The weather forecast calls for sustained very cold temperatures in the next week. Community members can save themselves the hassle and cost of emergency repairs by taking a few simple steps to reduce the risk of burst pipes when freezing weather sets in.

The homeless housing team at Washington Gorge Action Programs (WAGAP) began offering Warming Shelter services for unsheltered people in Skamania and Klickitat Counties on December 13, 2021.

This week's question of the week asks us to share in our families, neighbors, and friends culinary traditions, culture...and gives us some ideas of what we might cook for ourselves this Christmas.

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

LIttle Art City Strikes again. The Dalles Art Center seeking local artist submissions to us for a three-dimensional sculpture created through the medium of blacksmithing. It will be installed at an upcoming “pocket park” at the corner of 2nd and Washington streets in the spring of 2022.

Can you hear those sleigh bells jing-a-ling, ring-ting-ting-a-ling, too? It’s lovely weather for seeing display lights together with you! Locals awarded for the all-out joy in bringing Christmas Magic to our little bend in the river! Read here about a holiday drive-by and the people that make it happen.

The person developed symptoms on Dec. 8, was diagnosed with COVID and admitted to Mid-Columbia Medical Center on Dec. 11, and passed away Dec. 15.

The idea was to encourage a culturally sensitive approach for the immigrant community to come together with medical professionals to access free vaccinations and booster shots. Guess what? It worked.

With news on Dec. 17 that the highly transmissible Omicron variant of COVID-19 is expected to lead to record hospitalizations by early February, North Central Public Health District has opened another vaccine clinic on Dec. 28 to increase access to vaccinations.

There is a super cool opportunity being offered by the Columbia Gorge Community College’s Creative Writing Club, for students both past and present, to have writing and visual art published.

Northwest Mural Fest has released their second round of mural themes for public input on their website.

This past week, starting Dec 16th to Dec 18th, The Dalles high school boys basketball team played some tough basketball at a tournament in Woodburn and has some real success. The Hawks made it to the semi-finals before falling to Woodburn in a close game.

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.

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 Curtis James, Willy and Nelson Trio, Sugar Daddies, hapa hillbillies, Al Hare, BBLake, MegaNeil, Megan Alder, Chazing Ebenezer, DJ Budget Money, Cowboy Buck and Elizabeth.

Welcome to Question of the Week, a weekly news column that poses timely questions about life, politics, culture, economics, health, and more to people out and about in our communities. Each column features a question that expresses curiosity about other people’s experiences and deepens our understanding of people from all walks of life.

Grand Jury Indicts Logan Cantwell, 23, on charges of attempted murder after Wasco District Attorney alleged he fired on a Wasco County Deputy after a chase led them near Shaniko. Cantwell is currently being lodged in the Skamania County Jail.

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.

Scott McKay hosted his third retirement party this week...and he makes no promises about not hosting the fourth one in another ten years.

Comunidades, Northshore Medical Group, Columbia Riverkeeper, and WAGAP invite you to a free COVID-19 vaccination event that will take place on December 18 from 2:30 to 5:30 in the afternoon. This will be a fiesta for health, where there will be tamales, atole, and also gift cards for those who get vaccinated.

The Dalles Elks Lodge #303, recently and generously donated $10,746.93 to The Dalles Meals on Wheels program. The donation goes a long way to defraying the cost of the program that served some 50,000 meals in 2020 alone. Volunteers drive the meals to homebound seniors to ensure they get one hot nourishing meal per day.