Comedy, music, a fundraiser for a friend. It’s all happening in the Gorge. Check out our latest listings here.

Another move downtown has the commercial district shaking. The Salvation Army is headed east to a leased building on Second Street and their old digs are up for sale for $1.65 million. The 0.29-acre lot with 24,000 square feet of building space and 10,000 square feet of parking provides a lot of potential to a would-be investor. Housing, restaurants, food carts? Who knows. Time will tell.

It’s time to blow the doors off 2023. Jim Drake gives us a nice little tour of what is happening in the Gorge to ring in the new year. Check out the shows and parties coming up this Saturday, Dec. 31.

Santa has sent us letters and drawings from local 2nd and 3rd graders to help us rekindle the magic of this holiday season through these innocent and hopeful writings. Santa has quite a group of pen pals from The Dalles, Dufur, Mosier and Lyle. Check them out here.

With a major uptick in flu cases, the U.S. Center for Disease Control has sent out a Health Advisory to healthcare providers regarding the importance of prescribing antiviral medications for patients with the flu this year. Flu shots are available. Click here to find out more.

The Dalles Wasco County Sheriff partnered with Mid-Columbia Community Action Council (MCCAC) staff and volunteers and anonymous donors from the community to deliver some Christmas magic to two families in need on Wednesday December 21st. 

All that shopping and sweating the little stuff needs to take a break. Find a live show or a movie in this week’s roundup of Gorge Entertainment. Jim Drake also offers a little New Year’s Eve Planner to get you thinking.

Donna Henderson, LCSW, psychotherapist, artist and writer based in Maupin, South Wasco County shares tips on navigating the holidays after loss.

On December 19th, 2022 at 9:45 a.m, a court hearing for the Tara Koch case, presided over by Judge Karen Ostrye, was held via webex in Wasco County, presided over by Judge Karen Ostrye. The hearing was only minutes long and resulted in the scheduling of a plea hearing on March 20th, 2023 at 10:30 a.m.

A recent order by Oregon Administrative Law Judge Jennifer Rackstraw concludes that minimal impacts at most would come to endangered species such as steelhead and Chinook if wetlands are removed in the construction of a Walmart supercenter in The Dalles. She found the public benefits outweighed some degree of wetland destruction and degradation, stream and river pollution, fish mortality, and wildlife mortality and displacement.

Entertainment in the Gorge is hitting a fevered pitch in the next couple of days as opportunities for live music, entertainment, comedy and local concerts are coming down the chimney like a bag of toys. Check out the offerings and opportunities for holiday fun here.

The app and web-based platform, allows users to easily view and fulfill the needs of Mid-Columbia Community Action Council clients in their communities by purchasing items or making monetary donations. 

The Steltzer family recently purchased the former Chronicle building at 315 Federal Street with the intent of renovating the building for a natural food grocery and deli as well as creating space for six other like-minded businesses. The project will transform the building which has been shuttered since the summer of 2018. They hope to be open in late spring or early summer of 2023.

A community member who is experiencing houselessness has been hospitalized due severe hypothermia from prolonged exposure to the winter weather. City of The Dalles Police, community members, local health services, the Department of Human Services, and Mid-Columbia Community Action Council responded to the incident in a timely manner resulting in the administering of lifesaving care and securing shelter for the individual.

We’re coming into a manic weekend as the days count down to Christmas. And the presents are already dropping as art, music and entertainment are piling up like packages at the post office. This weekend brings us Brewer’s Grade, Anna Veimeister and Aaron Myer to name just a few. Check our latest here and stuff your stocking with some good times.

Moe Dixon and Tess and Patrik Barr will play a free show at Riverside Community Church in Hood River on Friday, Dec. 2nd at noon. Dixon will also play The Pines in HR starting at 6 p.m. Miles From Nowhere, a four-piece band from Central Oregon will bring a set filled with Classic Rock, Blues, Country and Alternative to Zim’s in TD on Saturday, Dec. 3, starting at 7 p.m.

The Snow Sisters and Goldendale Reindeer Farm are creating a ton of holiday magic for local youths this Christmas Season as they offer events around the Gorge. Tegan Shermikas takes along for the ride as the Sisters work their magic. Sounds pretty fun. We wish we were 5 again.

The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning in the Central and Western Columbia River Gorge from 4 p.m. Nov 29th to mid morning Nov. 30th.

But through the doors of the former Baldwin Saloon in The Dalles one found warmth and laughter, a large table bristling with life and community in the space now called the Rooted Commons.

The Dalles will kick off the holiday season on Friday November 25th, 2022 with a “Country Christmas” Starlight Parade, a community tree lighting, a downtown family night, a showing of The Grinch, sleigh rides, arts, crafts, a Shop Small event and more!