Climate change, energy independence, and emergency preparedness are on the agenda Tuesday for a joint meeting of the Hood River City Council and County Commission.  County Commission Chair Mike Oates says they will discuss a wide range of topics, including the County’s energy plan, energy resilience, emergency planning, and Pacific Power will update their PSPS plans.  PSPS stands for public safety power shut-offs, which Pacific Power has proposed using during times of extreme fire danger.  They are now in use by a number of privately-held utilities in California, where Pacific Gas & Electric was the subject of numerous lawsuits after some of its equipment was found to have caused major wildfires in that state.  Tuesday’s meeting will be held online at 4:45 p.m.  For information on how to observe it go to cityofhoodriver.gov.

The North Wasco County School District 21 board reached consensus on policies for establishing committees and naming schools, programs, and properties during a Thursday evening worksession.   Once formally approved by the board during a regular meeting later this month…that will set the stage to move forward with a review of the name of Colonel Wright Elementary School.  Board member Jose Aparicio said during the meeting he sees a multi-phase process starting with a committee exploring whether to re-name the school or not and making a recommendation to the board.  In other business, the resignation of Zone 7 representative Michael Sullivan was accepted.  The process to find a replacement will begin soon.

The Oregon Health Authority released a survey of 1,000 Oregonians on COVID-19, and it found over 80 percent say they are wearing a face mask indoors, but many are also continuing to gather socially on a frequent basis.  The survey by DHM Research found roughly half of Oregonians report attending four or more social gatherings for the previous two weeks, and one in five say they have attended at least one gathering of more than ten people in the past two weeks.  The OHA’s Robb Cowie said what concerned public health officials was 16 percent of respondents saying they participated in 11 or more social gatherings in the previous two weeks, and they tend to express skepticism that masks and social distancing works.  The survey shows about four in ten Oregonians are “very worried” about the COVID-19 situation in Oregon, and fewer than one-quarter are “very worried” about getting sick from the virus.

A survey of 468 Spanish speakers in Oregon shows a greater worry among Latinx communities about COVID-19 than other sectors of the population.  Respondents to the survey by Lara Media commissioned by the Oregon Health Authority found 70 percent are very worried about COVID-19 and 72 percent are very concerned about getting sick, much higher than the overall population was found to be in an associated survey by DHM Research.  Victoria Lara of Lara Media said most of the people they surveyed are essential workers with a low income, and sometimes the only person in their family that is working, so they don’t feel they can leave their jobs and go into quarantine.  47 percent of the Spanish speakers surveyed said they would be “very willing” to talk to a contact tracer, and only 31 percent said they’d “definitely” get a COVID-19 vaccine.

In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak at Flagstone Senior Living, one of the lessons North Central Public Health District Director Dr. Mimi McDonell is taking from it is the need for support for staff members at care facilities where outbreaks occur.  In response to a question from Wasco County Commission Chair Scott Hege about whether support from the state has been sufficient, McDonell said the state needs teams of health care workers who can come in and provide both administrative and care support.  She says it would be expensive, but worth it.  McDonell thinks it is not reasonable to expect long-term care facilities to do all of that on their own.

Klickitat County remains in a waiting game, looking for a sign from state officials about whether they can move from Phase 2 to Phase 3 of reopening.  Commissioner David Sauter says they are receiving some new guidance from the Governor’s office and are still reviewing it, but it seems to indicate that they are not going to consider counties moving between phases but could modify conditions to allow additional activities.  Sauter says County officials are getting questions from citizens about when county governmental offices will get back to normal operation.

Travelers on both directions of Washington Highway 14 near Carson next week should expect single lane closures next week.  On Monday and Tuesday…travelers on both directions of Highway 14 near the intersection with Wind River Road will alternate intermittently through a single lane with flaggers daily from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.  Starting at 8 a.m. Wednesday and continuing through Friday at 5 p.m. traffic will be single lane around-the-clock for paving work.  Travelers should use caution and reduce speeds through the work zone, and expect delays of up to 20 minutes.

The Oregon Department of Forestry’s Central Oregon District is reminding people fire season remains in effect across private ownership they protect, as well as state and municipal lands.  Cooler recent temperatures may give a false sense that fire danger is no longer present.  However, vegetation conditions are well above average across the District, and in many places are near where they were in August.  That assessment is based on the ability of fuels to burn, fuel moisture content, the heat potential of the fire front, and the rate of spread.  Open burning without a permit is prohibited on ODF protected lands as part of the Fire Season Declaration.  Additional county or local fire department restrictions may also be in effect.  The ODF says upcoming rain in the forecast will not eliminate the risk associated with debris burning with the current fuel conditions and wind associated with the storm may increase the risk of fire escaping.  Regulated-Use Closure restrictions are in place to reduce human caused fires on the landscape, prohibiting campfires and warming fires, including charcoal fires.  Current restrictions can be found at www.ODFcentraloregon.com.

A Bend man died in a single vehicle accident late Wednesday afternoon on Highway 97 in southern Wasco County.  The Oregon State Police says a preliminary investigation revealed a pick-up driven by 61-year-old Jeffery Murphy of Bend was northbound on Highway 97 near milepost 59 outside of Shaniko when it went off the road and rolled down a steep embankment.  Murphy sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced deceased.  The accident occurred at about 5:43 p.m.  The OSP was assisted by South Wasco County Fire, Juniper Flat Fire and Rescue, and the Oregon Department of Transportation.

North Central Public Health District Health Officer Dr. Mimi McDonell told Wasco County Commissioners Wednesday morning that there have been 11 deaths in the last two weeks as the result of the COVID-19 outbreak at Flagstone Senior Living.  There have been 50 cases involving patients, staff, and close contacts since September 5 linked to Flagstone, and two hospitalization.  Nearly all the cases were in the memory support wing, and McDonell says that brought a number of response challenges, including difficulty in following protective guidelines and communicating symptoms.  McDonell said most of the remaining patients in that wing have been transferred to different facilities that have dedicated memory support or COVID-positive patients, and two more residents are about to be transferred.  Once that occurs the memory support unit will be closed for a deep cleaning.  Weekly testing of residents and staff to continue until there are two weeks of all negative tests.  She noted that there were delays in receiving results of the initial tests done on Flagstone staff and residents due to a closure of the Oregon State Public Health Laboratory due to wildfire smoke.