Long-time Hood River County District Attorney John Sewell has announced he will not seek re-election to an eighth term.  Sewell has been in the position since winning election in 1992, unseating then-D.A. Sally Tebbet.  Sewell is retiring from a 40-year career as a prosecutor at the end of his current term, which expires at the conclusion of the year.  Prior to winning the D.A. position, he spent 12 years as a deputy district attorney, first in Coos and Lincoln counties before coming to Hood River County in 1984.  In his statement, Sewell says he will continue to work for the citizens of the County through the end of his term in office, and will do all he can to ensure a smooth transition to his successor.  Two people have filed to seek the position, with one week remaining before the filing deadline.  They include Marion County Deputy District Attorney and Hood River resident Sean Kallery and Hood River County Deputy District Attorney Carrie Rasmussen.  In his statement, Sewell says he supports Kallery to succeed him.

After the Washington State Senate Agriculture, Water, Natural Resources, and Parks Committee had killed a bill by 14th District Representative Chris Corry to require the Department of Natural Resources to reimburse farmers and ranchers when the agency cancels their land lease before it expires, the concept has been tacked on to another bill to get it through.  Corry said a member of the committee thought the money to pay out to the farmers would come from DNR’s school trust account, when it will actually come from the general fund.  Corry says with that straightened out, the language was inserted into another bill.  Corry said that the worst case scenario would be if the current bill was not to pass this session, he has a budget proviso that earmarks money to the termination language, and he would run a bill in the 2021 session to get it through.

Oregon health officials have identified a third presumptive positive case of COVID-19 among state residents.  The third case is an adult Umatilla County resident who is hospitalized in Walla Walla.  State and local health officials are moving quickly to contact people who may have been in close contact with the individual who tested as a presumptive positive case.  The third case is not linked to travel to a part of the world with known cases of COVID-19.  It is considered a case of community transmission.  Preliminary reports indicate the person attended a youth basketball game at a gymnasium at Weston Middle School in Weston on Saturday.  Under federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Prevention guidelines, other spectators who may have been in a closed environment with the individual would be considered “low-risk” exposures.  Athena-Weston School District officials have closed the gym and will conduct a deep cleaning out of an abundance of caution.  The gym is physically detached from the rest of the school, and health officials do not consider the separate school building to pose any risk of exposure.

The Wasco Forest Collaborative has secured $4.78 million in grant funding from the U.S. Forest Service and the Natural Resources Conservation Service.  Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley made the announcement, saying the funds will help forests recover from wildfire damage and boost resilience to future fires.  The Wasco Forest Collaborative project’s primary objectives are to improve landscape resilience and to restore ecological function.  Wasco County Forest Collaborative Facilitiator Andrew Spaeth says the group represents diverse interests from the timber industry to environmental groups that have developed consensus recommendations the Forest Service is working to implement.  Implementation began last year.  The collaborative will receive one-third of their total funding allotment each year for three consecutive years.

Beginning this week, work on the Jewett Boulevard Water Main Improvement Project in White Salmon moves into the downtown core between Estes and Main.  The eastbound, or downhill, lane will be closed, including parking, with marked detours in place.  The westbound, or uphill, lane will be open to one lane of travel in the west bound direction with parking available on the north side.  Public parking lots have been marked and are available west of City Hall, both lower and upper parking lots and north of the fire station on Church Street.  Once work is completed between Estes and Main, the contractor will be moving crews to the area between Main and Garfield.  For more information regarding this project, check the city’s webpage or call City Hall at 509-493-1133.

Wrestling

Three area wrestlers earned placing finishes at the Oregon High School Wrestling Championships at Portland Memorial Coliseum.  Hood River Valley’s Lauraine Smith finished fourth in the girls’ 145 pound division.  Dusty Dodge of The Dalles went 4-2 on the weekend to finished fifth in the Class 5A 170 pound division, and HRV’s Chad Muenzer was 3-3 to take sixth at 138 pounds.

 

Oregon Class 1A Girls Basketball Tournament

Second Round

Damascus Christian 48, Dufur 24

 

Oregon Class 1A Boys Basketball Tournament

Second Round

Joseph 43, South Wasco 40

Crosshill Christian 78, Dufur 64

After a five-year absence, the Hood River County Chamber of Commerce is bringing back its Small Business Showcase.  It will take place on March 12 at the Hood River Valley Adult Center.  Chamber Executive Director Kate Schroeder says they had members asking to bring it back.  The Small Business Showcase will take place from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on March 12 at the Hood River Valley Adult Center, and businesses that would like to sign-up for table can do so by calling 541-386-2000.  Cost to showcase a business is $100 for Chamber members and $125 for non-members.  The public is invited to attend free of charge.

Public input is now being taken on North Wasco County School District 21’s proposed plan for use of Student Success Act dollars from the state.  The plan outlines how the district would use the two-point-five million dollars in 2020-21, close to $200,000 of which will go to Mosier Community School.  D-21 Superintendent Candy Armstrong says their plan includes a number of different elements.  The plan can be seen and input given at the district’s website.  The D-21 board will vote on it at its March 19 meeting, then it will go to the Oregon Department of Education for approval.

The North Wasco County School District 21 board has decided to proceed with setting up a dual language immersion program with one kindergarten class at Chenowith Elementary School starting in the 2020-21 academic year.  The decision came after a lengthy board meeting with testimony both for and against the program, and a passionate presentation by Chenowith Principal Mo Darnall and Columbia Gorge Educational Service District Migrant Education Director Jonathan Fost on the benefits the program would provide both English and Spanish speaking students.  There was some discussion of delaying the start of the program until 2021, with board member Jose Aparicio concerned there was not enough time to do appropriate professional development.  But Superintendent Candy Armstrong told the board some of the funds for the class were a part of the district’s Student Success Act plan that is about to go to the Oregon Department of Education, and the money might not be available a year from now.  She did add that by starting small, the program is sustainable.

Wasco County Commissioners voted unanimously to support a resolution opposing the carbon cap-and-trade bill in the Oregon Legislature.  Commissioners made the decision in front of a gathering of over 100 at the Wasco County Courthouse made up of both opponents and proponents of the bill.  Commissioner Scott Hege says members of the panel had received many e-mails on the issue.  He emphasized their opposition is more about the process of how the Legislature is proceeding with the bill with no opportunity for a citizen vote rather than policy issues.  In the resolution, the County does question whether benefits from cap-and-trade would justify the costs that would result from it.  Wasco County was the 28th in Oregon in which its governing board approved this kind of resolution on the subject.