The Dalles City Council’s public comment period Monday evening focused on homeless issues after a couple of property owners who live near the St. Vincent DePaul Community Meals site complained about problems they say they have endured for a long period of time as a result of the behavior of some of those who go to the site.  Many who spoke asked the Council to take some kind of action to deal with homelessness.  Mayor Rich Mays said he has thought about appointing a blue ribbon committee, but has held off as other efforts have been underway.  He said if he doesn’t see progress he’ll consider putting that group together.  Councilor Darcy Long-Curtiss later noted she has been working with homeless shelter groups in The Dalles and Hood River to acquire portable shelters, but they need a piece of land to put them on.  Long-Curtiss said it would be highly structured with rules and regulations, and would be connected with services.

Oregon Health Authority statistics on Tuesday added no new COVID-19 cases in Mid-Columbia counties.  Wasco County remains at 296 total cases for the pandemic, with 203 recovered based on a metric of 30 days from the onset of the disease plus being in stable medical condition.  Hood River County is at 254 total cases, with 242 released from isolation.  The OHA says the state has 299 new confirmed or presumed COVID cases in its Tuesday report, which moves Oregon’s pandemic total to 33,291.  Eight deaths that occurred between August 18 and Sunday were reported, moving that number to 555.  The two deaths reported Tuesday in Wasco County by the North Central Public Health District were not included in that total.  Skamania County reported one new case for the second straight day on Tuesday, moving its pandemic total to 65, with five currently active cases.  Klickitat County has now gone six days without a new COVID case, and only one is active.  The County’s pandemic total is 205.  The Washington Department of Health listed 369 new cases on Monday in its latest update since Saturday to move the pandemic total to 86,638 cases, with no new deaths to remain at 2,100.

After nearly 90 minutes of discussion, Hood River City Councilors voted 4-2 to go out for a request for proposal for a preliminary design and cost estimate for a police facility that would also include space for the Columbia Gorge Children’s Advocacy Center and a parking garage on the Columbia Street parking lot, and a preliminary analysis of a joint public safety facility with Hood River County if a cost-sharing agreement can be reached with the County.  The decision came after some on the Council expressed their misgivings with using the Columbia lot for the facility, and whether it is compatible with the surrounding area.  Mayor Kate McBride emphasized this doesn’t mean they would go ahead with the project.  City officials have eyed finalizing a plan for a new police facility to coincide with the 2022 retiring of the bonds that were used to build the municipal fire station.

The City of the Dalles is starting a pilot program to rehabilitate deteriorated sidewalks.  City Code designates the property owner as the responsible party for keeping sidewalks next to their properties in good repair and a safe condition.  The 50/50 Sidewalk Rehabilitation Pilot Program will provide some financial assistance to property owners to meet that responsibility.  The City will consider applications for the rehabilitation or replacement of existing sidewalks, focusing on sidewalks located in residential areas within the city limits.  Applicants for this program must be the property owner.  The City will accept applications until November 18, then they will be prioritized within the limited funding.  The homeowner must pay for half of the cost of sidewalk rehabilitation before the project can be scheduled.  Homeowners can download an application from the City website at thedalles.org/publicworksdocs, or call 541-296-5401 to ask for a paper copy.

Skyline Health will be asking voters in Klickitat County Hospital District #2 to raise its maintenance and operations property tax levy from 30 cents per thousand dollars of assessed value to 68 cents.  A similar measure failed one year ago.  Skyline CEO Robb Kimmes said the district board realizes that’s a big jump, but also did not want to go back to the voters in five to ten years.  Kimmes adds the COVID-19 pandemic shed a light on the financial challenges of rural hospitals.  The funds will be used to replace and upgrade medical equipment, maintain and improve facilities and infrastructure, and add new services as needed by the community.  The measure will be on the November general election ballot.

Drive-thru or walk-up COVID-19 testing is scheduled for Cascade Locks, Parkdale, and Hood River this week.  The testing events put on by the Hood River County Health Department and operated by Medical Teams International will be Tuesday at the Cascade Locks Marine Park Pavilion, Wednesday at Parkdale Elementary School, and Thursday at River of Life Assembly on 979 Tucker Road in Hood River.  Hours for all three days are from 3:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.  No appointment is needed, and you should bring a form of identification and medical insurance card if you have them.

North Wasco County School District 21 Superintendent Theresa Peters told the D-21 board that district staff continues to look at health metrics as they try to determine when they’ll be able to go to a hybrid of in-person and distance learning.  Peters told the group she hopes to be able to provide an update in early October.  Peters says they are in contact with the North Central Public Health District on a regular basis to go review the metrics issued by the state on when schools can have students in the building.

The Hood River County School District says it will continue in comprehensive distance learning until at least November 5, even though the Oregon Department of Education announced last week that it was suspending one of the three county health metrics required for schools to reopen.  It would allow several Oregon counties, including Hood River, by opening the door for in-person instruction for students in kindergarten through third grade.  ODE suspended the test positivity metric at the state and local level through the week of September 27 in response to the impact of wildfires on testing for COVID-19.  That metric will return in early October.  The district indicated in an effort to keep stability in students and families’ schedules, it will keep November 5 as a target date for some kind of return to in-person instruction.  The district says it meets weekly with the Hood River County Health Department to review the county’s case rate and compare it to the ODE metrics for school reopening.

Beginning today, Oregon Department of Forestry protected lands in Wasco County will move to Industrial Fire Precaution Level 2 and Hood River County will move to Industrial Fire Precaution Level 1.  Recent cooler temperatures, increased humidity and precipitation within Oregon Department of Forestry’s Central Oregon District has reduced fuel hazards and the risk of rapid fire spread.  Lands protected by the Central Oregon District are at a high fire danger.  While the current fall weather trend, combined with shorter days has not eliminated the risk of wildfire the reduced risk allows fire managers to ease restrictions.   The Regulated-Use Closure in effect for public activities within the District will return to a 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. restriction for high risk activities such as mowing dry grass and chainsaw use.  While traveling in forested areas a fire extinguisher/gallon of water and a shovel are required.  Details for the Regulated-Use Closure are available at http://www.odfcentraloregon.com/.  All open burning is prohibited.

Containment of the 24,995-acre Big Hollow Fire on the Gifford Pinchot National Forest is now at 40%.  Scattered rain continued through Saturday evening.  An infrared flight has been ordered to provide an accurate reading on current acreage and help determine where current hotspots are located.  The forest has requested a Burned Area Emergency Response Team that specializes in analyzing post-fire conditions to make an assessment and recommendations for the forest to prevent further problems after the fire.  The Southern Area Incident Management Gray Team that has been in charge of the fire turned command over to a local Type 4 unit today.  One local fire crew and 2 engines will remain to monitor and patrol the fire.