No. 1 Oregon mountain

town named

Looking for a place with skiing, windsurfing and small town charm?

The Matador Network just released its list of 11 Best Small Mountain Towns in The US to visit in 2025, and only one Oregon town made the cut: Hood River.

Hood River is about an hour’s drive east of Portland along Interstate 84, situated along the Columbia River and with the towering Mount Hood visible (on clear days at least) on the horizon.

The San Francisco-based digital media company covers travel, culture and the outdoors. Matador Network editors who compiled the list focused on towns with fewer than 10,000 residents and lots of outdoor recreation opportunities.

Hood River, with a population of about 8,300 people, was honored as the “epicenter of adventure in the Columbia River Gorge.”

County workers

end strike

Benton County employees will return to work sooner rather than later after department managers struck a deal with a union bargaining team just before midnight on Tuesday, Nov. 18, after about one week of labor strikes.

In the end, department managers relented to demands to lift upper limits on wages and to pay full vacation days for employees who work 10-hour days.

Those agreements and other details are emerging in the three-year contract between the local government employer and the American Federation of State, Municipal and County Employees, or AFSCME, the union that represents around 340 of the county’s more than 600 workers.

“Just got a deal. Waiting to sign documents now,” County Administrator Rachel McEneny said by text message late Tuesday.

Benton County employees, who wielded signs with phrases like “Union strong” and “Safe Contract Now!” at the start of a strike on Nov. 13 have reached a tentative agreement with administrators.

Union members voted Wednesday to ratify the contract terms, with just nine casting “no” ballots. Benton County’s elected leaders were set to meet around the same time in closed session to to discuss negotiations around the pending contract.