I’ve been thinking a lot about the American dollar. Not the paper itself, but the worth behind it. What should a dollar really be? What should it buy? What does it stand for? From where I sit—on a tractor seat in the cherry orchards of The Dalles—there’s a growing sense that a dollar just doesn’t stretch like it used to. Inputs are up. Groceries are up. Fuel is up. And while prices climb, the value of hard work seems to shrink.

The Dalles-Wasco County Library has collected 478 cranes from the community as part of their 1,000 cranes project. The project was a cultural appreciation event for Asian and Pacific American Heritage Month.

Wasco County District Attorney Matthew Ellis announced the grand jury indicted Noe Zaragoza, Jr. (23) for Murder in the Second Degree, two counts of Unlawful Use of a Weapon With a Firearm, Menacing, and Assault in the Fourth Degree.  Zaragoza, Jr. was indicted on Wednesday, June 26. 

In a move planned nearly two years ago, the Washington Gorge Action Programs (WAGAP) Board of Directors announced that Jennifer Pauletto will be the new executive director as of July 1, 2024. Juan Reyes has been selected to join her as the new associate director.

Firefighters have been working on cooling hot spots and advancing into the interior of the fire’s containment line for several days now at the Warm Springs Reservation. Extreme heat, however, is making it challenging and also increases the potential for reignition. Read more here.

There are some simple recipes at Riverbend Community School on the Columbia Gorge Community College campus in The Dalles. Want to learn about physics? Build a roller coaster. Learn more about the school’s Spring Exhibition of Learning here.