North Wasco County School District 21 Board will host a “listening session” on Thursday at The Dalles Middle School.  New D-21 Superintendent Dr. Carolyn Bernal says the session will allow families, staff, and community members to comment on the reopening of schools to full-time in-person learning.  The “listening session” will be an in-person meeting beginning at 6 p.m. at The Dalles Middle School, and it will be live streamed through the D-21 Facebook page and YouTube channel.

Mid-Columbia Community Action Council is partnering with a number of agencies to offer cooling centers options this week for community members in need of a place to get out of the heat.  The cooling centers will be located at Hood River Alliance Church on 2650 Montello and at St. Vincent DePaul on 315 West 3rd in The Dalles.  They will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. from Wednesday through Saturday.  Guests of the cooling centers will be required to comply with COVID-19 guidelines and face covering requirements.  Transportation to and from the cooling centers will be offered by Columbia Area Transit.  

As Oregon surpassed its COVID-19 hospitalization record on Tuesday, Governor Kate Brown announced that she is issuing two new coronavirus-related mandates:   a vaccination requirement for state employees and statewide indoor mask requirements.  The details about the statewide mask requirement will be outlined during a news conference Wednesday.  State employees will be required to be fully vaccinated on or before Oct. 18 or six weeks after a “COVID-19 vaccine receives full approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration”, whichever is later.  The Oregon Health Authority reported 2,329 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of the start of Tuesday with nine new COVID-related deaths, including one in Wasco County, and the number of hospitalized COVID-19 positive patients in Oregon has surpassed the previous pandemic high set back in November.  The OHA says a 72-year-old man from Wasco County who tested positive for COVID-19 last Wednesday died on Saturday at his residence.   The presence of underlying conditions is being confirmed.  In its Tuesday report, the OHA reported 42 new COVID-19 cases in Wasco County, seven in Hood River County, and one in Gilliam County.  The number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 across Oregon in the Tuesday report was 635, which is 60 more than Monday, and there are 164 COVID-19 patients in intensive care unit beds, which is up by 16.  

Klickitat County Public Health Director Erinn Quinn told County Commissioners on Tuesday that with only 39.2 percent of the County’s population fully vaccinated against COVID-19, “everyone is vulnerable.”  Quinn says the County’s pace of vaccinations has slowed way down, with only about 100 given out county-wide each week, and with the County Fair and the opening of school coming up she’s concerned about what the next few weeks will look like.  She noted modeling projections show cases won’t hit a peak for another month, adding the age of those with serious complications from COVID is dropping.  Quinn spoke of two County residents under 40 in the hospital with COVID in the last week, plus a minor in Intensive Care who had no other health conditions.  Quinn said the demand for COVID testing from medical providers in the County is high, and hospital space remains tight.  Quinn did say while they are seeing breakthrough cases, those cases have milder symptoms than those people who have not been vaccinated.

Washington Gorge Action Programs is opening a Cooling Center adjacent to the Hegewald Center at 710 SW Rock Creek Drive in Stevenson.  It will open Wednesday at 11 a.m. and will remain open until 7 p.m. or until temperatures fall to safe levels in the evening.  It will be open each day until the National Weather Service’s Excessive Heat Warning is canceled, which is currently projected for Saturday night.  Those who are unable to shelter in a cool location and remain safe and healthy are welcome to go to the Cooling Center and get out of the heat. COVID-19 protocols will be in place.  Call (509) 281-1129 for more information.

The Hood River City Council selected 12 people from a list of 34 applicants to serve on its Affordable Housing Production Strategy Task Force.  City Senior Planner Jennifer Kaden told the Council that they looked for a representative range of ages, experience, and demographics in making the selections. Interim City Manager Will Norris did say that there were inherent obstacles to finding younger service industry workers and families that can take part in the plan, but they will look to involve them in other ways.  City Planner Dustin Nilsen added they will respond to all the applicants that did not get picked for the committee and provided them opportunities to participate.  The task force is to provide input to Council in the development of affordable housing policy strategies to be adopted and implemented, and not act as a technical advisory committee.

Wasco County is down personnel in its planning office as it moves into the work of updating its land-use development and National Scenic Area ordinances.  Commissioner Scott Hege says they have recently lost their planning director and senior planner, but he adds they only had 280 days from the adoption of the updated 2020 plan to get the NSA ordinance done, and state money won’t allow much push back on the land-use development ordinance work.  Hege said people will be getting notifications soon about potential ordinance changes, and noted the language in the notifications are required by the state, so he encourages property owners to be engaged in the process.

Oregon Senator Ron Wyden led a bipartisan group of Western senators pressing the Biden administration to coordinate and develop a strategy to combat jet fuel shortages that undercut wildland firefighting as wildfires burn across the West.   All of the senators from West Coast state joined in the letter sent to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.  The senators requested a response within two weeks on plans to address fuel shortages for aerial wildfire efforts, coordinating a response if there is a shortage while multiple wildfires are burning, ensuring there is enough available personnel to transport fuel, and steps to ensure private entities have enough jet fuel to support aerial firefighting.  The senators called “a strategic and integrated approach to tackle wildfire” essential.

Movement toward clean-up from last month’s fire at the Port of The Dalles Marina is slow.  Port Executive Director Andrea Klaas says there are a number of different insurance companies involved, and before clean-up could begin all of the companies’ investigations had to be finished.  Klaas says that has happened, and the site has been turned back over to the Port so cleanup work can begin, but the latest challenge is to get all parties coordinated to bring one salvage company in to begin work.  Klaas does say once they a company is selected and work starts, it shouldn’t take a large amount of time to actually get the cleanup finished.

The City of Hood River will conduct sanitary sewer system smoke testing on August 12th and 13th to gain information for future sewer improvements, and some people may notice a distinct odor that results from this testing.  The smoke testing will involve opening and entering manholes in the streets and public utility easements to blow smoke into the sewer system and will occur between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. on Thursday and Friday.  A special non-toxic smoke will be used in testing that leaves no residuals or stains and has no effect on plant or animal life.  The smoke has a distinctive odor last only a few minutes where ventilation is adequate.  Should smoke enter your home or business, contact a member of the smoke testing crew working in your area.  The crew member will be able to help and check with you as to where the smoke has entered your building.  To reduce the chance of smoke entering your home/business, pour at least five gallons of water down any infrequently used drain such as a floor drain or unused sink within a few days before the start of the test period.  This will fill up the trap and reduce that potential point of entry.