April 6, 2020 Gov. Jay Inslee and Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal today announced the extension of school closures for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year. The order keeps both public and private schools closed in accordance with the governor’s original order on March 13. The governor’s proclamation prohibits in-person instruction throughContinue Reading

April 2, 2020 Gov. Jay Inslee announced a month-long extension of his “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” emergency order Thursday evening. The order, which banned all gatherings and temporarily sahuttered non-essential businesses, will continue through May 4. “Epidemiological modeling from the University of Washington predicts we will have at least 1,400 deaths thisContinue Reading

On March 23, Gov. Kate Brown issued Executive Order 20-12, effective immediately until further notice. This is a statewide order. Failure to comply with the order will be considered an immediate danger to public health. For more information, read the latest press release. To read the summary in Español / Spanish, РусскийContinue Reading

            After 68 years of being known as Skyline Hospital – the only independent public hospital in the Gorge – the organization is changing its name to Skyline Health. The new name reflects Skyline’s commitment to growth, excellence and innovation in services throughout its communities and is not part ofContinue Reading

            SM Line makes first container service call at Port of Portland’s Terminal 6             On January 14, South Korea-based container carrier SM Line made its inaugural vessel call at the Port of Portland’s Terminal 6, bringing weekly container shipping service back to Portland.             The 4,360 TEU vessel, theContinue Reading

Foster Parents Association of Washington State FPAWs trainings are a great way to learn new information, but they are also a wonderful way to meet other caregivers and connect with organizations that serve as helpful resources. https://www.fpaws.org/ 1281 Sylvan Way #3008 Bremerton WA 98310 1-800-391-CARE (2273) fpaws@fpaws.org Embrace Oregon EmbraceContinue Reading

Screening Events Dates: Wednesday, March 18 – Liberty Theatre (Astoria) – 6:30p FREE Screening – Presented in partnership with the Astoria-Warrenton Chamber of Commerce and the Oregon Film Museum Saturday, March 21 – Egyptian Theatre (Coos Bay) – Two Screenings, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., tickets available at the BoxContinue Reading

            Today, the Washington Council of Police & Sheriffs (WACOPS) named Washougal Police Officer Francis Reagan, Officer of the Year for a heroic water rescue on the Washougal River in May 2019. Founded in the 1950s, WACOPS is recognized as the largest organization representing law enforcement professionals across Washington State.Continue Reading

By Lori Roach In December 2019 The Dalles was one of two Oregon cities that made the top 10 list on the Deluxe Small Business Revolution original series, a competition that is won by the number of votes received. Citizens of The Dalles had no idea what would transpire overContinue Reading

By Jordan Horn • Drivers Habits • Travel Conditions • Vehicle Maintenance • Fuel Variations Having a baseline of expected fuel economy and then comparing to actual trip miles and efficiency can aid in feedback to new drivers. Speeding, quick acceleration, braking habits, excessive idling will all affect your bottomContinue Reading

                                                                                                By Lori Roach             At Mill City Brew Werks in downtown Camas, it is not all about the beer, but it is a good place to start. When owner, Mark Zech, along with a co-worker, first began brewing, they were doing it straight out of Zech’s garage.             “IContinue Reading

          Ahh Spring!!             Our Daffodils are blooming, and our grass is almost ready to be mowed for the first time. Winter slipped by quickly and quietly for us, but not so for my friends and family in NE Oregon and SE Washington where flood waters wreaked havoc in aContinue Reading

The Red Trillium Gallery is now open in Troutdale at 373 East Historic Columbia River Highway. The Red Trillium Gallery is a cooperative of 31 local professional artists selling high-quality art work across many media at affordable prices. Shoppers will discover original paintings, prints and cards plus a trove ofContinue Reading

Skyline Foundation recently received three grants totaling $315,000 to its Expanding on Excellence capital campaign, which supports Skyline Hospital’s Emergency Department renovation and expansion. The M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust awarded the campaign $250,000, the Schreiber Family Charitable Foundation awarded $50,000 and the BNSF Foundation awarded $15,000. These grants along withContinue Reading

Happy New Year!! 2020 is sure to be full of adventures for us. We’ve decided to hike at least 52 hikes this year, one for each week. We’ll let you know if we succeed. We started off the new year by hiking around the Fort Cascades National Historic Site nearContinue Reading

The Port of Cascade Locks will be implementing the “Breezeby” Electronic Tolling beginning January 6, 2020. The Port of Cascade Locks Board of Commissioners has approved an intergovernmental agreement with the Port of Hood River to incorporate that Port’s electronic tolling system for the Bridge of the Gods, making oneContinue Reading

By Larry Kurtz I still remember the day I was finished. It was a lot more exciting than all those days, no, wait, years being built. That six years was miserable, except, as you’ll see, when I met Washington. I was beat on, poked, prodded, driven on, and just totallyContinue Reading

Caroline Bailey is the author of the blog, www.barrentoblessed.com. She can be found on Instagram and Facebook under the name: Barren to Blessed. Caroline survived a lethal infection at the age of eleven which led to a full hysterectomy. She is the youngest girl known to undergo a hysterectomy. Caroline’sContinue Reading

C&S Wholesale Grocers, Inc., the largest wholesale grocery supply company in the U.S., announced its support of Ahold Delhaize USA as it transitions to a self-distribution supply chain network over the next three years, continuing a 30-year relationship with Ahold Delhaize USA companies. C&S will continue to serve as theContinue Reading

Starting on Jan. 1, 2020, Oregon retail stores and restaurants can no longer provide single-use checkout bags. They also must, in most instances, charge at least five cents for paper bags (with 40% or more post-consumer recycled content), reusable plastic bags (4 mils thick) and reusable fabric bags although restaurantsContinue Reading

One love can change your life. One life can change the world. From the creators of I Can Only Imagine comes an inspiring love story for the ages: I STILL BELIEVE, based on the real-life story of chart-topping singer Jeremy Camp. The new movie from directors Jon and Andrew ErwinContinue Reading

The Renewal Workshop, the leading provider of circular solutions for apparel and textile brands, is announcing a $5.5M Series A financing round and expansion into Europe. The round is led by European venture capital and impact investors Social Impact Ventures, SHIFT Invest, and Quadia with participation from existing US investorsContinue Reading

Bridgeside’s location and professional staff can serve a lovely Gorge event with scenic Columbia River views. There are two options for private events. Bridgeside Terrace offers indoor and outdoor space on the lower level of Bridgeside, overlooking the Columbia River next to the historic Bridge of the Gods in CascadeContinue Reading

Columbia River Gorge residents are gearing up for the 28th annual silent auction and dinner at the Columbia Gorge Interpretive Center Museum in Stevenson, Saturday, March 14th, 2020. This year the theme is The 80’s. “The response from area business has been fantastic so far”. Many members of the boardContinue Reading

By Jordan Horn Whether it is a large corporation or a small mom and pop, cash flow management is critical to ensure long term success for your business. Even with operational revenue if cash is mismanaged your organization will not succeed. Businesses experience lags between the time you pay suppliersContinue Reading

Eighty-one percent of Oregon’s eligible fifth- and sixth-grade students participated in the statewide Oregon State University Extension Service Outdoor School program in the 2018-19 school year, according to a new Oregon State University Extension Service report. A total of 37,965 students took part in Outdoor School, spending a total ofContinue Reading

Welcome to Fall everyone! I hope you are all ready to jump into the holiday season. Be sure to check out our Shop Local – Shop The Gorge pages of this issue. With nine kids between us and 17 grandkids spread out from Oregon to Oklahoma Rick and I areContinue Reading

The State of Washington recently showed its support of Skyline Hospital’s Emergency Department renovation and expansion through a capital budget award of $500,000 to the Expanding on Excellence campaign. “We are deeply grateful for this extraordinary gift and the inspiration it provides for others to support this project and SkylineContinue Reading

OnPoint Community Credit Union announced it made a $40,200 contribution to Oregon Food Bank following the credit union’s successful Refer a Friend campaign throughout the summer of 2019. The donation will help to provide more than 120,000 meals for individuals and families throughout Oregon and Southwest Washington. Sarah Berwick, OnPoint’sContinue Reading

By Lori Roach Fun Country Powersports has been a part of The Dalles landscape for more than 50 years and is the 4th oldest Honda dealership in the northwest, so 15 years ago when Mike and Lisa Erland purchased the business from George Hazel, who had owned it for 40Continue Reading

U.S. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt recently announced $170,623,713 in grants from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) to all 50 States, five U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia for state-identified outdoor recreation and conservation projects. LWCF funds are non-taxpayer dollars derived from Outer Continental Shelf leaseContinue Reading

By Renee Tkach Exploring the Columbia Gorge without a personal vehicle is getting easier this fall with the expansion of the Columbia Gorge Express connecting from Portland to The Dalles, seven days a week, starting in early November. Consider skipping the parking hassle and lessening your carbon footprint by havingContinue Reading

By Preston Roach Are you sitting there staring at your phone right now? You know you’re supposed to be doing something productive, but you can’t find the motivation so you’re googling it to see if other people have the same problem and what they have done to fix it. IContinue Reading

By Lori Roach “We have company,” my husband Rick hollered to me down the hallway. I stepped out of my office expecting to see our next-door neighbors, instead I was greeted by a young Chinese man standing in my kitchen. He wore a Ralph Lauren sweatshirt, smiled and nodded aContinue Reading

By Lori Roach According to the Oregon Food Bank’s Snapshot of Hunger, 526,640 Oregonians are food insecure, which means they lack access to good, healthy food, and/or don’t have enough food for an active healthy lifestyle. The number jumps to 582,620 when you include Clark County, Washington, which is alsoContinue Reading

Thank you for continuing to read and support The Gorge Business News. Lori and I truly love meeting the wonderful people in the Gorge and hearing your stories, some about business, some about activities and events, and some are just about everyday life. We are all connected in one wayContinue Reading

More than 40 Pacific Northwest breweries will gather in the heart of the Columbia River Gorge for the annual event, which offers one of the largest fresh-hop beer selections in the country. On Saturday, September 21, downtown Hood River, Oregon, will again be “hopping” with the return of one ofContinue Reading

By Rick Roach The Wyeth to Lindsey Creek segment of the Historic Columbia River Highway and State Trail has been completed and was officially opened after a ribbon cutting ceremony on August 3, 2019. This three-mile segment, located between Cascade Locks and Hood River Oregon, is an important addition toContinue Reading

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (AUG 6 2019) Thunder Island Brewing Co. to Break Ground on New Brewery & Restaurant in Cascade Locks, Oregon Thunder Island Brewing Co, established in 2013, will break ground on their new purpose built brewery & restaurant at a groundbreaking celebration on August 20th in downtown CascadeContinue Reading

Packing boxes for migrant farmworker food drive (right to left): Carol Hayes, Carmen Barrera, Joel Pelayo, Liliana Lachino, Mariana Sendejas Donations from One Community Health staff and friends make for the most abundant year of giving on record. Giving has been good this year with One Community Health’s annual CherryContinue Reading

By Rick Roach Northern Pikeminnow are voracious predators and consume millions of salmon smolts each year (smolts are juvenile salmon returning to the ocean). Salmon are an important economic driver in the Pacific Northwest due to their intrinsic value as a food source as well as a sport fish. SalmonContinue Reading

West Coast Woodcut, which will run through November 15, explores the natural beauty, cityscapes and social worlds of the West Coast through 60 woodcut prints, linocuts and wood engravings by artists from Washington, Oregon and California. Among the featured artists are some of the most well-known printmakers on the WestContinue Reading

The Dalles Chamber of Commerce has announced August 17 as the date of the Farm 2 Fork Bounty From the County featuring Chef Patti Curfman of Patti Cakes, Inc. The Farm 2 Fork event will take place at Polhen Farms at 4405 Millcreek Rd. The Dalles. The event will startContinue Reading

By Rick Roach Newly appointed General Manager of the Port of Cascade Locks, Olga Kaganova, was excited to share her vision and ideas about the future of the Port during our recent interview. Coming from a business and finance background Olga had already been putting her skills to work asContinue Reading

By Rick Roach Our latest excursion through the Gorge was something special as we tried a new service called Turo. Turo is a car rental company, but not in the ordinary sense. Turo allows car owners to rent their daily driver when not in use or a second car outContinue Reading

By Lori Roach In May the North Bonneville City Council decided in favor of allocating $250,000 to the Bonneville Trails Foundation (BTF) for the development of the Bonneville Trails Adventure Park, which will include five treehouse climbers, a water feature, mountain climbers and a zipline. The project includes the renovationContinue Reading

By Lori Roach Eleven Oregon republican senators fled the state and went into hiding to avoid being rounded up by the Oregon State Police per Governor Kate Brown’s orders. Senate President Peter Courtney called it the “saddest day in my legislative life,” to ask Governor Brown to use state troopersContinue Reading

By Jordan Horn Strategic planning is only a single aspect to the three-part process to answer Why, What, and How an organization will be successful through Vision, Strategy, and Tactics. The organization’s Vision statement answers the overall basic question why you are in business. It is a document that communicatesContinue Reading

It’s been a wild and crazy 2019 already. Rick and I are finally settled and love living in North Bonneville where we are surrounded by beautiful mountains, and wonderful places to hike. We are set on walking the Camino de Santiago in Spain in a year or two, so weContinue Reading