The deadline for ballots to be turned in for Oregon’s primary election is Tuesday at 8 p.m.  Ballots can be taken to official drop boxes.  In Hood River County, they are located at the County Administration Building on 601 State in Hood River and at Cascade Locks City Hall.  In Wasco County, ballots can be dropped off in the drop box at the 5th Street entrance to the County Courthouse in The Dalles, and at the Maupin Civic Center.  Ballots in Hood River and Wasco counties feature votes for County Commission and District Attorney, along with primaries for the Oregon’s Second District Congressional seat.  Hood River County voters are being asked to decide on a five-year public safety levy, and there are City Charter revisions proposed in The Dalles.  

The filing deadline passed in Washington on Friday, and there will be a pair of contested Klickitat County Commission races.  In District 1, incumbent Rex Johnston opted not to file for re-election, and the two candidates will be Republican Jacob Anderson and Democrat Joanna Turner.  There are three candidates in District 3 including two Republicans, incumbent Jim Sizemore and Dan Christopher, and Democrat Miland Walling.  In Skamania County there is one contested Commission seat, with Republican incumbent Richard Mahar opposed in District 1 by Jeremy Bechtel.  Tom Lannen is unopposed for re-election in District 2.  There is a three-way race for Position 1 in the 14th Legislative District, as incumbent Republican Chris Corry is challenged by Democrat Tracy Rushing and William Razey, who listed his party affiliation as Education.  Gina Mosbrucker is unopposed for 14th District Position 2 and Curtis King is also unopposed to be re-elected to the State Senate.  Randall Krog was the only candidate to file for Superior Court Position 1 in Klickitat and Skamania counties.

The Multnomah County District Attorney’s office announced that the man who was apprehended following a high-speed chase on Interstate 84 through the Gorge on Thursday could face attempted aggravated murder charges in Hood River County.  Multnomah County District Attorney Rod Underhill said court documents indicate 26-year-old Grayson Morris, who was wanted in connection with the murder of his father in Ritzville, Washington, was initially spotted in Hood River County, and while still in the County repeatedly fired his firearm out the window, which troopers perceived as towards them.  The East Multnomah County Major Crimes Team has referred attempted aggravated murder charges to Hood River County law enforcement for investigation.  After the pursuit entered Multnomah County, Morris’ vehicle ran out of gas.  He exited his vehicle and with rifle in hand carjacked another vehicle.  Once the pursuit ended, law enforcement recovered a .30 caliber rifle from the vehicle Morris was stopped in.  Morris is in the Multnomah County Detention Center facing numerous charges.  

Two Mid-Columbia counties saw their number of positive COVID-19 tests go up over the weekend.  Klickitat County reported three new tests to move its cumulative total over the past two months to 25, and Wasco County had two more to go up to 18.  In the rest of the region, Hood River County remained at 14 reported COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began, Skamania County 3, and Sherman County 1.  The Oregon Health Authority reported 73 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 10 presumptive cases on Saturday and Sunday, bringing the state total to 3,623.  No deaths from COVID-19 were reported in Oregon over the weekend, leaving that total at 137.  The Washington State Department of Health reported the number of deaths in Washington because of the coronavirus has reached 1,001.  It listed the total number of confirmed cases at 18,433.

Mid-Columbia Medical Center officials say the Nichols Landing building in Hood River damaged by fire early Friday morning will remain closed for restoration, but they don’t know if it will be for a few weeks or several months.  The fire broke out in an adjacent business within the building and spread to MCMC’s offices before it was extinguished.  MCMC chief ambulatory operations manager Christina McMaingal said they are assessing the damage, but no one was hurt and all patient files are secure.  MCMC’s Hood River-based providers have been seeing patients in The Dalles throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and will continue to do so while the Nichols Landing building is restored.  

The Dalles-Wasco County Library started offering curbside service Monday.  Patrons can place holds online through the Sage catalog at wascocountylibrary.com, or by phone, or email.   Curbside service will be available Monday through Thursday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at The Dalles Public Library on 722 Court Street.  Pick up service will be located at the back door of the library.  Park your car in the library parking lot and walk up to the curbside pick up location while maintaining physical distancing.   Call the library or ring the doorbell when you are outside ready for pick up.   The library’s front doors will be closed.   For more information, call 541-296-2815.  The Hood River County Library District indicated on its website that it will start curbside pickup on May 28 in Hood River and May 30 in Cascade Locks and Parkdale.

The 150,000 households in Oregon that received postcards asking them to participate in Oregon Health Sciences University’s “Key to Oregon” study of COVID-19 will be receiving follow up letters with details during the next week.  Study lead and OHSU-Portland State University School of Public Health Dean Dr. David Bangsberg says the goal is to develop a better understanding of how many Oregonians are infected with the coronavirus, where infections are and how the virus spreads.  He explains study volunteers will be asked to take their temperature and do a short symptom survey on a daily basis.  OHSU is looking for 100,000 people who have received the postcards to volunteer for the study.

The City of The Dalles is recommending owners and operators of commercial buildings flush out their building’s water system with fresh water from City mains before reopening for business.   Buildings with low or no occupancy for several weeks likely have water that has stagnated in building pipes.   Stagnant water may or may not taste different or be discolored, but long periods of low or no water use in buildings can allow bacteria to grow.  Remove aerators, pre-rinse spray valves, and showerheads before flushing stale water from the pipes.  Run cold water from all fully opened faucets in the building for at least 5 minutes.  Change all water filters, then run water coolers, drinking fountains and refrigerator taps connected to the tap water supply for at least 5 minutes.  If you have an automatic ice maker, make three batches of ice cubes and throw away all three batches.

The Dalles Unit of the Oregon Department of Forestry says open burning will be prohibited in Wasco County beginning June 1.  The move is being made in coordination with the County and its Fire Defense Board.  Low snow pack and limited spring moisture have contributed to unseasonably dry wildland fuel conditions, prompting fire managers to implement the annual burn ban a month earlier for lands in Wasco County.  The Dalles Unit Wildland Fire Supervisor Kiel Nairns says they would like to see landowners take advantage of recent rain, and more forecast precipitation, to complete any debris burning before warmer and drier weather returns.  Landowners choosing to burn in coming days are reminded to use appropriate safe burning practices.  Burning of logging slash and debris from forest operations is not allowed at this time.  For further information, call the ODF’s office in The Dalles at 541-296-4626 or go to ODFcentraloregon.com.

The Skamania County Commission, acting in its role as the County’s Board of Health, has rescinded its order closing recreational hiking.  That coincides with efforts underway by the Forest Service to relax closures of trails and recreational sites within the Gorge.  The Gifford Pinchot National Forest did open some areas on its lands on Friday, but the Forest Service currently has an administrative closure order in place for lands in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.  Officials say they recognize concerns relating to the influx of visitors to the county and the potential for an increase in COVID-19 cases, but also believe the ability to open sites where they can be safely opened will help immensely in distributing visitor use.    County officials also noted visitors were already helping themselves to recreational opportunities on the Pinchot regardless of current closures.  They suggest visitors come prepared with masks, water, hand sanitizer and toilet paper.  Officials say they added many portable restroom units for the public.