Oregon Second District Congressman Greg Walden honored long-time Representative Bob Smith in a floor speech on Thursday.  Smith passed away in September at the age of 89.  Walden said Smith was a champion for improving management of public lands and natural resources.  He also added that his predecessor in the Second District seat competed in rodeos while in Congress, an example of how he lived life to the fullest.  Smith spent 22 years in the Oregon Legislature and 14 years in Congress.

The annual lighting of Hood River’s Christmas tree in Overlook Memorial Park will take place in a virtual mode Friday evening.  It will occur at 7 p.m., and the Hood River County Chamber of Commerce says it will be streamed at the Hood River Holidays Facebook page and through visithoodriver.com.  The annual Hood River Holidays parade has been modified by teaming up with the annual lighted fire truck parade, which will start at the St. Mary’s Church parking lot at 5 p.m. and wind its way through Hood River neighborhoods to end at the tree.  There will also be fire truck parades next week in Parkdale, Odell, and Cascade Locks.  

Health officials continue to urge people to get their flu shot if they haven’t already.  North Central Public Health District Health Officer Dr. Mimi McDonell told the Wasco County Commission this week that we are starting to see the onset of flu season.  She reported there were five reported cases of influenza last week, all in the Columbia Gorge region.  Flu vaccine is available from a number of different sources, including your health care provider, pharmacies, and local health departments.

Klickitat PUD will hold its 2021 budget and electric rate hearing on Tuesday online.  PUD Manager Jim Smith says presentations will be made on the proposed 2021 budget and an electric rate increase proposal of 1.5% for all rate components in all rate classes effective on April 1, followed by comment from the public.  Klickitat PUD only electric rate increase in the last four years was a 1.5% hike in 2019.  Smith indicated there are many cost divers involved in the rate increase, including wholesale power costs from the Bonneville Power Administration.  He adds the BPA has indicated it may increase the costs for transmission service, which is the cost of poles and wires, by as much as 17%  Smith says that represents about 10% of the bill they receive from BPA, and that the PUD staff is continuing to refine its rate proposal leading up to Tuesday’s hearing.  It will begin at 3 p.m., and log-in information is available at klickitatpud.com.

Three Bingen/White Salmon- area organizations have received grants from the Washington Youth Development Nonprofit Relief Fund to support out-of-school programming for vulnerable youth.  The White Salmon Valley Education Foundation is receiving $33,000 for the White Salmon Valley School District’s after-school and summer school program called A-List Adventures.  CultureSeed, which provides year-round outdoor immersion and mentorship programs for youth that are historically underserved or face economic barriers, is receiving $15,000 to double the numbers the program can serve.  And Gorge MakerSpace will receive $10,000 to offer free programs to children and families who have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic.  The funding was made possible in part by the federal CARES Act.  

A juvenile male was arrested in Hood River and lodged at NORCOR after a search of two Hood River homes where photographs and videos depicting sexually explicit conduct involving children had been downloaded.  In a statement Hood River Police Chief Neal Holste said several subpoenas had been issued for IP addresses and wireless numbers involved in the uploading of the material, and an Oregon Department of Justice task force investigation unearthed information tracing one IP address and one wireless number to a Hood River residence.  On Tuesday the Hood River Police Department, with assistance from the County Sheriff’s Office, served search warrants on two Hood River homes.  Several pieces of electronic equipment were seized during the search, and the juvenile was taken into custody.

Searches have found a pair of travelers from the Seattle area that became stuck in their SUV on a Forest Service road on the way to a cabin in Glenwood and spent two nights in the snow.  The Skamania County Sheriff’s Office says 26-year-old Heidi Tran of Lynwood and 28-year-old Andy Nguyen of Seattle had been reported missing by their family on Monday.  An air search spotted the couple’s vehicle stuck in deep snow at milepost 32 on the Forest Service 23 Road north of Trout Lake.  Skamania County Search and Rescue deputies and team members used snow equipped utility terrain vehicles to reach the pair and take them back to the Trout Lake area.  They were not injured and did not require medical attention.  The Sheriff’s Office indicated they had followed directions found by computer or a navigation unit, adding people should not rely solely on computerized navigation, and if traveling on forest roads or areas that are not maintained during winter months, please consider changing your route.

FISH Food Bank in Hood River County is experiencing its highest demand for food assistance in its 51 year existence.  Marianne Durkan of FISH says the jump in requests has been substantial during to the pandemic, and many are people who have never had to come to a food bank before.  She adds their numbers are up about 30 percent this year.  FISH is taking monetary donations online at Fish-Food-Bank.com.  They also accept food and monetary donations at their Tucker Road facility on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 8 a.m. to noon.  Items they particularly need include canned vegetables & fruit, shelf stable milk, rice, boxed cereal, chicken noodle or vegetable soup, peanut butter, pasta except spaghetti, macaroni and cheese, vegetable or olive oii, granola bars, crackers, cookies, hominy, mole sauce, canned green chilies and jalapenos, refried beans, chicken boullion, toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, soap, shaving cream, toilet paper, feminine hygiene products, and dry pet food.

North Central Public Health District Health Officer Dr. Mimi McDonell said in the local area the strain on the health system from COVID-19 is not so much about hospital beds as it is human resources.  During Wednesday’s Wasco County Commission meeting, McDonell said representatives of Mid-Columbia Medical Center and long-term care facilities all said they are experiencing shortages of staff that can give direct care to patients and residents.  McDonell doesn’t forsee the situation changing anytime soon.  She adds if there is an outbreak in a medical clinic or long-term care facility, staff is impacted as well.

Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley Tuesday introduced new legislation to incentivize utility companies to do more to reduce wildfire risks as aging power infrastructure ignite wildfires in Oregon and the West.  Wyden and Merkley’s Wildfire Resilient Power Grid Act of 2020 would call for power companies to reduce the risk of wildfires through power system upgrades such as the undergrounding of power lines, fire safety equipment installation and proper vegetation management.  The Act would establishes a $1 billion-per-year matching grant program for power companies through the Department of Energy to reduce the risk of power lines and grid infrastructure causing wildfires, and gives special priority to smaller, rural electric companies to ensure mitigation efforts are targeted to forested rural areas.