A 28-year-old man was arrested on charges related to a carjacking in The Dalles on Tuesday.  The Dalles City Police say the man identified as Marcos Antonio Vargas is lodged at NORCOR.  The police department says the Vargas was being pursued by the Gilliam County Sheriff’s Office on westbound Interstate 84 on Tuesday when he came into the city limits and then allegedly stole a local citizen’s vehicle at gunpoint.  It was located a short time later by Wasco County Sheriff’s deputies, and in the pursuit the vehicle crashed at the intersections of Highways 216 and 3, where the suspect was taken into custody.  Vargas received medical attention and then was booked into NORCOR on numerous charges.  The Dalles Police says Vargas is not a resident of Wasco County and has no known ties to the community.  The public is encouraged to call The Dalles Police Department at 541-296-2613 if they have any information about the case.

North Central Public Health District Health Officer Dr. Mimi McDonell says the COVID-19 outbreak at the Oregon Veterans Home in The Dalles has been well contained to this point.  McDonell told Wasco County Commissioners that between practices the Veterans Home already in place and quick response to the initial cases there, the Department of Social and Health Service reported all recommendations are being followed.  She added the Veterans Home was able to safely isolate residents who were affected and impacted staff members were in quarantine.  Two residents and four staff members were diagnosed with COVID, along with some other family members.  Residents and staff at the Veterans Home will be tested weekly until there are two consecutive weeks of negative tests.

Wasco County Clerk Lisa Gambee says the ballot counting process went smoothly on election night.  Gambee told Wasco County Commissioners because of early ballot returns…they were able to process and tabulate 10,800 ballots by the end of Monday, and they counted about 14,000 ballots in total.  She notes the election won’t be certified for 20 days.  During the next two weeks people whose ballot signature was challenged for forgot to sign will have an opportunity to correct.  Gambee said races that had any kind of volume of votes are unlikely had to change from that small percentage of ballots.

The Hood River-White Salmon Interstate Bridge will be closed to all vehicle traffic for 5 hours starting at 11:00 p.m. Thursday until Friday at 4:00 a.m.  Port officials say the closure is required for repairs to the bridge’s lift span bearings.  Bridge access will be closed at the Washington and Oregon approach ramps and motorists must use alternate routes to cross the Columbia River during these hours.  Emergency response vehicles will need to coordinate emergency crossings through their 911 dispatch departments, but there will be extended periods during which no crossings are possible.  For more information, contact the Port of Hood River via email to porthr@gorge.net.

Rich Mays won re-election to his second term as Mayor of The Dalles.  Mays received 4,252 votes to 1,814 for Solea Kabokov and 698 for Jason Garrett Gibson.  The two incumbents for The Dalles City Council stayed on the panel by narrow margins.  For Position 2 Darcy Long-Curtiss had 3,193 votes to 3,095 for John Willer, and for Position 5 Rod Runyon grabbed 3,305 votes to 3,192 for Tiffany Prince.  Dan Richardson was elected to Position 4 with 3,968 votes to 1,256 for John Grant IV and 596 for Forust Ercole.  Wayne Jacobson won the Northern Wasco PUD Subdivision 3 board seat with 575 votes to 446 for John Amery.  South Wasco School District’s bond measure was approved, 751 votes to 607.  Peggy Sue Tucker was elected as Mayor of Antelope with 21 votes to 4 for John Silvertooth-Stewart.  Michael Small received 19 votes and Joseph Walter 12 for two seats on the Shaniko City Council, with Louie McKenzie receiving 7.  Shaniko’s five-year renewal for its fire protection district was being defeated 12 to 11.

https://results.oregonvotes.gov/ResultsSW.aspx?type=CTYALL&cty=24&map=CTY

The Hood River County elections’ office on Wednesday said Cathy Fallon and Tamara Ferrell topped a lengthy list of write-in candidates to earn positions on the Cascade Locks City Council.  Butch Miller was the only name on the ballot for the three positions, and won a seat with 454 votes.  Fallon received 114 write-in votes and Ferrell 93…with Jackie Bradford next with 81 votes.  58 different people received at least one write-in vote, with 22 receiving two or more votes.  Among the more unusual votes, one was cast for Kanye West, and one for miscellaneous.

The four incumbents retained their position in Hood River municipal elections on Tuesday.   Kate McBride retained the mayoral position, receiving 2,483 votes to 1,339 for Dani Correa.  Gladys Rivera was the top vote getter for City Council with 2,227, with Megan Saunders right behind at 2,223 and Mark Zanmiller taking the third spot at 1,839.  Susan Johnson received 1,639, Brian Towey 1,470, and Don Harring 911.  Bobby Dale Walker was elected as Mayor of Cascade Locks with 339 votes, with Samantha Verschuren receiving 266.  Revisions to the Hood River County Charter were approved by over 75 percent of voters, 8,045 to 2,613…and the measure in Cascade Locks setting service fees for self-sustaining city cemetery operations was approved 379 to 276.

https://results.oregonvotes.gov/ResultsSW.aspx?type=CTYALL&cty=25&map=CTY

Klickitat County’s updated vote count on Thursday showed the margin in the District 3 Commission narrowed by a slight amount.  Dan Christopher lead dropped from 201 votes to 197, as he now has 5,170 votes to 4,973 for incumbent Jim Sizemore.  In Washington ballots only had to be postmarked by Tuesday, and Klickitat County officials estimated on Thursday that 1,669 ballots remain to be counted.  The next count update will be on Monday.  In the District 1 election, Jacob Anderson now has 6,720 votes to 4,556 for Joanna Turner.  Both of the hospital district measures were being approved.  Klickitat Valley Health’s bond measure for an expansion was being approved by 56% of voters, 2,743 to 2,111.  And Skyline Health’s levy measure also was passing at a 55% clip…3,299 to 2,671.

https://results.vote.wa.gov/results/20201103/klickitat/  

The two incumbents on the Skamania County Commission ballot still had substantial leads after Thursday’s updated count.  Richard Mahar had 3,823 votes for position 1 to 2,796 for Jeremy Bechtel, while Tom Lannen has received 3,858 votes for position 2 to 2,727 for Paul Hendricks.  About 54 percent of voters were still saying yes to the Stevenson-Carson School District’s three-year levy. 1,955 to 1,678 no.  The Home Valley Water District maintenance and capital improvement levy is being approved 111 to 77.  Skamania County estimates 250 ballots remain to be counted, and another tally will be released on Monday.

https://results.vote.wa.gov/results/20201103/skamania/  

Incumbent Democrat Anna Williams’ lead in Oregon House District 52 was reduced even further today with continued counting in Clackamas County, dropping from a margin of 1,875 votes to 1,550 over Republican Jeff Helfrich.  Williams has received 51 percent of the vote with 17,578 to 16,028 for Helfrich, and 828 for Libertarian candidate Stephen Alder.  In Oregon House District 59, Daniel Bonham took 60 percent of the vote with 23,178 to 15,429 for Mosier Mayor Arlene Burns. In the 57th District Greg Smith polled 77 percent with 19,283 votes, while Roland Ruhe had 5,777. Lynn Findley will return to the Oregon Senate from the 30th District by a two-to-one margin over Carina Miller, 45,949 votes to 22,503, while Bill Hansell had a three-to-one margin with 44,627 votes to 13.989 for Mildred O’Callaghan. In Washington’s 14th District after Wednesday’s count update the two House incumbents had each received about 58 percent of the vote…as Chris Corry was winning position 1 with 24,572 votes to 17,643 for Tracy Rushing, and Gina Mosbrucker grabbed 24,667 votes to 17,236 for Devin Kuh for position 2. Cliff Bentz will keep the Oregon Second District Congressional seat in Republican hands, winning 60 percent of the vote with 269,668 to 165,274 for Alex Spenser. Jamie Herrera-Beutler was still winning the hotly contested race to retain her Washington Third District Congressional position, taking 55 percent of the vote with 202,966 to 165,072 for Carolyn Long, who conceded on Wednesday night.

In Sherman County Ron McDermid was elected as Justice of the Peace with 671 votes to 478 for Deanna Christiansen.  Beth McCurdy received 118 votes for mayor of Wasco to 113 for Eileen Wainright.  There were two seats available on the Wasco City Council, with 178 votes for Ken DeGrange and 77 for David Bergmann, followed by 62 for Bill Minter, 48 for Michael Egbert, and 26 for Steven Wyatt.  The South Sherman Fire District’s five-year operating levy was approved 152-to-87.

  https://results.oregonvotes.gov/ResultsSW.aspx?type=CTYALL&cty=27&map=CTY