KLICKITAT CO. — With Election Day in less than two weeks, candidates for county commissioner, sheriff and public utility district commissioner made their case to voters and answered questions from the audience one final time during a forum at the Lyle Lions Club Community Center on Oct. 15.

SKAMANIA CO. — Some voters will have to make an unusual choice for their next Skamania County Public Utility District (PUD) Commissioner.

Hood River Valley High School freshman Vivaan Sharma joined Sense of Place on Oct. 14 to show off robots and let audience members try driving them. On stage with Sarah Fox before the lecture, Sharma shared how robotics has taught him perseverance and teamwork, discussing the team’s state championship trip to an international competition.

HOOD RIVER — How did the Columbia River Gorge — a wind-swept region known for pears and water sports — evolve into a hotspot for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones? Jason Hartmann, project manager of the Gorge Tech Alliance (GTA), has the answers.

THE DALLES — During a public hearing at its Oct. 13 meeting, The Dalles City Council unanimously declared that a city-owned, undevelopable parcel demonstrates zero public need, thereby initiating next steps to sell the .12-acre parcel.

THE DALLES — A pillar of the Gorge’s robust creative scene, Mark Nilsson has painted many canvases throughout his storied, 50-year career. Vibrant, mostly acrylic works — decades-old and brand new — scattered the walls of The Dalles Art Center (TDAC) on Oct. 15, where the internationally collected artist reflected on his remarkable evolution and ongoing exhibition “50 Years of Art.”

This story has been updated to reflect that Commissioner Todd Andrews, not Chair Ron Ihrig, asked his seatmates to once again consider a moratorium on data centers during the Oct. 13 board meeting. 

THE DALLES — After the Grasshopper Fire burned 93,000 acres that impacted Wasco County’s drinking water, irrigation, forest roads and recreation, county officials estimate that recovery may cost as much as $49.5 million on top of the approximate $109 million already spent fighting the fire.

HOOD RIVER — A grazing table from Native Provisions is an eye-catching, edible arrangement with a thoughtfully curated design of food sourced from local producers. Depending on the season, there’s cherries, apples and pears from long-standing Gorge orchards, cave-aged cheese from Troutlake’s…

Ole Odden, 5, is immersed in bubbles while trying to create his own during the One Community Health 40th Anniversary Block Party outside their clinic in Hood River on Oct. 17. The event also celebrated the launch of the new One Community Health Foundations. The event included live entertainm…

Just before 6 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 11, the station siren at Skamania County Fire District 3 sounded as an Underwood home off Peach Lane ignited was subsequently destroyed. Nobody was reportedly home at the time, but neighbors were able to rescue two dogs. Damage was contained to that structu…

HOOD RIVER — The city will host a tour of the police station, 211 Second St., on Thursday, Oct. 22 from 4:30-6:30 p.m.

HOOD RIVER — Glen Canyon Institute and Friends of the White Salmon River will present “What the River Knows,” a documentary about the re-emergence of Glen Canyon from beneath Lake Powell, at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 26, in the Columbia Center for the Arts Theater, 215 Cascade Ave., in downtown Ho…

Last week’s image, also courtesy of the Hood River County history museum, showed a group of men being theatrical with ladders in an orchard.