The death toll from COVID-19 is going up.  Hood River County Health Officer Dr. Christopher Van Tilburg said in a Facebook video posted on Monday night that three more COVID deaths have occurred in the County, moving the pandemic total to eight.  He gave no details other than to say all three were in their 70’s.  He added there are currently over 100 active COVID cases in Hood River County.  Van Tilburg also said Hood River County’s first shipment of vaccine will arrive very soon, sometime this week.  The first vaccines will be going to frontline health care workers.

Maintenance technicians at John Day Dam estimated 63 gallons of oil spilled into the Columbia River from a pinhole leak in a turbine guide bearing chiller discovered on Monday.  According to a statement from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District, the leak was discovered near the downstream side of the dam.  The Corps says staff isolated the system, began identifying the exact number of gallons lost and started fixing the issue.  Operations Division chief Dwane Watsek says the turbine guide will be out of service until it is repaired.  This is the second spill at Corps dams on the Columbia River this month.  The Dalles Dam spilled 45 gallons of oil into the river on December 3.  Corps technicians originally estimated the impacted turbine could have lost up to 200 gallons, but they confirmed the lesser amount on Friday.

The City of The Dalles Small Business Relief Grant program is now accepting applications from eligible small businesses and small non-profits based in The Dalles until 5 p.m. this coming Monday.   City officials say the goal of the relief grant is to provide immediate financial relief to The Dalles’ hardest-hit small businesses and non-profits in the form of unrestricted grants to support rent, employee salaries, and operating costs as a stop-gap relief.  Grant funds are to be awarded the last week of December.  For eligibility and application information, go to the City of The Dalles’ website.

Mid-Columbia Economic Development District is administering business assistance grants for both Wasco and Hood River counties with applications due by this coming Sunday.  MCEDD’s Carrie Pipinich says both counties have about $700,000 apiece to distribute in funds that came from the state through federal CARES Act provisions.  She says the money has to be distributed by the end of 2020.  Each county has some differing eligibility requirements.  For application information go to mcedd.org/bizgrants.

Hood River County is closing in on establishing a parking permit system for trail staging areas.  County Commission Chair Mike Oates says both forest and trail advisory committees have been meeting to establish the system, which would provide funding for maintaining a trail system to replace a donation the County received from a company that installed a fiber optic line on County lands.  Oates hopes it can generate around $75,000 to help cover the costs that includes a full-time trails administrator to keep the recreation uses available.  Oates would like the permit system to be ready for next summer.

Oregon Governor Kate Brown outlined plans Friday for distributing the first COVID-19 vaccines the state receives to health care workers, putting staff of hospitals and other in-patient facilities that have direct contact with patients first in line.  She says that includes people in housekeeping and food services, adding it’s a necessary first step in rectifying some of the health and social inequities of the pandemic.  The next group to be vaccinated would turn to out-patient and other settings, including behavioral health programs and facilities that meet the needs of those with intellectual and developmental disabilities.  Essential workers would come next, and Brown says a vaccine advisory council will be put together to advise on those prioritizations.  

Oregon Health Authority epidemiologist Dean Sidelinger says while the state’s COVID situation remains precarious and concerning, there is also evidence protective measures adopted by the state may be blunting the current surge.  While the state continues to see record case numbers, Sidelinger says they are not rising as steeply following the Thanksgiving holiday as initially feared.  Sidelinger added the Oregon Department of Human Services is expanding its network of COVID-19 recovery units to seven long-term care facilities to add 200 beds, giving the state more flexibility in responding to COVID-19 outbreaks in long-term care facilities and help ease demand for hospital beds.

The Hood River County Health Department has reported the first person in the County to test positive for a second case of COVID-19.  County Health Officer Dr. Christopher Van Tilburg said in a Facebook video this person tested positive early in the pandemic, recovered, and tested positive again recently, over 90 days after the first occurrence.  Van Tilburg also reported the County has had its fourth COVID-19 fatality.  According to the Oregon Health Authority, the 75-year-old woman tested positive for COVID on November 15 and died on Wednesday at Legacy Meridian Park Medical Center in Portland.  She had underlying medical conditions.

A donor has stepped forward to make $15,000 in matching funds available in Washington Gorge Action Program’s effort to raise $50,000 to rebuild its COVID-19 Relief Fund by the end of the year.  Mary Kleihege of the Little Seven Seven Ranch says she was inspired to give by local organizations like the Lyle Lions Club assisting the community during the pandemic.  WAGAP created the COVID-19 Relief Fund in March to help pay essential bills for Klickitat and Skamania County community members who have lost a job or had work hours reduced by the pandemic.  Nearly $180,000 has been given out so far, nearly depleting the fund.  Contributions can be made online at wagap.org/donate, and designate the COVID-19 Relief Fund by typing it in the “Note” field.  Donations by check should have COVID-19 Relief Fund clearly marked on the memo line and can be sent to WAGAP at P.O. Box 805 in Bingen, or taken to the organization’s offices in Stevenson, Bingen, and Goldendale during regular business hours.

When the Oregon School Activities Association pushed back its high school athletic calendar earlier this week, it also pushed back competitions for activities like choir, band, cheerleading, and dance and drill to the end of the school year to provide programs the opportunity to rehearse in person if school district policies allow.  OSAA Executive Director Peter Weber says they are trying to give the best opportunity possible to allow those activities, the vast majority of which are held indoors, to take place.  Weber pointed out speech and debate programs have been able to move forward during the pandemic in a virtual format, and there have been discussions about doing that in cheer, dance, and solo music.