The Wasco County Commission reached consensus to have its staff work with North Central Public Health District to move a tent currently set up at the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center to house homeless individuals with behavioral health issues that have contracted COVID-19.  The Oregon Department of Human Services provided the tent over the holidays at the request of the health district to deal with the COVID outbreak in the homeless community.  District Director Shellie Campbell says the district wants to find a location closer to services and to volunteers helping to staff it.  Campbell indicated their preference would be to move the tent, which is intended to be only used temporarily through the current COVID spike, to the lower parking lot at the NCPHD campus.

Hood River Garbage and The Dalles Disposal trucks are trying to catch up with garbage pick-up that was set back by the heavy snowfall of this week.  Jim Winterbottom of Waste Connections says the trucks are getting out there, but it is slow going, and they will work through Saturday to get back on track.  Winterbottom says they are asking customers to ensure that cans are accessible to crews.  The City of White Salmon is asking its residents to remove all garbage cans and recycling from the streets.  Republic has suspended garbage and recycling pickup due to the weather and road conditions, and garbage cans must be removed so the city can properly plow the streets.  Republic is offering free drop-off for curbside customers at Klickitat County transfer sites through January 15.  Customers will need to provide their most recent bill from Republic Services to prove they are a customer.

Columbia Gorge CASA, Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children, will hold a volunteer training on January 19 and is in desperate need of people willing to help.  Executive Director Susan Erickson says with a 150 percent increase in the number of foster children in the Gorge since kids returned to classrooms in September, they need more volunteers to work with children who in some way are involved in the judicial system, and provide reports to judges overseeing cases.  To learn how to volunteer or donate to CASA, go to gorgecasa.org.  

North Central Public Health District says its vaccine clinic that was set for Thursday at the Fort Dalles Readiness Center is changing locations. It will be held instead at The Sunshine Mill. Those with appointments will get an email notifying them of this change, and appointment times will not change. Signage will be posted at the Readiness Center directing people to the new location. Also, NCPHD’s vaccine clinic scheduled for January 13 at the Readiness Center has been cancelled. Those with appointments that day can reschedule to Thursday’s clinic or to January 20. E-mail confirmations for the original appointment have a link for changing appointment times, or call NCPHD at 541-506-2600.

With winter weather conditions, The Dalles Public Works is reminding people the clearing of sidewalks is the responsibility of adjacent residents.  Citizens are asked to help by sanding or shoveling sidewalks adjacent to their home or business, with shoveled show piled on private property, not in the street.  Use only pet-friendly, child-safe, salt-free deicer, and clear stormwater catch basin grates of ice and other debris to allow melt water to flow from street gutters into the stormwater collection system.  Snow on cars parked on city streets should be removed so that plow operators will see the car.  If you need help with snow removal, call a contractor or contact a volunteer organization.

Washington 14th District State Representative Chris Corry has prefiled a road safety plan bill that targets reducing lane departure accidents and fatalities in rural communities.  The Washington Traffic Safety Commission has identified lane departure problems as one of the top causes of serious injuries on Washington’s roadways, especially in rural areas.  The 14th District lawmaker’s proposal would establish the “Reducing Rural Roadway Lane Departure Safety Program” designed to help prevent lane departure vehicle crashes and fatalities.  House Bill 1605 would establish a program at the Washington State Transportation Department that allows high-risk areas to request installation of several types of highway improvements, including painting wider markings on roads, visible for vehicles with lane departure technology, improving lighting and signage, applying surface road treatments, removing or relocating fixed objects in the right of ways and widening roadway shoulders and/or modifying roadway design.  Funding for the program would be provided every biennium in the state’s transportation budget.

Trainings this past this fall has led to the activation of a Columbia River Gorge Trauma Response Team in December.  Belinda Ballah of the Hood River County Health Department says 20 volunteers from throughout the Gorge have been responding to a number of incidents since the start of December to help those in need of emotional support after a traumatic event.  Ballah says team members are usually called in by law enforcement or first responders who have arrived at the scene who realize they can use someone to assist with emotional support.

The difficulty for road crews to keep Interstate 84 open through the Gorge during severe winter storms are the reasons those of us who live here already know about. Oregon Department of Transportation spokesman Don Hamilton says the series of micro-climates in the region with varied elevations lead to varied weather conditions to challenge maintenance crews, require them to use a variety of tools available to them to keep the freeway clear of ice, snow, and debris. ODOT was able to reopen Interstate 84 between The Dalles and Troutdale at around 9 p.m. Monday after being closed nearly all of that day.

Interstate 84 remains closed between The Dalles and Troutdale as a winter storm hammered the Gorge, and the Oregon Department of Transportation can’t give an estimate on when it will reopen.  ODOT spokesman Don Hamilton said as of late Monday morning they were removing the last of the trucks that had spun out in the Gorge.  Hamilton added they will reopen the freeway as soon as it is safe to do so, but he can’t give a specific answer at this point.  ODOT reports conditions on Mount Hood also remain dangerous with blowing snow and poor visibility on Highways 26 and 35, particularly at the higher elevations.  The Washington State Department of Transportation closed Highway 14 from the Hood River Interstate Bridge westward to Washougal to all traffic in both directions Monday morning, and there is no estimated time for it to reopen.  

There hasn’t been an officially diagnosed case of COVID-19 in Klickitat County attributable to the Omicron variant, but Public Health Director Erinn Quinn suspects it is out there.  Quinn noted there was a jump in COVID cases in Klickitat County over the weekend, with 27 over the three-day holiday period.  Hospital issues remain the primary concern, with Quinn adding having the variant circulating along with the arrival of flu season combining for the potential to tax the health system.