The Hood River City Council has approved the City’s work plan for 2021.  City Manager Rachael Fuller says the plan creates a road map for the City for the year, identifying the highest priority projects for the next 12 months.  Fuller said some projects on the list are carried over from last year, as the pandemic delayed completion of some of them.  But she adds for the most part they have been able to stay on track.

Stevenson-Carson School District.: 2 Hours Late. Freezing rain and black ice throughout parts of the district

North Central Public Health District announced today (Tuesday) that a sharp decrease in COVID-19 cases will drop Wasco County all the way to the state’s “Lower Risk” category beginning on Friday.  The category change will be formally announced by the state today.  Wasco County recorded just 27 COVID cases for the 14-day period that ended Saturday, which will make the County just the second to drop by three categories at once since Oregon’s four-category risk framework was introduced last November.  When the category change takes effect on Friday, in-person dining at restaurants and bars in Wasco County can resume at 50 percent capacity with a closing time of midnight.  Churches in Wasco County can operate at 75 percent capacity indoors, theaters, museums, and gyms can operate at 50 percent capacity, long-term care facilities can have inside visitation, offices can have limited in-person work, retail stores can operate at 75 percent capacity, and indoor social gatherings can have up to ten people with a recommended limit from up to four households.  NCPHD interim director Shellie Campbell did stress the need to continue to practice social distancing, wearing masks, avoiding gatherings, staying home while sick, and getting vaccinated when you are able to.

Hood River County Health Department Health Officer Dr. Christopher Van Tilburg says it appears the County will move from “high risk” to “moderate risk” when the state does it every two-week update effective Friday.  State officials will make those announcements on Tuesday.  In a Facebook video, Van Tilburg says the change in risk status is good news, but he adds people still need to take precautions against COVID-19.  When the category change takes effect on Friday, in-person dining at restaurants and bars in Hood River County can resume at 50 percent capacity with a closing time of 11 p.m.  Churches in Hood River County can operate at 50 percent capacity indoors, theaters, museums, and gyms can operate at 50 percent capacity, retail stores can operate at 75 percent capacity, and indoor social gatherings can have up to eight people with a recommended limit from up to two households.

Most of the testimony to The Dalles City Council on a proposed Strategic Investment Plan agreement with Google for two new facilities on former aluminum plant and rodeo grounds property was positive.  City Councilor Rod Runyon, who had been involved in previous Enterprise Zone agreements with Google as both a Port of The Dalles and Wasco County Commissioner, said this tax abatement would be very different from those while also joining other Councilors in saying this is not a done deal.  The public comment that was questioning the agreement centered mostly on water use in the new facilities.  Mayor Rich Mays pointed out that’s part of a separate negotiation that will come before the Council in a couple of months.  Both the Wasco County Commission and The Dalles City Council will vote on the Strategic Investment Plan agreement in early March.

The Klickitat County Health Department says severe weather across the U.S. has led to more than 800 COVID-19 vaccine doses that had been allocated and scheduled to be sent to Klickitat County vaccine providers over the last two weeks not arriving.  The County Public Health Department said this latest delivery of vaccines were “boosters” or second doses that allow people to complete their vaccination series.  Despite the delays, the department says very few Klickitat County residents have had to reschedule their vaccine appointments.  Any residents that have had to reschedule due to vaccine shipment delays have already been contacted.  The delivery delays have impacted COVID-19 vaccine clinics at most of the vaccine providers in Klickitat County.  The delayed shipments are expected to arrive later this week or early next week, and then vaccine providers will work collaboratively to ensure that all the doses are administered promptly.

Washington State 14th District Representative Gina Mosbrucker has introduced bills that would allow electric bikes on trails through state public lands and to provide for planning of future electrical demands to prevent brownouts and blackouts.  House Bill 1524 would authorize the use of electric bikes on trails managed by the Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Fish and Wildlife.  It has been referred to the House Rural Development, Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.  House Bill 1527 would seek to provide planning efforts to prevent electrical grid inadequacy and rolling blackouts, such as those experienced last year in California.  Under the bill, the state Department of Commerce and the Utilities and Transportation Commission is directed to hold a yearly meeting with utility companies, regional planning organizations, transmission operators, and other stakeholders to discuss the short- and long-term adequacy of energy resources to serve the state’s electric needs.  The bill also requires the 2021 meeting to address the risk of blackouts and inadequacy events like those experienced in California in 2020.  That bill has been referred to the House Environment and Energy Committee.

With improving COVID-19 metrics, North Wasco County School District 21 is moving ahead with plans to get students back into classrooms.  D-21 interim superintendent Theresa Peters told district board members about plans to begin hybrid learning with kindergarteners and sixth graders on March 15, adding first, second, seventh, eighth, and ninth graders on March 18, and the remaining grades after spring break on March 29.  Peters says the district was sending e-mail information for parents on the transition, including an option to choose the North Wasco Virtual Academy.  Elementary and middle school students will have in-person learning half-days four days a week in two separate cohorts, and The Dalles High School students will attend in the mornings,  alternating days by cohort, with all students in comprehensive distance learning on Wednesdays.

The North Wasco County School District 21 Board formally approved the hiring of new superintendent Dr. Carolyn Bernal.  Bernal had been tabbed for the position earlier in the month, but board members still needed to approve her contract.  She comes to D-21 from Oxnard, California where she is currently the Assistant Superintendent who oversees School and System Improvements for the Rio School District.  Bernal told the board she’s excited to move into her new position.  Bernal starts in her new job on July 1.

An online survey asking Hood River residents what they think of proposed amendments to the City’s Transportation System Plan continues through the end of the week.  The TSP is a long-range plan for motor vehicle, pedestrian, bicycle and transit projects that was last updated in 2011.  City Manager Rachel Fuller says it guides municipal transportation investments over the next 20 years.  Revisions and new designs for street classifications including minor arterial and neighborhood connector streets, amendments to maps for motor vehicle, pedestrian, and bicycle systems, and project lists are all in the amendments.  Information and the survey is available at hoodrivertsp.com.  A public hearing is planned before the municipal planning commission on March 1.