CORONAVIRUS UPDATES
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HOOD RIVER, OREGON • Wednesday, March 25, 2020
Official Newspaper, City of Hood River and Hood River County
County decides to
keep levy on ballot
By EMILY FITZGERALD
News staff writer
Exactly 25 people gathered in a
conference room — with a small
crowd gathered in the hallway
outside the door — for a special
meeting at 3:30 p.m. on March 19,
where the commissioners would
decide whether they were going to
pull the Public Safety Local Option
Levy from the May 2020 ballot. The
deadline to pull the measure, if they
were going to do so, was 5 p.m. that
‘... Everybody in
our county has
been impacted
directly or indirectly
by COVID-19. The
overwhelming
majority of those
impacts have been
negative ...’
Bob Benton
Hood River County Commissioner
same day.
“I’ll try very much to make this
go very quickly because I know we
shouldn’t all be here, I know there’s
more people who want to be here,”
said Commission Chair Mike Oates
at the start of the meeting, “We’ll see
how this goes.”
The meeting was adjourned after
approximately 9 minutes, with the
commission unanimously deciding
to keep the measure on the ballot.
“I understand how things have
changed economically and fi-
nancially for so many people in
our county,” said Oates, “I also
understand what has changed for
the need of these services that we
provide in those same weeks. It’s
as dramatic as it can get. I think the
only fair thing to do is to continue
to put this on the ballot. I think
people understand the situation
and will make their decision.”
Oates called for the special
meeting after receiving a request
from Commissioner Bob Benton
to discuss the measure with the
rest of the commissioners in light
of economic changes related to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
“I wasn’t aware that we could
pull the measure but after I discov-
ered that we could, I thought that
having a discussion about it would
be absolutely vital to its success
or failure,” said Benton during the
March 19 meeting.
“Since we made the decision to
put this on the ballot, everybody
in our county has been impacted
directly or indirectly by COVID-
19. The overwhelming majority
of those impacts have been nega-
tive…,” said Benton. “To me, there
are two questions that need to be
See LEVY, page A16
MIDWEEK EDITION
Vol. 114, No. 25
1 Section, 16 Pages
$1.00
www.hoodrivernews.com
UNIFIED ROBOTICS
Students, staff bring robotics to
students of all abilities
Photo by Kirby Neumann-Rea
UNIFIED ROBOTICS program participants, at the Feb. 8 SuperQualifier, from left: Payton Bunch, Aliyah Klapprich,
David George, Becky Franks, Jaime Rodriquez, Mose Banks, Ben Garafalo, Jesse Bigelow, Taylor Meckoll, and Haley
Stuben.
By TRISHA WALKER
News staff writer
Last fall, as Hood River Valley High
School robotics FTC (First Tech Chal-
lenge) and FRC (First Robotics Chal-
lenge) students were preparing for
the challenges of upcoming qualifying
meets, some began an additional proj-
ect: Bringing the joys of competition
and camaraderie to differently abled
students.
It began with Hood River Val-
ley High School Math/Engineering
Teacher Jeff Blackman reaching out to
Learning Specialist Becky Franks. He
had learned of the Unified Robotics pro-
gram from a colleague in Washington,
and he pitched the idea to his robotics
students.
And those students ran with the idea.
“This group of students created Uni-
fied Robotics,” Franks said. “It’s really
been their work. They caught the vision
for it, put the effort into it, created it and
maintained it. They do the instruction
for it.
“Jeff and I just sit back and watch
the magic, and facilitate a few things,”
she said.
Franks had four students involved
in Unified Robotics. Each of those
students were paired with two of Black-
man’s.
One of those students, A05 Annex
FTC team member Payton Bunch, said
that, after learning about the Unified
Robotics program, she thought the pro-
gram sounded like “an amazing oppor-
tunity.” Her role has been that of team
manager, acting as a liaison between
teachers and her peers. She also is in
charge of scheduling and organization,
with help from teammates, Franks and
Blackman.
“Unified Robotics meets once a
See UNIFIED, page A2
Stay-home order goes into effect
News staff writer
Hood River County has its first
confirmed COVID-19 case, the
Hood River County Health De-
partment announced Sunday af-
ternoon.
“As we have seen in other com-
munities throughout the world,
more cases will likely be identified
in the coming weeks,” said the
County residents are reminded
to stay home and to practice social
distancing of six feet while in pub-
lic, wash their hands regularly with
soap and water, and cover their
cough.
As of 8 a.m. on March 23 (most
recent Oregon Health Authority
update at the time of publication),
161 cases of COVID-19 had been
confirmed in Oregon.
A stay-home order for Oregon
went into effect around noon on
Monday, March 23, and remains in
effect until terminated by Gov. Kate
Brown. The order, which Brown
titled “Stay Home, Save Lives,” is
similar to shelter-in-place orders
issued by other states, such as Cal-
Business Card Billboard
Classifieds
Death Notices
Entertainment
EOC Activated
Legal Notices
Opinion
See ORDER, page A6
COVID-19
Emergency
responses
organized
The Joint Information Center
of Hood River (EOC), supporting
Hood River County Public Health,
is coordinating public outreach
for Hood River residents — repre-
senting a network of local partner
agencies.
Last week, the Hood River Board
of County Commissioners adopted
an emergency declaration for the
Coronavirus emergency response.
Hood River City Council also ad-
opted an emergency declaration
for the COVID-19 emergency re-
sponse, on March 19.
Hood River County activated the
EOC (Emergency Operations Cen-
ter) last week to support all of our
local partner agencies, and com-
munity, amidst the current public
Photo by Jaquie Barone
WILLOW PONDS residents use the proper “social distancing” gaps as they
walk and work out together.
health emergency.
COVID public information call-
Hood River County Emergency in lines (updated daily or as condi-
Management director Barb Ayers tions change):
said agencies have created a web
English — 541-399-8022
site for shared public information
Spanish — 541-399-8023
about COVID response in Hood
Turn to page A5 for details.
River County at www.GetReady-
Gorge.com.
See COPING, page A9
BRIEFS
A15
A10
A6
A3
A5
A9
A4
Police Log
Sports
Yesteryears
A6
A7
A14
“This project was all volunteer
work, and I was very excited to
take this on.” — Artist Kristine
Pollard, A8
CAT suspends route
CAT will be temporarily sus-
pending all fixed-route services
as of March 24. “Due to Gov.
Brown’s Executive Order (20-
12) to stay at home except for
essential needs, we will be tem-
3
INSIDE
at highest risk, and to help avoid
overwhelming local and regional
healthcare capacity, I find that
immediate implementation of ad-
ditional measures is necessary.”
Under “Stay Home, Save Lives,”
all “non-essential social and recre-
ational gatherings” are prohibited,
regardless of size, if a minimum
6-foot social distance can’t be
maintained, and approximately
30 types of businesses are ordered
to shut down (see sidebar, A1, for
complete list), in addition to camp-
grounds, pools, skate parks, out-
door sports courts, and playground
equipment areas. All other busi-
COPING WITH
CLOSED
The following types of businesses are closed under “Stay Home, Save Lives.”
■ Amusement parks
■ Aquariums
■ Arcades
■ Art galleries (allowed to offer appointment-only visits)
■ Barber shops/hair salons
■ Bowling alleys
■ Cosmetic stores
■ Dance studios
■ Esthetician practices
■ Fraternal organization facilities
■ Furniture stores
■ Gyms and fitness studios, including climbing gyms
■ Hookah bars
■ Retail sections of indoor and outdoor malls
■ Indoor party places, including jumping gyms and laser tag
■ Jewelry shops and boutiques (allowed to offer pick-up and delivery services)
■ Medical, facial and day spas
■ Non-medical massage therapy services
■ Museums
■ Nail and tanning salons
■ Non-tribal card rooms
■ Skating rinks
■ Senior activity centers
■ Ski resorts
■ Social and private clubs
■ Tattoo/piercing parlors
■ Tennis clubs
■ Theaters
■ Yoga studios
■ Youth clubs
ifornia and New York, and estab-
lishes restrictions on public activity
that, if broken, qualify as a Class C
misdemeanor.
“In a short time, COVID-19 has
spread rapidly,” said Brown in the
introductory statement to the ex-
ecutive order. “Additionally, some
Oregonians are not adhering to
social distancing guidance pro-
vided by the Oregon Health Au-
thority, as represented by crowds
this last weekend at the Oregon
Coast, Smith Rock State Park, the
Columbia River Gorge, and other
places around the state. To slow
the spread of COVID-19 in Oregon,
to protect the health and lives of
Oregonians, particularly those
porarily suspending all fixed-
route services and only be
operating Dial-A-Ride services
within Hood River County as of
March 24,” said press release.
Call 541-386-4202 to book a
ride or ask any questions.
Superhero run May 16
Sign ups are underway for the
Superhero Fun Run 5K-10K
run/walk in support of Kyle
McCarthy, 13. Preregistration
and more information at tinyurl.
com/superherokyle.
05105 97630
By EMILY FITZGERALD
health department in an official
release. “Hood River County Health
Department is taking these results
very seriously and will release any
information we can to keep the
community informed. However, the
privacy of the patient is also a high
priority.”
The patient is an adult, county
officials confirmed, but no further
identifying information has been
released due to concerns for the
patient’s privacy.
“The Hood River County Health
Department is working diligently
on all fronts to combat COVID-19,”
said Public Health Officer Chris-
topher Van Tilburg in a written
statement on Monday. “We will not
disclose Protected Health Informa-
tion for our current or future cases
unless necessary for public safety.”
7
COVID-19 cases in
Oregon now 161; first
Hood River County
case confirmed