BEHIND THE SCENES
Working from home
By Trisha Walker
News staff writer
I
AM WRITING THIS COLUMN ABOUT OUR NEWS-
room from my front porch.
I’ve been working at home for the past several days,
and yes, that’s out of concern regarding COVID-19. Most
days, I’m in my home office for all of my working hours, or,
if I’m feeling really adventurous, I sit for a while in my living
room. The sun is out today, and if I sit on the southern end of
the house, it’s almost comfortably warm.
Almost.
Anyway, I am doing my part to flatten the curve. And I am
fortunate that my writing can be done just as easily on the
front porch — or my living room, or my tiny home office —
as it can at my workplace desk. What makes that possible
is both management that allows us to work from home and
a laptop app Eagle Tech installed that allows me to see my
desktop from said porch.
This whole saga began for me on March 11. Company
President Joe Petshow had called us together for a staff
meeting and, during his talk, said that those of us who
wished to start working from home during the pandemic
were welcome to do so and we should begin making the
necessary arrangements. He also wanted us to start thinking
about department hubs — if the office had to close sudden-
ly, who would be the point people?
Well, I love a Plan B. Actually, I love plans of all sorts. So
that afternoon, I began downloading the various programs
I knew I would need to work at home: Creative Cloud,
InCopy, Blox, Teams. This is how we write and save our sto-
ries so our counterparts in Salem can put them on the final
pages, how we load stories onto our website, and how we
communicate between departments in-house.
By Thursday evening, March 12, I felt ready for a test run.
Friday was to be my first day working from home — knowing
that if this grand experiment failed, no big deal, I could just
run into the office.
Chelsea Marr, our publisher, made my life a whole lot eas-
ier on Friday morning, however, even if she did call before 8
a.m. (Eh, it was fine, I was up as usual. Routine, I’m a fan of
that too.) She told me that there was a program tech could
load on my computer that would allow my desktop to be
accessed from my laptop!
What is this, the future?
In less than 20 minutes, I could see my work desktop right
there on my laptop screen, thanks to a little program called
VNC Viewer. Having access to all of my folders and drives
made my Friday working from home experiment a hundred
times easier than it would have been otherwise — it went
just as well as I could have hoped. So well, in fact, that I’ve
been at home ever since.
Well — I did go in briefly on March 18 to get archive books
so I could continue to work on Yesteryears from home.
Chelsea watched my daughter, Johanna, and I take them out
of the office and load them into the back of my car, which I
interpreted as permission. It was nice to be able to talk to my
coworkers face to face, with proper distancing, of course.
Deadline days aren’t much different at home than at
the office, with the exception of the ease in which we can
communicate when we’re all in the same room together, i.e.
just look up and start talking, rather than typing everything
in Teams. And it can be a bit lonely.
But aside from that, it’s business as usual, despite the
fact that the majority of the News’ staff is now working from
home. All of us are working reduced hours — not surprising
as revenue is down, a consequence many of us face regard-
less of where we work.
Donating Blood
Red Cross volunteer David Hunt takes Joe Schneider’s tempera-
ture Tuesday at Hood River Armory, a COVID-19-related precau-
tion before anyone could enter the building for the blood donation
event. Donors also came to events in The Dalles and Dufur this
week as Red Cross issued a new plea for donations due to a crit-
ical shortfall in donations as a result of the coronavirus oubreak.
Photo by Kirby Neumann-Rea
hoodrivernews.com
thedalleschronicle.com
Group Health Foundation
awarded a “game-changing”
three-year operating grant
to Comunidades, a new
collaborative project that
provides space for more
Latinos and people of color
to get involved in social
justice and environmental
issues in the Columbia
River Gorge, according to a
Columbia Riverkeeper press
release.
Comunidades formed
in late 2018 and includes
Columbia Gorge-based
educators, activists, parents,
and students. Comunidades
provides an inclusive,
Latino-led space. Group
Health Foundation awarded
Comunidades $225,000 over
three years.
“Growing up in Hood
River, I saw how vast the
information gap was
between Latinos and
environmental issues,”
said Lisa Muñoz, a volun-
teer with Comunidades.
“Comunidades is a stepping
stone in narrowing that gap.
By actively engaging with
The Group Health
Foundation recently
announced $15 million in
Community Learning Grants
to 75 organizations and proj-
ects throughout Washington
that are leading communi-
ty-defined efforts to advance
equity. Grantees were select-
ed following review of almost
700 applications.
Gabriela Garcia, volunteer, at a September 2018 Comunidades
“The Gorge needs
meeting. The group was just awarded a grant from Group Health Comunidades and we need
Foundation.
Photo courtesy of Columbia Riverkeeper it,” said Dez Ramirez, com-
munity engagement manager
the Latino community about issues in the Gorge, said the
with Columbia Land Trust.
problems that they face on
“The beauty of the Gorge
press release. The founda-
a daily basis, we can inform
tion’s mission is to shape and is for everyone, and so is
and facilitate the kind of
accelerate efforts to improve the good work that is being
environmental stewardship
done reclaiming the natural
health equity and advance
Latino community members community aspirations for
environment we all have a
have always been capable of.” a vibrant, healthy future in
responsibility to take care of.
Group Health Foundation Washington.
Latinos are here in the Gorge,
funding will provide crit-
and they’ve been here. It’s
“There are many Latinos
time for a community based
who want to protect clean
ical seed funding to hire
group that is for us and by
water, clean air, and all of
Comunidades’ first paid-
us.”
our natural resources, but
staff member to support
For more information
have not engaged in tradi-
the all-volunteer group in
advancing its goals, including tional environmental groups about Comunidades, contact
Hernández at ubaldo@
membership recruitment,
— Comunidades aims to
columbiariverkeeper.org or
leadership training, and pub- change that,” said Ubaldo
lic outreach on priority envi- Hernández, senior organizer 541-490-7722.
ronmental and social justice with Columbia Riverkeeper.
Easing the panic: Mental health
resources available now
Fitzgerald
■ By News Emily
staff writer
With the amount of panic
and uncertainty circulating
right now, it’s important
for us to take care of our
mental health, as well as our
physical. Here are some tips
from the National Alliance
on Mental Health (NAMI)
on easing some of the
anxiety stemming from the
pandemic.
Avoid watching, read-
ing or listening to news
reports that cause you to
feel anxious or distressed:
A near-constant stream
of news reports can cause
anyone to feel anxious or
distressed. Instead, seek
updates from a couple of
trusted sources at specific
times during the day.
Maintain familiar rou-
tines in daily life as much
as possible: Take breaks
during the work day (espe-
cially if you’re working from
home), eat healthy food and
engage in physical activity.
Stay connected with
others and maintain your
social networks: Have the
emails and phone numbers
of close friends and family
on-hand and stay connect-
ed via email, social media,
video conference and
telephone.
Take control and incor-
porate practical preven-
tative measures, such as
hand washing and social
distancing.
Be supportive to others:
Assisting others in their
time of need can benefit the
person receiving support as
well as the helper.
Professional help is
still available, even
if you’re practicing
social distancing:
Therapy: Therapy in the
Gorge, accessible online at
Walkers enjoy trails in Sorosis Park Thursday, March 26. Maintaining your routines and getting out-
doors can help reduce stress during a time of crisis.
Mark B. Gibson photo
www.therapyinthegorge.
com, is a list of professional
therapists in private practice
in the Columbia River Gorge.
The site sorts practices by lo-
cation or insurance provider;
some therapists offer phone
or video appointments, so
ask about that option when
you reach out.
Online support groups:
NAMI hosts free online
communities and discussion
groups at www.nami.org, and
www.supportgroupscentral.
com offers virtual support
groups for a wide variety of
topics.
National Suicide
Prevention Lifeline: Call
at 1-800-273-8255 or check
out the resources on their
website, suicideprevention-
lifeline.org.
Mid-Columbia Center for
Living: Call 1-888-877-9147
for 24/7 crisis support. Visit
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more info.
Oregon YouthLine: Teens
are available to help from
4-10 p.m., adults are available
by phone all other times. Visit
oregonyouthline.org for more
info.
Crisis Text Line: A free,
24/7 text-support line that
connects texters in the U.S.
and Canada to trained crisis
counselors. Text HOME to
741741 or visit www.crisistex-
tline.org/ to learn more.
Trevor Project: A support
network for LGBTQ youth.
Call the TrevorLifeline at
1-866-488-7386; resources
are available on the website,
www.thetrevorproject.org.
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
is Hiring
IN THE BRIGHT RED VANS
Expert Service
& Reliability
9
New ‘Comunidades’ awarded
Group Health Foundation grant
Your Friends
203004
EHEATHA862KN
Weekend of March 28-29, 2020
The Weekend Edition | A publication of Hood River News & The Dalles Chronicle
HoodRiverNews.com
Mt Hood Forest Products
compensation and benefits
include:
Competive wage
Paid Time Off
Medical/Dental/Vision/Prescription
Insurance offered
Life Insurance
401K Traditional/Roth
Up to 4% 401K company
contribution match
Mt Hood Forest Products LLC is an
Equal Opportunity Employer
Mt Hood Forest Products lumber facility in Hood River,
Oregon is expanding production operations to two shifts.
We are looking to fill multiple positions in our fast paced
lumber mill for both day and night shifts. If interested in
any of the these postions please apply:
• DLI Operator
• Twin Horizonatal Gang
• Gang Edger Operator
• Single Resaw
• Single Resaw Helper
• Tipple Operator
• Tipple Helper
• Hula Saw
• Planerman
• Planer lnfeed Helper
• Sorter Bin Chaser
• Stacker
• Strapper
• Forklift Driver
• Log Yard Operator/
Equipment Operator
• Millwright/Mechanic
• Chain Puller
Full job descriptions and required application
can be obtained at the main office located at
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Job postings can also be found on Indeed.com