There will be a one-hour full closure of the Hood River-White Salmon Interstate Bridge early Friday morning.  It will for a scheduled full height maintenance lift of the bridge’s lift span.  The closure will be from 5:00 a.m. until 6:00 a.m. on Friday.  Early morning commuters are advised to avoid the bridge during the closure.

The Dalles Public Works Department will be flushing fire hydrants over the next few weeks, weather permitting.  Fire hydrants are flushed in order to clean out deposits, sediments and rust from distribution pipelines, help minimize water quality problems, test fire protection water pressures, exercise hydrant valves, and identify hydrants needing repair or replacement.  Motorists and pedestrians are asked to avoid driving or walking through the water coming directly from a hydrant while it is being flushed.  Occasionally main flushing causes water flowing from a tap to be discolored from stirred up sediment or milky white caused by tiny air bubbles.  Although discolored water won’t make you sick, you can flush the pipe by running the water for several minutes before drinking or washing.  If the water does not clear, contact The Dalles Public Works office at 541-296-5401.

Due to better than expected sockeye fishing, sockeye and hatchery steelhead angling and retention in the mainstem Columbia River will close effective 12:01 a.m. Thursday morning.   The closure includes the mainstem Columbia River downstream of the Oregon-Washington border, about 17 miles upstream of McNary Dam.  The combined sockeye return to the Columbia River includes fish destined for the Snake River, which are listed as endangered under the Federal Endangered Species Act.  Through June 21, anglers downstream of Bonneville Dam have kept an estimated 2,721 sockeye, exceeding the 1 percent ESA take limit allowed for combined non-treaty fisheries based on the preseason forecast of 246,300 fish.  In-season projections for sockeye and summer Chinook abundance should be available early next week, which will help determine fishery options moving forward into July.

Neither Hood River or Wasco County had reported any new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday as of the early afternoon.  The latest numbers from the Oregon Health Authority released Tuesday afternoon included cases the two counties had already reported locally on Monday.  Hood River County is at 89 cases and Wasco County at 52.  The OHA reported 191 new COVID-19 cases in its Tuesday update to move the total to 7,244.  Deaths remained at 192.  Washington state officials said on Monday they listed 190 new cases, moving that total to 28,870 cases with 1,276 deaths.  Klickitat County late Monday adjusted its total to 53 COVID-19 cases, explaining that one previously reported case turned out to not be a County resident.  In addition, the state of Washington has changed its total for Skamania County back to three after initially reporting two new cases over the weekend.

The Dalles City Council voted unanimously to support a resolution opposing revisions to the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area Management Plan they believe would unfairly restrict growth for cities in the Scenic Area by severely limiting the size of urban growth boundary expansion requests.  How UGB expansions could be sought has been a long-discussed question with the Columbia River Gorge Commission.  The Dalles Mayor Rich Mays says the revisions under consideration won’t work for cities, noting a proposed limitation of 20 acres is only half the size of Sorosis Park.  The City Council resolution says the revisions are inconsistent with the federal act that created the Scenic Area and preclude growth opportunities for urban areas in the Gorge.  Wasco County Commissioners will discuss a similar resolution at their meeting on Wednesday.

After nearly an hour of discussion, the Hood River City Council voted to approve a pledge that is part of a national initiative to review police use of force policies.  Under the pledge, the Council committed to review the policies, engage the community in the discussion. report findings of the review, and reform policies if necessary.  Mayor Kate McBride and Councilors Erick Haynie and Gladys Rivera will make up a subcommittee to work on the effort.  In addition, Councilors Tim Counihan, Jessica Metta, and Megan Saunders were placed on another subcommittee to develop a resolution of equity and inclusion that McBride hopes can go a bit further than that.  The committees were formed after an hour-long Council discussion that featured a wide variety of viewpoints on the topic.

The White Salmon Valley School District hopes to have a plan ready sometime in July for how it will proceed with the 2020-21 school year.  District superintendent Jerry Lewis says Washington state officials have given them over 50 pages of guidance for districts to plan.  Lewis said there are some mandates they have to meet.  A task force has been assembled to develop a plan for the White Salmon district, and they have been gathering the results of a survey of parents to help guide their decision making.  Lewis said the intent is to have a plan ready in July for the district board to review and then send to the state.

With Hood River County entering Phase 2 of reopening on Friday, the City of Hood River will open some playgrounds in neighborhood parks soon, but not those at Children’s Park and Waterfront Park.  City Manager Rachel Fuller says they are doing maintenance checks on the neighborhood structures first before actually opening them.  Fuller did say there will be signs at the playgrounds indicating they will not be cleaning them.  Fuller added they will leave the Children’s Park and Waterfront Park play facilities closed for fear of overcrowding, saying those two locations draw a lot of people from the out of the area.

The Oregon Health Authority reported five new confirmed or presumed COVID-19 cases in Wasco County over the weekend…and none in Hood River County.  According to the OHA, Hood River County is at 87 cases and Wasco County 47.  The OHA reported 190 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday and one death, moving totals to 6,937 cases with 190 deaths.  New cases in the past seven days have accounted for 19% of all coronavirus cases in Oregon.  Washington state officials said as of Sunday they were at 28,680 cases with 1,270 deaths.  Klickitat County Monday added two cases to its total, moving to 54 COVID-19 cases, and the state now has Skamania County at five.

The Hood River County Health Department says regional contact tracers are indicating a group of visitors to Cascade Locks have tested positive for COVID-19.  A Health Department statement says the visitors were in the area since April 20, and one member of the group has been hospitalized.  Other members of this group have now returned home to other counties in Oregon.  The Health Department says at this time, it appears that risk of exposure is minimal to the community.  The department says it is working with community partners to schedule a testing event in Cascade Locks.