Welcome to Part 4 of the North Wasco County School District 21 Update with Superintendent Dr. Carolyn Bernal. In this installment, we sit down with Bernal to talk about covid-era leadership challenges, staff shortages, and teacher burn out.

In this installment, we sit down with Bernal to talk about strategic planning, NWASCO D21 goals, renaming Colonel Wright Elementary School, the Dual Language Immersion Program, and more.

In this installment of the D21 Superintendent Update we sit down with Dr. Carolyn Bernal to talk about her listening and leadership strategy as a newcomer to the district, dealing with opposing viewpoints on Covid mandates in schools, the circumstances leading up to the recent firing of an unvaccinated employee.

Not since the movie Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo has there been so much electricity about dancing. This is like 1984’s Footloose chaos. Think playing chicken with tractors. This Week in our Very Own House of The Dalles, Dancing with the Gorge Stars will be busting out at The Dalles High School Auditorium on Friday, Jan. 14 at 7 p.m.

The Dalles Boys Basketball team played against Estacada in a nonleague away game on Monday, Jan 10th and dominated the Rangers. Even without three of their players, the Hawks still won 69-51.

“The daunting and implicit expectations we sometimes have of our loved ones interfere with our ability to care for them, let alone for ourselves; I would not have the framework for attempting to embody this way of living, loving, and showing up if it were not for bell hooks.” - Sarah Cook

Did you know the City of The Dalles owns the State Building at 700 Union Street. And is it for sale? Also, TD City Council makes decision on garbage rates.

Sometimes calling a snow day is as easy as looking out the window, but more often than not, it is an avalanche of factors that go into making the official call by 5 a.m.

The Dalles High School was placed into a brief lockdown this morning, Jan. 12, after reports of a threat were made from outside of the school.

Hospitalization rates are rapidly climbing in Oregon and in the Gorge as COVID cases spike. Now is the time to get vaccinated if you haven’t -- and get your booster dose if you haven’t. Case in point, Canyon Rim Assisted Living in Maupin had been COVID free until an outbreak last week.

The Klickitat County Health Department (KCHD) was notified today, on January 11th that the COVID-19 Omicron variant has been identified in Klickitat County.

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 Betty White, Legato, Yak Attack, Heart & Hammer, Chasing Ebenezer, African Queen, The Reddy Black Trio, Mark Tegio, Midnight & Moonshine, Tyson Huckins, Chris Baron and Seussical.

Council discussion on Monday, Jan. 10, was a precursor to many discussions to come about spending Google fees in the City of The Dalles and Wasco County as millions of dollars will be coming into the community when Google constructs two new data centers.

With the extended downtime, lots of things have changed on our athletic calendar, as all of our teams other than skiing, were canceled, postponed and rescheduled. Let’s delve right in and get you caught up on everything Riverhawks’ athletics!

TD City Council will discuss the sale of its building at 700 Union Street, The Dalles tonight, Jan. 10 at 5:30 p.m. The building appraised at $4.8 million.

It starts with crusty homemade sourdough bread and then it is topped with a healthy spread of cream cheese, smoked trout, salty capers, sprigs of fresh dill, with a side of arugula and a lemon wedge. It ends with OMG!

Dancing with the Gorge Stars returns to The Dalles High School Auditorium this Friday, Jan. 14. Locals Tria Bullard, Todd Carpenter, Aaron Carter, Annette Byers, Erika Wilson and Dennis Morgan will cut a rug with their professional dance partners in a quest for the coveted mirrored ball trophy. Learn more here.

This week’s question of the week is a timely weather related question that asks us to consider how the seasons and about how our environment impacts us and others.

The Northwest Mural Fest has extended the public input and voting period on mural themes until January 11th, 2022. The community is encouraged to share their input by voting for the themes they would like to see go up on the walls around The Dalles during the 2022 Mural Fest.

In an Oregon first, District Attorney Matthew Ellis used Senate Bill 819 on Thursday, Jan 6, in Wasco County Circuit Court. He requested and received a vacation of multiple felony convictions for five locals who have atoned for their drug and or property crimes. Circuit Judge Janet Stauffer called it “one of the most important” dockets she ever had.