The White Salmon Valley School District board has approved a plan for starting in-person instruction for kindergarten through eighth grade that would go into effect once the district drops to the moderate level of risk for COVID-19, involving the case rate dropping below 350 per 100,000 residents and test positivity rates falling under ten percent for two straight weeks.  Under the plan, kindergarten and first graders and fourth graders would return the first week, grades two, three, five, and six in the second week, and seventh and eighth graders the following week.  District Superintendent Jerry Lewis says they can be ready quickly once the metrics are reached.  For high schoolers to return, the case rate must drop to 200 cases per 100,000 residents.

The Dalles City Council reached a unanimous consensus to expend $100,000 of COVID relief funds to locally-owned restaurants and fitness centers and another $50,000 to other small businesses.  Councilor Dan Richardson brought up the move, noting the restaurant and fitness sectors are particularly impacted by the state’s current restrictions.  The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Lisa Farquharson says this would provide a bridge to another round of Payroll Protection Program funding from the federal government.  The City gave out 60 grants to small businesses in December.  Councilors asked City Manager Julie Krueger to put together a plan to disburse the funds.  The City currently has $300,000 available in COVID relief funds.

Under the revised plan for determining phasing of COVID-19 reopening, Klickitat and Skamania counties are joined with Clark, Cowlitz, and Wahkiakum counties.  Klickitat County Public Health District Director Erinn Quinn says she’s sees some logic to the regional approach to take into account hospital bed usage in the larger counties where patients from this area are sent.  But otherwise, she struggles with being tied to counties whose metrics have tended to not be as good as those in Klickitat County.  She also says it makes messaging of the process to the community difficult.  Metrics includes case rates per 100,000 residents over two weeks, COVID test positivity rates, hospital admissions, and average seven-day occupancy of intensive care unit beds.

Wasco County Commissioner Kathy Schwartz is hoping to see the technology used for on-line meetings during the pandemic be incorporated into their regular way of holding in-person meetings.  Schwartz is working with some County staffers on how to use this technology for more engagement with citizens.  Schwartz points out with the large size of Wasco County, using virtual conferencing allows residents miles away from The Dalles to talk with commissioners without having to drive to the Courthouse to take part.  She adds they are currently putting live recordings of Commission meetings on the Wasco County website.

Hood River County Commission Chair Mike Oates says the County should have a COVID Response Coordinator in place by the end of the week.  Oates says duties the position will be responsible for include preparing a weekly situation report, coordinating with those involved in public communication to identify gaps in that area, assembling and reporting on epidemiological data, attending various COVID response meetings with different groups, and developing strategies to improve local response to the pandemic.  The Health Department did announce Monday it will have 130 doses of vaccine to provide this week, and are scheduled to complete giving shots to group 1 of Phase 1a, will be planning for the remaining groups of phase 1a once enough vaccines arrive, and forecasting how many vaccines will be needed for required second doses.  Hood River County has established a new website for COVID-19 vaccine information at hrccovid19.org.

Identifying land and buildings to help businesses grow will be a priority of the Port of The Dalles during 2021.  Port Executive Director Andrea Klaas says the agency has a University of Oregon RARE project planner working on redevelopment of Brownsfields properties in The Dalles.  Klaas says those are properties that probably had a historical use that caused environmental contamination.  Klaas notes The Dalles has a $600,000 federal grant to help property owners identify the level of contamination and help them put together a plan to clean up those sites.

Oregon Senator Ron Wyden held a virtual town hall meeting on Monday morning for Sherman, Wheeler, Gilliam, and Grant counties.  Wyden received a variety of questions, and one was how to ensure rural communities are a priority in the COVID-19 vaccine rollout.  He says the country won’t recover from the virus until everyone who wants a vaccination gets one, .adding while Operation Warp Speed officials told him supply would be proportional to population, he doesn’t think that has been the case in the early rollout.  Wyden also said he is not convinced that there is a need for more laws to deal with domestic terrorism in the aftermath of Wednesday’s breach of the nation’s capital, but rather more transparency and disclosure of the information the government has on the subject.  Wyden is on the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Hood River County Sheriff Matt English has been was recognized as Oregon’s Sheriff of the Year for 2020 by the Oregon State Sheriffs Association.  Lincoln County Sheriff Curtis Landers said during a ceremony for the award that English is a “forward- and critical-thinking individual who exemplifies the professionalism that all elected sheriffs should display.”  Active with the Oregon State Sheriff’s Association (OSSA) since he took office in 2013, Sheriff English has served the organization in a variety of capacities, including Secretary, Vice-President, and President.  English said the award was “humbling” and it was “an honor to be recognized.”  English was sworn in for his third term as Hood River County Sheriff last week.

The Hood River County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors is starting the search for permanent executive director to lead that organization.  In a statement the Chamber, doing business as Visit Hood River, indicated interim executive director Ashley Huckaby May declined an offer from the board to serve in the permanent position to pursue new personal and professional endeavors in February.  May will continue to support the board of directors and the organization through the executive search and transition process.  The board plans to take applications through January 25, interview finalists in February, and fill the position as soon as possible.  

Vintage neon signs are being installed on four buildings in downtown The Dalles.  The signs were restored by David Benko of the National Neon Sign Museum and are being installed by Ramsay Signs of Portland at no cost to the City.  The vintage signs are going up on the 110th anniversary of both the arrival of the neon tube to the United States and the start of the Ramsay Signs company.  Signs are being installed on the Court Street side of the Guild Mortgage office, on the alley side of the The Last Stop building, which is visible from Interstate 84, on the northeast corner of the Mid-Columbia Medical Center billing office, and the southwest corner of the main building of Sunshine Mill.  The project is funded by a National Main Street grant.