Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley say the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs will receive a $269,000 federal grant to repair its main water line.  The $269,000 federal Housing and Urban Development’s Indian Community Development Block Grant from its Imminent Threat program assists tribes and Alaska Native villages with activities to improve, repair or restore safe and healthy environments in response to imminent threats.  Wyden says the funds will help restore a dependable and safe water supply for the Warm Springs tribes.  He also said he would continue to work to pass the Western Tribal Water Infrastructure Act to direct federal funds to tribes for their water infrastructure.

The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce says an additional contribution from Google allowed every business that applied to its small business relief fund to receive monies.  53 businesses applied for the original $35,000 made available by the Google Data Center in The Dalles, and the company contributed an additional $16,000 to get grants to all the businesses in the 9-7-0-5-8 zip code that applied.  The Chamber then chose to cover the remaining businesses from outside the zip code that applied.  The relief grant was open to all small businesses in The Dalles area.  Businesses had to be “brick and mortar” businesses, with a current business license.  Applicants had to demonstrate a negative financial impact due to COVID-19, and could only employ 10 or fewer employees.  The grants were a collaborative effort between The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce, Mid-Columbia Economic Development District, and Google.  Funds will be distributed from the Chamber this week.

Klickitat County officials say public messaging in regards to COVID-19 case activity, and public health matters specifically, will now come directly from its public health department.  Klickitat County’s Emergency Operations Center and the Public Health Department have been working in Unified Command since the beginning of the pandemic, due to the significant amount of information, tasks, updates and public messaging that was needed on a daily basis.  The health department has been providing data on its webpage since the beginning, and officials say that will continue.  The EOC will continue operating the logistics involved in the pandemic.

Hood River County had two more positive or presumed COVID-19 cases added to its totals by the Oregon Health Authority on Monday, and Wasco County had one.  That moved Hood River County’s pandemic total to 132, and Wasco County to 131.  Over the weekend Hood River County said 107 of its cases have been released from isolation.  Sherman County remained at eight total cases.  Statewide the OHA on Monday added 277 new confirmed or presumptive COVID-19 cases, and reported two deaths to run the toll to 262.  In Washington, Skamania County Monday said it was at 40 total COVID-19 cases.  Klickitat County is at 85, with 78 listed as recovered.

After taking a number of steps to reduce crowding at the Waterfront Event Site this weekend, Port of Hood River Executive Director Michael McElwee said they only had to close the Event Site parking lot one time on Sunday, but other Port locations on the waterfront experienced crowding.  McElwee says the Sandbar, Hook, Spit, Frog Beach, and the swim beach all experienced crowding over the weekend, and the Port will be evaluating to determine other steps they can take next weekend. He did say closures of some locations was an option.  McElwee noted it would be difficult to close Frog Beach, as it is accessible via a public street.  He said the Port hasn’t seen similar problems on weekdays.  McElwee added Port commissioners will be consulted in any decisions they make.

The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce says it still has a large quantity of KN-95 masks available for businesses.  Chamber CEO Lisa Farquharson says Wasco County Emergency Management donated the masks to give out to businesses, and there is still a large quantity available.  For information on the masks, call The Dalles Chamber at 541-296-2231.

As a flurry of numbers on COVID-19 come out from various governmental agencies each day, it’s easy to get confused about what is important and what isn’t.  Hood River County Health Department Health Officer Dr. Christopher Van Tilburg suggests positive test rates are the most accurate indicator of the pandemic within a community.  Van Tilburg says Hood River County has stayed at a positive test rate of about 3.5% for some time, and that shows it’s still in the community, and we need to continue to need to follow coronavirus precautions.  A recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates the effectiveness of wearing a face covering to prevent COVID-19 transmission.  It said that among 139 clients in Springfield, Missouri exposed to two symptomatic hair stylists with confirmed COVID-19 while both the stylists and the clients wore face masks, no symptomatic secondary cases were reported, and among 67 clients tested for COVID-19, all test results were negative.  The report says adherence to the face-covering policy likely mitigated spread of the disease.  

An Interagency Management Team has put containment of the Bertschi Road Fire south of Glenwood at about 70% contained.  A control line, consisting of dozer line, hand line, and a system of forest roads, completely encircles the fire, and crews are working to suppress all hot spots within the fire.  Crews Monday were involved in mop-up work.  The fire has burned through heavy logging debris, leaving pockets of unburned dead and dying trees, and unburned needles scattered throughout, which could lead to reburn potential.  The fire started on Thursday and its cause remains under investigation.  A Temporary Flight Restriction remains in place over the fire.  Drone flights are illegal in the fire area and compromise firefighting work.

In a letter to parents, North Wasco County School District 21 Interim Superintendent Theresa Peters says that at this point the district is looking at a hybrid model combining distance learning and in-person instruction to begin the upcoming school year as the COVID-19 crisis continues on.  Peters wrote that each building administrator has formed a team to assist in the planning efforts, and each school has a blueprint that is currently in draft form as they await guidance from the Oregon Department of Education and the Oregon Health Authority.  She anticipates sharing those plans with staff, parents, the North Central Public Health District, and the D-21 board in late July or early August.  Peters also wrote that it will be important to plan for multiple possibilities.

The Oregon Health Authority’s latest COVID-19 case numbers on Sunday put both Wasco and Hood River counties at 130 apiece.  The OHA’s Sunday numbers added six to Hood River County’s totals, and one to Wasco County.  Over the weekend the Hood River County Health Department said 107 of its cases have been released from isolation.  Sherman County remained at eight total COVID-19 cases for the pandemic.  Klickitat County reported 85 COVID-19 cases as of Sunday, with 78 listed as recovered.  The Washington State Department of Health put Skamania County at 40 as of its latest update at the end of Friday.