When describing The Dalles, and why she has stayed after considering opportunities to go elsewhere, Gretchen says our town stands out as a friendly and helpful, welcoming community, with an independent pioneer spirit.  "It will always be home!"

Functionality and maintenance become greater challenges as years go by, and the life expectancy of this venerable structure turned out to be a mixed blessing.  It’s a lovely, substantial, well-built building, adequate for its time. But times change.

Her family didn’t have the financial resources to pay for college. But when she was sixteen, one of her teachers recognized her intelligence and made an effort to make sure Laura recognized it as well. This teacher’s belief in her gave Laura the confidence needed to find ways to make a college education attainable.

Carmen Esquivias Myers her professional skills in banking, she could live almost anywhere but chooses The Dalles. It’s the sense of community that keeps her here.

People return to The Dalles to reconnect with the community. As he put it, “I want to push the ball forward.” His priority is not pay, it’s people. 

The thing is, this does take some effort, but only because the positive does not shout for our attention in the way that fear and disappointment do. As organisms, we’re wired that way to survive, but it’s not what helps us to thrive! Here are 5 practices that can help to cultivate happiness.

I might be mad as a hatter, but I am not about to get all hot and bothered about idioms. I’m dropping the study of idioms like a hot potato. What really concerns me is the weather prediction for next week; you probably are too. Hang onto your sun hat. We’re facing the dog days of summer. It’s going to be hotter than six shades of hell.

The entire place reeked of burnt plastic from a burned boom box. Every square inch of the walls, floors, ceilings, and furniture, everything, had to be washed and our clothes sent out to the cleaners.

Here is a story about a decision I made, a commitment, that caused a death. I hadn’t planned on it, but it happened.

Activity naturally helps to shift our attention away from the mind’s anxieties, connecting us instead with the body’s experience of the present moment, which is where we actually live, love, and connect with all that sustains us.

There is still plenty of entertainment on the table as we finish out our Fourth of July week. Check out everything going on in the gorge here or visit our calendar on our home page at cccnews.com. The Bargeway Pub is loading the cannon yet again with 7 shows in 5 days and check out the newly announced Cascadia Campout music fest.

I'm reminded of my dependence on the sun and rain and plant wisdom. When the bigger world is grim with human violence, the garden provides a peaceful salve against despair. To pull weeds, quench the thirst of new sprouts, and transplant a daisy longing for more sunlight, this is happiness.

Our cup runneth over this week of entertainment. Sun-soaked great gigs are flowing like the Columbia. The Bargeway Pub has seven shows in five days alone. Check out Jim Drakes's most epic guide to finding a band, a film, or music festival. Fun is out your front door!

Eli Howard returns to The Dalles tonight, May 31 at the Bargeway Pub, kicking off a week of fun and entertainment, including Blitzen Trapper at The Ruins on Sunday, June 4. Jim Drake also gives us the rundown on Gorge Blues and Brews Fest in Stevenson starting June 24.

Hit Machine Acoustic Duo is on tap at the Bargeway Pub tonight, May 17 starting at 6 p.m., and then pick any venue you want - there is a lot going on. Drum Circles, Comedians, Film even the bouzouki duo Murray and Magill at Herbring House in TD on Sunday, May 21. Check-in, pick and win. Oh, bouzouki? Right. It’s a stringed Greek instrument in the lute family. But not the Lutefisk family! Never. I wouldn’t lye.

Garbonzo smoother than hummus on that six-string - see him tonight, May 3, at the Bargeway in TD, and while you're at it check out the Gorge’s most inclusive ride down entertainment lane right here. Art, Music, Plays, Film. A cultural blooming onion in your outback. Dunk it in Ranch! Want something now? Check out the CCCNews calendar.

Director Lee Cronin, a relative newcomer on the horror scene, ably directs the film, which pays homage not only to Raimi’s frenetic camera movements but to other classic horror films as well, including an incredible homage to The Shining.

Five years ago I decided that I was going to change my life. I was a 25-year-old who had dropped out of Penn State one semester away from graduating and spent the years after devolving into a deeply depressed, obese alcoholic who worked shi*!y jobs and lived with my parents in my hometown.

Bargeway kicks off a week of entertainment tonight with the inventive chords of Chris Baron. There’s a lot going on in The Gorge this week, including The Little Shop of Horrors, Birds and Brews, Roller Skating, Book Signings, Movies, and tons of live music. Check it all out here.