Imagine qualifying for essential developmental disability services, only to be told the waitlist just to get an assessment is over a year long. That's the reality uncovered at the April 1st meeting of the Klickitat-Skamania Developmental Disabilities Advisory Board. We're breaking down what's causing this massive structural bottleneck and what local advocates are doing to help families bridge the gap.

In This Episode:

• Why recent testing data from the White Salmon School District is raising alarms for special education students.
• The critical childcare deserts in rural Klickitat County and the severe impact on respite care for families.
• Klickitat Valley Health's funding push to get Medicated Assisted Treatment directly into the county jail.

Resources & Links:

• Read the full written Dispatch at skamaniadispatch.com
• Klickitat-Skamania Developmental Disabilities Advisory Board Official Site: https://www.ksddab.org/
• Documenter notes are available for republishing under Creative Commons license CC by 4.0. Please credit Columbia Gorge Documenters, powered by Uplift Local, and link in show notes to 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.

In this episode, we are looking at the Goldendale City Council's March 2026 meetings, and unpacking a major financial threat quietly draining the city's public safety budget. We break down how a cascade of controversies and ongoing mismanagement at the Klickitat County jail, including a recent two-million-dollar wrongful death settlement, is forcing local municipalities to foot the bill for extreme medical clearances just to process standard arrests.

In This Episode:

• Escalating issues with the county jail contract
• The tightrope of state road funding: why the city used stop signs instead of lowering the speed limit on twenty-first street.
• Distributing over one hundred thousand dollars in lodging tax grants for local tourism.
• Securing multi-year contracts for the city's police and municipal employees.

Resources & Links:

• Read the full written Klickitattler at skamaniadispatch.com
• Review the full March 2 and March 16 Council Packets at the City of Goldendale Website.

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.

In this March round-up for Stevenson, we cover the growing friction over mandatory sewer connections and the emergency repairs needed for the city's failing water intake. We also dive into the Planning Commission's heated debate over a proposed hop-farm campground that has Skamania Lodge threatening legal action.

In This Episode:

• An emergency, quarter-million-dollar fix for the Rock Creek water intake.
• The defeat of a "Sanctuary City for Gender Diverse Peoples" resolution.
• New City Council appointments and upcoming Planning Commission vacancies.
• Municipal tourism funding for the CAT Dog Mountain shuttle.

Resources & Links:

• Read the full written Dispatch at skamaniadispatch.com
• https://upliftlocal.news/with-recall-efforts-resolved-stevenson-council-member-lucy-lauser-resigns/
• City of Stevenson Agendas & Zoom links: ci.stevenson.wa.us
• Watch the full meeting recordings on the City of Stevenson YouTube Channel

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.