Klickitat County officials are asking residents to voluntarily refrain from outdoor burning during the COVID-19 pandemic.  While recognizing fire can be a necessary tool to manage lands, they say smoke from fires can result in negative consequences for the public and first responders, including smoke inhalation causing respiratory symptoms that incorrectly appear to be COVID-19 leading to unnecessary testing of self-isolation, and increasing the risk of contracting or worsening respiratory diseases due to exposure to smoke.  In addition, first responders have a limited supply of personal protective equipment, and have limited resources to respond to out of control burns.  Klickitat County officials suggest using alternatives to burning like composting or chipping yard debris on site, or hauling yard debris to a composting site or to the transfer station for disposal.  More information is available at klickitatcounty.org.

No new COVID-19 cases have been reported Thursday in the Mid-Columbia.  Klickitat County reported two positive tests for COVID-19 Wednesday, bring the total in the County to 16.  The latest two were both in the central part of the County, which has seen 14 of the 16 positive tests.  Wasco County remains at ten, Hood River County four, Skamania County three, and Sherman County one.  Wasco County has tallied 359 negative COVID-19 tests, Hood River County 329, Klickitat County 270, and Skamania County 70.  The Oregon Health Authority listed 73 new COVID-19 cases in an update of statewide numbers on Thursday, moving the total to 1,736, 24 percent of which have required hospitalization.  The death count went up by six to 64.  In Washington, statistics compiled at the end of Wednesday showed 10,783 cases of COVID-19 have been detected, with 567 deaths.  Oregon reports it has received 31,688 negative tests, while Washington has had 123,500 negative tests.

A group of White Salmon-area service providers has been awarded $800,000 from the non-profit Southwest Accountable Community of Health to launch a multi-agency program targeting underserved children and families living in western Klickitat and far eastern Skamania counties.  The Klickitat County Link Group says the collaborative program will connect community members to vital services such as food, transportation, housing and healthcare – including mental health care and substance abuse treatment.  Although the program was conceived prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the difficulties many in the community currently face due to the pandemic make this initiative particularly important.  K-LINK partners include the Bingen/White Salmon Police Department, Comprehensive Healthcare, Mt. Adams Transportation and Senior Services, Klickitat County Health Department, NorthShore Medical Group, Skyline Health, Washington Gorge Action Programs, the White Salmon Valley Education Foundation and the White Salmon Valley School District.

There will be intermittent, single-lane closures on the Hood River-White Salmon Interstate Bridge for two weeks starting on Monday.  The Port of Hood River says welding crews will be working on biannual maintenance and repairing the bridge’s grated steel deck.  The single-lane closures will be from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays beginning on Monday through May 1.  Flaggers will direct traffic around the moving work zone.  Delays of up to 20 minutes are expected, depending on traffic volume.  For more information, call (541) 386-1645 or email porthr@gorge.net

The Oregon State University Extension Service Outdoor School has added a webpage with resources to support outdoor learning experiences while students stay at home.  Program leader Kristopher Elliott says they wanted to provide resources for schools, educators, and families to provide learning opportunities that connect students to the outdoors, either in the backyard or simply by looking out the window.  The resources are available at outdoorschool.oregonstate.edu, and they are updated every Friday.  The closure of schools in the state due to COVID-19 cancelled the outdoor school experience for fifth and sixth graders in the state.

A fairly new program in The Dalles is seeking volunteers to help older adults in the community with grocery shopping or make friendly phone check-ins.  Gracen Bookmyer is a community liaison for Circles of Care, which is coordinated by statewide non-profit AgePlus.  Bookmyer says their mission is to improve the lives of older adults in the communities they live in, and during the COVID-19 crisis they are offering grocery shopping and phone check-ins.  Those who would like to volunteer in the effort, or are an older adult that would like to receive the help, can call Bookmyer at 541-397-0724 or email her at gbookmyer@ageplus.org.

Mid-Columbia Fire and Rescue crews put out a fire on a westbound Union Pacific train at the east end of The Dalles Tuesday afternoon.  MCFR units arrived to find a semi-tractor trailer, loaded onto a flatbed rail car, with active fire inside the container.  Initially crews protected containers adjacent to the burning car in case hazardous materials were present.  Once Union Pacific and Oregon State Fire Marshal’s hazardous materials personnel determined there were none present, fire crews were able to extinguish the burning trailer and its contents.

Klickitat County reported a new positive test for COVID-19 Wednesday, bringing the total in the County to 15.  The latest was is the central part of the County, which has seen 13 of the 15 positive tests.  Klickitat County did list another COVID-19 case as recovered Wednesday, putting that number at eight.  No other counties reported new cases Wednesday, with Wasco County remaining at ten, Hood River County four, Skamania County three, and Sherman County one.  Wasco County has tallied 348 negative COVID-19 tests, Hood River County 320, Klickitat County 254, and Skamania County 45.  The Oregon Health Authority listed 33 new COVID-19 cases in an update of statewide numbers on Tuesday, moving the total to 1,663, with three previously listed cases having been removed.  The death count went up by three to 58.  In Washington, statistics compiled at the end of Tuesday showed 10,694 cases of COVID-19 have been detected, with 541 deaths.  Oregon reports it has received 31,688 negative tests, while Washington has had 112,160 negative tests.

As the Democrat governors of Oregon, Washington, and California announced this week they would work on a shared approach to re-opening economies and control the spread of COVID-19, some Republican leaders in the Oregon Legislature are expressing concern with that.  Oregon Governor Kate Brown and Washington Governor Jay Inslee both say any agreement would be limited in scope, with Brown saying it is mainly about communication.  But Oregon Senate Republican Leader Herman Baertschiger Jr. of Grants Pass said in a statement such a pact is not good for the state, saying what works in Seattle may not work in Oregon, and particularly rural Oregon.  He adds that his caucus is “having a difficult time understanding why communities in Oregon that have not been impacted by COVID-19 can’t return to business sooner than others in the state,” adding Oregon should be addressing conditions on a local level before worrying about what other states are doing.

North Wasco County School District and The Dalles High School will be honoring its senior class of 2020 by turning on the lights at all of its athletic facilities at 8:20 Friday evening for 20 minutes.  During that 20 minute period staff, families, friends and community members will have the opportunity to post encouraging messages to our Senior Class via the District’s Facebook live stream (@northwascoschools).   You can also access the video and Facebook links at https://riverhawkathletics.com and The Dalles High School Home Page at https://www.nwasco.k12.or.us/high.