Oregon’s unemployment rate declined to 14.2 percent in May from April’s 14.9 percent.  Oregon Employment Department Senior Economic Analyst Anna Johnson said there were limited job gains in May, but that still leaves thousands without a job.  During May, statewide and county-specific guidelines for reopening businesses fostered increases in customer demand within leisure and hospitality and also allowed elective and routine medical procedures, leading to job increases in those areas.  But durable goods manufacturing and local government education sectors saw significant job losses in May.

The Hood River County Commission will hold its first in-person meeting in three months Monday, using the Community Building at the County Fairgrounds in Odell.  Commission Chair Mike Oates says they can have 25 people in the room with appropriate social distancing, adding virtual meetings make it difficult to interact with the public.  Today’s meeting begins at 5:15 p.m. with a worksession followed by the regular meeting at 6 p.m., and will still be live streamed.  The agenda includes public hearings for the 2020-21 Fiscal Year budget, and the appeal of the County Planning Commission’s decision to uphold an extension of Apollo Land Holdings’ permit to develop an outdoor concert venue at the former Dee Mill site.

Oregon Senator Ron Wyden said during a recent virtual town hall that he and Idaho Senator Mike Crapo continue to push a proposal to provide consistency and certainty to counties receiving Rural Schools Secure Act payments.  Wyden says that counties with federal forest lands that receive the payments need a more predictable funding process for the payments, and he and Crapo are pushing for an endowment-type fund to do it.  Wyden says an independent board would invest the allocated funds to bring larger yields.  Wyden says the Northwest is well positioned on the Senate Finance Committee to get that, with himself and Crapo both in high-ranking positions.  

The COVID-19 pandemic has backed up some projects for The Dalles Public Works Department, but others continue on.  Department Director Dave Anderson says they’ve been able to keep business moving forward, including their annual chip sealing project and work toward securing permits for the Dog River pipeline replacement.  But he also noted the project to upgrade and install sidewalk ramps to meet American With Disabilities requirements has been delayed for a year, with the money allocated to allow for more work to be done in 2021.  Anderson added they have needed to revise how they accept bids for some projects due to the pandemic.

The Port of Klickitat announced it has cancelled the annual July 4 do-it-yourself fireworks event at Bingen Point.  The event that allowed people to use fireworks in a safe, monitored location has been a tradition since it was established in 2004.  Crowds of over 50 people are not permitted in Washington until a County is placed in Phase 4 of reopening, and Klickitat County is in Phase 2 and could not enter Phase 4 by the Fourth of July holiday even under perfect conditions.  Port Commissioners also indicated a jump in new cases that appear to be the result of Memorial Day activities were also a factor in that decision.  Port of Klickitat Executive Director Marc Thornsbury did say they look forward to holding the event in 2021.  

The Oregon Health Authority over the weekend reported an addition of ten positive COVID-19 tests in Hood River County and one in Wasco County, with Wasco County officials reporting two more in their Sunday counts.  That moved Hood River County’s total to 81 and Wasco County to 41 for the just over three months since the pandemic began.  On Sunday the OHA reported 101 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19, bringing the state total to 5,636.  There were also two more deaths, upping that number to 176.  In Washington, Klickitat County on Monday morning went up to 47 positive COVID-19 tests, while Skamania County remained at three.  Statewide numbers on Sunday show Washington has had 25,834 confirmed coronavirus cases, and 1,217 deaths.

The toll plaza at the Hood River-White Salmon Interstate Bridge was recently reopened.  Port of Hood River Executive Director Michael McElwee said to do it, they had to make some operational changes, most noticeably dropping the number of people in the booth from two to one with shorter shifts, plastic shields, and continuous cleaning protocols.  McElwee also said sign-ups for the BreezeBy electronic tolling system have gone up substantially during the pandemic.

Work this week on several pavement preservation projects in The Dalles have been delayed a day by rain.  Work will now take place Tuesday through Thursday.  The chip seal projects will require short duration road closures between 7:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. at each location on the date the work is scheduled to take place.  Detours will be in place during work hours.  To view a map of the work and learn more about the 2020 The Dalles Pavement Preservation Program go to thedalles.org/transportation.

Hood River County Commission Chair Mike Oates said he wasn’t surprised by Oregon Governor Kate Brown’s decision to put a pause on approving applications for further reopening on hold for seven days, leaving Hood River County’s application to move to Phase 2 in limbo, but he also didn’t feel it was fair.  Oates said he cast the deciding vote on the Commission to not seek the Phase 2 designation last week to make sure the County had the contact tracing in place to handle the Duckwall Fruit COVID-19 outbreak, and when he voted to proceed on Monday he felt the County was ready to go, noting Brown calling it a “pause” is a generic statement.  Brown said at a press conference Friday that a noticeable increase in COVID-19 infections was cause for concern and she wanted to give state public health experts time to assess what factors are driving the spread of the virus and determine if there needs to be an adjustment in the approach to reopening.

The long-discussed replacement of the Dog River water pipeline, a three-and-a-half mile wooden pipeline that carries over half of The Dalles’ water supply through the Mt. Hood National Forest and is over 100 years old, may be finally nearing approval from the Forest Service.  The Dalles Public Works Director Dave Anderson said the Forest Service has published a draft decision related to the environmental assessment of the project.  The draft is currently into a 45-day period for objections to be filed from those who have commented earlier, and Anderson said they are probably about 90 to 120 days from getting a final decision notice from the Forest Service.