Open Gorge: The Skamania Dispatch & Klickitattler

Kate

Welcome to Open Gorge, your audio bridge to local government, infrastructure, and community news in the Columbia River Gorge. Hosted by the founder of Open Gorge, Kate Bertash, this podcast brings the in-depth, civic-minded reporting of The Skamania Dispatch and The Klickitattler newsletters straight to your headphones. We break down the public meetings you didn't have time to attend, track local infrastructure projects, and decode the regional policy decisions that directly impact your daily life. Whether you are a Columbia Gorge resident commuting across the river, following local elections, or tracking where your tax dollars are going, we provide clear, factual summaries of what’s changing and what’s coming next. Our unified feed covers the entire Gorge. Check the title of each episode to see if we are covering Skamania County, Klickitat County, or regional issues that impact us all. Listen to what matters most to your neighborhood, or stay tuned for the full regional picture. Subscribe to the written newsletters and join the community at SkamaniaDispatch.com.

  1. 11h ago

    [Klickitat] 🚱The Flood They Can't Discuss - Bingen July 2026

    Bingen City Council spent thirty minutes in July listening to its own residents and legally could not answer a single question. Four downtown businesses have been closed since a contractor struck a water main in April, one of them is now closed for good, and the city says it cannot lend a dollar to fix it. We walk through both July meetings, plus a rail Quiet Zone that just slipped by a year. In This Episode Why the city attorney told a packed room "there will be no response, and that goes for everybody here"The constitutional rule that makes a city loan illegal, and why "just help them" has no legal formThe contractor the city would not name, which the newspaper had already printedThe city's July 20 press release, the July 6 estimates, and the resident who called it a lieMugs Coffee is not reopeningThe BNSF Quiet Zone diagnostic visit finally happens, and the timeline slips to two summers outBingen writes its first fence rulesBoth Public Works employees retire within a day of each otherThe public comment box that quietly went nowhere for eight monthsResources & Links Read the full written Dispatch at SkamaniaDispatch.comBingen agendas, minutes and meeting recordings: bingenwashington.org/AgendaCenterNext meeting: Tuesday, August 4, 2026, 6:00 p.m., in person and by ZoomOur prior Bingen coverage: https://skamania-dispatch.ghost.io/a-green-light-for-the-quiet-zone-bingen-june-26-round-up/ and https://skamania-dispatch.ghost.io/water-main-breaks-red-rag-clog-mystery-in-bingen-april-26/Columbia Gorge News reporting cited in this episode: Sean Avery on the July 7 meeting, and Nan Noteboom on the July 21 meeting, at columbiagorgenews.comStay 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.

  2. 2d ago

    [Klickitat] 🏘 Rules for Backyard Homes - Goldendale July 2025

    Goldendale's City Council spent both July meetings fighting over one sentence in its new backyard-homes rule: whether somebody has to actually live on the property. It passed anyway. Also this month, a five-year airport engineering deal, an award-winning sewage plant, and a resident who asked the mayor point blank whether the city plans to sell its water to a data center. In This Episode Goldendale adopts an accessory dwelling unit code, and why the objection that opened the hearing turned out to rest on a misreadingThe owner-occupancy clause, and the police chief's question that actually changed the ordinanceA wider runway that starts with a culvert, and a three hundred sixty thousand dollar plan trimmed to seventy-one"Are we going to sell our water to the data center?"Six years running for the wastewater treatment plantSidewalks, outdoor dining, and who actually gets blockedCommunity Days, a ceremonial key, and a centennial nobody can confirmResources & Links Read the full written Dispatch at skamaniadispatch.comCity of Goldendale agendas, packets and minutesCity of Goldendale City CouncilPrior coverage: Smoke, Weeds and Fireworks, Goldendale's June round-upPrior coverage: Data Centers Come Knocking, Klickitat CountyStay 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.

  3. 4d ago

    [Skamania] 💸 An Equipment Fund Run Dry - North Bonneville July ‘26

    The North Bonneville City Council filled its last empty seat in a single evening, then spent the rest of the month finding problems. A typo in a five year old planning document nearly sank a grant application. The city's equipment fund turned out to be spent by January. And a long awaited Bradford Island discussion happened with the Army Corps in the room and unable to answer questions. In This Episode Norm Woods interviewed, appointed, and sworn in on the same nightA Capital Facilities Plan correction and a grant deadlineWhy Chambers says the equipment fund is at ninety nine percentBradford Island, the Restoration Advisory Board, and a transmission line under the riverThe city's contract planner asks about his own jobMoss, moles, and squirrelsWhat's next: the August fourth zoning hearingResources & Links Read the full written Dispatch at skamaniadispatch.comNorth Bonneville agendas, minutes, and recordings: northbonneville.netZoning periodic review documents: northbonneville.net/planning/periodic-reviewBackground on the transmission project: our special report on Cascade Renewable TransmissionStay 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.

  4. Aug 7

    [Klickitat] ☀️ Balcony Solar and a Postponed Store - White Salmon July '26

    White Salmon's biggest land-use hearing of the summer was over in minutes, before it ever opened. Sixty-nine people had already written in about a proposed convenience store across from Rheingarten Park, staff had recommended denial, and then the applicant asked to postpone. In this episode: the White Salmon City Council, the Planning Commission, the Tree Board, the Community Development Committee, and City Lab, the city's climate board, which we are covering for the first time. In This Episode Two street grant applications, and the three hundred sixty thousand dollars of city money riding on themWhy the city's own main street is the most expensive place in town to closeA tree ordinance that charges four hundred dollars for a tree, and the housing question hiding inside itThe twenty-inch water main, and the leak nobody knew about until they went to pull the old pipeBalcony solar, and why it died in OlympiaChildcare, asked for again, at two levels of governmentResources & Links Read the full written Dispatch at skamaniadispatch.comWhite Salmon agendas, packets and recordings: whitesalmonwa.gov/meetingsWritten comment to Council: public.comment@whitesalmonwa.gov, by noon the Wednesday of the meetingOur June round-up, including the thirty percent short-term rental rule: https://skamania-dispatch.ghost.io/june-in-white-salmon-an-ev-mandate-a-denied-appeal-and-the-30-rule/Our coverage of childcare at the county level: https://skamania-dispatch.ghost.io/childcare-as-economic-infrastructure-klickitat-bocc-4-21-4-28/Meeting notes for the Tree Board, the Community Development Committee and City Lab come from Columbia Gorge Documenters, powered by Uplift Local, CC BY 4.0: 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.

  5. Aug 5

    [Skamania] 🏘 Ten Units or One? - Stevenson July 2026

    Stevenson's Planning Commission spent an evening on half an acre, and ended up asking a question the city cannot currently answer. Meanwhile the City Council's long sewer rewrite finally got the escape hatch septic owners have been asking for since spring. This episode covers the Stevenson Planning Commission and the Stevenson City Council for July 2026. In This Episode The rezone on Southwest Attwell Road, and why one written comment put the whole argument in five wordsWhy the commission refused to decide, and the two questions it sent staff away withA new appeal route for homeowners whose septic fails and who cannot afford to connectNew engineering standards, and the clause that got pulled for another lookA new Planning Commission chairOne July council meeting we cannot report on, and whyResources & Links Read the full written Dispatch at skamaniadispatch.comStevenson agendas, packets and meeting video: ci.stevenson.wa.us/meetingsPrior coverage: June 2026 and May 2026Next up: Planning Commission, Monday August 10. City Council, Thursday August 20.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.

  6. Aug 4

    [Klickitat] 🗳 The Last Forum - Klickitat Primary Special - 7/21

    Klickitat County's third and last candidate forum before the August 4 primary (vote by tonight!) happened July 21 in Goldendale, and the questions were the bluntest of the three. Three sheriff candidates were asked when they last worked patrol in Washington, and one answered "never." Klickitat County Commissioner Lori Zoller was asked to defend the Board of County Commissioners' takeover of the county jail. We also walk the final Public Disclosure Commission filings for both county races, and the Federal Election Commission reports for the open 4th District congressional seat. In This Episode Klickitat County Sheriff: Bruce, Warren and Matulovich on patrol currency, the sheriff's posse, and what "constitutional sheriff" means after Bob SongerCounty Commissioner District 2: Kallinen, Zoller and Klejeski, and the jail question nobody wanted to read out loudWhy we are not printing the jail settlement's dollar figures, and what a typed record does confirmRetiring Sheriff Bob Songer is funding candidates in both county racesThe 4th District open seat, where outside groups have outspent every county candidate combined, several times overWhy Klickitat and Skamania readers are voting in different congressional racesResources & Links Read the full written Dispatch at skamaniadispatch.comOur earlier coverage of the July 9 and July 14 forums: https://skamania-dispatch.ghost.io/your-klickitat-2026-primary-ballot-preview-7-9-7-14-candidate-forums/Nathan Wilson, "Meet the three candidates for Klickitat County sheriff," Columbia Gorge News, July 21, 2026: https://www.columbiagorgenews.com/news/meet-the-three-candidates-for-klickitat-county-sheriff/article_2ff1d474-c44f-487b-b2b6-59faa63e30f2.htmlNathan Wilson, "Tony Warren's tenure at the Bingen-White Salmon Police Department," Columbia Gorge News, July 28, 2026: https://www.columbiagorgenews.com/news/tony-warrens-tenure-at-the-bingen-white-salmon-police-department/article_3aadf406-29b9-49d2-ba26-7659a4898eb3.htmlKlickitat County Elections and ballot drop-box locations: klickitatcounty.govLook up any candidate's donors yourself at the Public Disclosure Commission: pdc.wa.govFederal filings for the congressional races: fec.govStay 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.

  7. Jul 31

    [All-Gorge] ⚖️ Bridge Liability Untangled - HRWS Bridge Authority July '26

    Overnight bridge closures are coming in August, and we've got the full schedule. Plus the Hood River-White Salmon Bridge Authority spent July untangling three separate insurance headaches at once, while the Port of Hood River made a real concession on handing over land. In This Episode: Overnight bridge closures coming August 17 through September 11Kiewit takes the lead on test pile liability, ending a month-long standoffUSDOT rules the INFRA grant construction-only, tightening the cash timelineOne invoice stuck in federal review for 417 daysThe Port of Hood River signals it'll hand over land for constructionThe stalled Marina Park dispute with federal park officialsWhy "special district" status keeps coming up, and why the Authority still doesn't have itWhether rising construction insurance costs are a Gorge problem or a national oneResources & Links: Read the full written Dispatch at SkamaniaDispatch.comPort of Hood River: Overnight Bridge Closures notice (schedule also posted in Spanish)HRWSBA meeting agendas & materialsPrior coverage: Bridge Test Piles Halted by Insurance Hurdles (June)Prior coverage: $3.4M State Park Dispute Hits Bridge Project (March)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.

  8. Jul 30

    [Skamania] ⛏ A Quarry on the Clock - Skamania BOCC 7/7 - 7/21

    July was quiet in the room at the Skamania County Board of Commissioners, and busy underneath. Commissioners closed the books on the county's old budget system, seated a batch of new volunteers, and watched two long-running fights inch forward: the Storedahl gravel quarry, whose public comment window closes July 30, and the arrival of the state's energy-siting council in the National Scenic Area. In This Episode: Commenter pleas against the Storedahl quarry, and the July 30 comment deadlineEFSEC, the state energy council, reaching into the Scenic Area for a transmission lineSupplemental Budget #1: the first budget fix under the county's new finance systemNew faces on the Board of Equalization and the Homeless Housing CouncilForest Youth Success survives another summer, with a donor shout-out (and a disclosure)Carson traffic, a hatchery guardrail, and 850 racers on the riverResources & Links: Read the full written Dispatch at SkamaniaDispatch.comComment on the Storedahl Draft EIS before July 30: see the county's project page at skamaniacounty.govSkamania County Board of Commissioners agendas, minutes, and audio: skamaniacounty.govCatch up on the quarry fight: our June BOCC recapThe bigger EFSEC story: The Nuclear Plant Wants Power, Skamania Wants AnswersStay 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.

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Ratings & Reviews

5
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About

Welcome to Open Gorge, your audio bridge to local government, infrastructure, and community news in the Columbia River Gorge. Hosted by the founder of Open Gorge, Kate Bertash, this podcast brings the in-depth, civic-minded reporting of The Skamania Dispatch and The Klickitattler newsletters straight to your headphones. We break down the public meetings you didn't have time to attend, track local infrastructure projects, and decode the regional policy decisions that directly impact your daily life. Whether you are a Columbia Gorge resident commuting across the river, following local elections, or tracking where your tax dollars are going, we provide clear, factual summaries of what’s changing and what’s coming next. Our unified feed covers the entire Gorge. Check the title of each episode to see if we are covering Skamania County, Klickitat County, or regional issues that impact us all. Listen to what matters most to your neighborhood, or stay tuned for the full regional picture. Subscribe to the written newsletters and join the community at SkamaniaDispatch.com.

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