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.  

The Oregon Health Authority released its latest COVID-19 forecast.  According to the report, the effective reproduction rate – the expected number of secondary cases that a single case generates – was estimated at 1.21 on Aug. 11, projecting a slight decline in the estimated growth of new cases from last week’s modeling scenario.  At that level of transmission, the report estimates 1,000 cases per 100,000 people, or 3,000 daily cases and 165 hospitalizations by Sept. 7.  The modeling report also predicted a scenario based on a projected increase in facemask use among Oregonians between Aug. 11 and Aug. 31.  If the trend of Oregonians complying with the protective measure were to increase from 49% to 80%, the growth of new daily cases would be somewhat lower – an estimated 850 per 100,000 people. That translates to 2,550 new cases and 135 hospitalizations by Sept. 7.  OHA officials emphasized vaccinations remain the most effective tool for slowing the spread of COVID-19.  To date more than 2.6 million Oregonians have received at least one dose of the vaccine and nearly 2.4 million people have completed a vaccine series.

The Oregon Health Authority says the number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 went up again in updated statistics Friday, while Oregon surpassed a daily case count of 3,000 for the first time during the pandemic.  The OHA reported 3,207 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. today, bringing the state pandemic total to 268,401.  Previously, the record was 2,971 new confirmed and presumptive cases on Aug. 19, 2021.  Wasco County reported 26 new COVID cases, Hood River County 14, and Gilliam County 1.  The number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 across Oregon is 1,098, which is 13 more than yesterday. There are 308 COVID-19 patients in intensive care unit beds, which is nine more than yesterday.  There are 40 available adult ICU beds out of 663 total and 305 available adult non-ICU beds out of 4,279.  There are 20 new COVID-19 related deaths in Oregon, raising the state’s pandemic death toll to 3,115.

Fire officials say the Bull Complex on the Mount Hood National Forest 12 miles northeast of Detroit grew approximately 774 acres on Thursday, putting the size at 8,548 acres.  It’s burning closer to constructed containment lines on the south end of the fire, where firefighters have been creating multiple strategic locations to intercept the main fire when it reaches them.  Fire officials say experienced fire crews, unmanned aircraft and helicopters have strategically burned small areas between the main fire and containment lines over past few days to remove fuel ahead of the main fire.  The south end of the fire is where firefighters are focused most to establish access into the fire’s edge.  Within the 43 total miles of fire perimeter, significant portions of the fire’s perimeter are currently difficult to access and present multiple safety hazards for ground forces.  On the north, east, and west sides of the fire, the fire is burning slow and steady while it moves closer to the 2020 Beachie Creek and Lionshead Fire burn areas that lack available fuels,

People in Oregon will be required to wear masks in most public outdoor settings beginning on Friday in the latest attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19.  The Oregon Health Authority said Tuesday the number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 across Oregon is now at 1,000, with only seven percent of adult intensive care unit beds and nine percent of adult non-ICU beds currently available.  Governor Kate Brown says the new mandate requires masks for public outdoor settings where individuals from different households are unable to consistently maintain physical distance.  She did say people don’t need to mask up for fleeting pass-bys on a hiking trail or a morning walk in the dog.  But she adds people do need to take responsibility and use a mask where physical distancing is not possible.  While the rule does not apply to outdoor gatherings at private residences, the OHA is strongly recommending people wear a mask in those scenarios.

Hood River County Health Department Health Officer Dr. Christopher Van Tilburg is emphasizing that getting vaccinated against COVID-19 is a better course of action than treatments like monoclonal antibody therapy.  In a Facebook video statement, Van Tilburg says monoclonal therapies are not a substitute for the vaccine.  He points out the monoclonals are derived from either humans who have had coronavirus or mice genetically modified to mimic the human immune system.  Van Tilburg says it is much safer to receive a small piece of RNA from the vaccine.  Van Tilburg also warned against Ivermectin, which he said is meant to be used in humans in small quantities for worm and parasite infections but is not an anti-viral medicine, and can be very toxic if used in large doses meant for livestock.