Dan Spatz, executive director of institutional advancement at CGCC, who was instrumental in obtaining support and funding for the new skills center and student housing at The Dalles Campus, joins CGCC President Mata Cronin in cutting the ribbon to the new skills center Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022.
At the beginning of August, The Port of Hood River sent local representatives to Washington, D.C., on behalf of the Hood River-White Salmon Interstate Bridge replacement project.
Providence RN and ONA Executive Committee Co-chair Brittany Foss speaks at a gathering in July. Foss and the ONA represented 150 nurses looking for better working conditions at Hood River Providence Memorial Hospital.
In mid-August, a 41-mile stretch of Highway 35 from Hood River to Government Camp was dedicated to the Nisei veterans who served their country in World War II.
Oregon Veterans Home in The Dalles celebrated its 25th year Dec. 1 with a ceremony, snacks and a slide show of images taken at the home over the years.
Although much of the disruption and concern brought on by the COVID-19 global pandemic began to subside in 2022, fall spikes in the disease and surges in flu and other respiratory illnesses, raised concerns at year’s end — even as the majority of gatherings and celebrations, canceled in prior years, returned to a world eager to get back together again, unmasked and in-person.
In this, part 2 of 2, we review some of the top stories of the final six months of 2022:
July
In July, Columbia Gorge News reported on the arrest of Tara Koch, former executive director of HAVEN from Domestic and Sexual Violence in The Dalles. Koch was arrested in Washington County on 26 counts of theft, identity theft and forgery. This is an ongoing story.
Garique Clifford
July also brought Garique Clifford, patrol sergeant for the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office, running for Klickitat County Sheriff in the August primary against incumbent Bob Songer. Clifford was later defeated by Songer by 150 votes in the Nov. 8 election.
At the end of the month, after more than 25 years of planning and preparation, the physical replacement of the 109-year-old Dog River pipeline, located high in the Mt. Hood National Forest, began.
At the beginning of August, The Port of Hood River sent local representatives to Washington, D.C., on behalf of the Hood River-White Salmon Interstate Bridge replacement project.
Contributed photo
August
At the beginning of August, The Port of Hood River sent local representatives to Washington, D.C., on behalf of the Hood River-White Salmon Interstate Bridge replacement project. The project was awarded $5 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) grant program in September to help spur the design and engineering phase of the project.
The month also brought a flurry of fires in The Dalles and Wasco County, with five boathouses burned at the Port of The Dalles Marina, a home destroyed in a conflagration on Juniper Flats, the community swimming pool evacuated due to a nearby brush fire and Highway 197 and Interstate 84 closed twice as fires burned nearby.
In mid-August, a 41-mile stretch of Highway 35 from Hood River to Government Camp was dedicated to the Nisei veterans who served their country in World War II. In November, Hood River American Legion Post 22 formally apologized to Nisei veterans and their families on behalf of Post 22 during their annual Veterans Day service Nov. 11 at Anderson’s Tribute Center.
In mid-August, a 41-mile stretch of Highway 35 from Hood River to Government Camp was dedicated to the Nisei veterans who served their country in World War II.
Mid-Columbia Medical Center (MCMC) and Adventist Health announced Aug. 11 the approval of a non-binding letter of intent for MCMC to join Adventist Health. In December, MCMC joined Adventist Health, pending state approval.
The end of August brought painters from all over the nation to The Dalles to paint 15 murals on various buildings around town in a five-day event known as Northwest Muralfest, which took place Aug. 24 -28.
September
In early September, Hood River County settled with a former employee who allegedly stole money from Tollbridge and Tucker Park fees. Charges against the employee were dropped when former District Attorney John Sewell failed to prepare for trial. The employee counter-sued and was awarded a back payment, which was returned to the county as part of the settlement.
Dan Spatz, executive director of institutional advancement at CGCC, who was instrumental in obtaining support and funding for the new skills center and student housing at The Dalles Campus, joins CGCC President Mata Cronin in cutting the ribbon to the new skills center Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022.
In The Dalles, Columbia Gorge Community College celebrated the opening of the new skills center and on-campus student housing.
A major milestone in childcare, Mid-Columbia Medical Center’s Great ‘N Small celebrated four decades of providing childcare for employees at MCMC.
In late September, schools opened for in-person learning. Hood River County School District Human Resources Director Catherine Dalbey welcomed new hires and said 10 staff members have moved from temporary to permanent positions throughout the district.
It was a positive end to the month as the Port of Hood River tabbed Kevin Greenwood as the new executive director and was awarded $5 million for the Hood River-White Salmon Bridge replacement Project.
October
To begin October, The Dalles Police Chief Tom Worthy awarded four officers with lifesaving awards for saving a man suffering from a drug overdose.
A four-part feature focused on Gorge work by The Oregon Bee Atlas project, efforts to save native bee populations to Oregon. Lincoln Best and the Oregon Bee Project identified sources of depopulation and worked to train volunteers to collect bee samples, analyze data and detect new species around the state.
Opting to not seek re-election, Hood River resident and Oregon State Representative Anna Williams leaves the legislature and accepts the executive directorship for the Oregon System of Care Advisory Council.
The White Salmon City council voted to expand the city’s parks system. The city collected feedback from numerous sources and published a 126-page plan that outlines aspirations for “maintaining and improving the quality of life for White Salmon residents through parks facilities,” according to the plan, produced by consulting firm Cameron McCarthy.
Providence RN and ONA Executive Committee Co-chair Brittany Foss speaks at a gathering in July. Foss and the ONA represented 150 nurses looking for better working conditions at Hood River Providence Memorial Hospital.
Noah Noteboom photo/file
On Oct. 20, nurses at the Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital voted to approve a new two-year contract. Negotiations between Providence and the Oregon Nurses Association — who represented 150 nurses working at Providence Hood River — lasted seven months before the two sides could find common ground on multiple points of contention.
November
In November, Mid-Columbia Fire & Rescue (MCFR) reports seeing a steady 20 to 21 overdoses a year for the past three years, but has already recorded 20 overdoses just through September 2022. In another new trend, medics are having to use more doses of Narcan — medicine that reverses the effects of opioids — to pull people out of an overdose. In fact, the 44 doses of Narcan used so far this year is double that of last year.
Rufus Mayor Dowen Jones was arrested for attempted murder Nov. 1, following an incident in which he allegedly shot at a family of four in a passing vehicle.
Oregon Veterans Home in The Dalles celebrated its 25th year Dec. 1 with a ceremony, snacks and a slide show of images taken at the home over the years.
Mark B. Gibson
December
The Dalles’ Oregon Veteran’s Home celebrated its 25th anniversary in early December. It was the first of its kind in Oregon, and is now one of two, the second located in Lebanon, Ore. Kelly Fitzpatrick, director of the Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs, recognized the many individuals and agencies that pulled together to build the home, including residents of Wasco County who approved a bond to cover a portion of the home’s construction, the state of Oregon under then-governor John Kitzaber, and others. Fitzpatrick also highlighted the many successes at the home over its first 25 years of operation.
Gorge-wide, 2022 ended the year with an arctic storm that closed both Interstate 84 in Oregon and Highway 14 in Washington.
Snow, ice and extreme temperatures forced cities to increase emergency shelter capacity, and holiday travel was disrupted.
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