With improving COVID-19 metrics, North Wasco County School District 21 is moving ahead with plans to get students back into classrooms.  D-21 interim superintendent Theresa Peters told district board members about plans to begin hybrid learning with kindergarteners and sixth graders on March 15, adding first, second, seventh, eighth, and ninth graders on March 18, and the remaining grades after spring break on March 29.  Peters says the district was sending e-mail information for parents on the transition, including an option to choose the North Wasco Virtual Academy.  Elementary and middle school students will have in-person learning half-days four days a week in two separate cohorts, and The Dalles High School students will attend in the mornings,  alternating days by cohort, with all students in comprehensive distance learning on Wednesdays.

The North Wasco County School District 21 Board formally approved the hiring of new superintendent Dr. Carolyn Bernal.  Bernal had been tabbed for the position earlier in the month, but board members still needed to approve her contract.  She comes to D-21 from Oxnard, California where she is currently the Assistant Superintendent who oversees School and System Improvements for the Rio School District.  Bernal told the board she’s excited to move into her new position.  Bernal starts in her new job on July 1.

An online survey asking Hood River residents what they think of proposed amendments to the City’s Transportation System Plan continues through the end of the week.  The TSP is a long-range plan for motor vehicle, pedestrian, bicycle and transit projects that was last updated in 2011.  City Manager Rachel Fuller says it guides municipal transportation investments over the next 20 years.  Revisions and new designs for street classifications including minor arterial and neighborhood connector streets, amendments to maps for motor vehicle, pedestrian, and bicycle systems, and project lists are all in the amendments.  Information and the survey is available at hoodrivertsp.com.  A public hearing is planned before the municipal planning commission on March 1.

Klickitat County is looking for volunteers to serve on its various boards, committees, and commissions.  New County Commissioner Dan Christopher had made a campaign push to offer more opportunities to varied voices to be appointed to these panels.  Information on where volunteer opportunities are available at klickitatcounty.org on the Boards and Commissions page.  Click on Volunteers Needed.

A 67-year-old man has received a 66 month prison sentence in connection with a stabbing that occurred in The Dalles in December.  Wasco County District Attorney Matthew Ellis says Clay Parsons plead guilty in Wasco County Circuit Court to assault in the second degree and was sentenced following a judicial settlement conference on Thursday.  According to Ellis, on December 4 Parsons was involved in an altercation with his roommate that resulted in Parsons stabbing his roommate numerous times.  Parsons called police and then fled the scene.  He was eventually arrested in Ellensburg.  In addition to the prison sentence, Parsons was placed on 36 months of post-prison supervision.

Katie Kadlub has been named the new Executive Director of Visit Hood River, the business name for the Hood River County Chamber of Commerce.  Kadlub has spent the last nine years at Mt. Hood Meadows, where she has been Director of Business Development since 2014.   In a statement the Visit Hood River board indicated Kadlub brings a strong background in group sales and corporate sponsorship development as well as event planning and staff management to the organization.

North Central Public Health District officials said today a recent significant drop in positive COVID-19 cases in Wasco County means the County will probably move down from the “extreme risk” category to “high risk” next week, and possibly even into the “moderate risk” category.  In a statement released Friday, district interim director Shellie Campbell said Wasco County has recorded just 27 COVID cases since February 7, which is the beginning of the two-week case count period that ends Saturday (February 20).  A count of 45 to 59 cases would drop Wasco County to the “high risk” category, and 30 to 44 would qualify as “moderate risk.”  The state will announce category changes on Tuesday, and they would take effect on Friday.  Counties in the “high risk” category allow in-person dining and gyms to operate both at 25 percent capacity, and in-person visits at long-term care facilities.  Dropping to “moderate risk” would allow in-person dining, gyms, and churches to all be at 50 percent capacity.  District Health Officer Dr. Mimi McDonell said the drop in cases is a result of several factors, including the end of the holiday case surge, the County’s 12 percent vaccination rate, and the public following “extreme risk” category guidance.  District officials do emphasize that vaccinations are still the key to ending the pandemic, so continue to wear mask in public, stay six feet apart from those not in your household, avoid gatherings, wash your hands, and stay home when sick.

The OSAA Executive Board has decided to put the final week of the first competitive high school sports season of the year into the hands of individual schools rather than trying to have statewide events.  The OSAA has discussed having “culminating week” events in the sixth and final week of each season, which in March and early April will feature football, soccer, volleyball, and cross country.  But OSAA Executive Director Peter Weber said given the realities of conducting large-scale events during the pandemic, the board reached a consensus of giving the final week to the schools to coordinate and execute local or regional events at their discretion.  OSAA staff will support schools as they organize events.  Decisions on culminating week events for the following two seasons have not yet been determined.  

Wasco County Commissioners and The Dalles City Councilors held the first public hearing on Google’s proposed Strategic Investment Program agreement for development of the former aluminum plant and rodeo grounds property it has purchased.  It includes a 20-year window for two potential projects estimated at $600 million each, both with a 15 year partial tax abatement, state prescribed taxes tied to the total investment in each project, a state prescribed community service fee based on 25% of full tax capped at $2.5 million, and a locally negotiated guaranteed annual payment.  In his report, County Administrative Services Director Matthew Klebes said the first project would bring about 54 million dollars to local governments for the life of the agreement, and the second over 60 million dollars.  He also noted the Strategic Investment Program involves tax dollars going to all taxing districts, unlike the payments in the Enterprise Zone program under which Google built its first three projects in The Dalles.  But County Commissioner Kathy Schwartz and City Councilor Dan Richardson both pointed out that how the guaranteed annual payment is divided up still needs to be determined.  Another joint hearing on the subject is set for Monday at 5:30 during a City Council meeting, and log-in information is available at the City of The Dalles website.