An interagency management team said the Bertschi Road Fire south of Glenwood is now 85% contained.   A significant demobilization of resources assigned to the fire is planned for Thursday, with transfer of command to a Type 4 management team set for Friday afternoon.  Officials say mop up and gridding of the 250-acre fire is going well.  The fire burned in heavy logging slash, timber, and short grass.  It started a week ago, and the cause remains under investigation.

The Oregon School Activities Association Executive Board has delayed the opening contest date for fall sports by a month to September 23, and says it will meet again the week of August 3 when they anticipate having additional information on school reopening plans and further guidance from the state.  In a letter to high school athletic directors and principals and school district superintendents, OSAA Executive Director Peter Weber said the original first Fall practice date of August 17 remains in place to allow for local school control in making practice decisions.  He added new guidance from the state requiring face coverings even when exercising indoors will require further consideration regarding guidance for indoor activities.  Weber added if fall activities aren’t able to be held in the Fall, the OSAA Executive Board is committed to working with its contingency groups to exhaust all options including shifting, condensing, or stacking seasons, much like what is being done in Washington, with the fundamental objective of providing participation opportunities for students.

Businesses across Oregon will face tighter restrictions starting Friday under the latest guidelines issued by Governor Kate Brown to stop the spread of COVID-19.  Indoor venues such as restaurants, bars, gyms and houses of worship must limit occupancy to 100 people, down from 250, and restaurants and bars will have to close by 10 p.m. instead of midnight.  The governor also announced that children ages 5 and older must wear masks in public starting Friday, and that a watch list of counties seeing what state officials consider as worrisome levels of COVID-19 spread will be updated soon.  Brown acknowledged in a press conference that some people will think these measures are not enough, and others will think they are too much.  Brown did say the state is starting to allow outdoor visits to residents of long-term care facilities where there is no evidence of the virus.

Oregon State Epidemiologist Dr. Dean Sidelinger says the over 2400 COVID-19 cases diagnosed last week was up 26 percent from the previous week.  Sidelinger said hospitalizations are on the rise, but not as quickly as new infections in part because the state is seeing more cases in younger people who are healthier and have milder symptoms.  He also said hospital treatments continue to improve, and the state currently has an adequate number of intensive care unit beds and ventilators, but added a cautionary note that if left unchecked COVID-19 case increases could overwhelm Oregon’s health care system.  Sidelinger says large outbreaks in workplaces and long-term care facilities are accounting for a diminishing proportion of cases, and the state has more resources to assist with isolation and quarantine.  But sporadic cases are growing, accounting for nearly half of the cases in the last week, and that means there is community spread.

Wasco County is now at a total of 137 positive or presumed COVID-19 cases during the pandemic.  That’s according to numbers released by the North Central Public Health District on Wednesday afternoon, up six from the day before.  The Oregon Health Authority moved Hood River County up by four cases to 139, while Sherman County remains at eight total cases.  North Central Public Health District Health Officer Mimi McDonell told the Wasco Commission that Wasco County’s epidemiological curve has slowed a bit.  She also said getting test results back remains a major problem, as it in other parts of the country, adding when it takes 10 days to get a result it can defeat the purpose of the test.  In Washington, Skamania County Tuesday added three cases to move its total to 43, and reported a death from COVID-19 for the first time.  Klickitat County is at 90 with one addition reported on Tuesday.

The Port of Hood River is once again making changes to operations of its recreation facilities after another weekend of crowded facilities where social distancing was not observed.  The Nichols Basin Dock is now closed to the public, and Marina Beach is closed to all kiteboarding activities while picnickers and family groups are urged to stay spread out and comply with state masking requirements.  Frog Beach will remain open, but users are urged to spread out there as well.  On weekends the Event Site parking lot will be open to annual pass holders only, and will close if overcrowding on the beach occurs.  Lot 1 is closed to all vehicle parking, and the entire east side curb of North 1st Street will be closed to parking on weekends.  The City-owned Waterfront Park is open, but social distancing needs to be maintained and the playground area is closed.

The Hood River County School District has once again closed all its facilities, schools, and grounds to the public until further notice.  The closure comes after the Hood River County Health Department announced that what it termed as “multiple members” of Hood River Valley High School athletic teams tested positive for COVID-19 after beginning conditioning programs earlier in July.  Hood River County School District Superintendent Rick Polkinghorn says high school sports practices have been cancelled for a period of two weeks at the request of the health department.  The Health Department said there has been family members and close contacts of individuals involved that have tested positive for COVID-19.

While announcing new indoor venue and face covering requirements to take effect Friday, Oregon Governor Kate Brown said the state is seeing a number of COVID-19 cases due to tourism, and is asking her staff to evaluate how to restrict travel into the state by people from locations with higher levels of the virus.  Brown says she plans to take action soon with her office talking to neighboring states about the issue, and asked her staff to evaluate the process for restricting tourist travel into Oregon from states with high infection rates, or requiring mandatory quarantine for those coming from hot spots.  Twenty states have measures in place for visitors ranging from mandatory testing to quarantine requirements.

An interagency management team says the Bertschi Road Fire is south of Glenwood is 80% contained.  Hand held infra-red devices used to detect heat continue to be utilized within the perimeter of the fire footprint.  Today crews were focusing on mopping up any areas of remaining heat near the edge of the fire.  In some areas around the perimeter, up to 300 feet of mop up has been achieved.  The Temporary Flight Restriction over the fire has been lifted.  The fire started last Thursday and its cause remains under investigation.  On Tuesday researchers from the University of Washington in Partnership with the Vulcan Group, a company founded by former Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, arrived at the fire camp.  Their mission is to learn about the different challenges wildland firefighters face on the fire lines in order to find solutions using new technologies.

The 2020 Hood River County Youth Livestock Auction goes live on-line on Thursday evening.  The virtual auction was set up to replace the annual Livestock Auction that would have been a part of the Hood River County Fair that was cancelled due to coronavirus restrictions.  Auction Committee member Jason Johnston             says people can sign up online to register.  For information on how to register as a buyer for the auction, go to the Hood River Youth Auction Committee Facebook page for complete information.  The auction will go live on Thursday at 8:00 p.m. and stay open until Friday at 8:00 p.m.