Columbia Center for the Arts in Hood River will be closed for the next two weeks.  CCA board member Genevieve Scholl said on Mid-Columbia Today this morning that there has been a COVID exposure at the Center, so the facility will remain closed until September 14, to allow for staff to complete quarantines and testing, and allow the center to be sanitized.  Because of the closure, the “‘Don’t Quit Your Day Job” exhibit that had been planned in the CCA gallery in September has been pushed back to November.  The “Best of the Gorge” show that was up in August will remain in place for the second half of September when the gallery reopens.

The Dalles Police Department says it partnered with the United States Marshal’s Service, the Oregon State Police and the Wasco County District Attorney’s office to check the compliance status of every registered sex offender in the City of The Dalles.  According to a statement on the department’s Facebook page…the compliance checks on 128 sex offenders conducted in Operation Oregon Crosswalk included making “boots on the ground” checks of addresses that offenders have reported as their residences to confirm or deny the accuracy of the registration. COVID-19 protocols at the Northern Oregon Regional Correctional Facility were in effect during the time of the operation and no offenders were lodged for being out of strict compliance, but four warnings were issued and six offenders registered as required after contact.  Three offenders were confirmed to be deceased, two had been previously deported, four were in jail and 15 were registered in an outside state.  Other out of compliance offenders will be the subject of continued investigation and follow up by law enforcement.

The Bull Complex Fire twelve miles northeast of Detroit on the Mount Hood National Forest was much less active on Monday and grew just under 350 acres as temperatures moderated in the high 60s and relative humidity increased to the high 30s.  Officials said all five helicopters assigned to the fire were flying Monday and engaged in water bucket drops on the fire, aiding ground resources in improving containment of the fire and in limiting the spread.  On the eastern side of the fire, firefighters continue to successfully improve their pre-identified containment lines and fire growth has been dampened on the east and northeast sides of the fire.  Additional crews and equipment are expected to arrive on the incident and will aid in improving fire lines on the fire.  The fire was expected to be less active today with cool and humid weather.  Due to the fire growth from Sunday on the southeast side of the fire that crossed Forest Road 4696 near the Willamette National Forest boundary the Marion County Sheriff’s office issued a Level 1 “Be Ready” evacuation advisory only for Breitenbush Hot Springs.

Crews from over a dozen area fire agencies responded to a fire near the Columbia Gorge Regional Airport on Monday.  The crews were able to knock down the fire in strong winds that were gusting up to 40 miles per hour.  The fire burned into a sandy area that did slow its progression.  Firefighters from Dallesport-Murdock, Mid-Columbia Fire and Rescue, High Prairie, Klickitat, Appleton, Wahkiacus, Lyle, Centerville, Rural Fire District 7, Bingen, White Salmon, Wishram, and Husum were all involved in the effort to combat the fire.  The fire started around 2:15 Monday afternoon.

Officials at Grand Canyon National Park say the body of a Tygh Valley man who fell inside the park has been recovered.  A National Park Service press release says 48-year-old David Colburn fell 50 feet Saturday afternoon while hiking in the Deer Creek Narrows.  Colburn was on a group river trip.  National Park Service search and rescue teams couldn’t locate him until Sunday because of the terrain and darkness. Colburn’s body was flown by helicopter to the South Rim of the Canyon.  The Coconino County Medical Examiner’s Office will assist in determining the official cause of death.  KTAR Radio in Phoenix reports hikers and river rafters are known to traverse a narrow canyon around Deer Creek Falls.  The narrows are 136 miles downriver from Lees Ferry, where river rafting trips typically start from.

There will be a lot of wide loads and windmill components coming to Sherman County this week, notably on Wednesday and Thursday.  The Sherman County Sheriff’s Office says transformers for the new substation at the top of Walker Hill will be arriving, one each of those two days between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m.  They will be climbing out of Biggs & up Walker Hill at about 10 miles per hour.  Walker will be decreased down to 1 lane part way up the hill both north and south to assist with flaggers needing to stop traffic for the turn off of Highway 97.  Either Wednesday or Thursday between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. there will be 20-foot wide loads headed north.  The Sherman County Sheriff’s Office says to plan accordingly and use alternate routes if possible.

The Bull Complex Fire on the Mount Hood National Forest twelve miles northeast of Detroit grew just under 1,000 acres on Sunday as temperatures reached into the mid-80s and relative humidity dropped to the high teens.  The 10,370 acre fire was mainly active to the west and south, burning uphill in the Elk Lake Creek and Mother Lode Creek drainages.  It is burning rapidly through the 2011 Mother Lode Fire area, consuming the large dead and down material which is much drier than the live timber stands.  The fire is nearing the border of the Willamette National Forest.  There are no evacuation warnings or orders at this time.  On the eastern side of the fire, firefighters continue to improve their pre-identified containment lines and successfully prevent additional spread to the east and north.  Winds shifted to the west overnight, dropping temperatures and raising humidity, and the fire should be less active today under those conditions.

Vaccination rates continue to rise steadily in Wasco, Sherman and Gilliam counties, but COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are also climbing as the surge in Delta variant cases continues.  The North Central Public Health District announced Friday that Wasco County has vaccinated 68% of those 18 and older; Sherman County 59.3% and Gilliam County 46%.   But also as of Friday morning, Mid-Columbia Medical Center had no open intensive care unit beds, 26 percent of its patient beds were taken by COVID positive patients, and it has had to turn away ambulances due to increased volume in its ER.  MCMC public relations manager Stephanie Bowen says they have been seeing more COVID-related admits every day, noting they recent had a record high nine COVID patients before dropping to seven as of Friday.  The risk of hospitalization due to COVID-19 is greatly reduced in vaccinated individuals.  A report released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control found that, in Los Angeles, unvaccinated people were 29 times as likely to be hospitalized as unvaccinated people.

The Oregon Department Fish and Wildlife is adopting additional emergency rules to increase protections for wild summer steelhead in certain Oregon Columbia River tributaries in response to extremely low returns of Columbia Basin upriver summer steelhead.  Passage counts of summer steelhead at Bonneville Dam from July 1 through August 26 are the lowest since counts began in 1938, continuing a pattern of several years of low returns for many populations and comes during a period when flows throughout the basin are generally low because of drought.  The rules will close steelhead fishing in the lower Umatilla and in additional areas of the Deschutes and John Day rivers beginning Wednesday.  That’s in addition to existing steelhead closures in portions of the lower Deschutes and John Day rivers, and on top of measures already taken in mainstem Columbia River fisheries to protect summer steelhead during their migration to the tributaries.

The City of Hood River has announced a change in its finalist list for the City Manager’s position due to the withdrawal of a candidate.  Jerry Durbin, most recently interim town manager of Frisco, Colorado, will replace Olympia assistant city manager Keith Stahley as one of the four finalists.  Durbin previously served as town manager and community development director for Fraser, Colorado as well as community development director for Plainfield, Illinois.  Other finalists for the position include Charlie Bush, recently city manager of Sequim, Washington, current Beaverton director of community services and engagement Abigail Elder, and Sisters city manager Cory Misley.  The community will have an opportunity to meet the four finalists at a community reception on September 7^th at 6:00 p.m. at the Stratton Rose Gardens, with interviews planned September 8 and the City Council looking to make a selection September 10.  More information about all finalists and the selection process can be found at cityofhoodriver.gov.