Staff

By The Mountain Times Staff A major infrastructure project aimed at reducing wildfire risk and improving power reliability is set to begin this May near Mount Hood. Portland General Electric (PGE) will start a two-year effort to move approximately seven miles of overhead power lines underground in the Government Camp area. Construction will take place during the summer months of 2026 and 2027 and will be completed in three main sections. According to PGE, burying the lines will help prevent...

1928-2026 Martha Ellen Mandel, 97, of Sandy, Oregon died in Sandy on March 9, 2026. She was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1928 to Lena and Alvin Luechauer, along with an identical twin sister, Linda. Both graduated from the University of Washington. Martha worked as a Medical Technologist for several decades before earning a Masters’ degree at the Oregon Health Sciences University and retiring in 1990. She taught at Mount Hood Community College and was an active member of Hoodland Lutheran...

November 10, 1931 – February 22, 2026 Katherine “Kathy” L. Coutts, 94, of Damascus, Oregon, passed away at her home on February 22, 2026. Kathy was raised in Seattle to Norwegian parents, Anton and Frida Pedersen, and was the youngest of their five children. She graduated from Ballard High School in 1950 and soon began working in downtown Seattle at Frederic & Nelson department store. In the years that followed, she met her future husband, Jerry, whom she married in 1953. After moving to...