Get the highlights of the recent Wasco County Commission Meeting without having to sit through a 2-hour meeting.

When it comes to live music, Jim Drake can get you plugged in. Our local columnist for entertainment Gorge-wide has a good sampling of coming shows and events, including Nightlife, Igor and the Red Evlises, toys, Santa, SantaCon, Brigid’s Crossing, Lord of the Rings, Fire Truck Parade, Taylor Beeks and Sam Grotte.

Our columnist Ryan Lawrence is on winter break, but he is not letting any moss grow. He took a trip to the Fort Dalles Museum and located a 1904 electric car, fire bells, a place where drinks were traded for antlers and more. Take a ride with Ryan through this fact-pact piece in homage to your hometown.

Road-ready TDHS girls will tip-off against the Sandy Pioneers on Thursday. The team is coming off a couple of losses after besting Parkrose and Dufur last week. The non-league away game is set for 6:30 p.m. against the larger 6A Sandy school.

It was announced on Monday, Dec. 13, that The Dalles High School is officially reclassifying to 4A and joining the Tri-Valley Conference. The Riverhawks will join Crook County, Gladstone, Molalla, Estacada, and Madras in their new conference.

The Dalles City Council moves to assess Gitchell/Waldron building on Monday, Dec. 13. Council also postpones garbage rate hike and zoning for houseless shelters. Read about the meeting here.

Get a sneak peek at the upcoming Dec. 15th Wasco County Commission Meeting without having to scroll through 230 pages of agendas and board packets.

Will it snow on Christmas? “I wish I had an answer. Let’s see what the odds are for Dallesport,” he said.

Wasco County has donated the deed to Home At Last Humane Society to Central Oregon Animal Friends. Owning the property would allow them to pursue more diverse grant funding for renovations. “It's easier when you own the building to receive grants. It's going to allow us to go after grants that we couldn't have otherwise gone after,” said Stephen Drynan, Chief Executive Director of Home at Last.

Local garbage service provider The Dalles Disposal Service is asking The Dalles City Council for a 5.05% increase for city residents to offset rising operational costs and disposal fees. Councilors are set to discuss the request at their regular meeting tonight, Dec. 13 at 5: 30 p.m. Read here to see everything on the agenda.

Dufur puts a unique twist on its Christmas Parade. There’s cocoa, yeah. There’s Santa, sure. But you have not seen anything until you’ve seen tractors festooned in lights and adorned with the trappings of Yuletide joy come rumbling down the street in a blaze of glory.

The Dalles Riverhawks boys basketball team played their second game of the season on Friday, Dec. 10th, at home against the La Salle Prep Falcons and there was some exciting basketball played. The Hawks went on to win 69-55.

Welcome to Question of the Week, a weekly news column that poses timely questions about life, politics, culture, economics, health, and more to people out and about in our communities. Each column features a question that expresses curiosity about other people’s experiences and deepens our understanding of people from all walks of life.

The 15 Days of Dogs and Cats Holiday Auction is up to $11,000 but still short of its $30,000 goal to cover costs incurred due to COVID. Good news - there is time left to support the shelter. The Auction was recently extended to Wednesday, Dec. 15. Learn more here.

The Dalles Riverhawks basketball team played against cross field rivals the Dufur Rangers on Wednesday, Dec 8th in The Dalles in what was a hard-fought game on both sides. The Hawks went on to win 41-27.

In one stretch of the Delta surge, Dr. Tom Nichol has treated 17 patients in a row for COVID who were unvaccinated. Some of them died. It “was a really hard thing for me to see people marching on to die from this who would have survived if they’d had a vaccine.”

The Northwest MuralFest Committee will host an in-person meeting on December 8th, 2021 from 3:30-5:00 p.m. at 1201 Bargeway Rd in The Dalles to finalize mural themes for the next community voting event.

The Dalles Girls Basketball team played against the Parkrose Broncos last night, Dec. 7th, in a non-league game and absolutely dominated on both sides of the ball. The Hawks won in a 48-12 blowout.

Columbia Riverkeeper is suing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for alleged illegal pollution of the Columbia River with hot water, oil, and toxic chemicals. Columbia Riverkeeper alleged in today’s complaint that four dams operated by the Army Corps on the Columbia River between Portland, OR, and Tri-Cities, WA, discharge illegal pollution in violation of the Clean Water Act.

Columbia Gorge Food Bank is seeking administrative action from the City of The Dalles to get approval to renovate an existing 10,000 square foot warehouse located at 3525 Crates Way. The renovations to improve food insecurity services for the region are expected to cost upwards of $2 million.