THE DALLES — At the Aug. 6 The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce Community Affairs podcast, Q-Life Executive Director Liz Lance made a big announcement.

The county has approved an agreement with the landfill to pursue a brand-new road separating traffic and giving trucks their own pathway from Highway 197 to the landfill — a plan the landfill has agreed to pay for.

In March, while excavating a retaining wall downtown, construction workers stumbled upon a previously unidentified archaeological feature tied to Native American history. 

Along the Columbia River, about eight miles southeast of Goldendale, all that’s left of a former aluminum reduction plant is its foundation and contaminated soil. The site has sat empty since 2003, when the company Golden Northwest Aluminum, Inc. filed for bankruptcy.

The Cascade Locks City Council has decided to put a Prepared Food and Non-alcoholic Beverage Tax on the November ballot. If passed by voters, the 5% tax would be levied on food and beverages sold for immediate consumption, like scooped frozen desserts.