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. 6d ago

    [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 itA candid jail update: a shrinking population but harder cases, a new local opioid-treatment partnership, and a proposed body scannerThe Health Department's roughly four-hundred-thousand-dollar cut, and what it means alongside jail spendingData centers floated for the old aluminum site and DallesportA fireworks survey pointing toward a partial ban with designated areasBackyard-cottage (ADU) rules, a Goldendale rezone, and short-term-rental trackingAnd a warm send-off for a longtime volunteer pilotResources & Links: Read the full written Dispatch - https://SkamaniaDispatch.comKlickitat County agendas, packets, and meeting recordings: https://www.klickitatcounty.govSubmit public comment before a meeting: bocc@klickitatcounty.orgPrior coverage: "Mental-Health Crisis Deepens" (Nov. 2025) and "The 2-Year Wait for Disability Services" (Apr. 2026)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 min

  2. Jun 24

    [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 yearsA May 28 brush fire at Ostrea Solar, and why it's a land-management story, not a solar storyColumbia Solar and Goose Prairie Solar ownership transfers head to a July decisionCarriger Solar's court fight may pause for settlement talks with the Yakama NationTwo oil-loss events at the Columbia Generating Station nuclear plantA new Commerce councilmember, a finalized tribal-consultation policy, and budget cloudsResources & Links Read the full written Dispatch at skamaniadispatch.comEFSEC project pages and agendas: efsec.wa.govThe E3 / Public Generating Pool resource-adequacy study: https://ethree.com/ra-pnwThe U.S. Department of Energy's primer on wildfire and solar farms: energy.gov/fempStay 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 min

  3. Jun 19

    [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 educationState limits on public defender caseloadsThe creation of a new unified Community Development DepartmentThe push to centralize public records requestsResources & Links: Read the full written Dispatch at skamaniadispatch.comReview the full June 2 BOCC Meeting Agenda & Minutes at klickitatcounty.orgLearn more about the Boardman childcare modelStay 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 min

  4. Jun 17

    [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/ 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.

    4 min

  5. Jun 12

    [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 feesA major fentanyl seizure and county probation renewalsAirport updates and the grounded courtesy carWildfire preparation and prescribed burns near city limitsResources & Links: Read the full written Klickitattler at SkamaniaDispatch.comCity of Goldendale official website and meeting agendas: ci.goldendale.wa.usAssociation of Washington Cities (AWC) Behavioral Health Fact SheetStay 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 min

  6. Jun 11

    [Skamania] 🕯️ Demanding Answers to Domestic Violence - Stevenson May '26 Round-Up

    This month, we are looking at the heavy and the controversial coming out of the Stevenson Planning Commission and the Stevenson City Council. In the wake of a tragic local murder, residents are stepping up to the microphone to demand better domestic violence intervention from the county, while a controversial hop-farm campground faces a massive wall of legal and neighborhood opposition. In This Episode: The community response to the murder of Candice MalaveStevenson's official Pride Month ProclamationThe Hop-Farm Campground standoff and legal threatsProtecting Stevenson's fifteen million dollar treatment plant from industrial wasteFinancial incentives in the newly revised Sewer OrdinanceAlarming state estimates regarding the Cape Horn BridgeResources & Links: Read the full written Dispatch at skamaniadispatch.comSkamania County man arrested after estranged wife found dead at Stevenson apartmentsCity of Stevenson Website & Agendas: https://www.ci.stevenson.wa.us/Submit public comments to City Hall or via email prior to noon on the day of the meeting.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 min

  7. Jun 10

    [All-Gorge] ⚡ Scoping Deadlines & Tribal Consults - EFSEC May '26

    The state's Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council hit a major procedural bottleneck this month regarding the proposed Cascade Renewable Transmission line. We break down the May 20, 2026, meeting where local leaders and state officials debated how to balance rigid public comment deadlines with expanding, sovereign tribal consultations. In This Episode Following the money: Corporate reshuffling and upstream financial accountability for Columbia Solar and Goose Prairie Solar.Ostrea Solar wrapping up its final construction obligations and pushing for full grid integration.A rare vandalism incident and subsequent physical security repairs at the Kittitas Valley Wind facility.A massive leadership transition and strategic overhaul inside EFSEC itself.Resources & Links Read the full written Dispatch at skamaniadispatch.comCascade Renewable Transmission SEPA Scoping PortalEFSEC Meeting Agendas and Complete Packets (efsec.wa.gov)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.

    3 min

  8. Jun 9

    [Klickitat] 🐟 Fish Windows & Budget Trapdoors - Klickitat BOCC 5/26 & 6/2

    Summer is bringing a wave of mandatory infrastructure repairs to Klickitat County, threatening to temporarily sever key recreational and emergency routes. Plus, we look at how statewide mandates and national labor trends are compounding severe local workforce shortages in public defense and 911 emergency dispatch. This episode covers the May 26 and June 2 Klickitat County Board of County Commissioners meetings. In This Episode The formal creation of the new Community Development DepartmentThe purchase of a new motor grader for the East EndA local resident's push to name "Schoolhouse Creek" and flag illegal fill dumpingUpcoming deadlines for fire districts on a potential fireworks banResources & Links Read the full written Dispatch at skamaniadispatch.comReview the raw agendas and minutes at the Klickitat County WebsiteLearn more about the Washington State Supreme Court Caseload Caps driving the public defense crisisRead up on the national push to reclassify 911 Dispatchers from "clerical workers" to first respondersStay 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 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

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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