North Central Public Health District has distributed about 1,500 FREE home COVID-19 test kits to a number of entities in Wasco, Sherman, and Gilliam counties to be further distributed to the community. We also have test kits available for the public at our office.

The Dalles School Teachers and D21 offer up some of the lessons and activities going on in their classrooms of late. Learn about middle school virtual sports awards, ceramics, social-emotional learning, spring high school sports, and teacher Marnette Sprouse is recognized for saving a choking student.

The Wasco County Cultural Trust Coalition is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2022 grant awards.

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 Honey Badgers, The Jazz Collective, Nancy Wesson, Mutineers, The West Goats, Al Hare, history forums, Superbowl parties, Vertigo, Yvonne Pepin-Wakefield, Rent, and Lowest Pair.

A Red Ford Pickup was seen by multiple eyewitnesses with The Dalles Police and Wasco County Sheriff’s Office in Pursuit. Even with spiked tires, the suspect led law enforcement officials on a speedy chase through town.

(Photo Credit: Kyiah Rose via Facebook)

Google announced today, Feb. 8, a $50,000 grant to The Dalles Main Street to support the upcoming 2022 Northwest MuralFest during which artists from around the country will create more than a dozen new murals in The Dalles downtown district.

Mo Burford reviews The Power of the Dog. It is Jane Campion’s most recent film, and her first in ten years, The Power of the Dog is at its center a reevaluation of the myth of the old west, and with it the myth of masculinity that follows in its shadow, carving a hole in the center of each character’s life.

Mo Burford typically takes in 150 movies a year and has an Excel spreadsheet, where he records the director, year of release, date of viewing, and an idiosyncratic plus and minus rating system. Read all about him and his credentials and then take a look at his first review on The Power of the Dog on our home page.

The Dalles Art Center has teamed up with a group of metal fabrication students at Columbia Gorge Community College to fabricate and install a sizable metal display that will greet visitors outside as they approach the Art Center, on the corner of 3rd and Washington streets.

The Dalles boys basketball team won a thriller on Thursday, Feb. 3 against Gorge rivals Hood River Valley, in its third league game of the season. It was a hard-fought game for both teams with an electric crowd and the Hawks coming out on top 65-62 in the final seconds.

Question of the week: How do you give back to your community? Locals are giving in a lot of ways we found out. From sharing fruits and vegetables from their gardens to providing good conversation at parties. We were amazed at how many different ways we can give back to our communities. Check out what your neighbors had to say.

Joli Kirk and Kerry Hyde are picking up the pieces after an alleged arson fire destroyed Aubrey Stacy’s antique business and left all three of them houseless. A sale of the salvaged antiques is occurring at the parking lot on Sixth Street in The Dalles through Sunday. David John Daniels, 66, has been indicted on first-degree arson.

Because of thoughtful and caring people like you, The Next Door’s year-end fundraising campaign had its most successful year yet, surpassing the $200,000 goal and raising over $217,000 to support The Next Door’s many programs!

Locals want to see an upgraded high school in The Dalles and at the same time want to see more affordable housing, according to a City of The Dalles local survey recently completed for the 2040 visioning process. Find out what else people thought here.

During the years 1825-’26 Douglas explored the Columbia River and its tributaries, wintering over at Fort Vancouver. His journeys on the river included an overnight in The Dalles. Later explorations took him to California and eventually to Hawaii where he met an untimely death.

The Dalles’ Megan Kirchhofer, a TDHS graduate of 2019, has released her first book of poetry. "If Butterflies Could Talk" comes together as a collage of interconnected reflections, anecdotes, dreams, love notes, and detours from reality.

A man arrested on suspicion of stealing a car at knifepoint on Jan. 24 at a restaurant in The Dalles had appeared in Wasco County Circuit Court earlier the same day requesting to enter into a mental health commitment.

Get the highlights from the recent Wasco County Commission Meeting without having to watch two and a half hours of public meetings. The Wasco County Commissioners Meeting held their regularly scheduled meeting at 9 a.m. on February 2nd, 2022 and encompassed topics such as a COVID update from NCPHD, Phase D of Lone Pine Development Approved, NCPHD to get new ADA ramp, MCEDD Awarded $25k from the County, Clean Audits for the County, Library and 4-H Extension, donated public art and more.

The Dalles School Teachers offer up some of the lessons and activities going on in their classrooms of late. Learn about middle school wrestling, Chinese New Year, Martin Luther King, Jr., TDHS scholarships and what love looks like.

Join Mt. Adams Institute for a Sense of Place lecture on, A Model of Health: A History of Community Health Workers in the Gorge featuring Maria Antonia “Toña” Sanchez and Joel Pelayo on February 9th, 2022, at 7 p.m.