The Hood River County School District announced Thursday it is postponing reopening elementary schools for in-person instruction that had been planned for November 30, and no timeline for reopening will be announced until January at the earliest.  Hood River County’s latest numbers in new COVID-19 metrics adopted by the state two weeks ago would allow them to continue with the reopening plans, but increasing COVID rates concern district officials.  In its statement, the district says school administrators and staff will begin to prioritize students that may return to school for limited in-person instruction where the district can bring a small number of students on campus for a limited amount of time to receive academic and social-emotional support.  The district will contact specific families to invite their students to participate.  The district and the Hood River County Health Department will host a family information session on Monday at 6 p.m. via Google Meet.  For more information, visit the Hood River County School District website.

The Oregon State Police Fish and Wildlife Division is asking for the public’s assistance with identifying the person(s) responsible for the unlawful taking of a buck deer in Hood River County.  On Thursday, a citizen reported finding a fresh deer carcass and buck head that had been dumped over a rock embankment near Cascade Locks on Herman Creek Rd.  Oregon State Police Fish and Wildlife Troopers responded and found a freshly killed 3X3 buck head with a broken point and a cleaned carcass dumped over an embankment in an attempt to conceal its location.  Due to the condition of the carcass left at the dump site it is believed that the buck was recently taken.  It is estimated that the incident occurred between Tuesday and Thursday.  Anyone with information regarding this case is urged to contact OSP Trooper Brent Ocheskey through the Turn in Poachers (TIP) hotline at 1-800-452-7888 or *OSP (mobile).

Washington Gorge Action Programs will take calls from residents of Klickitat and Skamania counties looking for an appointment to apply for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program starting on Monday morning.  Those looking to apply are asked to call 509-493-2662, ext. 202 or 800-755-1192, ext. 202 where they will asked to leave a message including their name, phone number, and the community they live in.  Appointments will be scheduled beginning in December.  Applications will be handled by phone this year rather than in person due to the pandemic.  To qualify for this program participants must earn less than 150% of the Federal Poverty Level.

As the Hood River Valley Adult Center embarks on a capital campaign to raise funds to do renovations to the 26-year-old facility.  Campaign committee member Gary Young says with the pandemic on-going and the onset of winter weather, it’s a reminder of the role that building plays in local emergency responses.  It’s a key part of Hood River County’s emergency plan.  The Center has prioritized remodeling its kitchen, which serves over 200 area residents in the Meals on Wheels program, for the first phase of its campaign.  For information on how to donate, go to hrvac.org.

North Central Public Health District Health Officer Dr. Mimi McDonell says the increase in COVID-19 cases the Northwest is experiencing is what health officials feared, and it may have arrived earlier than they expected.  McDonell says locally there has been an increase in cases, and sporadic cases, but looking outside the area shows why the current trend is alarming.  McDonell noted the fatigue people are feeling with not connecting with family and friends.  She says health officials throughout the state and locally are observing smaller gatherings of extended family or friends as a key driver in case counts.

The Hood River County Department of Records and Assessment says text messages sent to some residents claiming hundreds of votes will not be counted is untrue.  Department Director Brian Beebe said they are currently in the process of resolving issues with 283 ballots that have been challenged because of signature issues, and that’s a normal step in every election.  Ballots get challenged because the voter did not sign the ballot return envelope, or the signature does not match the signature on the voter’s registration card.  Hood River County Elections mailed letters to all general election voters whose ballots were challenged giving them options to verify their vote.  Voters who have received a challenged ballot letter must return their signed form by 5 p.m. this Tuesday.  The text messages were sent from a non-working number.  Anyone with questions can contact the Hood River County Elections office at: 541-386-1442 or elections@co.hood-river.or.us.

As counties in Oregon deal with challenged ballots, the Oregon House District 52 race remains close after updates on Thursday.  Incumbent Democrat Anna Williams has 19,050 votes to 18,959 for Republican challenger Jeff Helfrich.  Clackamas County says it will issue an update later Friday.  In Washington, where ballots only had to be post-marked by election day, counting continues in Klickitat County.  Dan Christopher continues to hold a narrow lead over incumbent Jim Sizemore…5,716 to 5,607.  The County estimates 429 votes remain to be counted, and will issue another update late Friday afternoon.

Oregon Health Authority statistics released on Thursday added five confirmed or presumptive COVID-19 cases in Wasco County and three in Hood River County.  Wasco County is now at 390 total cases, with 310 listed as recovered by the North Central Public Health District using a 30-day standard since the onset of symptoms and in stable medical condition.  Hood River County is now at 310 total cases for the pandemic, with the County Health Department indicating 287 are out of isolation.  Sherman County remains at 23 cases with 18 recovered, and Gilliam County at 17 with ten recovered.  The OHA reported 1,122 new COVID cases statewide on Thursday to move the pandemic total to 53,779.  There were four COVID-related deaths reported in Oregon on Thursday, moving the total to 746.  Klickitat County reported five new COVID cases on Thursday after not issuing an updated on Wednesday to move to a pandemic total of 242, but the number of active cases is only up by two to 16.  Skamania County added two cases over the last two days to move the total number for the pandemic to 80, with five currently active cases.  The Washington Department of Health reported over the past two days 3,345 new COVID cases for a total of 123,356, and 25 deaths to move that number to 2,507 deaths.

Hood River Shelter Services has placed 13 two-person shelters at Hood River Valley Christian Church, and will be open for those in need on Monday night.  With restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic forcing the shelter to abandon its congregate model, the easy to assemble shelters were acquired.  Sarah Kellems of Hood River Shelter Services says the number of structures they acquired should be able to accommodate those in need.  She said they averaged 19 guests per night last winter.  The shelters will be open each night in winter from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m., and will accept guest arrivals nightly from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.  There is a need for donations to help operate the shelters, go to hoodrivercares.org for more information.

Mid-Columbia Health Foundation’s annual Festival of Trees will take place this year in a different form.  The Foundation’s Cynthia Kortge says they will have a smaller number of trees than usual, and they won’t be having the open gala celebration on Friday, December 4 for their auction, but instead a small invitation-only dinner with the auction streamed online.  She adds they’ve been concentrating on offering a wide array of safe activities for their community day on December 5.  Proceeds will benefit the Celilo Cancer Center as the foundation begins a campaign to acquire a linear accelerator for the center’s radiation oncology department.