Hood River County Commissioners have scheduled a special meeting for Thursday to receive a plan for phase one of re-opening from a workgroup that is putting it together.  Commissioners discussed it at a worksession on Monday afternoon.  Commissioner Karen Joplin is a part of the group developing the plan, and she said it appears the County should be able to meet the gating criteria to move forward with phase one, including having a plan for COVID-19 testing in the event of a surge.  The one concern revolves around whether the state will consider Hood River County as part of a region with Wasco, Sherman, and Gilliam counties, or a larger region that could extend all the way to the Idaho border.  Joplin said if the state goes with a separate Mid-Columbia region, then they should meet gating criteria as a group, but that could become more problematic if counties further east are added in.

The North Wasco County School District 21 Education Foundation is continuing its effort to raise $20,000 by May 15 to support D-21 in providing distance learning and support basic needs for families experiencing economic hardships.  Foundation Administrative Director Rebecca Thistlethwaite says they are nearly halfway to that goal, and for the next two weeks the Foundation is pledging $5,000 from its own reserves to match dollar for dollar any donations coming in up to $5,000.  Half the funds would go toward technology needs for distance learning by addressing a shortage of Chromebooks at the elementary level along with helping teachers with laptops and webcams they don’t have at home.  The Foundation noted the Google Foundation has just pledged an emergency grant of $40,000 to put towards those issues, and the Foundation wants to cover the remaining $10,000 need.  The other half of the fundraising effort would be used to purchase grocery and gas gift cards for families with the greatest needs.  Donations are accepted at northwascoed.org.

The Oregon State Police is asking for the public’s help as they investigate a Friday morning hit and run accident involving a wrong-way driver on Interstate 84 in The Dalles.  According to the OSP, several witnesses reported a lime green with grey highlights 2000’s model Subaru Outback hatchback with dusty red dirt operated by a heavy set male with grey ear length hair and a full beard driving westbound in the eastbound lanes on the exit 85 off ramp and Interstate 84 at about 11:35 a.m. on Friday.  Several vehicles were able to swerve and avoid the vehicle, but a car driven by 24-year-old Peter Chapman of Vancouver struck the center divider and rolled onto its side.  Chapman was wearing a seat belt and not injured.  The suspect vehicle did a U-turn on the freeway and proceeded back towards exit 85.  It is unknown if the vehicle went back into The Dalles or continued westbound on the freeway.  The OSP is requesting anyone with information regarding the Subaru or the man driving it to contact OSP Dispatch at 1-800-442-0776.

Hood River County registered two more positive COVID-19 tests over the weekend.  In a statement issued Monday morning, Hood River County Health Department Director Patricia Elliott says the last four cases are from the same family.  The family has been asked to isolate according to current guidelines.  In a video posted on Facebook, County Public Health Director Dr. Christopher Van Tilburg said more testing is being done so more cases will be found with the virus in the community.  No new cases were reported in other Oregon Mid-Columbia counties over the weekend, leaving Wasco County at 13 positive tests, Hood River County nine, and Sherman County one.  The Oregon Health Authority today said there were 79 new COVID-19 cases that were either positive tests or presumptive to run the statewide number to 2,759…with no new deaths leaving that number at 109.  The OHA said Monday that it is now including presumptive COVID-19 cases in its daily reports.  A presumptive case is someone who does not have a positive test fir COVID-19, but is showing symptoms and has had close contact with a confirmed case.  In Washington, state numbers released on Sunday showed the number of positive tests in Klickitat County had moved up by one to 18m while Skamania County is at three.

Mid-Columbia Housing Authority will receive just over $95,000 in grants to help with tenant based rental assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic.  The offices of Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley say The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and. Economic Security Act provided $1.25 billion nationally for tenant-based rental assistance, which funds the housing choice voucher program, including $400 million for increased subsidy costs and $850 million for administrative and other expenses incurred by public housing authorities.  Twenty-one public housing authorities throughout Oregon will receive more than $5.7 million in grants.

The Hood River County Chamber of Commerce has set up a website for its members to sell product.  Chamber executive director Kate Schroeder says they partnered with Pacific Power to put together the Hood River Marketplace, and it’s designed to get cash flow into business owners’ hands right now.  To check out the Hood River Marketplace, go to the Chamber’s website at hoodriver.org.

The North Wasco County School District 21 Board has chosen Dry Hollow Elementary School Principal Theresa Peters as the district’s interim superintendent.  Peters will take over the job on July 1 from current superintendent Candy Armstrong, who is retiring after being in the position since 2004.  The D-21 board decided to go the interim route after interviewing three finalists for the job in March but determined none were the right fit for the job.  The board will resume the permanent superintendent search in the coming academic year, with the intent to make the selection for a July 1 start date.

The City of White Salmon has given the go ahead to resume work on the Jewett Water Main Improvements Project.  According to the City, Crestline Construction and city engineers and inspectors Anderson Perry have submitted plans that meet Washington’s COVID-19 requirements for restarting construction.  Crestline will mobilize equipment and reset signage on Monday, then will begin work on side service water lines in the core downtown area.  Work will start Tuesday on the south side of Jewett Boulevard from Estes to Main and continue through May 15, then continue on that side from Main to Garfield the week of May 18.  Crews on the week of May 25 will move to the north side between Estes and Main.  Detours and lanes closures are expected to be similar to those that were used prior to the shutdown of work.

Recreational salmon and steelhead fishing on the Columbia River will reopen for four days in May under rules adopted by the Oregon and Washington departments of fish and wildlife.  The river has been closed to recreational salmon and steelhead fishing since March 26 in response to efforts by the states to slow the spread of Covid-19.  Washington announced it will reopen recreational fishing and Oregon announced it will lift its ban on non-resident hunting and fishing effective on Tuesday.  Open dates for the recreational salmon and steelhead fishing on the Columbia River will be Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and May 13.  Fishing will be open from the Warrior Rock/Bachelor Island line upstream to Beacon Rock both by boat and on the bank, and from Beacon Rock on the bank only to the Bonneville Dam deadline.  Above Bonneville Dam, bank angling is allowed upstream to the Tower Island powerlines, while both boat and bank angling is open from Tower Island upstream to the Oregon/Washington border.  Fishery managers urged recreationists to maintain vigilance and social-distancing.  

Klickitat PUD has established a COVID-19 Small Business Customer Assistance Program.  The PUD says the program extends discounts to impacted small businesses depending on business type to encourage appropriate reopening of businesses that are struggling to keep the lights on due to the crisis, or have had to close their doors due to state mandates.  Eligible small businesses will receive a discount on their electric bill for three consecutive months upon reopening or being approved.  Small business eligibility criteria include being in business within Klickitat County as of January 1, having between one and ten employees, and having been impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.   Agricultural producers do not qualify for the program.  To apply visit Klickitat County Economic Development’s website.