16
Weekend of March 28-29, 2020
The Weekend Edition | A publication of Hood River News & The Dalles Chronicle
PANTRIES
Tucker Road, Hood River,
Monday and Friday, 3:30-5 p.m.
FISH Parkdale, 4910
Sites distributing Baseline
Drive, Parkdale,
food Gorge-wide Mondays, 4-6 p.m.
SDA Hood River, 1090
Continued from page 1 22nd St., Hood River,
Tuesdays, 9:30-11:30 a.m.
Wamic Grange, Wamic,
unable to deliver. “We went
Tuesdays at noon.
out to Maupin last week,”
CGCC Chinook Campus
Morris said.
Pantry, 400 E. Scenic Drive,
Columbia Gorge
The Dalles, Wednesdays and
Thursdays, 2-5 p.m.
food banks
FISH Cascade Locks,
A calendar of food pantries
currently operating in Wasco, City Hall, Cascade Locks,
Wednesdays and Saturdays,
Hood River and Sherman
1:30-3:30 p.m.
counties is available on the
Dufur School Pantry,
CGFB Facebook page, and is
Dufur High School, Dufur,
being updated daily.
Thursdays, 3-6 p.m.
Open pantries include:
Rufus Food Pantry, 304
The Salvation Army,
W. Second St., Rufus, Fridays,
623 E. Third St., The Dalles,
4-6 p.m.
Monday and Wednesday,
1-3 p.m., and Tuesday and
Thursday, 3-6 p.m.
FISH Hood River, 1130
COVID-19
Bridges not
taking cash tolls
Continued from page 1
past few weeks. Businesses
have stepped up to provide
meals, sail makers are sewing
PPEs for medical providers,
non-profits are creating new
ways to help our most vulner-
able citizens, and countless
community members are
reaching out to neighbors to
offer support, assistance with
errands and comfort during
this difficult time. Stay safe.”
Visitors were also asked to
stay away for the time being.
“We all love the Gorge —
but this is not the time for
you to visit,” reads the state-
ment. “An influx of visitors
creates an undue burden
on our efforts to maintain
social distancing and strains
our supply channels, public
safety resources and health
care system. We look forward
to hosting you again when
things are back to normal.”
All county and city-owned
parks and campgrounds are
closed, including recreational
staging areas on county forest
land, and the City of Hood
River has ordered all lodging
stays for discretionary travel
to cease immediately, with
exceptions to currently
registered guests, essential
personnel requiring lodging
for work, and individuals
deemed vulnerable by
Hood River County Health
Department, including
homeless individuals or
individuals placed in quaran-
tine due to the public health
emergency.
“The city fully anticipates
voluntary compliance while
we all work to manage the
GEAR
Businesses,
providers join in
Continued from page 1
page.
“We are making masks for
two purposes,” said co-orga-
nizer Shelley Toon Lindberg:
“Immediate use by those
in high person to person
contact occupations and to
create an emergency stock-
pile of masks for medical
professionals to be distrib-
uted if the necessity arises.”
The pattern was designed by
Holly Higdon-Wood, with
advice from experienced
medical professionals and
skilled seamstresses who
tested the pattern One work-
shop has been transformed
into a factory for plastic
wrap-around facial shields.
Gowns, meanwhile, are being
made at a variety of locations
out of materials not originally
designed for medical purpos-
es. Several local garment and
gear makers are collaborating
on a new gown design, in
a program spearheaded by
Providence emergency medi-
cine physician Ryan Brevard,
and Maui Meyer of Hood
River. Brevard, who serves
on the Providence Hospital
Foundation Board, facilitated
an emergency fund donation
by the Foundation this week
to support the project, and
Meyer is working with a long
list of underwriters. The goal
is to create enough gowns,
and masks and shields, to
meet the needs of providers
in the Gorge — hospitals, first
responders and others who
engage in public interface
and want more protection.
‘Really significant risk’
Van Tilburg is coordinat-
ing the stockpiling, inspec-
tion, and distribution of all
COVID-19 outbreak,” said
City Manager Rachael Fuller.
“Enforcement will be han-
dled on a case-by-case basis
under the provisions outlined
in the municipal code.” The
City of Hood River set a spe-
cial meeting for 10 a.m. on
March 27 to officially approve
the lodging restrictions (after
press time; see hoodriv-
ernews.com for updates).
Both the Hood River-White
Salmon Interstate Bridge and
the Bridge of the Gods have
suspended cash handling
and are not collecting cash
tolls until further notice.
While the Port of Cascade
Locks is currently processing
BreezeBy transactions and
accepting cash tolls via mail,
with plans to reassess the sit-
uation soon, all tolls on the
Hood River-White Salmon
Interstate Bridge are sus-
pended until May 1 — which
is when the port expects to
have a license plate recogni-
tion tolling system online.
BreezeBy accounts will not
be charged for tolls during
this period, and BreezeBy
users need to make no
changes to their accounts or
transponders.
The commission held at
special meeting Tuesday,
March 24 via remote video
conference to discuss oper-
ational changes in response
pandemic, where they
unanimously approved to
extend that initial seven-day
toll suspension until they can
begin tolling all non-Bree-
zeBy customers via license
plate recognition.
The system was initially
developed as a way to en-
force toll payments and fine
repeat violators. The Oregon
DMV would manage Oregon
license plates, while Duncan
Solutions would manage all
out-of-state plates, including
materials. While homemade
medical gowns are accept-
able to donate, Dr. Neal
Douglas of Heritage Family
Medicine advises against
donating homemade pro-
tective masks, as most tend
to be ineffective. He does
encourage donations of face
shields, or any form of eye
protection that seals around
the eyes — Douglas himself
is currently using a snorkel
mask when he performs
drive-thru COVID-19 tests for
his patients. “You just have
to make do with what you’ve
got,” he said, “that’s kind of
the way I’m approaching this,
you do the best you can with
what you’ve got.”
Because repeated poten-
tial exposure to the novel
coronavirus increases the
risk of contracting it, “All of us
healthcare workers are taking
a really significant risk,”
Douglas said. “That’s why
healthcare workers running
out of PPE is a disaster.”
Swisher said, “We will
collect, sort, and catalog the
cache. The County Health
Department will receive
requests from direct commu-
nication with all the Gorge
hospitals and distribution
will be based on need, not
size of hospital. Currently,
there is strong collaboration
between the hospitals.”-
Hood River County
Health Department
currently organizes a weekly
call with approximately 50
healthcare professionals in
the valley to talk through
different problems related
to the COVID-19 pandemic,
discussing possible solutions
and ways to pool resources.
“Behind the scenes, there
is a ton of work going on to
protect our community,”
Douglas said. “The doctors in
the community are banding
together to try and come up
with solutions.”
TheDallesChronicle.com
School Meals,
grab and go
North Wasco County
School District
The Dalles Middle School,
Chenowith Elementary
School, Monday through
Friday, 11 a.m. to noon.
Hood River County
School District
Cascade Locks
Elementary, pickup outside
main entrance, 9-11 a.m.
May Street Elementary,
pickup outside main en-
trance, 9-11 a.m.
Mid Valley Elementary,
pickup outside west entrance
of cafeteria, 9-11 a.m.
Parkdale Elementary, pick-
up outside main entrance,
9-11 a.m.
Hood River Valley High
School, pickup outside east
entrance of cafeteria, 9-11
a.m.
Washington plates — for
a $3 processing fee per
transaction.
To cover the cost of the fee,
the port intends to raise the
toll for non-BreezeBy cus-
tomers to $5 until cash tolls
can be accepted again.
“We designed this system
for violators, not for an
all-electronic tolling system,”
said Chief Financial Officer
Fred Kowell.
While the Oregon DMV
system was ready to go
Thursday, March 26, Duncan
is not expected to be ready to
start until May 1.
Due to financial concerns
— waiving tolls through the
end of April is expected to
cost the Port of Hood River
approximately $600,000 in
revenue — the commission-
ers discussed the possibility
of starting collecting tolls
from Oregon license plates as
soon as March 26.
“Charging some custom-
ers and not others is not
acceptable to me at all,”
said Commissioner Ben
Sheppard. “I understand the
financial implications, (but)
that is not something we can
do.”
“It may not come down
to what’s fair to all people,”
said Commissioner Hoby
Streich. “…I think we’ve got
to look past tomorrow: This
is a whole new situation …
The use of that ‘fair’ word
concerns me a bit because it
(the situation) is not fair. It’s
just not fair.”
Ultimately, the commis-
sion unanimously decided to
wait to resume tolling until all
vehicles could be tolled fairly.
“If we have no toll for
the month of April, and for
the rest of March, then I
think that is a gesture to the
community that will be seen
and will be appreciated,”
Julian Uvalle, Mid Valley fourth-grader gets help from staff
members with a backpack full of meals for his family Tuesday.
Photo by Kirby Neumann-Rea
3300 Cascade Ave, pickup pickup across the street from
at Hood River Mobile Manor, Sieverkropp Apartments,
From 10:45-11 a.m.
From 9:45-10 a.m.
1823 Cascade Ave, pickup
behind El Reconcito Taqueria,
From 10:15-10:30 a.m.
955 Sieverkropp Ave,
said Commission Chair John
Everitt, adding that they will
have April to do community
outreach concerning the
increased toll and encour-
age residents to get onto
the BreezeBy system, which
enables motorists with
transponders to pay tolls
electronically via a prepaid
account for a discounted
cost: $1 each way.
The Dalles Bridge contin-
ues to operate toll-free, and
officials have confirmed that
there are no scheduled clo-
sures due to COVID-19 and
that the bridge will remain
Cars line up for meals as part a
cooperative effort between the
district and restaurants to pro-
vide meals over Spring Break.
Photo by Kirby Neumann-Rea
open to motor vehicle traffic.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article
was sent to print Thursday March
26, and due to how rapidly this
story is developing, may be out of
date. Please see hoodrivernews.
com and thedalleschronicle.com
for updates.
4 Easy Options
to Pay Your Bill
1
Customer Portal
Visit our website (www.nwascopud.org) and set up recurring
payments (autopay) or make a one time payment. You select the date that
the funds get withdrawn. Please call our office at 541.296.2226 if you need
assistance to set up an account. Your password can be up to 10 characters.
2 Smart Phone App
Download our Mobile App (optimized for both iOS & Android) and sign
into your account to easily pay your bill. Go to the App Store and find us
under NWCPUD. Our Mobile App is designed to give you fast, secure
account access. Your password must be the same as your
customer portal password.
3 E-Z PAY
$
Have your electric bill paid automatically each month. For your records,
you will receive a copy of your electric bill showing your usage and the
amount to be deducted. Visit our website to download the E-Z Pay
enrollment form and return it to our office with a voided check.
4 IVR (Interactive Voice Response)
Call our office at 541.296.2226 and use IVR to make a payment. You will
need the account number you wish to pay on. If you need your account
number, you can press 3 to speak with a customer service representative
who will help you obtain it. BE AWARE: IVR will repeat back addresses in
an abnormal order. Example: “2020 E 19th St. #19” will be repeated as,
“E 19th #19 2020.”
2345 River Road, The Dalles, OR 97058 | 541.296.2226 | www.nwascopud.org
HONKE
HONKE HEATING
HEATING AND
AND THE
THE CORONAVIRUS
CORONAVIRUS
HONKE HEATING AND THE CORONAVIRUS
Still open and ready to serve you!
Together, we are facing a truly unprecedented situation. The global coronavirus
Together, we are facing a truly unprecedented situation. The global coronavirus
pandemic we
is affecting
all a our
families,
our businesses,
our The
communities,
and our way of
Together,
are facing
truly
unprecedented
situation.
global coronavirus
pandemic is affecting all our families, our businesses, our communities, and our way of
life. During is this
time, we
to serve our our
customers,
unless and
we our
are way
told to
pandemic
affecting
all will
our remain
families, open
our businesses,
communities,
of
life. During this time, we will remain open to serve our customers, unless we are told to
close.
I wanted
to reach
update
on how
approaching
life.
During
this time,
we out
will and
remain
open you
to serve
our we’re
customers,
unless the
we situation
are told at
to
close. I wanted to reach out and update you on how we’re approaching the situation at
Honke I Heating
Conditioning,
Inc. you on how we’re approaching the situation at
close.
wanted &
to Air
reach
out and update
Honke Heating & Air Conditioning, Inc.
Honke Heating & Air Conditioning, Inc.
First and foremost, my thoughts and prayers are with you and your loved ones during
First and foremost, my thoughts and prayers are with you and your loved ones during
these
uncertain
times,
like so
many,
I have
heavy
I hear
about
First and
foremost,
my and
thoughts
and
prayers
are a with
you heart
and as
your
loved each
ones day
during
these uncertain times, and like so many, I have a heavy heart as I hear each day about
the
impacts
COVID-19
is having
our communities.
We heart
continue
to monitor
this about
these
uncertain
times, and
like so on many,
I have a heavy
as I hear
each day
the impacts COVID-19 is having on our communities. We continue to monitor this
situation
closely
and wanted
to take
a moment
to summarize
some to
of monitor
the things
the impacts
COVID-19
is having
on our
communities.
We continue
this we are
situation closely and wanted to take a moment to summarize some of the things we are
doing
to keep
you
connected
and
safe.
situation
closely
and
wanted to
take
a moment to summarize some of the things we are
doing to keep you connected and safe.
doing to keep you connected and safe.
We are following Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and World Health Organization
We are following Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and World Health Organization
(WHO)
as well for
as Disease
guidance Control
from federal,
and local
officials,
to make
We
are guidelines,
following Centers
(CDC) state
and World
Health
Organization
(WHO) guidelines, as well as guidance from federal, state and local officials, to make
informed
decisions. as
We
appreciate
everyone’s
commitment
to recommended
prevention
(WHO)
guidelines,
well
as guidance
from federal,
state and
local officials, to
make
informed decisions. We appreciate everyone’s commitment to recommended prevention
methods.
We
are
fortunate
that
we
currently
have
no
reported
team
member
or
informed decisions. We appreciate everyone’s commitment to recommended prevention
methods. We are fortunate that we currently have no reported team member or
customer cases
our services
open
for business.
At team
this time,
we feel
methods.
We are and
fortunate
that we remain
currently
have
no reported
member
or
customer cases and our services remain open for business. At this time, we feel
confident we
can and
continue
to operate
our open
services.
Below are At some
of the we
precautions
customer
cases
our services
remain
for business.
this time,
feel
confident we can continue to operate our services. Below are some of the precautions
that we are
confident
we taking.
can continue to operate our services. Below are some of the precautions
that we are taking.
that we are taking.
Wash your hands often with soap and water (20 seconds of scrubbing) or use
Wash your hands often with soap and water (20 seconds of scrubbing) or use
hand
cleaners
(cover
all water
surfaces
rub until
dry).
• alcohol-based
Wash your hands
often
with soap
and
(20 and
seconds
of scrubbing)
or use
alcohol-based
hand
cleaners
(cover
all surfaces
and
rub until
dry).
Cough/sneeze hand
into a cleaners
tissue. Dispose
of surfaces
used tissues
immediately
into a trash
alcohol-based
(cover
all
and
rub
until
dry).
Cough/sneeze into a tissue. Dispose of used tissues immediately into a trash
If you don’t into
have
a tissue,
cough/sneeze
into the immediately
crook of your
elbow,
not
• can.
Cough/sneeze
a tissue.
Dispose
of used tissues
into
a trash
can.
If you don’t have
a tissue,
cough/sneeze
into the crook of your
elbow,
not
your
hands.
can.
If
you
don’t
have
a
tissue,
cough/sneeze
into
the
crook
of
your
elbow,
not
your hands.
Avoid
touching
your
eyes,
nose,
and
mouth,
which
accelerates
the
spread
of
your
Avoid hands.
touching your eyes, nose, and mouth, which accelerates the spread of
• infections.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth, which accelerates the spread of
infections.
Avoid close contact (within 6’’) with others. Please don’t be offended.
infections.
Avoid close contact (within 6’’) with others. Please don’t be offended.
you are
sick,
stay home
go with
home.
• If
Avoid
close
contact
(within or
others. Please don’t be offended.
If
you are
sick,
stay home
or 6’’)
go home.
clean
and home
disinfect
surfaces that are touched regularly,
• Frequently
If you are sick,
stay
or go objects
home. and
Frequently
clean
and disinfect
objects
and surfaces that are touched regularly,
your standard
cleaning
products.
• using
Frequently
clean
and
disinfect
objects
and
surfaces that are touched regularly,
using your standard cleaning products.
Ask
and
do standard
not enter cleaning
a home products.
where someone is sick.
using
your
Ask and do not enter a home where someone is sick.
• Ask and do not enter a home where someone is sick.
I want to thank you for your business during these troublesome times and if there is
I want to thank you for your business during these troublesome times and if there is
anything
I can
you,
please during
reach out
to me…
I anything
want to that
thank
you do
for for
your
business
these
troublesome times and if there is
that
I can
do
for
you,
please reach out
to me…
anything that I can do for you, please reach out to me…
Honke Heating &
Air Conditioning,
Inc.
Honke
Honke Heating
Heating &
& Air
Air Conditioning,
Conditioning, Inc.
Inc.
503) 666-3725
• www.honkeheating.com
Honke
Heating
& Air
Conditioning, Inc.
(503)
666-3725
(503) - 666-3725
Open Monday
Friday 8am-5pm
(503) 666-3725
www.honkeheating.com
24 HOUR
EMERGENCY SERVICE
www.honkeheating.com
www.honkeheating.com