Checks are going out this week from Oregon’s not-for-profit workers’ compensation insurance company from a $100 million dividend for policyholders announced in June.  The dividend from SAIF will be based on premiums for policies whose annual term ended in 2019.  This is the eleventh year in a row SAIF has been able to offer a dividend, and the 23rd dividend in the past 31 years.  SAIF says policyholders in Hood River County will be receiving more than $1 mlllion and Wasco County policyholders will receive more than $975,000.   That does not include state agencies.

North Central Public Health District says a total of seven residents of Flagstone Senior Living who tested positive for COVID-19 have now died.  District Health Officer Dr. Mimi McDonell says the deaths have occurred since September 26, with the latest on Monday.  The deaths have occurred among residents in the facility’s memory care unit, where all 30 of the residents have tested positive for COVID.  Staff and their families have also contracted COVID in the outbreak.  Seven of the residents were sent to a long-term care facility in the Willamette Valley that specializes in caring for COVID patients.  McDonell noted the transfer was done to ease the care load at Flagstone.  Wasco County has now seen ten total fatalities as a result of COVID-19.

The Oregon Health Authority’s Tuesday COVID-19 update added one new confirmed or presumptive case each in Wasco and Hood River counties.  That moved Wasco County to 307 positive cases for the pandemic.  North Central Public Health District did report that the number of recovered as been upped to 212, defined as 30 days from the onset of illness and in stable medical condition.  Hood River County is now at 255 total cases, and County Health Department Director Trish Elliott told the County Commission on Monday that they only had one currently active COVID case, with ten to twelve contacts expected to be released this week.  The OHA reported 301 new confirmed or presumptive COVID cases statewide in its Tuesday report, moving the pandemic total to 35,340.  Nine deaths were reported, moving that total at 581.  Skamania County remains at one currently active COVID case, with 65 total for the pandemic.  Klickitat County stayed at three active cases as of Monday, with a 210 pandemic total.  On Monday the Washington Department of Health reported 472 new COVID cases to put the state at 90,276 total cases for the pandemic, with 16 deaths added to move to 2,158.

A 40-year-old man involved in a motorcycle accident on Interstate 84 at the west end of Hood River on Sunday died in a Portland hospital on Monday.  The Oregon State Police says Jose Antonio Guiterrez of Milton-Freewater was pronounced deceased at Emanuel Hospital.  Gutierrez had been taken there by LifeFlight after the accident on Sunday afternoon.  The OSP says the accident occurred at about 2:17 p.m. Sunday on I-84 near milepost 64.  Preliminary investigation revealed the motorcycle operated by Gutierrez was eastbound when for unknown reasons the rear tire seized, causing the bike to crash.  OSP was assisted at the scene by the Hood River Police Department and Hood River Fire and Rescue.    

Hood River County Commissioners are expected to approve $96,222 in federal CARES Act funds to go to Hood River Shelter Services to acquire 15 pallet shelters for use this winter to help those who are homeless.  With two commissioners absent and Commissioner Karen Joplin declaring a conflict of interest due to her involvement with Shelter Services, the Commission could not approve the funding on Monday, but Administrator Jeff Hecksel will do an e-mail poll on the matter and place in on the panel’s agenda for a formal approval in two weeks.  Sarah Kellems of Shelter Services says they are working with an area church to locate the shelters, and that should be finalized next week.  The County also approved $20,000 in CARES Act funding for the Northern Oregon Regional Corrections Facility to help the regional jail deal with COVID-related expenses.

Hood River County’s COVID-19 testing numbers are expected to go up dramatically when last week’s totals are released by the Oregon Health Authority in the next few days.  County Health Department Director Trish Elliott told the County Commission on Monday that heavy smoke conditions during wildfires in the Northwest in recent weeks had slowed testing.  Elliott reported that 170 tests were done between three events in Cascade Locks, Parkdale, and Hood River last week, and none have come back as positive.

Klickitat County Emergency Operations Center says it was able to distribute over 5,000 KN-95 masks in recent weeks to those who needed them.  In partnership with the Washington State Emergency Operations Center and Washington State University Extension, the County was able to obtain and distribute 1,000 KN-95 masks to medical providers and another 345 to those with breathing difficulties during recent days with heavy wildfire smoke in the region.  In addition, 4,350 KN-95 masks and 700 gallons of hand sanitizer were distributed to local agricultural operations through a partnership with the Washington Farm Bureau.  Also, In the past month, over 5,000 cloth masks have been distributed to ag communities in Klickitat County, and they are still available and being distributed to the public through Klickitat County Public Health, Washington Gorge Action Programs, WSU Extension, Programs for Peaceful Living and other local community offices.

We are one month away from Election Day, and next Tuesday is the last day to register to vote in the General Election in Oregon.  Citizens can register online at OregonVotes.gov if they have a valid Oregon driver’s license, permit or ID card.  Wasco County Clerk Lisa Gambee says paper registration forms are available on the Wasco County website in the Elections section, or outside their office door in the Wasco County Courthouse.  She adds the office will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on October 13 for anyone who needs assistance.  The Hood River County Elections Office has registration cards available at its office on 601 State Street.  Please call 541-386-1442 for curbside service and more information.  If you are already registered to vote but want to check your registration, you can use the MyVote link on the OregonVotes.gov website, or call county election offices.

No new COVID-19 cases were reported for Oregon’s Mid-Columbia counties in the Oregon Health Authority’s Sunday report.  Two cases were reported for Wasco County and one for Hood River County on Saturday.  That put Wasco County’s pandemic total at 305, with 210 patients recovered using a 30-day standard and stable medical condition.  Hood River County is at 254 total cases, with 251 having been released from isolation.  The North Central Public Health District reports that all 18 Sherman County cases for the pandemic are now listed as recovered.  Gilliam County remains at eight total cases, with four recovered.  The OHA reported 260 new COVID-19 cases in the state on Sunday, moving the pandemic total to 34,770, and one death, moving that number to 572.  In Washington, Klickitat County on Friday added a new COVID case and currently has three active cases, with its pandemic total at 210.  Skamania County’s last report listed one active case, with a pandemic total of 65.  As of Sunday the Washington Department of Health had the state at 89,874 total cases for the pandemic, with deaths at 2,142.

Containment levels for fires in the region continue to inch upward.  The Big Hollow Fire on the Gifford Pinchot National Forest is now at 40% containment.  That fire fifteen miles northwest of Carson has burned 24,995 acres, and the last update from officials indicated a Burn Area Emergency Response Team is currently working in the area and preparing an emergency rehabilitation and restoration plan.  The 204, 412-acre Lionshead Fire about 14 miles west of Warm Springs is now at 47.5% containment, with fire officials and representatives of the Stahlman Cabins community discussing plans for residents’ reentry and crews working with Mt. Hood National Forest personnel to repair and winterize recreational cabins at Olallie Lake.  Officials say the Riverside Fire in Clackamas and Marion counties on the Mt. Hood National Forest that burned 138,085 acres is now 57% contained.