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WEATHER
MOSTLY SUNNY, HIGHS IN
LOW-80S, NIGHTIME LOWS
IN THE 50S
Plein Air exhibit opens for August.
page B10
4-H, FFA have 'little
piece of the fair'
page A11
Columbia Gorge News
HOOD RIVER | THE DALLES | WHITE SALMON
Wednesday,August5,2020 Volume1,Issue18
Crews battle Fir Mountain Fire
Blaze burns at
Wasco-Hood
River county line
■ By Kirby Neumann-Rea
Columbia Gorge News
Controlling the spot fires
surrounding the main body of Fir
Mountain fire was the main task
Monday at the timber and wildland
fire straddling the Hood River and
Wasco County line.
Firefighters were challenged with
wind and dry vegetation as they
used dozers and hand crews to con-
struct fireline on the fire perimeter.
Air resources, including large air
tankers and water scooping aircraft
were used throughout the day to
support ground resources in efforts
to control the spread of the fire. As
resources are available, air attack
was scheduled to continue Monday
(after press time). A fire camp has
been established at Hood River
County Fairgrounds in Odell.
The fire has grown to approxi-
mately 250 acres by Monday, burn-
ing on private forestland and Hood
River County ownership.
The fire is located eight miles
southeast of Hood River, burn-
ing east from Fir Mountain Road
toward Gilbertson Road. Single
tree torching and spotting across
the fireline has hampered efforts to
secure the perimeter in some areas.
Dozers are being used to construct
fireline where the terrain allows,
and hand crews are working in
areas where slope limits access for
equipment.
The fire was reported late
Saturday night. The cause is not yet
known, according to Kyle Nairns
of ODF, who said rising winds are
a concerning factor in the spread
of the fire. Gusts up to 13 miles an
SeeFIRE,page8
■ By Kirby Neumann-Rea
Columbia Gorge News
“A fast pivot.”
That’s Rich Polkinghorn’s term
for the change, in the past week,
to a two-pronged plan for distance
learning in Hood River County
School District this fall.
Superintendent Polkinghorn, a
month into the job, announced July
28 that the district will not provide
on-site learning until 2021, if then.
Schools will not be open to stu-
dents at least through November, in
light of the COVID-19 crisis.
The district had planned to for-
malize its choice between distance,
on-site, and hybrid models in the
School Board meeting on Aug. 12,
but the message from the Oregon
Department of Education (ODE)
and Gov. Kate Brown on July 27
changed that timeline overnight.
“With the guidance provided
today, we are shifting our focus
from On-site Learning Model to
Comprehensive Distance Learning,”
Polkinghorn stated on the district
website and in a letter sent July 28 to
families. “I will continue to collab-
orate with the Hood River County
Health Department, the ODE and
Oregon Health Authority to assess
when it will be safe to return to
on-site learning. The earliest we an-
ticipate making a change to on-site
learning will be early November,
to coincide with the end of the first
quarter/trimester.”
Keeping campuses closed, except
for the possibility of staff being
in buildings, is expected through
November, “provided we can meet
the requirements of state COVID
rates,” Polkinghorn said. “Those
rates aren’t anything the district can
control, it’s our community follow-
ing the recommendtions of Oregon
Health Authority and wearing face
masks, washing hands, and people
staying home if they’re sick.
SeePIVOT,page10
ELECTIONS
A drop box in Bingen awaits ballots
for the Aug. 4 primary election in
Washington. Preliminary results will
be made available online.
Jacob Bertram photo
A helicopter with a bucket works the Fir Mountain Road fire southeast of Hood
River Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020. The Dalles Unit of the Oregon Department of
Forestry is the lead agency on the fire. Oregon Department of Forestry photo
Schools plan for distance learning
In HR, Online and
comprehensive
options offered,
campuses will
remain closed
$1.00
Northern Wasco
County D21 to start
with online-only format
In a July 30 letter to parents
and guardians with kids in North
Wasco County Schools District 21,
Interim Superintendent Theresa
Peters said the district will begin
the 2020-21 school year online in
a “comprehensive distance learn-
ing” format.
Peters explained that the
Oregon Department of Education
and the Oregon Health Authority’s
release the health metrics re-
quired for local districts to provide
in-school instruction during the
current pandemic clarified district
plans.
“In order for families and
staff to plan, we will use the
Comprehensive Distance
Learning format until Oct. 16”
rather than on-site classroom
teaching, Peters wrote. “We will
monitor the health metrics at
the state and county levels to
determine whether we continue
with Comprehensive Distance
Learning or if we are able to move
to a hybrid model after Oct. 16."
A hybrid model would be a
combination of in-school and
distance learning for students.
“We are also exploring a full
distance learning format as an
option for some students,” said
Peters. “Comprehensive Distance
Learning” will not be the same as
distance learning from this past
spring, which was a response
SeeONLINE,page10
Washington
Primary
results online
Preliminary results from the
Aug. 4 primary in Washington
state are available online at white-
salmonenterprise.com.
The top-two vote recipients,
regardless of party preference, will
proceed to the general election in
November.
In Klickitat County, multiple
seats are up for election, in-
cluding both spots for Dist. 14
Representative as well as Klickitat
County Commissioner positions
1 and 3. A proposal to lift the levy
lid for Dallesport Fire District No.
6 from $.368 to $.90 per $1000 of
assessed value also appears on the
Aug. 4 ballot.
Up for election in Skamania
County is County Commissioner
positions 1 and 2.
In both counties, residents will
also vote for Congressional District
#3 U.S. Representative and partic-
ipate in multiple statewide races
for Governor, Secretary of State,
and Attorney General, among
others.
Filing begins
for Wasco Co.
elections
■ Emily Fitzgerald
A05 Annex receives PNW Chairman’s Award
Northwest.
“This is the highest award given
Hood River Valley High School’s to a team,” said engineering teacher
Jeff Blackman. “The award is based
A05 Annex — FIRST Robotics
Competition (FRC) team — learned on the team’s robot and community
service.”
it had won the prestigious Pacific
But it’s not the only award A05
Northwest Chairman’s Award via
Annex won during this year’s
an online ceremony June 25.
It was one of three teams located shortened season. On March 1,
in Oregon, Washington and Alaska A05 Annex won the Clackamas
Chairman’s Award during the
to win the honor. HRVHS was
FRC competition at Clackamas
up against teams from Renton,
Academy of Industrial Sciences.
Oak Harbor, Seattle, Tacoma and
The students competed against 250
Issaquah in Washington, Umatilla
teams from Oregon, Washington
and Lake Oswego in Oregon,
and Alaska for that award.
and Anchorage in Alaska, and is
Community service includes
now ranked 10th in the Pacific
■ By Trisha Walker
Columbia Gorge News
the FAB bus, a well-known sight
around the county, bringing STEM
projects to elementary and migrant
students, among others. Students
coordinate the annual June First
Friday STEM Fair in downtown
Hood River, where families can
see robots up close and tour the
FAB bus (canceled in 2020 due to
COVID-19). This year, students also
began a Unified Robotics program,
bringing robotics to different-
ly-abled classmates and organizing
a competition between teams from
various schools.
These awards “best represent a
model for other teams to emulate
and best embodies the purpose
and goals of FRC,” according to an
FRC news release. A05 Annex has
“prioritized breaking down the
barriers that prevent students from
participating in FRC by developing
bilingual STEM curriculum and
materials (Science Technology
Engineering and Mathematics). To
spread the word, their Gorge FAB
Bus, plastered with FRC stickers,
starts students on the road to a
successful future.”
A05 Annex 2020 team members
are: Edith Soto, team captain, class
SeeROBOTICS,page8
Columbia Gorge News
Over 30 local offices in Wasco
County are up for election this
November — including the
Wasco County Sheriff, Clerk and
Treasurer, and mayoral seats in
The Dalles, Dufur, Maupin, Mosier,
Antelope and Shaniko.
The cities of The Dalles, Dufur,
Maupin, Mosier and Antelope
each have three open positions on
their respective city councils, and
four seats are open on the Shaniko
City Council. The City Recorder
position in Shaniko is also up for
election in November.
In addition, the Northern Wasco
People’s Utility District and the
Chenowith Water Public Utility
SeeWASCO,page8
TOWN HALL
State regulations for COVID
raise liability questions
Region’s hospitals
have been ‘resilient’
■ By Rodger Nichols
For Columbia Gorge News
Eastern Oregon State Reps. Dan
Bonham and Mark Owens and
State Sen. Lynn Findley held the
seventh of their biweekly town
halls on Thursday. District 59 Rep.
Bonham said all of them had been
working hard on various legislative
topics.
“The conversation I’ve been
involved in, in Salem, recently has
been tied to the discussion of lia-
bility,” he said. “If the state is going
to put forward the regulations that
they’ve put forward and dictate to
a large extent how business, how
nonprofits, how local jurisdictions,
how school districts can conduct
business, then they need to provide
some liability protection in case of
COVID exposure.”
Bonham was asked, in light
of the sharp downturn in state
SeeSALEM,page10
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Eastern Oregon State Reps. Dan Bonham (above center), Mark Owens (top
left) and State Sen. Lynn Findly (top right) hold their seventh virtual town hall
Thursday, July 30.
Rodger Nichols photo