[Skamania] 🗣 Public Pushback Pauses $1,000 Rescue Fine - Skamania BOCC 5/27

[Klickitat] 🔒 Missing Care Lands in Jails - Klickitat BOCC 6/9-6/23

This month the Klickitat County Board of County Commissioners moved a public-records job to the Prosecutor's Office, absorbed roughly four hundred thousand dollars in public-health cuts, and heard a sobering update from the county jail, all while residents pressed them on data centers and Fourth of July fireworks. We connect June's decisions to the Gorge's longer story on mental health and the justice system. In this episode: * Why the county is creating a Public Records Administrator, and the resident who keeps calling in to oppose it * A candid jail update: a shrinking population but harder cases, a new local opioid-treatment partnership, and a proposed body scanner * The Health Department's roughly four-hundred-thousand-dollar cut, and what it means alongside jail spending * Data centers floated for the old aluminum site and Dallesport * A fireworks survey pointing toward a partial ban with designated areas * Backyard-cottage (ADU) rules, a Goldendale rezone, and short-term-rental tracking * And a warm send-off for a longtime volunteer pilot Resources & Links: * Read the full written Dispatch - https://SkamaniaDispatch.com [https://SkamaniaDispatch.com] * Klickitat County agendas, packets, and meeting recordings: https://www.klickitatcounty.gov [https://www.klickitatcounty.gov/] * Submit public comment before a meeting: bocc@klickitatcounty.org * Prior coverage: "Mental-Health Crisis Deepens" (Nov. 2025) [https://skamania-dispatch.ghost.io/mental-health-crisis-deepens-wic-shortfalls-klickitat-board-of-health-update-fall-2025/] and "The 2-Year Wait for Disability Services" (Apr. 2026) [https://skamania-dispatch.ghost.io/the-2-year-wait-for-disability-services-developmental-disabilities-advisory-board-apr-26/] Stay Connected with the Gorge The Skamania Dispatch and The Klickitattler are community-led projects of OpenGorge.org. To stay updated on local news, governance, and community events across the region, you can sign up for both newsletters at SkamaniaDispatch.com. For real-time updates and to join the conversation, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/OpenGorge [https://www.google.com/search?q=https://facebook.com/OpenGorge].

[All-Gorge] ⚡ The Nine-Gigawatt Gap - EFSEC June 2026

This month the Washington State Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council — EFSEC, the agency that permits the Gorge's biggest energy projects — got a sobering look at the region's power math: a forecast that the Northwest could fall about nine gigawatts short by 2030. We also cover a brush fire at a Gorge-area solar farm, two ownership transfers headed for a July vote, and a finalized tribal-consultation policy. In This Episode * Why a regional study says the Northwest has to build energy at a pace it hasn't seen in 25 years * A May 28 brush fire at Ostrea Solar, and why it's a land-management story, not a solar story * Columbia Solar and Goose Prairie Solar ownership transfers head to a July decision * Carriger Solar's court fight may pause for settlement talks with the Yakama Nation * Two oil-loss events at the Columbia Generating Station nuclear plant * A new Commerce councilmember, a finalized tribal-consultation policy, and budget clouds Resources & Links * Read the full written Dispatch at skamaniadispatch.com * EFSEC project pages and agendas: efsec.wa.gov * The E3 / Public Generating Pool resource-adequacy study: https://ethree.com/ra-pnw [https://ethree.com/ra-pnw] * The U.S. Department of Energy's primer on wildfire and solar farms: energy.gov/femp [http://energy.gov/femp] Stay Connected with the Gorge The Skamania Dispatch and The Klickitattler are community-led projects of OpenGorge.org. To stay updated on local news, governance, and community events across the region, you can sign up for both newsletters at SkamaniaDispatch.com. For real-time updates and to join the conversation, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/OpenGorge [https://www.google.com/search?q=https://facebook.com/OpenGorge].

[Klickitat] 🏗️ 6 Summer Bridge Closures - Klickitat BoCC 5/26 & 6/2

A major wave of bridge closures is coming to Klickitat County this summer, with six local bridges slated for mandatory repairs and detours. Plus, we look at a looming crisis in the East District Court as state Supreme Court rules complicate the hiring of critical public defense attorneys, and explore the severe statistics and regulatory red tape defining the Gorge's "childcare desert." In This Episode: * The pre-development trap and regulatory costs stalling early education * State limits on public defender caseloads * The creation of a new unified Community Development Department * The push to centralize public records requests Resources & Links: * Read the full written Dispatch at skamaniadispatch.com * Review the full June 2 BOCC Meeting Agenda & Minutes at klickitatcounty.org * Learn more about the Boardman childcare model [https://oregonbusinessindustry.com/how-a-manufacturer-created-a-community-child-care-program/] Stay Connected with the Gorge The Skamania Dispatch and The Klickitattler are community-led projects of OpenGorge.org. To stay updated on local news, governance, and community events across the region, you can sign up for both newsletters at SkamaniaDispatch.com. For real-time updates and to join the conversation, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/OpenGorge [https://www.google.com/search?q=https://facebook.com/OpenGorge].

[All-Gorge] 🛑 Bridge Test Piles Halted by Insurance Gap - HRWSBA May 27 & June 8

In this episode of Open Gorge, we break down the Hood River-White Salmon Bridge Authority meetings from May 27th and June 8th. The Authority locked in a nearly 67-million-dollar operating budget for the coming year, but a critical test pile program is facing delays due to a complex liability insurance gap. In This Episode: * Navigating the insurance gap for Kiewit Construction's upcoming test pile program. * A bureaucratic standoff with the National Park Service over federal land mitigation at Marina Park. * Funding strategies while waiting for massive federal grant announcements. * Updates on the Umatilla Tribe Memorandum of Agreement. Resources & Links: * Read the full written Dispatch at skamaniadispatch.com. * View meeting agendas and past minutes at hoodriverbridge.org. Documenter notes are available for republishing under Creative Commons license CC by 4.0. With thanks to Columbia Gorge Documenters, powered by Uplift Local: https://upliftlocal.news/columbia-gorge/columbia-gorge-documenters/ [https://upliftlocal.news/columbia-gorge/columbia-gorge-documenters/] Stay Connected with the Gorge The Skamania Dispatch and The Klickitattler are community-led projects of OpenGorge.org. To stay updated on local news, governance, and community events across the region, you can sign up for both newsletters at SkamaniaDispatch.com. For real-time updates and to join the conversation, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/OpenGorge [https://www.google.com/search?q=https://facebook.com/OpenGorge].

[Klickitat] 💧 Protecting the Watershed - Goldendale May '26 Round-up

Goldendale took a massive step this month toward protecting your drinking water by securing over a hundred acres of vulnerable watershed land. Plus, a record drug bust highlights the escalating strain on local law enforcement and our rural courts. In This Episode: * New fifteen-dollar public records fees * A major fentanyl seizure and county probation renewals * Airport updates and the grounded courtesy car * Wildfire preparation and prescribed burns near city limits Resources & Links: * Read the full written Klickitattler at SkamaniaDispatch.com * City of Goldendale official website and meeting agendas: ci.goldendale.wa.us * Association of Washington Cities (AWC) Behavioral Health Fact Sheet [https://wacities.org/docs/default-source/legislative/factsheetbehavioralhealth2025.pdf] Stay Connected with the Gorge The Skamania Dispatch and The Klickitattler are community-led projects of OpenGorge.org. To stay updated on local news, governance, and community events across the region, you can sign up for both newsletters at SkamaniaDispatch.com. For real-time updates and to join the conversation, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/OpenGorge [https://www.google.com/search?q=https://facebook.com/OpenGorge].