INDEX
Hydro Flask fundraiser
helps migrant workers —
A9
Classifieds
B7-8
History
B6
Kidspace
B14
Obituaries
A7-8
Opinion
A4-5
PoliceLogs
B5
PublicNotices
B9-10
SeniorLiving
B3
Sports
A14-15
ThroughtheEyesofanElder A16
What'sHappening
B5
Sports — A14-15
4-H shares history with
Hood River Co. Fair — B1
Weather
Notashotaslastweek—
highof102inTheDalles
Sunday,week-longaverages
in90s,breezyWednesday
Fourth of July photos: White
Salmon, Hood River and The
Dalles — A13 and online
Columbia Gorge News
HOOD RIVER | THE DALLES | WHITE SALMON
Wednesday,July7,2021 Volume2,Issue14
Celebrating the Fourth
$1.00
FIRE WATCH
Wildfire
response
‘working’
By Mark Gibson
■ Columbia
Gorge News
Fort Dalles Fourth firework watch-
ers gather on the intersection of
Union Street and the Riverfront Trail
to watch the firework show over the
Columbia River Sunday evening,
July 4. Additional photos, page A13.
Mark B. Gibson photo
Riverside Riders 4-H Club member Kasia Hylton drives fellow member Colt Lawson in a red, white, and blue-themed John
Deere down Jewett Boulevard in White Salmon. The Goonies Motorsports Tail End Support Team, driven by the two young-
sters, won the contest for Most Patriotic Vehicle in the White Salmon Fourth of July Parade and Celebration in the Park.
Jacob Bertram photo
Swimming with the apps
Local nonprofit
helps you swim
without fear
Oberst
■ By For Gail
Columbia Gorge News
There’s nothing more refreshing
on a hot summer day than to splash
in the cool Columbia River or the
falls and streams that feed into it.
But before you dive, take a
minute to research your favorite
swimming hole. If you like to dive
with a mouth-wide-open smile on
your face, you could emerge from
the water with more than a cool
attitude.
Drinking water where unhealthy
levels of the E. coli bacteria occur
can cause diarrhea, nausea and
fever. Although the E. coli bacteria
lives in every healthy warm-blood-
ed animal’s gut and often ends up
in local waters, some types of fecal
matter, when ingested, can cause
illness in humans.
SeeFIRE,page3
Columbia Riverkeeper Director Lorri
Epstein, at left, closely examines
a sample of river water at the Hood
River Spit. The lab needs 100 mg of
water for the best possible sample.
Signs like the one above can be seen
at recreation sites throughout the
Gorge where samples have returned
elevated levels of contamination.
Noah Noteboom photos
So, how do you play in the
summer without getting sick? Not
swim? Of course not. Water is The
Gorge’s raison d’etre.
Lorri Epstein to the rescue, a fish
biologist and water quality director
for Columbia Riverkeeper, in Hood
River. Among other work, Epstein
is tasked with testing the waters in
and around the Columbia River for
E. coli bacteria. She then posts her
findings to the public Swim Guide
app and website, allowing locals
— and visitors — to make healthy
choices around where they swim.
The guide is at www.
theswimguide.org.
Epstein since 2009 has been test-
ing local waters for the nonprofit
SeeWATER,page11
States lift COVID restrictions
Report
■ Staff
Columbia Gorge News
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown has
signed an executive order to lift all
COVID-19 health and safety re-
strictions, which includes Oregon’s
statewide mask mandate and
county risk level system, effective
June 30.
There will no longer be restric-
tions in place on physical distanc-
ing or capacity limits, as previously
outlined in the county risk level
system.
However, masks will still be
required in certain setting such as
airports, public transportation, and
health care facilities.
Currently, 69.5% of Oregon res-
idents 18 and over have received
at least one dose of a COVID-19
vaccine.
“It is because of this success
that we can move Oregon forward,
and into the next chapter of this
pandemic,” Brown said. “We are
ready.”
In a letter to the editor July 2,
Dr. Mimi McDonell, health officer
for North Central Public Health
District, noted the pandemic was
not, however, over.
“I am incredibly grateful and
proud of the compassion, inge-
nuity, hard work and generosity
shown by the residents of our
community,” she wrote. “It is
important to remember, however,
that although we feel very done
with COVID-19, it is not quite
done with us. Although low in
numbers, infections and hospital-
izations from COVID-19 are still
happening, with the vast majority
occurring in unvaccinated people.
Children under 12 and some indi-
viduals are unable to receive the
vaccine at this time, leaving them
susceptible to infection. Those who
are immune-compromised may be
vulnerable to infection even after
being vaccinated.
“Finally, there are still
SeeCOVID,page8
Plans begin for homeless shelter in TD
Site sought for new $1.5 million ‘navigation center’ to serve multiple local agencies
One Community Health, he said.
would serve as a multi-agency
House Bill 5006, the budget
By Alana Lackner
■ Columbia
Gorge News
He believes it will be a worthwhile
service site, as well as a homeless
reconciliation bill, which award-
THE DALLES — The Mid-
Columbia Community Action
Council recently received $1.5
million for the development of a
navigation center in The Dalles.
MCCAC Executive Director
Kenny LaPoint spoke at the city
council meeting on June 28 and
said that the navigation center
When the Valley View Fire (also
called the Sunset Valley Fire) was
first reported July 1, conditions
where reminiscent of those facing
firefighters during the Substation
Fire of 2018. Both fires started
within 1/2 mile of each other,
were driven by high winbds into
dry fuels.
The Substation Fire fire con-
sumed almost 80,000 acres in
Wasco and Sherman counties,
and destroyed four homes and
four outbuildings. At its height,
it was the nation’s “top priority”
wildfire due to the number of at
risk.
The Valley View Fire, in
contrast, was held to 987 acres,
damaged one barn, several out-
buildings, multiple vehicles and a
portion of a cherry orchard.
Mid-Columbia Fire and Rescue
Chief Bob Palmer credited local
response and the quick work of
the Oregon Fire Marshall’s Office
with the difference.
“Without the resources we had
today, including the three addi-
tional task forces and air support
from OSFM, we would not have
stopped it as quickly and the fire
would have grown much larger,”
said Palmer. “What the state is
shelter. The current shelter would
move to the new building, LaPoint
said, as would many local agencies.
The MCCAC still has to find a
location for the navigation cen-
ter, LaPoint said. “We’re looking
throughout The Dalles to find a site
that will work for this project,” he
said.
The funds come from Oregon
ed millions of dollars to agencies
across the state.
Despite the $1.5 million from
HB 5006, LaPoint said the MCCAC
foresees needing more funding for
full completion of the project.
Multiple local organizations
have already pledged money to
the project, including the Mid-
Columbia Center for Living and
endeavor for the community in the
long-run.
“It’s really good news for this
community,” LaPoint said. “It’s go-
ing to get a resource into The Dalles
that we have probably needed for a
really long time and Mid-Columbia
Community Action is very excited
to take the lead on this project.”
Policy
addresses
mental,
emotional
health
By Jacob Bertram
■ Columbia
Gorge News
WHITE
SALMON — It’s
all come full cir-
cle for Gabrielle
Gilbert.
After advo-
cating locally for
years to see pol-
Gabrielle
icy changes im-
Gilbert
plemented in the
White Salmon
Valley School District that
would address students’ social
and emotional learning needs,
Gilbert’s overall goal for taking
the policy statewide culminated
in a state bill signed into law by
Gov. Jay Inslee last year that will
take effect by the beginning of the
2021-22 school year.
According to the Washington
Office of Superintendent of
SeeGILBERT,page11
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