Three people have filed to run in the Democratic primary for the Oregon House seat in District 59 as the filing deadline for Oregon’s May 19 election passed on Tuesday, and two are from the Mid-Columbia.  North Wasco County School District 21 board member Solea Kabokov and Mosier Mayor Arlene Burns are running for the nomination along with Tyler Gabriel of Culver.  Incumbent Daniel Bonham is unopposed for the Republican nomination.  In the 52^nd District incumbent Anna Williams is the lone Democrat on the ballot while Jeff Helfrich is the lone Republican.  It’s a similar situation in the 57^th District, with Republican incumbent Greg Smith and Democrat Roland Ruhe having filed.  For the State Senate seats in the area Lynn Findley is the lone Republican and Carina Miller the lone Democrat to file for the 30^th District, while 29^th District incumbent Bill Hansell is challenged for the Republican nomination by Garison Alger, while Mildred O’Callaghan is the only Democrat to file.

There will be contested County Commission races in both Wasco and Hood River counties in May.  Incumbent Wasco County Commissioner Steve Kramer will be challenged by The Dalles attorney Marcus Swift for position two on that panel, while former Hood River Mayor Arthur Babitz and Hood River firefighter and paramedic Paul Henke are the candidates for the District 2 seat on the Hood River County Commission that is being vacated by Rich McBride.  Two incumbents on the Hood River County Commission are unopposed:  Chair Mike Oates and District 4 representative Les Perkins.  The District Attorney positions in Hood River and Wasco counties are both contested, with Carrie Rasmussen and Sean Kallery the candidates to replace retiring Hood River D.A. John Sewell, and Wasco County incumbent D.A. Eric Nisley is opposed by The Dalles attorney Matthew Ellis.  Both Hood River County Sheriff Matt English and Wasco County Sheriff Lane Magill are unopposed for re-election.  Others who are unopposed in Wasco County are assessor Jill Amery, clerk Lisa Gambee, and treasurer Elijah Preston.  Karen Ostrye is unopposed for Position 3 Judge in 7^th Circuit Court District.

There are plenty of candidates hoping to succeed the retiring Greg Walden in the Second Congressional District.  Eleven Republicans and seven Democrats that have filed for the May primary.  The most recognizable names are seeking the GOP nomination, including former state legislators Jason Atkinson, Cliff Bentz, and Knute Buehler.  The only Democrat with prior elected office experience is former Union County Commissioner Jack Howard.

There has been limited testing done in the Mid-Columbia, but so far there have been no confirmed cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus in the local area.  Hood River County Health Department Director Trish Elliott says they have continued their efforts to educate people and preventing spread of not just the coronavirus but other communicable diseases.  She says a key element is for people who are sick to stay home, adding a number of employers are screening employees every day.  The Oregon Health Authority is using 2-1-1 as the go-to public phone number to get general information about COVID-19.  2-1-1 can answer informational questions about symptoms, prevention, transmission, treatment, travel health, animals and pets, and persons under investigation and/or monitoring.  The 2-1-1 service is available seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.

The Dalles City Council discussed its buildable lands inventory and urban growth boundary expansion options during a worksession devoted to those topics Monday evening.  Councilors heard from representatives of the consulting firm working on the inventory, Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development, and the Columbia River Gorge Commission.  The lands inventory, currently in a draft form, came in for criticism for including a number of lands as buildable for job creation that are already spoken for, including the site for the new skills center at Columbia Gorge Community College, Mid-Columbia Medical Center property, and the location for a proposed Wal-Mart currently before the Oregon Supreme Court.  Mayor Rich Mays notes the Council has the option not to adopt the report when it reaches a final form, adding state rules are a complicating factor.  Councilors also heard from Gorge Commission Executive Director Krystyna Wolniakowski on getting long awaited rules for applying for an urban area boundary expansion within the National Scenic Area.  She said they want to get them done soon, but didn’t give a specific timeline.  Some on the Commission have suggested they want to use a regional approach to such a request that would include considering lands in Dallesport, but The Dalles officials were quick to point out that can’t happen within the state’s land use rules.

The Hood River Urban Renewal Agency Board has decided to move forward with an evaluation of potential traffic modifications in the Heights urban renewal area that will include increased community outreach.  City Manager and Urban Renewal Administrator Rachel Fuller says staff will being contract negotiations with consulting firm MIG to move ahead with the project that will likely exceed $300,000.  Fuller notes when the Heights Urban Renewal Plan was put in place in 2011 it didn’t include traffic modifications, but recent community involvement has brought up the question of whether that should be looked at.  Funds for this effort will come from Heights Urban Renewal funds.

A trio of scheduled events in the area this week have been cancelled…and all have cited concerns with the COVID-19 coronavirus.  Wednesday’s scheduled Wasco County all-staff training has been cancelled, with a statement from the County indicating that was done on the advice of the North Central Public Health District.  As a result, Wasco County offices will now be open on Wednesday.  The Hood River County Chamber of Commerce has cancelled their Small Business Showcase planned for Thursday.  And the Hood River County Library Foundation’s Feast of Words fundraiser scheduled for Saturday is being postponed, with Rachel Fox of the Hood River Library District indicating they hope to be able to reschedule at a later date.

Four bills authored by Washington 14th District State Representative Gina Mosbrucker are on their way to the governor for a signature.  One of the most notable is a bill to make the proposed pumped storage project along the Columbia River near Goldendale a “project of significance” Mosbrucker notes this gives the pumped storage project priority for state agencies to deal with issues surrounding it.  Other bills authored by the Goldendale Republican that have reached the Governor’s desk include Cody’s Law to develop better protocols for dealing with missing and unidentified persons, a bill to increase the pool of applicants that can be considered for County sheriff vacancies, and creation of a task force to deal with domestic violence.

Oregon and Washington fishery managers say the recreational sturgeon season in the John Day Pool of the Columbia River between John Day Dam to McNary Dam and adjacent tributaries will close effective 12:01 a.m. Wednesday.  The states decided to close this fishery based on recent harvest data that indicated recreational fishermen have achieved their allowable harvest of 105 fish.  Sturgeon retention previously closed in Bonneville and The Dalles pools when those respective harvest guidelines were met.  Catch and release fishing for sturgeon continues to be allowed in all three areas, except in designated sturgeon spawning sanctuaries defined in the 2020 Oregon Sport Fishing Regulations.

Water has been restored to downtown White Salmon after a break in a main water line cut off service this morning.  City officials reported the water was turned back on at around 11:30 this morning.  If customers encounter cloudy water, that is probably air bubbles in the line.  Run cold water for 10 to 15 minutes to flush the air out of the system.  City officials say a contractor broke a main line this morning at Main and Jewett, and water had to be shut off to repair the line.