Oregon Senator Ron Wyden will hold an on-line town hall for residents of Sherman, Gilliam, Wheeler, and Grant counties Monday morning.  It will be hosted by the Town Hall Project.  Wyden’s office says the Senator has postponed in-person town halls until there are clear-cut public health guidelines to allow a large open-to-all public meeting.  After the pandemic in March 2020 required Wyden’s town halls to go virtual, he held multiple regional and statewide virtual town halls hosted by Town Hall Project.   Monday’s on-line town hall will be at 10 a.m. Go the Senator’s webpage at wyden.senate.gov for information on how to view the town hall and how to take part.  

North Central Public Health District Health Officer Dr. Mimi McDonell told Wasco County Commissioners about where early shipments of COVID-19 vaccine to the district area have gone.  Mid-Columbia Medical Center has received 1,100 doses of the Moderna vaccine, the district itself 200, and One Community Health and the Sherman County Medical Clinic have received 100 so far.  The doses have been going to those in the phase 1a category…including first responders, health care providers, long-term care residents and staff, and congregate living facility residents and staff.  McDonell adds one of the challenges is not knowing what the rate of supply will be, making it difficult to plan their next steps.  McDonell says she expects this region will primarily receive the Moderna vaccine.  

The Wasco County Medical Reserve Corps is going to be integral part in helping health officials get COVID-19 vaccines into the arms of people.  North Central Public Health District interim director Shellie Campbell told the Wasco County Commission that they have about 80 people signed up so far, some of whom are retired physicians, nurses, and others with medical backgrounds.  But Campbell says anyone can volunteer to help, as they a wide variety of tasks that will need to be done.  Campbell says to volunteer for the Wasco County Medical Reserve Corps, call North Central Public Health District at 541-506-2600.

The City of Hood River is working on ways to incentivize more development of what’s termed “middle housing.”  That’s duplexes, triplexes, quads, and cottage-type housing, in-between single family dwellings and multi-family housing.  Mayor Kate McBride says the goal is to see more this type of housing developed, and part of that is making sure their land-use regulations and building codes allow developers to have as easy a path as possible to make that happen.  City Planning Director Dustin Nilsen says he hopes to have concrete recommendations developed for the planning commission to consider in a couple of months.

North Wasco County School District 21 announced its three finalists in its search for a new superintendent, and the list includes interim superintendent Theresa Peters.  Peters took the interim job this summer to take over when Candy Armstrong retired, and the D-21 board decided to search again this year after going through the process one year ago but decided to wait as the pandemic set in.  The other finalists are Carolyn Bernal, who is an assistant superintendent at Rio School District in Oxnard, California, and Jeff Dillon, superintendent of the Wilder School District in Idaho.  A public forum with all three of the candidates will be held electronically via the D-21 Facebook page on January 15 at 6 p.m., with each candidate scheduled for 30 minutes.  The board will conduct final interviews on January 21, with an intent to make a selection the next day.  

The Next Door has surpassed its goal for its annual appeal by a significant amount…but they are still taking donations.  Development Director Justine Ziegler says they have raised so far almost $145,000, well over their $100,000 goal.  Ziegler says she has been “blown away” by the generosity of the region at this time.  She says the money plays a key role in backfilling when some of their services do not receiving funding from expected sources.  To donate, go to nextdoorinc.org/donate.

Washington State 14th District Representative Gina Mosbrucker will continue as deputy-chair of the Washington State House Republican Caucus.  The Goldendale Republican has held that position the last two years.  As deputy-chair, Mosbrucker assists Caucus Chair Paul Harris in presiding over daily caucus meetings when bills, amendments and voting are discussed.  The 14th District lawmaker was also recently chosen to serve as ranking Republican on the House Public Safety Committee.  In addition, she will serve as assistant ranking Republican on the House Labor and Workplace Standards Committee, and as a member of the House Capital Budget Committee.  The legislative session begins on Monday and will be conducted remotely due to COVID-19.

The Washington Department of Natural Resources has embarked on Phase 1 of a plan to create fire fuel breaks around White Salmon.  City Councilors last month gave DNR the go-ahead to pursue the first phase of the project, which would be on the east side of White Salmon and reduce fuel loading for a north to south break in the Jewett Creek area from the power station next to Skyline Hospital and extend north.  DNR Landowner Assistance Forester Greg Houle explains that a concentration of the community’s population living in that area led to it being picked for the first phase.  One of the challenges while implanting the project will be protecting the fish-bearing stream, and there will be a buffer established for the stream.  Three more phases are also planned.  Houle says community outreach is being done now, with a goal of implementing the project this spring and summer.

Children’s advocates continue to remain concerned about a higher incidence of abuse during the COVID-19 pandemic, as children remain out of school in distance learning.  SafeSpace Children’s Advocacy Center Beatriz Lynch says calls to Oregon’s Child Abuse Hotline went down 70 percent when schools were first closed by the pandemic last spring, and while calls have gone back up some it still doesn’t match where they were a few months ago.  Lynch says it’s important that communities be vigilant for their children, and watch for signs of abuse.  Oregon’s Child Abuse Hotline is 855-503-7233, while in Washington the statewide End Harm Line is 866-363-4276.

Oregon 59th District State Representative Daniel Bonham will be the House Republican Deputy Leader during the upcoming session.  House Minority Leader Christine Drazan of Canby announced the House Republican leadership team that also included 57th District Representative Greg Smith in an ex-officio role as vice-chair of the Ways and Means Committee.  Bonham has served in the House since late 2017, and was re-elected to the chamber in November.  Republicans will once again be a substantial minority in the Oregon House, with Democrats holding 38 of the 60 seats.