Columbia Gorge Community College board members have selected the Association of Community College Trustees to help recruit the institution’s next president. The group is a non-profit based in Washington, D.C, and has conducted search processes for over 750 community colleges. Current CGCC President Dr. Marta Yera Cronin will step down in June to become president of Delaware County Community College in Pennsylvania. The college board will appoint a broad-based, representative search committee to review applications, interview semifinalists, and identify final candidates for consideration by the full board. Finalists will participate in open forums at the college, probably in early June. All employees, students, and community members will be invited. CGCC’s website, cgcc.edu, will provide updates on a dedicated web page.
Author: mbailey
OHA Lifting Mask Requirement In Health Care Settings April 3
The Oregon Health Authority announced that workers, patients and visitors in health care settings will no longer be required to wear masks starting April 3. The mask requirement has been in effect since August 2021. In addition, an executive order that gave hospitals flexibility to respond to surges in respiratory infections will expire on Monday. The decision to end statewide health care mask requirements aligns with decisions in other states, including Washington. State epidemiologist Dr. Dean Sidelinger said the lifting of Oregon’s health care mask requirement stems from data in recent weeks showing overall decreases in circulation of the three respiratory pathogens that triggered a surge in visits to hospital emergency departments and intensive care units last fall. He added the month-long lead-up to the ending of Oregon’s health care mask requirement gives the health care system time to prepare for the change. The OHA advises people at higher risk for severe disease, or who live with someone at higher risk, should still consider wearing masks in health care or any settings. Some health care settings may continue to require masks even after the requirement is lifted.
March 2 Prep Sports Roundup
Oregon Interscholastic Ski Racing Association Championships at Hoodoo
Hood River Valley’s Emily Teets finished third in the girls’ giant slalom. Teets finished her two runs a little over one-and-a-half seconds behind winner Kaitlynn Ping of Jesuit. HRV’s Zoe Mortenson was 17th, and Lucy Booth of The Dalles was 18th. In the boys’ slalom, the Eagles’ Lars Welch was ninth and Thorsen Welch 15th, with Cooper Klindt of The Dalles in 20th. Friday’s competition includes the girls’ slalom and the boys’ giant slalom.
Saturday Schedule
Oregon Class 5A Boys Basketball First Round
The Dalles at Cascade, 5 p.m.
Subject Captured After Domestic Incident
Law enforcement captured an armed subject west of The Dalles on Tuesday night after a domestic incident in which at least one shot was fired. According to The Dalles Police Department, the suspect fled in a vehicle and when the vehicle became disabled tried to escape on foot with a firearm in hand as he was confronted by officers. The police statement said the subject was controlled by use of a Taser, handcuffed, and arrested. Police charged the man with multiple crimes including unlawful use of a weapon, felon in possession of a firearm, eluding police, reckless endangering of another person, DUII, hit and run, and reckless driving. Several arrest warrants were served on the suspect as well. The Wasco County Sheriff’s Office and the Oregon State Police assisted in the capture.
Hood River County Reads Starts Saturday
The 17th annual Hood River County Reads kicks off on Saturday. This year’s book is rough house, a memoir by local author Tina Ontiveros that tells the story of her experiences as a young girls growing up in Northwest logging camps and working class towns amidst intergenerational trauma and poverty. Bonnie Withers from the Friends of the Hood River County Library says their goal is to bring books to the community that can spark discussion. Free copies of the book will be given out at a kickoff event Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Hood River Library, and it will also be distributed from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Cascade Locks and Parkdale libraries. Events are planned through mid-April, and more information is available at hoodriverlibrary.org.
Mosbrucker Bill For Missing Persons Tools Passes House
The Washington State House unanimously approval a bill authored by Goldendale Representative Gina Mosbrucker that would provide additional tools and resources to help locate and recover all missing persons in Washington. House Bill 1512 is also known as the “Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Persons and Lucian Act,” and is the result of a recommendation from the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People Task Force and the Office of the Attorney General. It is also named after Lucian Munguia, a four-year-old Yakima boy with autism who was reported missing on Sept. 10, and whose body was discovered nearly three months later in the Yakima River. The bill would require the Office of the Attorney General to publish and maintain on its website a “Missing Persons Toolkit” that contains regularly updated information related to locating and recovering missing persons. It also directs the Attorney General’s office to publish the toolkit in the top 10 languages spoken in Washington. The bill passed 96-0. It now goes to the Senate for further consideration.
Cessation Classes Available Free Of Charge
North Central Public Health District and the Hood River County Prevention Department are offering free tobacco cessation classes along with free nicotine patches, gum, or lozenges for those taking the classes. The cessation classes are funded by revenue from voter-approved Measure 108 that took effect in 2022, which raised the tobacco tax by $2 a pack. North Central Public Health District says in Wasco and Sherman counties nearly 15 percent of adults smoke, and over 44 percent of them tried to quit in the previous year. To sign up in Wasco and Sherman counties, go to ncphd.org or call 541-506-2609. In Hood River County, go to hoodriverprevents.com.
Work On Smoke Response Plan Continues
Work continues on a regional response plan for wildfire smoke. OSU Extension, which received grant funds to spearhead the project, recently held a public input session on their draft plan, and an online survey remains available for another week. Extension Air Quality Coordinator Livi Plihal says the message they are consistently hearing is a desire for more preparedness information. Key to the effort is the installation of a number of air quality monitors to provide accurate data on smoke in the region. The survey can be accessed through the OSU Extension Office Wasco County Facebook page.
Full Weekend Closures Of The Dalles Bridge Ends
The Oregon Department of Transportation says there will be no more full weekend closures of The Dalles Bridge now that a major portion of the work to replace the structure’s driving surface is finished. Crews have been working on the project since 2021, and during much of that time the bridge has been closed on weekends. ODOT says the bridge deck replacement is complete, but travelers should expect to see continued construction through April. Crews will be closing single lanes at night during the week and flagging traffic. There will be two consecutive weekends in April with nighttime only closures of the entire bridge to install a concrete surface over the entire length of the bridge. The schedule for those closures will be announced later this spring.
Wasco County Clerk’s Office Continues Election Modernization
The Wasco County Clerk’s office is moving forward with the purchase of a new ballot scanner and sorter under a grant from the Secretary of State’s office for election modernization. County Clerk Lisa Gambee told County Commissioners as they approved the acquisition during their Wednesday meeting that the new equipment will reduce the number of times the staff handles ballots when they come into the office. Gambee said this new equipment will modernize the one part of their ballot handling procedures that remained primarily manual in nature.