Fishery managers in Washington and Oregon set additional Chinook salmon fishing days during their joint meeting Wednesday thanks to an upper Columbia summer Chinook run that is exceeding original forecasts.   Recreational fishing will be open from Thursday to July 15 for the retention of hatchery Chinook in the mainstem Columbia River from the Tongue Point-Rocky Point line upstream to the Highway 395 Bridge at Pasco, Wash.   The daily adult bag limit is two hatchery Chinook.  All other salmon and steelhead must be released.   All other permanent regulations, including bag limits for jack Chinook, apply.  Anglers are also reminded that thermal angling sanctuaries to protect wild steelhead take effect July 15.  All fishing is closed in these sanctuaries adjacent to, and within the lower reaches of Eagle Creek, Herman Creek, and the Deschutes River.

Along with other school-related issues, what high school athletics and activities will look like in Oregon this fall is unknown.  Oregon School Activities Association executive director Peter Weber says some teams are having practices depending on what phase the county they live in is at, but summer activities are not something the organization focuses on.  They are looking to fall, and he notes much of what they do will be determined by how schools operate.  Weber adds they do have a guiding principle in all of this.  Weber says the OSAA is trying to stay as flexible possible in considering different scenarios, and hopes that sometime near the start of August they will have an idea of what they can do in the fall.

Hood River County Commissioners unanimously approved an additional easement through the County Forest for East Fork Irrigation District’s plan to place a portion of its ditch into pipe.  The impacted area is approximately from Swyers Drive to Fir Mountain Road.  District Manager John Buckley told the Commission that best of the part of the project will be water conservation.  The district plans to eventually pipe the district’s main canal, and Buckley estimates that in the end they could put 20 cubic feet per second of water back into the Hood River.

The Hood River County Prevention Department is looking for people to serve as spokespeople for colorectal screenings for Native American and Hispanic communities.  The department’s Nubia Contreras says they are seeking people who can talk about the colorectal screening process and encourage those communities, and particularly men over the age of 50, to get them done.  Those who would be interested in helping can call the Hood River County Prevention Department at 541-386-2500.

There will be single-lane closures on the Hood River-White Salmon Interstate Bridge on Wednesday and Thursday between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. both days.  The Port of Hood River says the closures are to allow the Oregon Department of Transportation to do required biennial fracture critical inspections.  Flaggers will direct traffic on the bridge around the moving work zone.  Bridge users should expect delays of 20 minutes or more depending on traffic volume.

There is some tourism happening in Hood River County, even though it is not at the numbers most summers would bring.  Ashley May of Visit Hood River says early numbers from restaurants indicate they are filling the capacity they have, which is about 50 percent of normal, and lodging is at about 60 to 70 percent occupancy.  May says they are focusing on messaging appropriate ways to travel while still protecting the health of the community, acknowledging some residents would prefer no visitors at all but adding many local businesses that residents patronize would find it difficult to stay open without tourist business.  May says they are sending out a more formal survey to businesses this week to gauge the level of traffic they are seeing.

Monday updates from the Oregon Health Authority continued Wasco County’s trend upward in COVID-19 cases, with three more cases moving the County’s total number for the pandemic to 94.  Wasco County has seen 52 cases in the past two weeks, with County officials saying half of those were related to agricultural workplace, 28 percent are spontaneous with no known source, and the remaining 22 percent are close contacts of cases.  On Friday, Wasco County was one of eight counties in the state placed on a “watch list” because the spread of COVID-19 cases was reaching alarming levels.  According to the Governor’s office the Oregon Health Authority and local officials are deploying additional capacity to control the spread of the disease, and Brown says if the counties do not see a downturn quickly, restrictive measures such as business closures or tighter gathering size limits will ensue.  The OHA reported one new case for Hood River County on Monday.   In combination with five reported over the weekend, they are the first for Hood River County in nearly two weeks.  Hood River County is now at 94 cases for the pandemic, and the County Health Department says the previous 88 have recovered.  County Health Department Director Trish Elliott says with latest half-dozen cases, they are looking at a couple of workplaces and some travel involvement…but there is also the possibility of community spread, adding they will be releasing more details.  Sherman County over the weekend reported its second and third COVID-19 cases, and Gilliam County had its first.  Statewide, the OHA on Monday reported 168 new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases with no deaths, moving the state’s totals to 10,395 cases with 215 deaths.  In Washington, the state Department of Health put Klickitat County at 67 total cases as of Sunday, and Skamania County up to nine.  Washington’s statewide totals are now at 35,898 cases and 1,359 deaths.  

A motorcyclist died in an accident on Highway 197 on Saturday afternoon.  According to the Oregon State Police, a preliminary investigation showed the motorcycle operated by 46-year-old Nathan Pyle of Dallas, Oregon was riding northbound in a group of motorcycles. The riders were slowing to turn left onto Juniper Flat Road.  The OSP says Pyle was not able to stop and crashed avoiding the other motorcycles.  Pyle sustained fatal injuries in the accident.  The accident occurred around 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.  The OSP was assisted at the scene by the Wasco County Sheriff’s Office, South Wasco Ambulance, Juniper Flat Fire and Rescue, and the Oregon Department of Transportation.

Firefighters extinguished a small wildland fire on Cherry Heights in The Dalles area Saturday morning.  According to Mid-Columbia Fire and Rescue, the fire was confined to about one acre of grass and scrub oak with some pine trees.  MCFR, Dallesport Fire, the Oregon Department of Forestry, and the U.S. Forest Service were all involved in containing the fire, which took place around 6 a.m. Saturday.  Crews were cleared from the scene by 7:45 a.m.

The Dalles Small Business Relief Grant will begin accepting applications from eligible small businesses and small non-profits, based in and around The Dalles Monday and will do so through Friday.  The Dalles Google Data Center, The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Mid-Columbia Economic Development District collaborated to create the grant program to provide immediate grants to qualifying small businesses and small non-profits in The Dalles area impacted by COVID-19.  The Relief Grant received funding of $35,000 from the Google Data Center The Dalles.  The Chamber will act as the fiscal agent for the Relief Grant and will manage all contributions, but businesses do not have to be Chamber members to apply.