Sorted by date Results 176 - 200 of 240
The Sherman County School District Board of Directors voted Monday, Feb. 5, to accept the resignation of K-12 Principal Trent Kroll. Kroll, who also fills the role of Athletic Director for the district, announced this week he will be stepping down at the end of the 2023-24 school year, citing personal reasons. Kroll came to Sherman from Hood River Valley High School, where he served as Assistant Principal and Athletic Director for five years. Prior to serving in an...
The Gorge Technology Alliance (GTA) is pleased to announce the application period is open for its annual Corwin Hardham Memorial Scholarship. This scholarship is awarded annually to Gorge high school seniors pursuing post-secondary degrees in the fields of science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM). Eligible students are those from Hood River, Wasco, Sherman, Skamania and Klickitat Counties who are graduating from high school, home school or receiving a GED in the...
The Wasco Gym and Fitness Center is set to receive big funding for upgrades, thanks to approval from city leaders and the hard work and dedication of its all-volunteer crew. Located outside the east end of the Wasco School Events Center, the Wasco Gym and Fitness Center will soon see an investment of up to $15,000 to update the interior and much of the exercise equipment. Wasco City Council voted Tuesday, Feb. 20, to designate money from its community development funds to the...
The Wheeler County Cultural & Heritage Coalition supports the preservation, celebration, and understanding of local and regional arts and cultural heritage. Applications for the spring 2024 grant cycle are now available for submission with a deadline of Friday, March 15, 2024. Grants of up to $2000 may be awarded depending on project needs and additional community support. Grant Applications are available at Post Offices in Spray, Mitchell, and Fossil, in the Wheeler County...
A familiar face with an extraordinary skillset returns to U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) this month as Biscuit/Bakery and Noodle Technologist in the South and Southeast Asia market. Ivan Goh, who held the position from 2018 to 2022, has extensive experience in flour milling, bakery technical service and wheat food ingredients. He will work closely with USW staff, leading USW training courses throughout the region. USW Vice President for South and Southeast Asia Joe Sowers said...
A bill that had the potential to change how county courts function in six rural counties was killed during the Senate Judiciary Committee at the Oregon State Capitol on Monday. Senate Bill 1576 included an amendment that would have given county courts the option to give up its judicial function by relinquishing probate cases to circuit courts. In doing so, SB 1576-9 would have also given county courts in Gilliam, Wheeler, Sherman, Harney, Malheur, and Grant counties the...
The Oregon Senate Judiciary Committee held a public hearing on Monday, February 12 to discuss potential changes for six rural county courts in Oregon. Senate Bill 1576-4 would give county courts the option to relinquish probate jurisdiction and to transfer probate matters to a circuit court. The impact could be significant for frontier and rural counties that have retained the position of county judge who rule over probate cases – and for counties that are seeking to change g...
The Wheeler County Court will return a program designed at helping families in crisis to the state of Oregon after realizing it had a budget shortfall of $18,000. The Wheeler County Court realized that it would be unable to facilitate the Paid Leave Oregon Act. The Oregon Family Leave Act (OFLA) and Paid Leave Oregon Act were merged last year. Under the revised Paid Leave Oregon Act, a worker or self-employed person could be provided up to twelve weeks of time off a year due t...
The Gilliam County Court has given $5,000 to help residents in distress after sub-zero temperatures in January caused pipes to break and heating bills to skyrocket. Kari Keown, who volunteers with the Arlington Church of the Nazarene, told the county court that people in mobile homes were hit particularly hard during the cold snap. Those affected the most seemed to be the people that reside in the mobile home park by the Arlington School. Keown told the court that people in...
Large boulders, some as big as cars, fell off a cliff near Biggs Junction and onto Highway 30 on Tuesday, January 30. Luckily, nobody was injured in the rockslide though the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) says that there will be a prolonged cleanup and that a "lengthy closure" should be expected. At approximately 9:15 AM, ODOT shared a photo of the massive rockslide, which covered all of Highway 30 on both sides of the road. The owner of Amayah's Indian Food...
Heppner, OR - BEO Bancorp (OTCBB:BEOB) and its subsidiary, Bank of Eastern Oregon, announced consolidated year end 2023 earnings of $14,208,000; Total assets were $860.6 million; net loans were $521.9 million, while deposits ended the year at $776.4 million. "Shareholder equity increased 28.2% over the past year, with Return on Average Equity at 24.91% and Return on Average Assets of 1.62%. Earnings per share were $11.75 and we paid our highest dividend ever at $1.15 per...
SALEM, OR - The Oregon Conservation and Recreation Fund's request for grant proposals is now open and will close on March 26, 2024. OCRF has supported 140 projects since it was formed in early 2020 and more than $5 million has been awarded statewide with an average of $35,000 per project. OCRF is a way for Oregonians to support projects that protect and enhance species and habitats identified in the Oregon Conservation Strategy and to create new opportunities for wildlife...
SALEM, OR - ODFW will host three in-person public meetings in February to present and get public input on the draft Mule Deer Management Plan. The meetings start at 6:30 p.m. and are Feb. 1 in Salem, Feb. 6 in Bend and Feb. 7 in La Grande. See more details below. ODFW biologists recently completed a full draft of the revised Plan, which they presented in a series of webinars. Find the draft Plan at the Mule Deer Plan webpage. The upcoming meetings provide an in-person option...
A special meeting of the Gilliam County Court was held on January 24 with the focus being on expansion of internet services in the county. The court has strived to bring fiber-optic connectivity to all residents, an ambitious goal that is expected to cost $30 million. The court has worked to map existing fiber-optic lines and to survey the entire county in a feasibility study that was completed in 2023 by LS Networks, a consultant group that specializes in broadband...
The Gilliam County Court opted to table its efforts in establishing a board of commissioners and restructuring county government at its meeting on January 3, 2024, at the Emergency Services Building in Condon. Facing public pushback and looming legal questions, the court punted on creating a board of commissioners in place of the county judge position. However, the court did agree that a county administrator position was necessary and began to establish a committee to look at...
Jalet Farrell, owner of the Spoke'n Hostel in Mitchell has won the prestigious Governor's Hospitality Award from Travel Oregon. The news came as a surprise to Farrell, who did not know that she was nominated until she received a congratulatory call. "I started laughing and crying at the same time," said Jalet upon receiving the news. This is the second time that the Spoke'n Hostel has won the award, the first being in 2016 shortly after Jalet and her husband Pat started their...
Idaho growers seeded 740,000 acres of winter wheat for the 2024 crop, down 1 percent from 2023, and 4 percent below the 2022 crop. Oregon farmers planted 740,000 acres, unchanged from the 2023 crop but up 1 percent from 2022. Washington winter wheat growers seeded an estimated 1.80 million acres of winter wheat for harvest in 2024. This is unchanged from the area seeded in 2023 but 3 percent below 2022. Nationally, Hard Red Winter (HRW) wheat seeded area is expected to total...
The Gilliam Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) is set to receive $300,000 from the federal government for ecosystem restoration projects along Thirtymile Creek. The funding comes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which provided a federal grant through the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The grant, known as the Good Neighbor Authority, allows federal land management agencies to create agreements with non-federal partners for projects on public lands. The funding...
Northcentral Oregon's main thoroughfare closed twice last weekend due to heavy snow and ice accumulation, the first time this major highway has seen a prolonged closure in decades. Oregon Department of Transportation officials, with input from local EMS and sheriff's agencies, made the decision to shut down traffic on Highway 97 from Biggs to Madras on Saturday, Jan. 20, at about 10 p.m. The highway reopened to traffic Sunday at 11 a.m. The area had accumulated more than a...
The City of Arlington's Public Works Department was working around the clock earlier this week to restore water to residents. With overnight temperatures at -2 degrees Fahrenheit over the weekend, the water system buckled to the elements. Dozens of residents reported brown water and at times, very little or no water at all. On Tuesday morning, the city said it was restoring water to town and that it would take time to refill water tanks. Arlington Mayor Jeff Bufton posted on...
South Gilliam County Ambulance has staffed and operated two ambulances for over 25 years. There are multiple times each fiscal year where two or more calls occur within hours of each other requiring the response of a second ambulance to provide the necessary care for patients living in, visiting, and traveling through our service area. The second ambulance also allows us to respond to mutual aid requests from our neighboring agencies while still covering our service area. The...
KIMBERLY, OR – The first ever described fossil grasshopper eggs and egg pod on Earth has been found within the Sheep Rock Unit of John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. As reported in the journal, Parks Stewardship Forum, Jaemin Lee (University of California, Berkeley), Dr. Nicholas Famoso (John Day Fossil Beds National Monument), and Angela Lin (University of Oregon) used micro-CT scans to investigate the internal structure of over 50 fossilized insect eggs and an intact e...
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has recently completed the acquisition of approximately 4,000 acres of property along the lower John Day Wild and Scenic River from the Western Rivers Conservancy. This strategic acquisition marks a significant milestone in enhancing recreational access along the river. This newly acquired property, commonly known as McDonald's Ferry, is situated approximately 14 miles east of Wasco, on the western bank of the John Day River near McDonald's...
A new world record California Bighorn Sheep has been declared and it came from Oregon's John Day canyon, outside of Condon. The record ram was harvested last year in the lower John Day river region by Mike Kinney of Spokane, Washington. Mr. Kinney won his tag in the state tag raffle and was guided by Eden Ridge Outfitters employees including owner John McCollum and Chanse Bennett of Condon. Safari Club International recognizes the California Bighorn Sheep in its own category...
The Oregon Frontier Chamber of Commerce announces a significant transition as K'Lynn Lane, the dedicated and accomplished Executive Director, prepares to step into a new professional role after nearly 11 years of service. Lane has accepted a position at The Ford Family Foundation, marking an exciting new chapter in her career journey. During Lane's tenure as Executive Director, the Chamber has played a pivotal role in driving positive change and progress across the tri-county...
