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Columbia Gorge News
HOOD RIVER | THE DALLES | WHITE SALMON
Wednesday,November25,2020 Volume1,Issue34
Skyline emergency department
project moving forward
Jacob Bertram
■ By Columbia
Gorge News
Drywall and sheet rock were
going up last Wednesday on the
Skyline Health campus construc-
tion site in White Salmon, marking
progress on the emergency depart-
ment expansion and renovation
project, which began last August.
Skyline Health’s emergency
department capital project will
soon move on to phase two of their
construction timeline, set to be
complete in May of 2021.
Skyline’s $6.1 million project will
increase capacity, enhance patient
security and privacy, and improve
staff workflow, said Skyline CEO
Robb Kimmes. Funding comes
from a mixture of state grants,
donations, and from bonds refi-
nanced in 2017.
“We’ve got top-notch providers,
and now we’re going to have a
top-notch space to go with it,” said
Kimmes.
Kimmes said the project reflects
growth in the area, as the hospital
makes moves to expand and revi-
talize services to its full potential.
“As the town has grown, so has the
needs of the emergency depart-
ment,” said Kimmes.
Phase one of the project includes
the construction of the emergen-
cy department expansion, while
Leslie Wolf, the child abuse, sex-
ual abuse, and domestic violence
prosecutor for 21 years for Wasco
County, has left the district attor-
ney’s office.
“After many years in the Wasco
County District Attorney’s office I
felt it was time for a change, and it
seemed like the ideal time to move
on,” she said. Her last day was in
early October.
“In seventh grade, I knew I
wanted to be a prosecutor and
spent the next decade achieving
just that,” Wolf said. When Wasco
County DA Eric Nisley “asked if I
Thanksgiving
underlines
realities of
COVID-19
response
Health officer urges
‘small sacrifices now’ to
stem pandemic spike
By Kirby Neumann-Rea
■ Columbia
Gorge News
Construction workers were putting up drywall Wednesday afternoon. According to superintendent Christopher Douglass
of construction firm Howard S. Wright, work on the roof is substantially complete, and phase one of the project is set to be
complete in January.
Jacob Bertram photo
phase two will see renovations to
the existing emergency depart-
ment, constructed in 1996.
The expansion will add around
2,800 square feet to the depart-
ment, including two examination
rooms, four patient-centered
rooms, a new nurse’s station, and
a family lounge, Skyline’s take on a
waiting room. Renovations include
security doors to the emergency
department and a separate ambu-
lance bay from visitor access to the
department.
Each examination room will be
bigger than the existing rooms,
allowing for medical technology,
such as ultrasound technology and
X-ray machinery, to be transported
into patients’ rooms and for more
medical personnel to be present
and have easy access to the bed.
SeeSKYLINE,page3
Chief Deputy DA resigns after 21 years
Neita Cecil
■ By Columbia
Gorge News
$1.00
wanted to work for
Wasco County as
a prosecutor, I was
thrilled. “
She began as
a deputy dis-
trict attorney in
1999, where she
Leslie Wolf
had over 26 jury
trials her first year.
She prosecuted misdemeanor
crimes, including DUIIs, thefts,
dog cases, and fish and wildlife
crimes. She had never shot a gun,
nor ever hunted, and she was
quickly educated by Oregon State
Police troopers including Fred
Patton, Mike Caldwell, and Craig
Guide to Restaurants
— Special Section
Gunderson, about Wasco County’s
vast and beautiful wildlife. Her
highlights were the prosecution of a
bear poacher and a big horn sheep
poacher.
In 2003, Wolf had her first
domestic violence case. “I met a
victim who had been tortured,
beaten, and treated like an animal
time and time again. Her resilience
and bravery were both admirable
and inspiring. I knew then that
supporting survivors and helping
families and children was where I
really wanted to make a difference.”
That is when her caseload
changed to handling all domes-
tic violence, child abuse and sex
SeeWOLF,page10
Songer calls
COVID-19
restrictions ‘illegal’
By Jacob Bertram
■ Columbia
Gorge News
Getting the right seasoning on barbacoa beef is Evelyn Bustos’ task in the kitch-
en at Boda’s Deli in Hood River. This scene is from April 2020 just as coronavirus
restrictions started to make life complicated for restaurants, bars, and other
food and drink purveyors. Since then, establishments have adjusted to chang-
es in health guidelines, food preparation, staffing, schedules, menus, service
hours and dining spaces, and more. The pandemic’s realities have brought roll-
ing challenges for dozens of businesses in the region. In this edition, Columbia
Gorge News includes Restaurant Guide, a n exhaustive list of establishments
from throughout the Gorge. Use the guide to find take-out meals, for now, and
for dine-in once the official “freeze” restrictions are lifted. Look for the insert in
this edition, along with related “shop local” articles on pages A12-13.
Kirby Neumann-Rea photo
assault cases. “From homicide to
dependency cases, my goal was
to protect the citizens of Wasco
County, to educate the public about
abuse and neglect, and to hold of-
fenders accountable while making
sure they got the best and effective
treatment and help.”
Wolf regularly began to speak at
schools, gyms, churches and com-
munity events about what we as a
community can do to stop abuse
and violence. She became active
in the Wasco County’s Child Abuse
Team, Domestic Violence Council,
Sexual Abuse Response Team,
Constitutional Right to do so.”
Inslee’s proclamation, which
went into effect Nov. 16 and will
last for four weeks until Dec. 14,
Klickitat County Sheriff Bob
bans indoor dining and various
Songer doubled-down on his
stance on the statewide COVID-19 other indoor services and pro-
restrictions, calling Governor Jay
hibits in-person gatherings with
Inslee’s latest round of COVID-19 people outside your household
restrictions “illegal and unconsti- “unless they (a) quarantine for
fourteen days (14) prior to the
tutional,” and reminded citizens
social gathering; or (b) quaran-
that sheriff’s deputies will not be
enforcing the guidelines in a Nov. tine for seven (7) days prior to
18 announcement.
the social gathering and receive a
Songer also requested busi-
negative COVID-19 test result no
more than 48-hours prior to the
ness owners who “feel they are
gathering.”
being harassed by (Washington
Songer said in an interview
State Department of Labor
with Columbia Gorge News he
& Industries) agents or the
included the statement directed
Washington State Liquor &
to business owners because “you
Cannabis (Board) Agents” to call
got a lot of small business owners
his personal cell phone.
scared to death that they’re losing
“If the citizens and business
owners of Klickitat County choose their businesses, with diminished
capacity… And I think it’s a legiti-
to follow Governor Inslee’s
COVID-19 restrictions, that is their mate concern.”
right to do so,” Songer wrote in
Asked what he believes harass-
the announcement. “However, if
ment by state agents would look
the citizens and business owners
like, Songer cited, “If they’re mak-
of Klickitat County choose NOT
ing unusual stops, more frequent
TO FOLLOW Governor Inslee’s
COVID-19 restrictions, that is their
SeeSONGER,page3
The term “surge protocol” is
back.
As communities everywhere
this fall face a large increase in
identified COVID-19 cases, health
officials are issuing renewed and
unprecedented health advisories
as the Thanksgiving holiday ar-
rives, bringing strong concerns for
super-spread events and renewed
outbreaks.
Meanwhile, Hood River County
Health Department Director
Trish Elliott gave a sobering
report last week to the Board of
Commissioners on the realities
of rising coronavirus cases, an
overworked staff and overtaxed
pandemic response system.
“With the current surge, we are
seeing a huge daily increase in the
number of cases and contacts that
we are calling,” Elliott said. (See
details in a Q-and-A, page A8 .)
Regarding contact tracing, “It’s
impossible for our staff to keep
up with what we are doing right
now,” she said. The revised contact
SeeCOVID-19,page8
TD man
arrested
on sodomy
charges
Emily Fitzgerald
■ Columbia
Gorge News
A The Dalles
man was arrested
Nov. 12 for charges
related to the
sexual abuse of
multiple children
between 1999 and
2005.
Steven Leroy
Steven Leroy
Thomas
Thomas, 66,
faces five counts
of Sodomy in the First Degree in
Hood River County Circuit Court
for allegedly engaging in oral inter-
course with five children under the
age of 12 between Jan. 1, 1999, and
Dec. 31, 2005. He was additionally
arrested — but not charged — on
four counts of Sex Abuse in the
First Degree and two counts of
Incest.
He is currently being lodged
at the Northern Oregon Regional
Correctional Facility (NORCOR)
on a $25,000 bail. His next court
date, a plea hearing, is scheduled
for 11 a.m. on Dec. 10.
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