Tonight, Dec. 15, Downtown The Dalles will host the 3rd annual Sip & Shop event from 5 to 8 p.m. The event invites the community to sip wine, shop local, and stroll thier way through historic downtown The Dalles in celebration of the holiday season. 

In this episode of the CCCNews Podcast we interview Kenny LaPoint, the Mid-Columbia Community Action Council Executive Director leading a local and regional effort to end homelessness. In this episode, we talk about MCCAC's collaborative approach to addressing homelessness, the complexities surrounding service-resistant populations, and how MCCAC is working to build a culture of hope in the face of hardship.

The Gorge Technology Alliance (GTA) held its eleventh annual awards program on December 12, 2023, recognizing the Tech Leader and STEM Educator of the Year and honoring all finalists for the two awards. Steve Olson and Jordan Holt, founders of SightLine Applications, were honored as the TechLeaders of the Year.

The Hood River-White Salmon Bridge Replacement Project is moving into the design phase for the new bridge and is seeking members of an advisory committee to help guide this work. The Hood River-White Salmon Bridge Aesthetics Committee will have the opportunity to generate ideas and concepts for new bridge aesthetic treatments (aka design features) that will be compiled in an Aesthetics Guidance Memorandum.

The Washington Public Defense Office says a shortage of public defenders and flawed caseload standards have pushed the public defense system to the point of near collapse.

In a significant move towards addressing local housing needs and community concerns, The Dalles City Council approved General Ordinance 23-1404 during their December 11, 2023, meeting. The ordinance amends the city’s comprehensive plan related to housing and adopts a housing and residential lands needs assessment along with a buildable lands inventory update.

A Housing Needs Analysis  presented to The Dalles City Council on Monday, Dec. 11, shows a slow down in the rate of future population growth resulting in the projected need for 505 new housing units in The Dalles by 2043. 

In Oregon, there are 5,386 kids in the foster care system and counting. Despite such a tremendous need for foster homes, there is an ongoing shortage of foster families in our communities, our state, and nationwide. This year, The Next Door, Inc. (TNDI) has returned to our roots and stepped up to fill our local need by purchasing a home in The Dalles to provide a safe, nurturing home for displaced youth.

Cookies, Cocoa and Photos with Santa organizers presented Mid-Columbia Community Action Council (MCCAC) with a check for $2,700 on Monday, Dec. 11. 

I don’t think I was more surprised by any movie this year than The Holdovers. I found its initial trailer to be off-putting (I’m just about done watching trailers!), but decided to give it a try anyway after being letdown by several big movies that were out. And I couldn’t have been happier to be wrong!

Jeff Minnick pulls out his guitar for Waterfront Wednesday at the Bargeway Pub tonight, Dec. 13. The veteran player who lives for the pocket will lay down the lyrics tonight at The Dalles’ premier venue. Want more? Of course, you do. Check out the Gorge’s most comprehensive guide to arts and entertainment here.

Multiple Oregon school districts, including Central Linn, Cascade, Colton, Corbett, Condon and Arlington, faced bomb threats on Monday, Dec. 11. In addition to the schools being threatened, two Portland-area synagogues, Neveh Shalom and Beth Israel and some airports were also targeted. FBI agents did not identify which airports had been targeted. Portland International Airport confirmed that they did not receive any threats.

The Dalles City Manager Matthew Klebes has announced changes to the City’s zoom meeting policies following an anti-Semitic “zoom bombing” incident that occurred at the last City Council meeting. Klebes shared that the incident is under FBI investigation and is a part of a recent slew of zoom-bombing and hate speech incidents which have been occurring during online public meetings state-wide.

The Hood River Christmas Project will kicked off a week of volunteering and giving back today. Volunteers filled the community room at Hood River Fairgrounds from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. today, December 11, 2023 to participate in the program which is celebrating its 100th year of giving back to Hood River County.

On December 11, 2023 at approximately 11:30 a.m., Arlington School District received an email advising of a bomb threat. Shortly after, Condon School District received a similar email advising of a bomb threat.

Sign contractors for the Oregon Department of Transportation are working to replace aged and non-compliant freeway signsto increase safety and improve the driving experience for the traveling public on I-84 between exits 82 and 83 today, December 11, 2023.

Mt. Hood Meadows has announced the temporary suspension of their operations through Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023, due to warm temperatures and rain causing water oversaturation on the slopes. The resort will reassess conditions on Wednesday and hopes to resume operations as soon as the snowpack sets up.

Tonight Rock Violinist Aaron Meyer will perform at the 12th Annual Rock the Holidays Benefit Concert to support United Way of the Columbia Gorge! There will be two concerts on Sunday, December 10th in the Gorge Room at the Best Western PLUS Hood River Inn.

The Friends of White Salmon Library hosted a holiday quilt reception and open house at White Salmon Library from 2 to 4 p.m. on Saturday Dec. 9. 

Start slicing the lemons and clarifying the butter, it will soon be time to start crackin’ as commercial fishermen have been given the green light on harvesting Dungeness Crab south of Depoe Bay on the Oregon Coast starting Dec. 16.