This is the final week to apply for the for the Oregon Department of Agriculture’s Food Security and Farmworker Safety Program that will provide reimbursement for certain COVID-19 related costs.  Applications will be accepted until October 25, and applicants have until November 16 to submit all eligible expenses for assistance.  Costs directly incurred, or charged by a labor contractor, may be fully reimbursable, including alternative housing or modifications to employer-provided housing, purchased or rented portable toilets or hand washing stations, additional mileage or costs for employer-provided transportation, and face coverings purchased for employees.  Apply online at oregon.gov/oweb/fsfs or call 503-986-0058.

The Hood River County School District is preparing its operational blueprints for on-site learning, but at this point the County doesn’t meet state metrics to open up.  District staff presented an overview of the plans to the board Wednesday evening.  Superintendent Rich Polkinghorn noted the district will have to meet state metrics for three weeks before they could bring students into the classroom, and he told the board at this point they have very rarely met the metrics for any period of time. The operational plan is scheduled to go to the Oregon Department of Education on October 29.  The district board will conduct a worksession on the plans on October 28.

Fire Season for The Dalles Unit of the Oregon Department of Forestry will end Saturday morning.  Industrial fire precautions in MH-1 and MH-4 of The Dalles Unit will also terminate.  ODF officials say fuel conditions do not pose a significant risk of fire ignition and rapid spread in these areas.  Burn permits for logging slash and debris will not be issued in The Dalles unit until additional precipitation is received.  Yard debris, burn barrels, and other open burning should follow local and county fire restrictions.  Since fire season began in the Central Oregon District on June 1, firefighters have responded to 62 lightning fires burning 11,300 acres and 52 human caused fires burning 1,643 acres.  More information is available at ODFcentraloregon.com.

The Columbia Gorge Discovery Center and Museum has returned to seven day a week schedule.  The Discovery Center announced it will now be open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and raptors will be on display outside from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.  The Discovery Center was closed for three months in the spring, and then open on weekends over the summer.  Federal funding and grants from the Oregon Cultural Trust are allowing the return to daily operation.  Regular programs, raptor presentations, and the Kids Explorer Room are not currently operating to avoid people congregating.  Discovery Center Executive Director Carolyn Purcell says their roof repair project is now underway and will be completed before winter weather arrives.

The North Central Public Health District reported Wednesday that a 12th person connected to the COVID-19 outbreak at Flagstone Senior Living in The Dalles has died, and Hood River County has reported its first COVID fatality.  The North Central district indicated the person who died in the Flagstone outbreak passed away on Monday at a Portland hospital, with the Oregon Health Authority confirming an 80-year-old Wasco County woman died that day at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland.  The OHA said she had underlying conditions.  Hood River County Health Department Health Officer Dr. Christopher Van Tilburg said in a Facebook post the death in Hood River County was a person in their 90’s.  The OHA has not yet offered further details.        The deaths connected to Flagstone have occurred among residents of the facility’s memory support unit, where all 30 residents tested positive for COVID-19, along with staff and family of staff.  All memory support unit residents were transferred to Emerson House Portland, a facility that specializes in Memory Care and has a dedicated COVID-19 wing.  The district says that was done to ensure the appropriate level of care is available to those residents, as Flagstone has experienced staffing shortages in the wake of the outbreak.  Wasco County has now had 15 deaths related to COVID-19.

The Columbia River Gorge Commission voted 9-2 to approve the final package of revisions to the National Scenic Area Management Plan in its Gorge 2020 process.  That includes urban area boundary revision guidelines with a cumulative limitation for any one urban area’s increase to 50 acres or 2% of its land base, whichever is less, that has drawn the ire of officials in The Dalles and Wasco County in particular.  Gubernatorial appointee to the Commission Dan Ericksen, a former Wasco County Commissioner, was one of the no votes on the package along with Skamania County representative Tamara Kaufman.  Ericksen said before his vote that the boundary revision guidelines are inconsistent with the Scenic Area Act.  But fellow gubernatorial appointee Bowen Blair said the cap has a precedent in the plan’s recreation resort amendment, and that he was confident the City of The Dalles would be able to make its case to future commissions.  Wasco County representative Rodger Nichols gave a “reluctant” yes vote to the package but said he remained “bitterly opposed” to the 50 acre cap.  

Hood River City Councilors and County Commissioners received a briefing on the efforts of the County’s Energy Council as it looks to reduce use of carbon sources of power and develop local energy resilience and independence.  Energy Council member Alexia Kelly told the group there is an on-going “sea change” in energy technology and costs.  She said solar and wind are now the lowest cost resources on the power grid, so investor-owned utilities and others are now making significant procurement of those options.  Marla Harvey of the Mid-Columbia Economic Development District said they are currently trying to understand the financial impacts of power outages on businesses.  And Jeni Hall of Energy Trust of Oregon discussed studies into a solar and storage project in the Hood River Valley.

Oregon’s unemployment rate dropped to 8% in September while the state added 5,100 jobs, but state employment officials say the pace of economic improvements is slowing.  Oregon Employment Department Economist Gail Krumenauer says that follows a national trend.  She added while some sectors are bouncing back, others are not, most notably manufacturing.  Krumenauer says manufacturing employment is down by 18,000 jobs from where it was in Oregon last year.      

Washington Governor Jay Inslee announced the formation of an advisory group to help with the state’s recovery from COVID-19.  Inslee said the Washington Recovery Group will operate under the Officer of Financial Management.  The governor says the group won’t necessarily be developing specific recovery policies, but will provide feedback and be crucial in implementing them.  Priorities will include education, child care, health care, community and social services, housing, small business, jobs, unemployment, energy, and utilities.  Members of the group will come from state agencies, boards, commissions, tribal partners, local agencies, and the private sector.  Inslee said they will be guided by principles of equity and social justice in making decisions.

New and updated statistics about COVID-19 come out every day, but how should people respond to them?  Hood River County Health Department Health Officer Dr. Christopher Van Tilburg says it can be difficult for health professionals like himself to interpret them, so he understands how confusing it can be for the general population.  His recommendation is for people not to use the numbers to guide day to day behavior, but to consistently follow safe practices by wearing a mask, practicing social distancing, and washing hands frequently.  Van Tilburg adds the numbers change even when there are no new cases because more is learned about cases already reported.