Hood River County will move from the moderate to the lower Risk category under Oregon’s COVID risk categories on Friday.  Hood River County is one of five Oregon counties that has achieved at least a 65% vaccination rate among those 16 and older, making it eligible to move down in risk level.  Once a statewide target of 70% vaccinated is reached, counties will no longer be assigned risk levels.  For those who are fully vaccinated, defined as at least two weeks after receiving final dose of vaccine, Oregon Health Authority guidance says they are not required to wear a mask indoors in most public settings where vaccination status is checked.  Masks will still be required in public settings where vaccination status is not checked and in businesses that are continuing to require them.

The percentage of Wasco County residents over the age of 16 who have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine is now at 52.1%, but how quickly the County can get to the 65% level that automatically puts it into the state’s lower risk category is an open question.  North Central Public Health District Health Officer Dr. Mimi McDonell told Wasco County Commissioners Wednesday that with the current rate of vaccinations, it might take a couple of months.  The COVID-19 case count numbers in Wasco County have dropped down to 21 for the two weeks that ended Saturday, which would move the County down into the lower risk category.  But McDonell says Wasco County will remain at the moderate risk category for at least one more week, as the state is back to doing risk level changes every two weeks unless a county goes above the 65% vaccination rate.

Under updated mask guidelines in Oregon, businesses can now choose whether or not customers will still be required to wear a mask.  But businesses have to review vaccination records and show that people are fully vaccinated, or continue to operate under Oregon Health Authority guidance that requires masks and physical distancing.  Oregon 59th District State Representative Daniel Bonham, who owns a small business in The Dalles, believes only the largest businesses have the resources to truly do this, and he doesn’t think they should be doing it at all.  Bonham says putting businesses in the position of asking personal information is inappropriate.

The Oregon Health Authority’s COVID-19 Weekly Report, released Wednesday, shows decreases in daily cases and increases in hospitalizations and deaths from the previous week.  The OHA reported 4,108 new daily cases of COVID-19 during the week that ended Sunday, a 16% decrease from the previous week.  New COVID-19 related hospitalizations rose to 265, up from 245 last week.  Reported COVID-19 related deaths rose to 57, up from 31 last week, the highest weekly death toll in 10 weeks.  There were 103,155 tests for COVID-19 for the week that ended May 15, a 7% decrease from last week.  The percentage of positive tests rose from 6.1% to 6.4%.

Intermountain Conference Baseball Semi-Final Hood River Valley 11, Redmond 0:  Mason Spellecy and Nolan Ryan drove in two runs apiece as the Eagles won their seventh straight game and advance to the conference tournament title game.  Spellecy also pitched a no-hitter in the game shortened to five innings, his second straight after pitching a six-inning no-hitter against The Dalles last week.  The Eagles will visit Pendleton for the tourney championship game on Saturday at noon.   Intermountain Conference Softball Semi-Final Ridgeview 15, Hood River Valley 0, 4 innings   Boys Basketball Seton Catholic 63, Columbia 53:  The Bruins’ Issac Wang led all scorers with 19 points. Napavine 78, Stevenson 31   Wrestling Ridgeview 54, Hood River Valley 12:  Carson Farlow and Lane Chandler scored wins by fall for HRV.

Two incumbents seeking re-election to the North Wasco County School District 21 board were successful in Tuesday night’s special districts election.  Rebecca Thistlethwaite received 264 votes in Zone 1 to 206 for Mary Morehouse, and John Nelson polled 230 votes in Zone 4 to 127 for Carla McQuade.  In Zone 5, Brian Stevens received 378 votes to 202 for Holly Gove.  Voting for two contested seats on the Port of The Dalles Commission saw incumbent Robert Wallace re-elected to Position 1 with 1,965 votes while Jack Hay received 1,341, and John Willer narrowly outpolled Marcus Swift 1,768 to 1,730 for Position 3.  Rachel Carter won a three-way contest for Position 1 on the Northern Wasco County Parks and Recreation District board with 1,230 votes to 1,091 for Michael Held and 362 for Justin Brock, while Annette Byers was elected to Position 5 with 1,833 votes to 721 for Curtis Eggers.  Nate Stice won the Position 1 seat on the Columbia Gorge Community College Board 2,762 to 1,229 to over Frank Polehn.  Stacy Holeman was elected to Position 2 on the Columbia Gorge Education Service District Board with 665 votes to 489 for Holly Price.  In Zone 1 of the South Wasco County School District, Paul Koerschgen totaled 190 votes to 152 for Howard Fetz.  And Barb Ayers was tabbed for Position 3 on the Mosier Fire District board, tallying 193 votes to 55 for Jim Appleton and 40 for Peter Lawson.

In Hood River County, Mike Fox won a close vote for Position 3 on the Port of Hood River Commission with 1,401 votes to 1,322 for Lach Litwer.  Jennifer Kelly won the at-large seat on the Hood River County School District Board, receiving 1,795 votes to 1,155 for Heidi Parr.  Craig Mallon topped the vote count for three seats on the Wy’east Fire District board, receiving 343 votes while Rob Graves totaled 311 and Dick Virk 303, followed by Don Moore with 275.  And for two seats on the Crystal Springs Water District board, Craig Ortega had 497 votes, Erick Cedarstam 428, and Antonio Baptista 323.  

Klickitat County Commissioners will wait another a week to decide if they already have the tools in place to deal with potential applications for solar projects.  Commissioners spent an hour discussing what they are actually trying to accomplish, and received guidance from County Natural Resources and Economic Development Director Dave McClure that if they wanted to craft an ordinance specific to solar, it would be a multi-year process.  The group noted that in many ways two issues are being pushed together, one involving setbacks and protections for adjacent property owners, and the other involving overall county policy.  Commissioner Jacob Anderson said he believes in the already required environmental impact processes for conditional use permits.  Commissioner Dan Christopher said he believes many citizens would like to see more specifics in writing.  There is currently a six month moratorium on commercial and industrial solar projects that are subject to a conditional use process.  

The Klickitat County Health Department says there were three positive COVID-19 cases associated with Goldendale High School reported over the course of the weekend.   The health department says the school has taken all standard precautions during the pandemic, and the Goldendale School District is actively working with the health district to identify and notify anyone who may have been exposed to COVID-19.  The district says there are a large number of identified close contacts associated with this case.  Students and staff who do not experience any symptoms five days after their last known exposure may return to school on day seven with proof of a negative COVID-19 test.  Students and staff without proof of a negative COVID-19 test, and who do not have symptoms of COVID-19 may return to school ten days after their last known exposure.  

Following a run upgrade, Oregon and Washington fishery managers added fishing days for recreational spring Chinook salmon in the Columbia River during a joint state hearing.  The move is based on a projected return of 87,000 adult upriver spring Chinook to the Columbia River mouth, which exceeds the preseason forecast of 75,200 adults.  Below Bonneville Dam, the season will be this Friday through Sunday, and also the first 15 days in June, with a bag limit of one Chinook and one steelhead.  From Bonneville to the Oregon/Washington border, the season will the next two Saturdays and Sundays, with the same bag limit.  Given the low passage of Skamania stock steelhead over Bonneville Dam to-date, managers elected to reduce the steelhead bag limit to one fish starting this Friday and continuing through the spring management period which ends June 15