Calling all families with children ages 12 and under! The 2022 Gorge STEM Fair is happening on Saturday, June 4th, 2022. This free, outdoor, family event centers on all things STEM in the Gorge, from making your own creations to learning about local companies and careers. Every booth has something hands-on for children and caregivers to explore together. STEM stands for “Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math;” skillsets that are naturally connected and increasingly crucial in our modern world.

Ticket holders for Rent at the Bingen Theater get a second chance after shows are added later this month. In addition, shows and entertainment for the region are still thumping. Venues include TD Civic, River City Saloon, The Pines, Bargeway Pub, Maupin Daze, Discovery Center, The Dalles Art Center, HR Library, Thunder Island, TD Library, Packer Orchards, HR Elks, Sunshine Mill, TD Eagles, Working Hands Beer, Tabby’s, Double Mountain, TD Granada, Clark and Lewie’s, MoCo, Columbia Gorge Interp. Center, Zim’s, The Ruins,

Carl Carlson, 76, of The Dalles drops off a ballot today, May 16 at the Wasco County Courthouse. He’s one of the few. Ballots are due by 8 p.m. Tuesday, May 17 - tomorrow.

Riverhawks ran, jumped and vaulted at districts in Prineville on Friday and Saturday, May 13 & !4, to punch their tickets to the state championship for Track and Field at Eugene’s famed Hayward Field on May 19-21. Check out all the results here and some incredible photos by Jill Pearson and Ashley Quisenberry.

On Saturday, May 14th, 2022 abortion rights supporters, in Hood River and nationwide gathered for a “Bans Off Our Bodies” day of action in support of abortion access and reproductive freedom.

Locals sound off about their health care as well as the state of the health care system this week. There is no lack of dialogue on this topic. It’s an issue that touches every resident, every American, and every person on this planet we found out.

Coffis Brothers are playing tonight and bands and entertainment will be bumpin’ in days and weeks to come at Rivertap, Bargeway Pub, Bingen Theatre, Yoga Samadhi, River City Saloon, Thunder Island, TD Library, HR Library, Working Hands Beer, The Pines, Taphouse, TD Arts Center, Discovery Center, Maupin Daze, Red Carpet, Grateful Vineyard, Double Mountain, TD Civic, MCCCA.

Voters in Wasco and Hood River County are slow to the polls this year. “This year we’re dragging behind in voter turnout and I’m not sure why,” said Lisa Gambee, Wasco County Clerk. “There’s a fair amount of candidates in the Governor’s race, so maybe it’s voters fatigue but still it’s been a little bit surprising.”

Two The Dalles High School robotics teams battled it out at the Vex Robotics World Championship on May 5th, 6th, and 7th in Dallas, TX. Competition was fierce as 818 teams battled it out to become the Vex Robotics world champion. “Eleven teams from Oregon had qualified for the tournament but only three made it to the elimination round and our teams made up two of those three,” said Webber.

“There is no way you can do this without coming out completely changed,” she said, repeating a mantra she has heard on trail. “They’re right,” she said.

On Monday May, 9th, Yakama Nation Fisheries and Glenwood High School’s Zoology class released twenty tagged adult lamprey into the White Salmon River at the BZ Corner launch site for the first time ever. The tags will enable biologists to track the fish's movements up and down stream.

This is the Youth Empowerment Shelter or YES House, and it's making a comeback after the pandemic temporarily closed its doors. We are the only ones to have a shelter like that east of Multnomah County and East of Deschutes County all the way to the Idaho border. The YES house is our number one diversion from the juvenile justice system.” said Molly Rogers, Northern Oregon Regional Correctional Facilities Director.

Country Insurance and Arturos Jewelry Repair as well as multiple other shop spaces near Sahara Pizza in The Dalles were destroyed in a heavy blaze that started around 1 p.m. this morning, May 11. It was the second fire at the location in the past 3 and a half months.

Through the mud and pouring rain in Milwaukie on May 7, the team got to see the view from the podium several times, racing tough while anticipating districts next week. Both men’s and women’s teams placed second. Riverhawks are headed to Prineville for the Intermountain Conference District Meet on Friday, May 13, and Saturday, May 14.

Just a fledgling business some 12 years ago, Dirt Hugger now boasts 32 employees, a retail and industrial site, and it is pulling 55,000 tons of green waste from local landfills, providing major reductions in the greenhouse gas emissions through a reduction in methane in the Gorge. If you’re not buying their products, maybe, you should be.

Samantha Wageman and Tavita Seufalemua had nine lives and then some when it came to the egg they were tossing on Monday, May 9th. The pair pulled off some miraculous bounces and epic rolls to the roar of a crowd that celebrated them as much as each other during National Skilled Nursing Care Week.

Read the poetry of Stud Walker in this week’s local poetry spotlight.

If you could send a message to aliens/extraterrestrials what message would you send?

Columbia Riverkeeper’s Board of Directors unanimously named Lauren Goldberg the organization’s new Executive Director starting August 1. Over the last two decades, the $3.5M organization has grown ten-fold while defeating over a dozen new fossil fuel terminals, reducing toxic pollution, and protecting salmon.