The 37th Annual Northwest Cherry Festival will be in The Dalles this weekend.  It’s the second year that the festival will be a three-day event rather than focused completely on Saturday.  The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce CEO Lisa Farquharson says response to last year’s expansion was good.  Dennis and Shannon Morgan are this year’s King Bing and Queen Anne.  Cherry Festival guides are available at Gorgeradio.com.  The Bicoastal Media Guild Mortgage Home and Lifestyle Show will be in The Dalles Civic Auditorium throughout Cherry Festival weekend, open Friday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Hood River Valley won both the boys and girls titles at the Apple Blossom Invitational at Henderson Stadium.  Tyrone Stintzi, Parker Irusta, Parker Kennedy, Sebastian Barajas, and Justin Crosswhite each won two events apiece to lead the HRV boys, while the Eagles girls won two relays on the way to their win.  Trout Lake’s Bethany Putnam won two events.   Washougal won the boys title and Corbett held off Columbia for the girls’ crown at the Al McKee Invitational at Stevenson.  Alondra Casarez-Garcia won both girls’ hurdles races for Columbia.   Baseball Hood River Valley sweeps Pendleton 9-0 and 5-2 The Dalles splits with Hermiston, winning game one 2-1 and losing the nightcap 2-0 Dufur splits with Irrigon, winning game one 13-4 and losing game two 21-0 Sunnyside Christian sweeps Lyle 12-11 and 18-17 Zillah sweeps Goldendale 5-0 and 7-1 Castle Rock 5, Columbia 0 Kalama 7, Stevenson 6 Sherman sweeps Culver 17-5 and 10-0   Softball Pendleton sweeps Hood River Valley 5-2 and 2-1 Hermiston sweeps The Dalles 10-8 and 7-4 Castle Rock 15, Columbia 0   Boys Soccer Stevenson 3, Castle Rock 1   Boys Lacrosse Sherwood 16, Hood River Valley 3   Girls Lacrosse Hood River Valley 11, Cleveland 3

The 40th Annual Mid-Columbia Lions Follies premiere tonight at the Hood River Middle School Auditorium.  This year’s theme is “40 Years of Magic,” and the Follies’ Dorris Greenough says it’s a retrospective of some of the favorites from previous performances.  The Lions Follies again benefit the Lions Sight and Hearing Foundation.  The event has raised over $350,000 over the last forty years for that cause.  Performance are Friday and Saturday night at 7:30, Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m., and next Thursday through Saturday nights at 7:30 in the Hood River Middle School Auditorium.  Tickets are $10 at the door, or $9 in advance from Lions Club members and at numerous locations.

Pacific Power is warning its customers and the public of a phone scam targeting customers where criminals pose as company customer service agents trying to extort money for new electric meters.  Pacific Power announced last week that it would install new smart meters beginning in 2018, and customers will not be charged for them.  Any customer ever receiving a call asking for money should hang up and instead call Pacific Power’s customer service line at 1-888-221-7070 any time day or night.  A Pacific Power spokeswoman says the calls have gone out to a relatively small number of customers and they do not know of anyone who have actually sent the scammers money.

The Dalles Public Works says work will continue to replace the sanitary sewer, storm, and water lines in Trevitt Street between 8th Street and 3rd Place through the end of May.  Sections of Trevitt Street will be closed to all traffic intermittently throughout the project, with no parking allowed along either side of Trevitt in the immediate work area.  Motorists are encouraged to use Bridge and Garrison Streets as alternative routes to avoid the work area.  Anyone with questions can call The Dalles Public Works at 541-296-5401, extension 2001.

Boys Soccer Columbia 3, Toledo 2:  The Bruins came back from a two-goal deficit in the first half to stay unbeaten.  Mario Gonzalez tallied the first Bruin goal in the waning moments of the first half, Ivan Cortes-Robles notched the tying marker about halfway through the second half, then Yvan Escoto scored the game winner from Erick Ramirez.  CHS had to repel a number of Toledo threats late in the game to secure the win.   Boys Tennis Hood River Valley 5, Hermiston 3:  HRV won the Columbia River Conference opener.

In a split vote, the Port of Hood River Commission has decided to wait until next year to submit an application for federal funds to begin work towards a new Interstate Bridge rather than getting one in by this week’s deadline.  Commissioners Rich McBride and Hoby Streich voted to wait, while Jon Davies and Brian Shortt voted to put in the application now.  Fred Duckwall could not attend the meeting.  Port Executive Director Michael McElwee says regardless of the timing of an application, the panel is united in their efforts to move forward to get plans for a new bridge in place as part of the federal government’s five-year Fastlane program which specifically mentions National Scenic Areas as part of the criteria.  Waiting until next year does allow more time to identify the exact source of a required 40 percent local match for funding.  

The Hood River County Planning Commission has upheld an administrative decision to approve a cell phone tower near Windmaster Corner.  The vote was 7-0 to allow the 100-foot-tall tower on the cold storage property behind the batting facility at Traner Field.  Community Development Department Director John Roberts notes the tower would only be 25 feet taller than the light poles at Traner.  The Planning Commission decision can be appealed to the County Commission.

Baseball Hood River Valley 13, Redmond 3:  The Eagles jumped out to a 7-0 lead after three innings and never looked back on the way to their fourth straight win.  HRV scored at least two runs in five of seven innings, using 12 hits to augment seven Redmond errors.   Softball Hood River Valley 6, Redmond 5 (8 innings):  The Eagles scored two runs with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning on run-scoring doubles by Kaylin Winans and Hannah McNerney to tie the game before Made Vallejo’s infield grounder in the eighth brought home the game winner.  Redmond had taken the lead in the top of the seventh by scoring three runs with two outs in the top of the seventh.  HRV is now 7-6 on the season.   Track and Field The Columbia girls nipped Raymond by two points to win a five-school meet at Castle Rock.  CHS won the 1600 meter relay to grab the winning margin.  Lauren Thiesies, Rachel Luther, and Haley Blair also won events for the Bruins.  The Columbia boys were second in their portion of the meet, as James Bell took first in the 300 meter hurdles.   Both the Stevenson boys and girls finished third in a five-school meet at Kalama.  Zion Cole-England, Lincoln King, and Luke Nichols won events for the Bulldog boys, while Amya St. Martin, Rachel Zolp, and the 800 meter relay team had first place finishes for the Stevenson girls.   Boys Soccer Stevenson 2, King’s Way Christian 0

The Columbia Gorge Community College Board of Education approved a hike in tuition at the college for the 2016-17 academic year.  Tuition will jump from $91 per credit hour to $97, and credit fees go up from $15 to $16.  CGCC President Dr. Frank Toda says no one wants to raise tuition, but the school has very little choice at the current level of state funding for community colleges.  A lengthy discussion included consideration of a proposal to establish a $150 small class size fee in an effort to avoid cancellation of classes due to low numbers and provide predictability for students in class availability.  That was not adopted, but the board did direct staff to find a way to provide that predictability to students.