North Wasco County School District 21 is continuing to move forward with planning for returning students back to the classroom in a hybrid format.  In a letter to district parents, interim superintendent Theresa Peters says with the number of COVID-19 cases in Wasco County trending downward, the district has a tentative plan for beginning in-person learning in early March, starting with kindergarten.  First and second grades would be added a week later, with additional grades to follow.  Peters plans to issue another update next week.  Limited in-person instruction at The Dalles Middle School for identified students in need of assistance will begin next Tuesday.  The letter gave the results of a parent survey showing 80% of respondents want to go to hybrid in-person learning at the elementary level, 71% at the middle school level, and 75% in the high school grades.

North Central Public Health District is asking anyone who attempted to sign up for COVID-19 vaccine notifications at its website at ncphd.org between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. this past Thursday to do so again.  The district says due to a technical difficulty, forms submitted in that time period were not received in the database.  Those who sign up through the site will be notified once their group is eligible to get the vaccine, and they will be sent a link to sign-up for an appointment.  The district does emphasize vaccine supplies are still limited and slots fill up quickly.  People are encouraged to check at ncphd.org regularly to find available appointments as new vaccine clinics are added to the schedule.  NCPHD says through January 29, there were 3,426 vaccines administered in Wasco, Sherman, and Gilliam counties.  

The White Salmon Planning Commission is taking public comment on the draft of the municipal comprehensive plan in advance of its Wednesday meeting.  Public comment can be submitted via email to janb@ci.white-salmon.wa.us by Wednesday at 5 p.m.  All public comment received will be read into the record at the meeting.  Copies of the plan elements are available on the city website at white-salmon.net.  The meeting will be Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. and can be accessed via Zoom.

Port of The Dalles Executive Director Andrea Klaas says they are getting inquiries from local businesses about possible locations to expand.  Klaas says the requests cut across various business sectors, adding low interest rates could be helping drive them.  Klaas adds other Ports have told her they are finding the cost of construction to be fairly low at this time.  She says most of the businesses she is talking to are looking for a one to one-and-a-half acre sites, which The Dalles can accommodate.

Hood River County Health Department Health Officer Dr. Christopher Van Tilburg says the County has completed the majority of Phase 1A and Phase 1B group 1 COVID-19 vaccinations.  That means around 5,000 vaccines have been given in Hood River County to healthcare workers and educators, and Van Tilburg says they have started on second dosing.  Van Tilburg says they will start vaccinations for Phase 1B group 2 next week, those who are 80 years of age and older.  But he does point out they will receive only 200 doses for that group for next week, and asked in a Facebook video for people not to call the health department or their doctor inquiring about vaccine availability at this stage.  Van Tilburg says they will be using primary care providers to distribute the vaccine, and they will contact their own patients.  Hood River County does have a website with COVID-19 vaccine information at hrccovid19.org.

North Central Public Health District is preparing its plans for getting vaccines to seniors as they become eligible to receive them.  District Health Officer Dr. Mimi McDonell says they are finishing up Phase 1B group 1 this week, but in the background has been preparing for the age groups that will become eligible over the next month, determining how they will get the word out, schedule, and safely transport older residents for vaccines.  McDonell says they are working with Mid-Columbia Senior Center, Age Plus, Mid-Columbia Medical Center, and volunteers.  She expects e-mail and phone calls will be used for sign-ups.  North Central Public Health District provides updated information through its website at ncphd.org.  

The Oregon Department of Transportation will impose a lower load rating on the Hood River-White Salmon Interstate Bridge effective March 3.  ODOT’s structural evaluation identified deficiencies in some components of the nearly 100 year old bridge that required the lower load rating.  The updated load rating will affect most classes of trucks.  It will range from 22 to 32 tons, depending on the type of vehicle.  The current maximum vehicle weight for the bridge is 40 tons.  The Port of Hood River’s bridge engineering firm, HDR, will begin a detailed analysis of ODOT’s structural evaluation to identify strengthening measures needed to restore the current weight limit, and the potential cost of such measures, but Port Executive Director Michael McElwee says that will take several months.  The Port says it has been in contact with local commodity haulers and shippers.

North Central Public Health District is working on the logistics that will be involved in vaccinating older adults as they become eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccine in Oregon.  District Health Officer Dr. Mimi McDonell told the Wasco County Commission this week that they have completed giving shots to those in phase 1A, and they are targeting completion for phase 1B group 1, primarily educators, for the end of this week.  She adds the district is preparing for the next group, which will be those 80 and older who haven’t already been vaccinated in earlier groups.  McDonell did point out that once someone is in a group that is eligible to receive the vaccine, they will always remain eligible to receive the shot should they turn down the first opportunity but then reconsider.  

The latest snowpack statistics for the Hood, Sandy, and Lower Deschutes basin show snow water equivalent numbers about one-third lower than normal.  The Natural Resources Conservation Service snowpack survey shows the basin at 69% of normal as of Thursday.  Survey supervisor Scott Oviatt said the figure had been above 80 percent early in January, but storms this month have been in the form of rain at higher elevations.  Oviatt does point out that we still have about two months left in the snow season, with late March to early April snowpack the determinant for what kind of water year the area will have.

Wasco County Commissioners gave consensus approval to allow a bench to be installed in the County Courthouse in honor of former County Judge Bill Hulse.  A group of volunteers have raised funds to purchase three benches and have them engraved in his honor to be placed at the Courthouse, the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center, and in Dufur.  County Commission Chair Scott Hege expressed his approval.  The volunteers are looking into each bench having a QR code that would allow people to use their mobile devices to link to a website with information about Hulse and his autobiography, Read It and Sleep.