The re-openings of Multnomah Falls Lodge, the Historic Columbia River Highway’s waterfall corridor, and a number of other recreation sites in the western part of the Gorge has gone well after one week.  Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area Manager Lynn Burditt told Wasco County Commissioners that safety measures at those locations have led to smooth operations so far.  She added it will be easier to access the Multnomah Falls parking lot from the eastern part of the Gorge with the opening of Exit 31 from westbound Interstate 84 by the Oregon Department of Transportation.  Burditt also said a ticketing reservation system for Multnomah Falls is being developed, and hopefully will be ready in the next few weeks.

A California woman died in a one-vehicle accident on Highway 97 in Sherman County on Monday.  According to the Oregon State Police, a car driven by 23-year-old Lorraine Aubrey of Yreka, California was southbound on Highway 97 near milepost 31 at around 4:13 p.m. Monday when it crossed into the northbound lane, left the roadway, and rolled several times.  Aubrey was flown to a local hospital before being transported to a Portland area hospital, where she was pronounced deceased.  The South Sherman Fire Department, Sherman County Sheriff’s Office, and the Oregon Department of Transportation assisted the OSP at the accident.

Klickitat County Public Health Director Erinn Quinn says there are very few test results remaining to be received in regard to an outbreak at a farm near White Salmon.  Quinn said they have had 40 positive COVID-19 tests as a result of the outbreak, which she says officials believe has been contained to that operation.  But Quinn adds that will be learned over the next seven to 10 days if there was spread outside of that specific community.  Quinn did say the outbreak does impact the ability to get students back in schools, as it pushed Klickitat County outside of state guidance for case ratios to allow schools to have in-person learning.  Quinn said other than this outbreak, Klickitat County’s COVID-19 numbers have been fairly steady with one or two positive tests per day.

An approximately two-acre wildland fire on Oakridge Drive off of Old Dalles Road in the east hills of the Hood River Valley was brought under control Monday evening.  The Hood River County Sheriff’s Office said fire crews from multiple jurisdictions were involved in limiting the size of the fire.  The Oregon Department of Forestry’s incident management team at the Mosier Creek Fire sent five engines, one hand crew, and four helicopters along with a division supervisor to work with local resources to stop the fire.  Some power lines went down in the fire.  Meanwhile, the Mt. Hood National Forest reported there is a 6-acre fire burning in steep terrain in the White River drainage south of Bonney Meadows Campground on Barlow Ranger District.  Firefighters were responding on the ground and helicopters were dropping water during daylight.  Forest Road 48 is CLOSED between FR 43 and FR 4860 for public and firefighter safety.  Forest officials said they would have more details on Tuesday.

The containment level for the Mosier Creek Fire was raised to 75% Tuesday, and the Wasco County Sheriff’s Office announced on Monday that all Level 3 “Go Now” evacuation areas have been downgraded to Level 2 “Be Set.”  Previous Level 2 areas dropped to Level 1 “Be Ready,” and previous Level 1 areas had their advisories lifted.  Fire officials are asking the general public to avoid the area burned by the fire unless absolutely necessary as there will be ongoing firefighting traffic. Some roads are restricted to local access only.   Fire-weakened trees and burned roots covered by dust or ash might also still be hot enough to cause harm.  Mop-up work continues Tuesday.  On Wednesday, ODF’s Incident Management Team 1 will transfer command of the fire back to The Dalles Unit of ODF.   Several local resources will continue to patrol and monitor the fire.  People may see occasional smoke from the interior of the fire.  The Oregon State Fire Marshal’s structural Task Forces demobilized yesterday and returned structure responsibilities to local fire authorities.   Their final assessment: 8 residences were destroyed along with 28 other structures.  Fire size remains 985 acres.  Oregon Governor Kate Brown on Monday visited the site of the Mosier Creek Fire, was briefed on its status, visited a fire line and met with a family whose home was destroyed.

The Hood River County School District has moved its first instructional day for students back a week to September 14 to allow for orientation sessions before online classes begin.  Superintendent Rich Polkinghorn sent a letter to district families on Monday outlining their plans for the start of the school year.  He said they want to allow plenty of time for families and staff to be ready to get off to a good start with the comprehensive distance learning program.  Under the district’s plans, elementary schools will do teacher-facilitated instruction in the morning and applied learning in the afternoon, with that schedule flipped for secondary schools.  Details are available on the Hood River County School District website.

Hood River County Health Department Director Trish Elliott told County Commissioners during a worksession on Monday afternoon that there are 20 active cases of COVID-19 in the County, down from 37 as of Friday.  Elliott told Commissioners the County was at 219 total cases for the pandemic, of which 199 have been released from isolation.  She did say there are 76 active contacts of those who have tested positive for the virus, and two people are currently hospitalized due to the virus, with a total of six having been hospitalized during the pandemic.  Elliott said most cases are related to outbreaks or household contacts.  She did say one outbreak was at the health department itself.  Commissioners asked if there was anything they could do to help the County get more resources to deal with the pandemic, including getting more testing capability.  Elliott said that is getting better but still in need of improvement. noting that testing is still a problem throughout the country.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development is providing $2.1 million in loans and grants to establish a municipal water system for Biggs Junction.  The Biggs Service District is currently served by privately-owned water systems, each with its own storage and varying levels of treatment, with no connectivity between them, and no capacity to provide sufficient water volume in case of a fire, which has put a stop to building permits until that is addressed.  The federal funding will allow the Biggs Service District to drill a well to supply drinking water for the small community, construct a pump station and reservoir, purchase two of the private wells and upgrade them for a backup water source, and install a water main line to serve all users and provide flows necessary for firefighting activities.  The $1.56 million loan and $535,500 grant will be from USDA Rural Development’s Water and Waste Disposal Program.

High winds downed power lines and led to outages in The Dalles on Sunday evening.  Northern Wasco PUD said as of 10:15 p.m. Sunday most customers had power restored by re-routing after Bonneville Power Administration transmission poles were damaged on West 6th Street by the quickly moving storm.  BPA and Northern Wasco PUD crews were working throughout the night to restore services.  There were also reports of trees and a line down on Quinton Street.  Northern Wasco PUD asks its customers that if you are still without power, please report it by calling 541-296-2226.  Wasco Electric Co-op said power had been restored to all of its members by 8:30 a.m., and if you are still without power contact their office at 541-296-2740.

North Central Public Health District will continue offering weekly COVID-19 testing at the Community Meal site in The Dalles as long as there is demand.  District health officer Dr. Mimi McDonell said the testing is offered on a volunteer basis, and began in July when three cases of COVID were diagnosed in homeless people who live in the area and had, at times, visited the Community Meal site.  The testing is also offered to volunteers who help out at Community Meal and staff who work there.  McDonell said the testing was set up with the homeless population because they had a higher risk of exposure.  Health district staff also provide masks, hand sanitizer and information at each weekly visit to Community Meals.  The testing is offered Thursday mornings.  The Dalles St. Vincent dePaul houses the meal site.  St. Vincent dePaul executive director Dave Lutgens said they have not had any positive tests since the program began.  Other preventative steps Community Meals has taken includes feeling meals outside.  Packaged food is available in the morning for people to take with them.  People are still allowed onsite to use the laundry and shower services, or to watch TV or go on the computer.