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.

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.

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.

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.

Get the highlights of the recent Wasco County Commission Meeting without having to sit through a 3-hour meeting. The meeting held on January 1st, 2022 covered topics such as a COVID outbreak at an emergency homeless shelter, wildfire smoke response, upcoming legislation about Medicaid for incarcerated youth and adults, County priorities and prioritized enhancement projects for 2022, and more.

U.S. Senators Wyden and Merkley brought home $5.2 Million in grants for major upgrades in Biggs Junction and Dufur.

MCMC and OHSU formally ended several aspects of their collaborative agreement that will affect primary care, general surgery, orthopedics, endocrinology in weeks and months to come. It is the latest news about the local hospital that cut ties with OHSU Cardiology in August and has seen 14 clinicians leave the Medical Center in the past year.

Rekindle the magic of this holiday season through the innocent and hopeful letters of local 3rd graders.

Monique Adams, LCSW, CADC from MCMC gives some therapist-grade advice to help you get through the holidays, especially if you have a pre-existing mental health condition, are newly divorced, grieving, are LGBTQ, or have estranged family.

Wasco County Medical Reserve Corps will host their 9th Annual Blanket Drive on January 15th, 2022, from 10:00 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the corner of Federal and E. 3rd St. in The Dalles. Blanket Drive donations benefit The Warming Place in The Dalles.

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.

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.

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 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 Wasco County Cultural Trust Coalition is now accepting grant applications for 2022 projects. Grants are available to individuals and organizations for projects in the arts, humanities, and heritage.

The owl pellet dissection was the kick-off competition for the group this year and drew a room full of interested students.

Now is the time for more cities and states to extend and expand cash support programs. We can’t deny that economics is a part of well-being. If we want to achieve a Culture of Health and promote wellbeing for all, financial support needs to be part of the equation.

Helen Mendoza urges friends to get the vaccine after getting it herself and now struggles daily with fatigue and breathing.

The City of Dufur has a boil water notice in effect for local residents after receiving a positive test for E. coli at a single testing site according to Public Works Superintendent Brandon Beauchamp. Beauchamp said today, Nov. 2, at 1:45 p.m. that they had shocked the well with chlorine and were flushing pipes to kill and remove the bacteria from the system.