September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, and the Hood River County Prevention Department will be observing it on Thursday by putting up multiple signs on the Hood River County Library lawn with messages of hope.  Prevention Department director Belinda Ballah says they want to destigmatize talking about suicide.  The signs will also be at the Hood River campus of Columbia Gorge Community College and Hood River Valley High School.

The Oregon State House and Senate Committees on Redistricting will hold virtual public hearings on the future of Oregon’s congressional and legislative district maps starting Wednesday and continuing through Monday.  Hearings for residents of Oregon’s Second Congressional District will take place Wednesday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and Friday from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.  Hearings open to residents of any congressional district will be on Monday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.  For log-in information, go to oregonlegislature.gov/redistricting.

A community reception for the three finalists for the Hood River City Manager position will take place Tuesday evening at six in the Stratton Rose Garden above Overlook Memorial Park.  The three finalists:  Jeffery Durbin, who has been a Town Manager in Colorado, current Beaverton director of community services and engagement Abigail Elder, and current Sisters City Manager Cory Misley, are all scheduled to be there.  A fourth finalist, Charlie Bush, accepted a job with another city.  The candidates will be interviewed on Wednesday and Thursday, with the Hood River City Council expecting to make a final selection on Friday.  

Girls Soccer Hood River Valley 6, St. Helens 0   Volleyball Gladstone def. Hood River Valley 25-12, 25-19, 19-25, 25-20

Wasco County Commissioners on Wednesday approved a settlement with Union Pacific Railroad in a long-running legal dispute over the County’s denial of in 2014 of an application for a track expansion in the Mosier area because of the impact on Treaty Rights in the area.  Union Pacific appealed that decision to several venues, including in federal district court where the County won a ruling on a corollary issue, leading to mediation that produced this settlement.  The settlement contains a moratorium that prevents Union Pacific from submitting any other land use application within the Mosier footprint for five years.  County Commissioners expressed relief that the issue was behind them…but Commissioner Scott Hege noted the County did not receive reimbursement for legal fees in the settlement.  The settlement also requires Union Pacific and Treaty Tribes enter into a written memorandum of agreement to establish a conferral process for current and future railroad activities within the Portland Subdivision that may affect the Treaty Tribes’ interests.

As work continues on NW Natural’s pipe system improvement project in White Salmon and Bingen, there will be traffic impacts at Dock Grade Road and East Jewett Boulevard through September 10.  The Intersection will be temporarily closed during construction hours.  One lane traffic will continue on East Jewett with flaggers directing traffic.  Detours around the construction site are in place.  Construction will not take place on Friday, and will resume on Tuesday.  Some intermittent work will also occur at the intersection of Ingram Place and E Jewett Blvd during this time.  Phase one of the project at East Jewett and Dock Grade is nearly complete.  Phase two will be from the intersection of East Jewett and Dock Grade to the intersection of Northeast Tohomish and North Main in White Salmon.  

The Oregon Health Authority Wednesday reported a continued increase in the number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in the state, and local numbers reflect the trend.  The number of hospitalized patients with COVID across Oregon is 1,178, which is 16 more than Tuesday.  There are 358 COVID-19 patients in intensive care unit beds, which is 36 more than Tuesday.  Locally, OHA statistics show for the state’s hospital Region 6, which includes Mid-Columbia Medical Center and Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital…eight of 10 staffed adult ICU beds were occupied as of this morning for various reasons…while 42 out of 50 adult non-ICU beds were being used.  Oregon Health Authority reported 2,827 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, bringing the state total to 279,086.  Hood River County had 20 new cases, Wasco County 18, and Sherman County five.  There are 23 new COVID-19 related deaths in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 3,221.

The Oregon Health Authority’s COVID-19 Weekly Report, released Wednesday, shows continued increases in daily cases, hospitalizations and deaths.  OHA reported 16,252 new cases of COVID-19 during the week that ended Sunday, representing a 10% increase over the previous week and the eighth consecutive week of increases.  There were 1,000 new COVID-19 hospitalizations, up from 601 last week.  That also marked the eighth consecutive week of increases.  There were 119 reported COVID-19 related deaths, up from 87 reported the previous week and the highest weekly death toll since January 2021.  There were 160,605 tests for COVID-19 for the week that ended Saturday.  The percentage of positive tests increased to 12.4%.  

Klickitat County had more COVID-19 cases in August than in all of March to July combined.  County Public Health Director Erinn Quinn says the County had 326 COVID cases reported for August, the largest monthly number for the entire pandemic, as the Delta variant circulates and passing easier from person-to-person.  Quinn said Klickitat County’s vaccination rate is still only a shade under 40 percent, leaving a majority of the County’s residents vulnerable to the virus.  Quinn said the County’s two hospitals…like most of the country, are feeling the pressure of high case counts, and they are having a hard time finding higher levels of care for patients that need it.

North Central Public Health District Health Officer Dr. Mimi McDonell told Wasco County Commissioners on Wednesday that the County experienced over 500 diagnosed COVID-19 cases in August, the highest monthly total for the pandemic by a substantial amount.  McDonell said hospitalized cases remained the biggest worry.  She told Commissioners that Oregon’s Region 6 hospitals, which are made up of Mid-Columbia Medical Center and Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital, are seeing larger numbers of COVID patients in beds than they have seen at any time previously, with fourteen checked in at the present time.  65.1 percent of Wasco County residents over the age of 18 have been vaccinated against COVID-19.  McDonell said people who are unvaccinated are 29 times more likely to be hospitalized by COVID-19 than those who are vaccinated.