintendent Candy Armstrong says this is a new way to look at the possibility of constructing a new high school on the Wahtonka property.  Anderson pointed out there is a question of whether the soil on the district office is suitable for building a school on, and tests will be done to answer that question.

Oregon State Police dispatched a cougar in the Browns Creek area of The Dalles over the weekend after it was repeatedly seen around residences chasing pets and showing no fear of people.  Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman Michelle Dennehy says the cougar had been chasing after pets in the area for several days.  Sunday at dusk, it was seen staring at dogs through a fence, and then later in the evening at another residence a woman who stepped out on her porch noticed the cougar laying on her steps less than three feet away, and the cougar did not move or run away.  The same woman went inside her residence and watched the cougar in the yard, about 10 feet away, and the animal simply crouched in tall weeds and stared at her.  The resident contacted Oregon State Police, who came to the home and dispatched the cougar in the backyard with a high caliber rifle the same evening.  Under state wildlife policies, cougars that chase or kill pets, are repeatedly seen around residences and show no fear of people are considered human safety risks, and can be killed to protect public safety.

Due to rainy weather Tuesday, the paving planned for East 10^th Street in The Dalles has been pushed back to Wednesday.  Public Works crews will now be paving East 10^th Street from Thompson Street to the east past Morton Street on Wednesday.  The section of East 10^th to be paved will be closed Tuesday afternoon in preparation for paving, reopen Tuesday evening, and close again on Wednesday from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.  Residents on East 10^th Street in the work area will need to plan accordingly to allow for the street closure and no on-street parking during the paving work on Wednesday.  City crews are still scheduled to pave East 12^th Street from Thompson Street to the east past Morton Street on Thursday.  East 12^th Street residents in the work area will need to plan accordingly to allow for no on-street parking and the closure of East 12^th Street on that day from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

A project to reduce the threat of rockfalls on the south side of Interstate 84 west of Hood River gets underway Tuesday.  Work will last until next spring.  The project will mean the eastbound right lane at milepost 61 west of Hood River will be closed until November 21, but there will be no impact on the westbound lanes.  Bicyclists may continue to use the eastbound shoulder during construction but should use caution in the work area.  The project will improve slope stability and install a 12-foot high, 223-foot barrier to reduce the potential for rocks falling onto the highway.  The project will also remove loose rock from the hillside and install rock bolts and horizontal drains to improve long-term slope stability.  In February 2014, a large rockfall at that location blocked the eastbound lanes for five days.

Local photographer Peter Marbach has embarked on a project to document the entire Columbia River, from its source in British Columbia to the mouth in Astoria.  Marbach accepted an invitation from the Oregon Historical Society in Portland to host a solo three month exhibit.  He says part of his inspiration comes from a desire to educate people about the river while the Columbia River Treaty of 1964 is being renegotiated and could lead to salmon runs returning to the headwaters.  Marbach is raising funds for his project through hatchfund.org, a non-profit that supports artists.