The Dalles Main Street is having a Shop Local Holiday Campaign for the months of November and December! Once a week starting next Tuesday, November 10th, we will hold weekly drawings for gift bags. We hope to have two to three winners a week! Gift bags will include prizes like gift cards, merchandise, discounts to local businesses, and special deals!!

It’s that time of year again when the quilters of the Columbia River Gorge and from around the Northwest get to share their craftsmanship by participating in the Columbia River Gorge Quilters Guild Annual Quilt Show. This year's 1st Place Winner of the first-ever Virtual Columbia River Gorge Quilters Guild Quilt Show has an important message to share with all women voters, including those who identify as LGBTQIA+: VOTE girl, you earned it.

Tom Springs of The Dalles braved the cold weather on his motorcycle this morning to hand off his ballot at The Wasco County Courthouse. It is Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3. You have until 8 p.m. to get those ballots dropped. Of the 18,211, ballots sent out, 12,958 had been returned as of this morning, according to Wasco County Clerk Lisa Gambee. That is 71 percent.

Have you gotten your flu shot yet? If not, now is the time! We are getting into cold and flu season and it’s so important for you and your loved ones to cut back on viruses you’re exposed to this winter.

A COVID-19 outbreak has been identified at the Oregon Veterans’ Home in The Dalles.
Nine cases are identified currently, and include staff, residents, and household contacts of staff.
The initial case was confirmed on Sunday, Oct. 25 and the latest was confirmed today, Friday, Oct. 30.

Staff, teachers, and administrators pulled off some awesome costumes this afternoon, Friday, Oct. 30, as students dawned their own capes, masks, and wigs and came by their schools for a little drive-by celebration.

Here's our weekly news show to keep you informed on news & events in the Mid-Columbia Region.
October 30th, 2020.

The Forest Service and Klickitat Trout Unlimited are proposing a new site development in efforts of enhancing recreation opportunities at the mouth of the Klickitat River. Plans call for adding parking, prohibiting the launch of motorized boats, installing a restroom, and restoring natural vegetation, and eliminating erosion. The proposal intends to improve water quality, scenery, and vegetation in the lower Klickitat National Wild and Scenic River Corridor.

A former marine and a holder of three black belts is putting a family spin on the former Pastime Saloon & Restaurant in Dufur. “This will be a family place,” said new owner Russell Niemeyer. “No hanky-panky going on. And it’s my job to see that it stays that way.”

Dry Canyon Electric’s Chuck Rystedt watched as his son, Zack dug into a 24-foot pole with his spikes on Thursday morning on Highway 197 near 5-Mile Road. Meanwhile, Zach Reid used a “lasher” to entwine two cables as they were finishing a fiber optic line that runs 15 miles from Dufur School to the Columbia Gorge ESD at the Columbia Gorge Community College Campus in The Dalles.

The Dalles City Council is pushing ahead on creating a temporary shelter for the local houseless population. The village of six units is to be located at the end of Terminal Way in a gravel lot between Northwest Natural and Oregon Cherry Growers.

Dawn LeMieux is the program coordinator with The Next Door, through the organization she supports the native families and individuals within our community. Since the pandemic hit, community members in the Celilo Village have faced loss and hardships. With the help of LeMieux The Next Door has supplied an abundance of hope and support for the Celilo Village community in the midst of the pandemic.

Election ballots in Wasco County should be hand-delivered to dropboxes. The last day to mail them was Tuesday, Oct. 27, according to the Wasco County Election website.

The ability to monitor and house people with mental imbalances has been “ripped out of the communities at a local level by the state and never been restored.” As a result, people are breaking down on city streets. They’re breaking laws, impacting the economy, and have local leaders flummoxed as the State of Oregon has failed to fund their treatment.

David Sendejas, 28, Keith Bright, 28 and Chance Sendejas, 26, said it was pretty cold last night. Temperatures dropped a couple of degrees below freezing. The houseless men were resting on Pentland Street next to The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce this morning, Tuesday, Oct. 27. Dalles City Council held a workshop on Monday night bringing in voices from three different counties to discuss the current status of the houseless and those needing mental health assistance.

The Next Door is holding its annual Stories of Hope event to raise money and spread awareness to support over two dozen programs aimed at supporting and empowering people with health promotion services, family services, youth services, economic development services, and treatment services in Wasco, Hood River, Skamania, Klickitat, Sherman, Gilliam, and Wheeler counties.

As of this morning, 7,560 of 18,403 ballots for the Nov. 3 general election had been returned in Wasco County, according to Wasco County Clerk Lisa Gambee. These numbers include ballots dropped off over the weekend but not all of the mail, she said.

Assistant Manager Maria Bartlett was messin’ with Squatch at the West Second Street Market across from Casa El Mirador this morning, Monday, Oct. 26. The new mural, painted by Samantha Bates was completed last week. The market is run by Hattenhauer Distributing Company.

The low water level on the Columbia River near the Union Street underpass reveals pilings from the past this Sunday Morning, Oct. 25. Their symmetrical placement and sheer number beg the question of what stood here at one point. If you know, please tell us about them in our new forum feature.

On Sep. 10th state officials and food providers released a statement saying food insecurity has been increasing statewide in Washington and Oregon. Due to the pandemic, this trend is expected to carry on for months ahead. The Lyle Good Food Pantry teamed up with Washington Gorge Action Programs (WAGAP) to provide meals to local families and community members. Their efforts in curbing the food insecurity in our region have supplied an average of 50 local families with a food box each month.