Oregon health officials have identified a third presumptive positive case of COVID-19 among state residents.  The third case is an adult Umatilla County resident who is hospitalized in Walla Walla.  State and local health officials are moving quickly to contact people who may have been in close contact with the individual who tested as a presumptive positive case.  The third case is not linked to travel to a part of the world with known cases of COVID-19.  It is considered a case of community transmission.  Preliminary reports indicate the person attended a youth basketball game at a gymnasium at Weston Middle School in Weston on Saturday.  Under federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Prevention guidelines, other spectators who may have been in a closed environment with the individual would be considered “low-risk” exposures.  Athena-Weston School District officials have closed the gym and will conduct a deep cleaning out of an abundance of caution.  The gym is physically detached from the rest of the school, and health officials do not consider the separate school building to pose any risk of exposure.

The Wasco Forest Collaborative has secured $4.78 million in grant funding from the U.S. Forest Service and the Natural Resources Conservation Service.  Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley made the announcement, saying the funds will help forests recover from wildfire damage and boost resilience to future fires.  The Wasco Forest Collaborative project’s primary objectives are to improve landscape resilience and to restore ecological function.  Wasco County Forest Collaborative Facilitiator Andrew Spaeth says the group represents diverse interests from the timber industry to environmental groups that have developed consensus recommendations the Forest Service is working to implement.  Implementation began last year.  The collaborative will receive one-third of their total funding allotment each year for three consecutive years.

Beginning this week, work on the Jewett Boulevard Water Main Improvement Project in White Salmon moves into the downtown core between Estes and Main.  The eastbound, or downhill, lane will be closed, including parking, with marked detours in place.  The westbound, or uphill, lane will be open to one lane of travel in the west bound direction with parking available on the north side.  Public parking lots have been marked and are available west of City Hall, both lower and upper parking lots and north of the fire station on Church Street.  Once work is completed between Estes and Main, the contractor will be moving crews to the area between Main and Garfield.  For more information regarding this project, check the city’s webpage or call City Hall at 509-493-1133.

Wrestling

Three area wrestlers earned placing finishes at the Oregon High School Wrestling Championships at Portland Memorial Coliseum.  Hood River Valley’s Lauraine Smith finished fourth in the girls’ 145 pound division.  Dusty Dodge of The Dalles went 4-2 on the weekend to finished fifth in the Class 5A 170 pound division, and HRV’s Chad Muenzer was 3-3 to take sixth at 138 pounds.

 

Oregon Class 1A Girls Basketball Tournament

Second Round

Damascus Christian 48, Dufur 24

 

Oregon Class 1A Boys Basketball Tournament

Second Round

Joseph 43, South Wasco 40

Crosshill Christian 78, Dufur 64

After a five-year absence, the Hood River County Chamber of Commerce is bringing back its Small Business Showcase.  It will take place on March 12 at the Hood River Valley Adult Center.  Chamber Executive Director Kate Schroeder says they had members asking to bring it back.  The Small Business Showcase will take place from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on March 12 at the Hood River Valley Adult Center, and businesses that would like to sign-up for table can do so by calling 541-386-2000.  Cost to showcase a business is $100 for Chamber members and $125 for non-members.  The public is invited to attend free of charge.

Public input is now being taken on North Wasco County School District 21’s proposed plan for use of Student Success Act dollars from the state.  The plan outlines how the district would use the two-point-five million dollars in 2020-21, close to $200,000 of which will go to Mosier Community School.  D-21 Superintendent Candy Armstrong says their plan includes a number of different elements.  The plan can be seen and input given at the district’s website.  The D-21 board will vote on it at its March 19 meeting, then it will go to the Oregon Department of Education for approval.

The North Wasco County School District 21 board has decided to proceed with setting up a dual language immersion program with one kindergarten class at Chenowith Elementary School starting in the 2020-21 academic year.  The decision came after a lengthy board meeting with testimony both for and against the program, and a passionate presentation by Chenowith Principal Mo Darnall and Columbia Gorge Educational Service District Migrant Education Director Jonathan Fost on the benefits the program would provide both English and Spanish speaking students.  There was some discussion of delaying the start of the program until 2021, with board member Jose Aparicio concerned there was not enough time to do appropriate professional development.  But Superintendent Candy Armstrong told the board some of the funds for the class were a part of the district’s Student Success Act plan that is about to go to the Oregon Department of Education, and the money might not be available a year from now.  She did add that by starting small, the program is sustainable.

Wasco County Commissioners voted unanimously to support a resolution opposing the carbon cap-and-trade bill in the Oregon Legislature.  Commissioners made the decision in front of a gathering of over 100 at the Wasco County Courthouse made up of both opponents and proponents of the bill.  Commissioner Scott Hege says members of the panel had received many e-mails on the issue.  He emphasized their opposition is more about the process of how the Legislature is proceeding with the bill with no opportunity for a citizen vote rather than policy issues.  In the resolution, the County does question whether benefits from cap-and-trade would justify the costs that would result from it.  Wasco County was the 28th in Oregon in which its governing board approved this kind of resolution on the subject.

Beginning Monday, The City of Hood River will be changing showing how you paid for downtown parking through on-street kiosk pay stations, and introducing a smartphone app as a payment option.  “Pay by Plate” requires users to enter license plate numbers when paying for parking at the pay stations, eliminating the need to return to a vehicle to place a printed receipt on the dashboard.  Customers will also have the option of using one of three smartphone apps to pay for parking: Passport Parking, WayToPark and ParkMobile.  They enable users to electronically pay for parking without using coins at a meter or pay station.  In order to use an app for parking in downtown Hood River, users download the free app, then create an account with vehicle and payment information.  Prompts allow users to choose for their vehicle a zone area, duration of stay, and card for payment.  When time expires, users are notified by the app and have the option of extending the session without having to return to their vehicle as long as they don’t exceed maximum time limits.  The parking apps are free to download from the App Store and Google Play, but a 25-cent convenience fee per transaction is retained by each application developer.

The North Wasco County School District 21 Board has tabbed three finalists to interview for D-21’s superintendent’s position.  The three are Hood River Valley High School principal Rich Polkinghorn, Jose deJesus Melendez, who is the director of languages and equity for the Franklin Pierce School District in Tacoma, and Dr. Dorie Vickery, currently an educational consultant for the Philomath School District.  The D-21 board picked the trio this week from a group of seven candidates that had been presented to them by the consulting firm conducting the search.  Interviews will be conducted the week of March 9, with a community forum scheduled for each candidate.  Melendez will interview March 9, Polkinghorn March 10, and Vickery March 11.  The forums will take place each evening from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Mid-Columbia Senior Center in The Dalles.