Columbia Gorge Children’s Advocacy Center, which serves as a single point of contact for child abuse victims in Wasco, Hood River, Klickitat, Gilliam, and Wheeler counties, has changed its name to SafeSpace Children’s Advocacy Center of the Gorge.  Executive Director Beatriz Lynch says they changed their name to help raise their visibility in the region after 11 years in operation, but what they do won’t be changing.  SafeSpace is the Gorge’s only nonprofit that coordinates the efforts of child protection staff, law enforcement professionals, family advocates, medical experts, and mental health clinicians under one roof.  Their website is now safespacecac.org.

With Oregon Governor Kate Brown announcing just before the holidays that previous mandatory guidance about meeting county-level positivity rates and COVID-19 case counts before going to in-person learning now advisory, schools in the region are putting their plans in to place, with the larger districts waiting to make announcements.  North Wasco County School District 21 remains in distance learning with plans to issue an update the week of January 19, with Interim Superintendent Theresa Peters saying that will give the district time to absorb new guidance due from the state and gather input from parents and staff.  The Hood River County School District had indicated it would wait until its new semester at the start of February to make any change.  Schools with under 250 students were eligible to open at the beginning of the school year, and all such schools in Wasco, Sherman and Gilliam counties did so in the early weeks of fall.  Schools in Sherman and Gilliam counties are continuing in-person learning, Dufur School will be in distance learning this week with pre-schoolers returning to in-person learning next week, and schoolwide hybrid on-site learning starting January 19.  South Wasco County School District is starting this week with comprehensive distance learning, and next Monday kindergarten through eighth grade students will be in-person, with all students in person on January 19.

Oregon Second District Congressman Cliff Bentz was formally sworn in as a Member of the 117th United States Congress on Sunday.  Bentz called in an honor to represent the citizens of the district, and thanked them for entrusting him with the responsibility.  He added that he will fight every day to “protect rural communities and stand up for Oregon values in Congress.”   Bentz is a third generation Oregonian, rancher, businessman, attorney, and a former state legislator.  He was elected to represent the Second Congressional District in November to replace Greg Walden, who retired after 22 years in the seat.

According to Hood River Electric Co-op, all Co-op customers in the Parkdale/Mt. Hood area will experience a power outage from 3 to 5 Monday morning. January 4th. The scheduled outage is necessary for maintenance of equipment in their Parkdale substation. Updates will be posted on the Hood River Electric Co-op website and Facebook page.  

The state of Oregon had 1,052 new and presumptive COVID-19 cases Wednesday, with 19 new deaths. Hood River County recorded 19 new cases, with a total of 801. Wasco County reports 22 new cases with a total of 894 for the pandemic with 510 recovered….that is defined as 30 days from onset of illness and in stable medical condition. Gilliam County had 2 new cases. They have 37 total with 23 recovered. There were no new cases in Sherman County, they remain at 31 total with 23 recovered. The state of Oregon overall has recorded 112,260 positive or presumptive cases and 1,468 deaths. In Klickitat County, they had 20 new cases for a total of 525 with 473 recovered. Skamania County is aligning their numbers with the Washington State Department of Health, so some categories have changed. They report 184 positive cases with 18 probable for a total of 202. Washington State had 1,484 new cases Wednesday for a pandemic total of 232,993 with 3,420 deaths.  

The Oregon Health Authority reported 713 new confirmed and presumptive cases Tuesday, along with 16 deaths. There were 5 new cases in Hood River County, with a total of 763 during the pandemic. Wasco County reported 6 new cases and has a total of 873 cases with 502 recovered, which is defined as 30 days from the onset of symptoms and in stable medical condition. Gilliam County added one case for 35 cases with 23 recovered. There were no new cases in Sherman County and they remain at 31 cases with 23 recovered. There are 527 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 across the state, which is 12 more than Monday. 119 patients are in intensive care unit beds, 6 more than Monday. The state has a total number of 111,227 COVID cases with 1,449 deaths. Skamania County had 1 new case Tuesday, increasing their number to 184, with 154 recovered. Klickitat County shows 9 new cases since last Thursday, for a total of 505 cases with 465 recovered. Washington state now has a total of 240,846 cases during the pandemic and 3,369 deaths.  

According to a recent study done by marketers TOP Data and Zenreach, restaurant spending nationwide is only down by 1% from where it was in January 2020. Many states have seen an increase in restaurant spending since the pandemic started. Washington leads the country with a 26% increase over January, followed by Utah at 24%, South Dakota a 20% increase, 19% in Alaska and Alabama shows an 18% increase. Oregon is 4% higher than January. In the opposite direction, Idaho leads in terms of less spending at restaurants with a 47% decrease, Massachusetts is #2 at 41%, Rhode Island with 34%, California with a 29% decrease and New Jersey 24%.  

The Oregon Health Authority on Monday reported 865 new or presumptive COVID-19 cases in the state. There were 3 new cases in Wasco County, bringing their total to 867 for the pandemic with 502 recovered, that’s defined as 30 days from the onset of the illness and in stable medical condition. Hood River County had 8 new cases with a pandemic total of 758. There were no new cases in Gilliam or Sherman Counties, with Gilliam at 34 cases and Sherman with 31 cases. Both counties have 23 recovered. There are 515 patients hospitalized in Oregon, 23 more than Sunday. There are 313 COVID-19 patients in intensive care unit beds, 8 more than Sunday. Overall, Oregon has 110,545 cases with deaths at 1,433. In Klickitat County, the latest report shows 496 total cases with 72 active and 421 recovered. In Skamania County, there are 183 total cases, with 154 recovered. In Washington State, they have a total of 238,672 positive or presumptive COVID-19 cases with 3,195 deaths.

The Oregon Health Authority reported 1,416 new confirmed or presumptive COVID-19 cases on Sunday. That raises the total number of cases statewide to 109,725. Six new deaths raised that total to 1,427. Hood River County reported 3 new cases for a pandemic total of 750. Wasco County reported 28 new cases with a total of 826. Gilliam County reported 1 new case and now stand at 33 total cases. There were no new cases reported in Sherman County, they remain at 31 for the pandemic. The last reports in Klickitat and Skamania Counties were Friday. Klickitat has now had 434 total cases and Skamania County with 179 for the pandemic. Washington shows a tally of 227,795 total cases for the pandemic with 3,184 deaths.

NW Natural says it has about 100 employees in the field today to finish turning on meters and relighting the remaining customers in Hood River that they were unable to restore Friday. They will also make second visits to customers that were not home when the first visit occurred.  If a customer is not home, a technician will leave a door hanger with a phone number that they can call to schedule a time that works.  Customers with questions can call NW Natural’s emergency hotline at 800-882-3377. While service restoration is expected to be fully completed today, NW Natural is still making hotel rooms available if anyone is in need. Go to NWNatural.com for information. NW Natural utility partners Avista, Cascade/Intermountain and Puget Sound Energy are providing mutual assistance. All workers will carry ID when they arrive at customer homes and will follow COVID-19 safety protocols as usual. NW Natural will continue to provide updates at www.nwnatural.com.