hoodrivernews.com
Wednesday, March 11, 2020 A9
HOOD RIVER NEWS | Hood River, Ore.
CORONAVIRUS: Preventative measures, like handwashing, are recommended
continued from A1
statewide and on the district’s
own preventive safety mea-
sures, including disinfecting
high-touch areas (including
school buses) daily with hos-
pital-grade disinfectant and
stocking up on other cleaning
supplies.
“While the spread of coro-
navirus is troubling, we must
remind ourselves that fear, ru-
mors, and stigma do nothing to
stop the further spread of any
virus,” said Superintendent Dr.
Sara Hahn-Huston in a letter
to parents. “Facts and science,
proven public health measures
and common-sense precau-
tions in our personal lives are
the best measures we can take
to protect our communities.”
■
Coronavirus refers to the
family-group of viruses, while
COVID-19 is the specific strain
causing the outbreak. Com-
mon human coronaviruses
can cause mild to moderate
upper-respiratory tract infec-
tions — such as the common
cold — but some, like COVID-
19, can also cause more severe
symptoms. Reported cases
have ranged from mild illness,
similar to a common cold, to
severe pneumonia that re-
quires hospitalization.
Most people with COVID-
19 have mild symptoms, but
older adults and people who
have severe chronic medical
conditions, such as heart, lung
or kidney disease, have been
identified by the Center for
Disease Control and Preven-
tion as the most at-risk for
severe illness from COVID-19.
Dana Hargunani, M.D., chief
medical officer at OHA, recom-
mended that those most at-risk
take the following steps to stay
safe and healthy:
■ Minimize contact with
people who may be ill.
■ Avoid large public gath-
erings.
■ Order prescriptions by
mail.
■ Take daily precautions:
Wash your hands frequently,
don’t touch your anywhere on
your face and clean surfaces.
The most effective preven-
tative methods for the general
public are frequent handwash-
ing and covering your mouth
and nose when you cough or
sneeze.
When handwashing, use
soap and warm water to scrub
your hands for at least 20 sec-
onds; and when coughing or
sneezing, cover your mouth
and nose with a tissue and
throw it away after use, then
wash your hands (if a tissue is
unavailable, coughing/sneez-
ing into your elbow or upper
sleeve is the next best option).
OHA also recommends that
people avoid contact with peo-
ple who are sick, avoid touch-
ing your face with unwashed
hands, clean and disinfect sur-
faces that are often touched,
and stay home from work or
school if you feel sick, or devel-
op a cough or fever. The Hood
River County School District
requires that students be fe-
CANCELATIONS: Decisions ‘not taken lightly’
continued from A1
Readiness Center.
“We did not take cancel-
ation of this event lightly,”
said GTA Executive Director
Jessica Metta. “While Wind
Challenge has been a beloved
staple for STEM education
in the Gorge for many years,
the safety of the students and
volunteers is our top priority.
We have been monitoring
the COVID-19 concerns very
carefully and felt it was best
to cancel this year’s event
based on our most up-to-date
assessment and in consider-
ation of general public health
and safety.”
The planning team behind
Wind Challenge will recon-
vene in a few months to con-
sider rescheduling the event
for Fall 2020. All previously
registered student teams, vol-
unteers, and the community
will be informed if the event
is rescheduled.
For more information
about Wind Challenge, visit
windchallenge.org
ver-free for 24 hours before re-
turning to class after an illness.
For more information, and
to check for updated informa-
tion about the coronavirus,
visit the websites for OHA,
www.oregon.gov/oha or the
Barley Draught shows
Gorge Commission
Gorge band Barley Draught
has postponed all four of its
gigs in March they had billed
as their farewell tour, after 23
years together.
Double Mountain Brewery
and Cidery has postponed
the 13th anniversary party it
planned for this weekend, to
the tentative date of June 27.
“After a lot of thought and
discussion, we have decided
to postpone our Anniversary
Party and have set a tentative
date of June 27,” the brew-
ery announced in a press
release. “We do not take the
decision lightly, but consid-
ering the number of people
that attends and the current
situation with COVID-19,
we do think it is in the best
health interests for every-
one. Should anyone decide
to show up, we will be open
for normal hours, unless
things change over the next
week.”
Chairman Robert Liberty
stated, “The long-term ad-
vantages of learning how to
use online meeting technol-
ogy will be important during
this critical time, as well as for
scheduling future meetings
as needed. We do not know,
yet, whether the April 28-29
meetings can be held in per-
son, or whether we will need
to continue online meetings
for the next few months,” Lib-
erty said.
The March 10 Commission
meeting materials are all
posted on the commission
website. Liberty advised con-
tacting Executive Director
Krystyna Wolniakowski, with
any questions in advance of
our next online meeting “in
order to be very prepared on
the content while we are ex-
ploring how to have produc-
tive discussions using new
meeting technology.”
Wolniakowski can be
reached by email at krystyna.
wolniakowski@gorgecom-
World Health Organization,
www.who.int/westernpacific/
emergencies/covid-19. Links
to the Center for Disease Con-
trol’s webpage and the John
Hopkins University Coronavi-
rus Tracker, as well as guides
for business and restaurant
response, are available via the
Hood River County’s website,
www.co.hood-river.or.us (for
the County Health Depart-
ment’s page, click “Health De-
partment” under the County
Double Mountain party
mission.org, or by phone
509-713-9623.
Cherry Blossom Buffet
Mosier Grange announced
Monday that it was canceling
its annual Cherry Blossom
Buffet, which would have
been held April 5, due to con-
cerns about coronavirus.
HR Business Showcase
The Hood River County
Chamber of Commerce has
decided to cancel the 2020
Small Business Showcase.
scheduled for March 12 at
Hood River Valley Adult Cen-
ter, and will refund vendor
fees.
Feast of Words
The Hood River Library
Fo u n d at i o n f u n d ra i s e r
scheduled for March 14 has
been postponed. “We fully
intend to hold the event, but
we want to do so on a date ev-
eryone is comfortable with,”
said Foundation president
Jen Bayer.
Departments tab). The Hood
River County School District is
posting relevant information
on its website, www.hoodriver.
k12.or.us/hoodriver.
MILL: Company now advertising for a total 45 new positions
continued from A1
ed, with an intricate system
of sensors sending cues and
instructions to saws via com-
puters that help the mill make
hundreds of board-by-board
decisions every minute.
Currently the company em-
ploys 50 people in one shift,
and will soon be going to
95-100 on two shifts, accord-
ing to Mike Engel, company
president.
The company is now ad-
vertising for a total of 45 posi-
tions, about a third of which
have been filled, in operations,
yard work and driving, as well
as millwrights and mechan-
ics, and other more esoteric
sounding positions such as
tipple operator, hula saw oper-
ator, gang ender operator, twin
horizontal gang operator, and
more. Positions can be filled
by filling out an application in
person or going to Indeed,com
“As soon as we’re fully up
to employment level. That
could be between eight and
16 weeks,” said Engel, the
company president since 2018.
Currently employees hail from
White Salmon, Lyle, The Dalles,
and Hood River County.
Positions start at $15.25
hourly, with insurance and
401K available.
The mill’s annual volume is
95- 100 million board feet; this
will take it “upwards of 175 mil-
lion,” Engel said. “It’s about an
80-85 percent increase.”
The company was formed
out of the bankrupt Hanel Mill
in 2001, and retooled and re-
opened in 2004.
“We’ve been running ever
since with the same owners.
We’ve had a lot of reinvestment
in technology and equipment,
and now it’s a really efficient,
competitive mill,” Engel said.
“We’ve had this mentality for
years of putting it on the sec-
ond shift and now we’ve pulled
the trigger to do it. We made
the decision that we have a
solid enough crew on our day
shift that we can now do this.
It’s the opportunity in the
supply and the lumber market,
and we feel like even with low
unemployment there’s a lot
of desire for family wage jobs.
We’re a solid company.”
Logs come from Hood River,
Skamania and Klickitat coun-
ties.
“Our working circle is any-
where in a 100-mile direction,”
he said.
Mt. Hood Forest Products
installed a gang edger in No-
vember 2018, which slices logs
into two-and two-by-sixes,
along with some equipment
upgrades is the planer mill
including a lug loader and
automated grading system in
2014 which visually x-ray scans
every board and makes an
automated, parameter-based
decision for grade so that al-
lowed us to run faster and
more accurately.
A barker upgrade came in
2014 which made us run more
logs per shift per hour, and a
lot of asphalt work and log-
yard improvements, and green
chain improvements, and
stormwater improvements.
“A lot of that comes into play
with being able to efficiently
run a second shift,” Engel said.
“Currently, we run Saturdays
to get extra production; my
goal is by doing two five-day
shift we won’t be doing Satur-
days — it’s better for families,”
he said. He also noted that
the shift schedule will have
a three-hour gap between so
that day workers have time for
family events after they get off
work and night workers an at-
tend ball games and eat dinner
with their families before going
to work.
“The equipment is built to
run 24-7, darn near, but we’ll
do lighting upgrades so we
can see better at night, and
well continue to switch out
for more LED and finalize our
LED lighting for energy con-
sumption,” Engel said. “We’re
Photo by Kirby Neumann-Rea
COMPANY president Mike Engel checks the computer for the automated status of boards as they
are routed by size and grade to appropriate bins prior to shipment.
looking a little improvement
to our second air compressor,
but other than that the equip-
ment is there and ready to run.
We don’t have any kilns, we
don’t have a boiler so we have
no constraints on log in one
end and lumber out the other.
There’s time the log truck will can literally come in and go out
roll in, and we’ll run it straight the same day as lumber, which
to the mill and it will come in is very efficient.”
the other end of the mill that
same wood 20 minutes late
and we can take it straight off
the outfeed and drive it over
and set it on the truck and it
Gov. Brown announces plan for health insurance
companies to waive cost-sharing for COVID-19 testing
Gov. Kate Brown announced
last week that the state has
reached an agreement with sev-
eral health insurance companies
to waive cost-sharing for their
customers who need COVID-19
testing.
“I’d like to thank Oregon’s in-
surers for partnering with the
state, so that medical providers
can issue COVID-19 tests to any-
one who needs one,” said Brown.
“No one should have to ask if get-
ting a COVID-19 test is something
they can afford. I hope this agree-
ment sets a framework that other
states can follow nationwide.”
The agreement means con-
sumers with fully-insured indi-
vidual and group health plans
will not be charged co-payments,
co-insurance, or deductibles re-
lated to COVID-19 for the fol-
lowing:
■ COVID-19 testing at an
in-network provider, in-network
urgent care center, or emergency
room.
■ COVID-19 immunization
when it becomes available.
Outside of these instances,
regular terms of insurance such as
co-payments, co-insurance and
deductibles will still apply.
At this time, people with no
or minor symptoms do not need
to seek COVID-19 testing, said
a press release from Brown’s
office. Testing is being prioritized
for people most at risk, such as
those with underlying health
conditions, and symptoms such
as severe cough, fever, or trouble
breathing.
The following insurance com-
panies have committed to this
agreement so far:
■ BridgeSpan Health Com-
pany
■ Health Net Health Plan of
Oregon, Inc.
■ Kaiser Permanente
■ Moda Health Plan, Inc.
■ PacificSource Health Plans
■ Providence Health Plans
■ Regence Blue Cross Blue
Shield
■ Samaritan Health Plans, Inc.
The state is pursuing the same
agreement with self-insured
health plans, according to the
press release.
“We are glad to see the com-
panies that have already stepped
up to support their customers.
We will continue to build on this
agreement to waive cost-sharing
related to COVID-19 testing for all
Oregon residents,” said Andrew
Stolfi, insurance commissioner.
“We all have a mission to support
public health and protect Orego-
nians from this virus by removing
barriers to testing.”
In addition to these plans, the
state is seeking clarification from
the federal government about ex-
ceptions to cost-sharing for Medi-
care Advantage plans, and health
savings account (HSA) eligible
high-deductible health plans.
The Department of Consumer
and Business Services has more
COVID-19 insurance informa-
tion available on their website,
www.oregon.gov/dcbs/Pages/
index.aspx, and offers the fol-
lowing advice for Oregonians
with questions about their health
insurance:
Individuals with questions
about their insurance coverage
regarding COVID-19 should con-
tact their insurance provider.
If you have questions about
a health insurance company or
agent or need to file a complaint,
call the Division of Financial
Regulation’s advocacy team at
888-877-4894 (toll-free) or visit dfr.
oregon.gov.
If you have a Medicare
plan, contact the state’s Se-
nior Health Insurance Benefits
Assistance (SHIBA) program
for free information and as-
sistance at 800-722-4134 (toll-
free) or visit Shiba.oregon.gov.
If you have a short-term
health insurance plan,
mini-medical plan, or hospital
indemnity plans, check your
coverage and contact your
provider first. If you have a
health-sharing ministry plan,
contact your provider: This
health benefit is not consid-
ered insurance and does not
have the same requirements
of a fully-insured health insur-
ance plan.
Hood River
Odell Mini Storage
Deck and Fence
Residential Fencing
Deck & Porch Design
Competitive Pricing
Kevin Hickerson
Contractor
541 / 490 / 2354
kevinhickerson1@gmail.com
Your
Mortgage
Lender
Call Bernie today
541-490-0167
Bernie Dittenhofer
Senior Loan Officer-Branch Manager
509 Cascade Ave, Suite F, Hood River
Company NMLS #2550 NMLS #114231
Apply at berniedittenhofer.mannmortgage.com
Imagine The Difference You Can Make
DONATE YOUR CAR
1-844-533-9173
FREE TOWING
TAX DEDUCTIBLE
CCB # 89979
10’x10’ - $ 95 per mo.
10’x20’ - $ 125 per mo.
10’x25’ - $ 140 per mo.
Fenced and Lighted
Electronic Gate Access
Outside Unit Access -
6am-10pm, 7 days per week
Office Hours: Tues. - Sat. 10am-2pm
541-354-2234
3385 Stadelman Drive, Hood River (Odell)
One solution for oxygen at home, away, and for travel
Introducing the INOGEN ONE – It’s oxygen therapy on your terms
No more tanks to refi ll. No more deliveries. No more hassles with travel.
The INOGEN ONE portable oxygen concentrator is designed to provide
unparalleled freedom for oxygen therapy users. It’s small, lightweight,
clinically proven for stationary and portable use, during the day and at night,
and can go virtually anywhere — even on most airlines.
Inogen accepts Medicare and many private insurances!
Reclaim Your Freedom And
Independence NOW!
Help Prevent Blindness
Get A Vision Screening Annually
Call Inogen Today To
Request Your FREE Info Kit
Ask About A FREE 3 Day
Vacation Voucher To Over
20 Destinations!!!
1-855-839-0752
© 2020 Inogen, Inc.
All rights reserved.
MKT-P0108