October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.  To mark the occasion, Helping Hands Against Violence in Hood River County has been spreading awareness and information.  Program Manager Serra Perino says it’s all to spark conversation.  Helping Hands Against Violence supports survivors fleeing abusive situations with advocacy, shelter, education, and outreach.  Its’ 24/7 crisis line is 541-386-6603.  

Cross Country Columbia’s boys finished second and girls third at the Trico League Cross Country Championships at Vancouver Lake.  The Bruins’ Camden Uffelman was third in the boys’ race while Ella Zimmerman was sixth in the girls’ run.   Big Sky Volleyball Playoffs Ione-Arlington def. Dufur 12-25, 23-25, 25-21. 25-21. 15-13 Klickitat-Glenwood def. Sherman 13-25, 25-17, 25-21, 20-25, 15-11   Boys Soccer North Clackamas Christian 7, Trout Lake 1 Livingstone Adventist Academy 4, Horizon Christian 0

The Wasco County Assessor’s office will be mailing out property tax statements on Monday.  Assessor Jill Amery says real market values continue to trend upward for most residential properties in Wasco County.  Many commercial properties saw a correction and downturn in real property values.  South Wasco County residents will most likely see an increase in their tax bills due to the new South Wasco County School District No. 1 Bond that was passed in the November 2020 election, but local option levies for the Dufur Recreation District and Shaniko have expired.  Tax payments are due November 15.  Payment in full by that dates receives a 3% discount.

North Central Public Health District Health Officer Dr. Mimi McDonell says for the past two weeks Wasco County has seen reported COVID-19 cases go down somewhat, but there were still almost 100 in the last week.  McDonell told Wasco County Commissioners on Wednesday the Delta variant continues to be transmitted in the County.  She added while hospitalizations in Oregon are down, in Hood River and Wasco counties hospitals remain very busy.  McDonell said on Tuesday there were no Intensive Care Unit beds available in the area.  McDonell added Oregon Health Science University modeling shows a downward trend in COVID-19 cases in the state, but that’s dependent on more people getting vaccinated and continued use of good practices like mask wearing and social distancing.

The Port of Hood River says live load testing crews have completed their work on the Hood River-White Salmon Interstate Bridge ahead of schedule.  All planned closures for the remainder of the week have been cancelled.  The work had required full bridge closures that snarled traffic on October 13 and on Monday.  The load tests were being done to determine what kind of maintenance would be needed to bring weight limits on the bridge back up to where they were before the Oregon Department of Transportation required a decrease earlier in the year.  No results are available at this point.

North Wasco County School District 21 reports a Chenowith Elementary School student set off a travel-sized canister of pepper spray on one of its school buses Tuesday afternoon as it was loading students to return home.  In a letter to parents posted on the D-21 Facebook page, the district says all students were evacuated from the bus, assessed, and brought to the cafeteria for observation.  A new bus was brought in to take students home.  The district says families of affected students were contacted.

Boys Soccer The Dalles 8, Pendleton 0 Hood River Valley 8, Crook County 0   Girls Soccer The Dalles 0, Pendleton 0 King’s Way Christian 3, Columbia 0 Granger 2, Goldendale 1   Volleyball Redmond def. The Dalles 25-13, 25-16, 25-15 King’s Way Christian def. Columbia 25-27, 25-16, 25-17, 27-25 Stevenson def. Rainier 25-23, 10-25, 13-25, 25-13, 15-11

Hood River County Health Department Director Trish Elliott told County Commissioners on Monday she is hopeful that COVID-19 numbers have started to come down.  Elliott says they only had 10 or 11 cases reported over the weekend, compared to 30 last weekend and 48 two weeks ago.  Hood River County has had 180 cases so far in October.  81.6 percent of County residents age 18 or over have received COVID-19 vaccine, and Elliott says they are getting ready for the Food and Drug Administration to give the go-ahead for pediatric vaccinations for ages 5 to 11 later this month.

Hood River County Commissioners will wait to have some potential wording changes considered by County Counsel before voting on a proposal to institute a parking permit program for six County trail staging areas.  The permit is designed to provide revenue to implement the County’s maintenance and operations of the trail system on County forestlands.  The potential wording changes came from testimony at a public hearing on the ordinance, and County Administrator Jeff Hecksel noted they shouldn’t prevent eventual adoption of the program even if passage is delayed.  Hecksel added even if the changes are substantial enough to go through the entire process again, there would still be time to get the program in place for next year.

The White Salmon Planning Commission next week will look at an initial draft of short-term rental policies to send to City Council.  There has been a moratorium placed on STR’s that would currently extend into January.  Mayor Marla Keethler noted the planning panel has held worksessions to consider potential options including some big picture possibilities.  The White Salmon Planning Commission meets next Wednesday at 5:30 p.m., go to white-salmon.net for more information.