With plastic bags and social distancing ...
Sat. Market now outside
Page A9
WEEKEND EDITION $1.00
Vol. 114, No. 25
1 Sections, 16 Pages
HOOD RIVER, OREGON • Wednesday, April 1, 2020
Official Newspaper, City of Hood River and Hood River County
www.hoodrivernews.com
Publisher Chelsea Marr purchases Eagle’s Gorge publications
Eagle Newspapers Inc., has sold its Gorge
publications to Publisher Chelsea Marr.
The publications include The Dalles Chron-
icle, Hood River News, White Salmon En-
terprise, The Gorge Magazine and Mid-Co-
lumbia Directory. Terms of the sale were not
disclosed.
Marr has been publisher of the Gorge prop-
erties since 2013. She has been employed by
Eagle since 1995. Eagle owner Denny Smith
said it was important to him that the newspa-
pers continue running under the leadership of
someone who is involved in the community.
“Chelsea is the right person to keep these
newspapers going,” Smith said. “Newspapers
have gone through a lot of change in the past
20 years. I hope people realize how valuable a
local newspaper is to a community.
“As our communities work their way
through COVID-19, local news organizations
will continue to play a vital role in providing
More COVID-19
cases confirmed
in Hood River,
Wasco counties
By EMILY FITZGERALD
News staff writer
Hood River County has confirmed
its second case of COVID-19, and an
additional two cases have been con-
firmed in Wasco County, bringing the
countywide total up to five. Statewide,
as of publication Monday afternoon,
there are 548 confirmed cases of
COVID-19 in the State of Oregon — 13
of which resulted in a fatality.
No identifying information was
released for the Hood River patient
or the two additional Wasco County
cases, other than all three are self-iso-
lating at home.
“Hood River County Health De-
partment is taking this very seriously
and we have notified the close con-
tacts of the infected person, and there
have been minimal contacts in our
community,” said the Hood River
County Health Department in a press
release. “… There may be additional
and unidentified cases in our com-
munity. Please stay home, stay safe,
and maintain social distancing. As
we have seen in other communities
throughout the state, more cases will
likely be identified in the coming
weeks.”
The Wasco County Health De-
partment confirmed that infection
appears to be via community trans-
mission.
Wasco, Sherman and Gilliam coun-
ties have launched a Unified Com-
mand to coordinate plans, supplies
and resources for the three counties.
They are posting updates and infor-
mation at wascoshermangilliam-
covid-19.com. Residents can also call
211 for info.
Hood River County has acti-
vated their respective Emergency
Operations Center (EOC), which
is responsible for planning, pre-
paring, responding to, and aiding
community recovery from disasters.
Updates and info are being posted
at getreadygorge.com. Residents can
also call the public info call-in line,
English at 541-299-8022, Spanish at
541-299-8023.
Hood River County School Dis-
trict principals, teachers and staff
are back to work — mostly virtually
— this week as they plan to launch
supplementary instruction for stu-
dents April 6.
“There are still many factors in the
air for us right now as we develop
our plans including our ability to
provide internet services to families
who will need it and how to dis-
tribute technology devices to our
students,” reads a statement on the
district website. “As you can imag-
ine, most internet hotspots are on
backorder and this could delay our
starting date for those who may uti-
lize instruction through technology.”
More information is expected to be
sent out to parents April 3, and the
district is updating its website, ho-
odriver.k12.or.us.
Following Gov. Kate Brown’s “Stay
Home, Save Lives” executive order
last week, recreation sites statewide
— including parks and open areas
owned by the City or Port of Hood
River, all Army-Corps campgrounds,
and Hood River County Forest stag-
See COVID-19, page A10
factual and timely information,” Smith said.
“Chelsea understands this role.”
Eagle President Joe Petshow said now, more
than ever, communities need independent
newspapers — in print and online — that are
See NEW OWNER, page A9
Getting Ready
Photos by Kirby Neumann-Rea
Businesses throughout the Gorge are
striving to get through the COVID-19
crisis as well as making upgrades or
rebuilding, with the hope of renewed
business this spring. Jim's Market
owners Paco and Sylvia Magana,
right, stand between the new build-
ing and the old pumps, as their new
store on Dee Highway near Parkdale
is under construction at its same
location after last year's fire. Paco's
Tacos food truck is open; the new
store should be up and running by
late May. Above, a crew welds and
paints the frame of a new sunshield
awning at Mike's Ice Cream, looking
ahead to opening for its 36th season
on Oak Street, as soon as possible
under current restrictions, said
co-owner Cecily Diffin.
Volunteers in Action revamps
programs, continues to serve
By TRISHA WALKER
News staff writer
Dr. Andy Olson accepts donations of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE)
from Melanie Quigley, center, and Jennifer Kaden, Monday in front of the
County Building, in a new campaign that started March 27 under the aegis
of the County Health Department. The donation request is in response to the
shortage of PPE by medical providers and others, due to COVID concerns.
The program accepts any PPE equipment, but need is highest for masks,
gowns, and gloves. Respirators and N95 masks are the most protective
masks for first responders. The program is accepting used and new masks
and other equipment Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 1-2 p.m., at the County
building, on Sixth and State streets. Olson said the first donation day drew
about 15 people, some with small amounts, other with boxes and bins. Several
orchardists brought volumes of masks, according to Olson. Donations will be
accepted on the exterior of the building to limit exposure indoors and practice
safe distancing.
Cascade Observations
Classifieds
Entertainment
Legal Notices
Obituaries
Opinion
Roots and Branches
BRIEFS
A2
A11
A3
A10
A6
A4
A2
Senior Resources
Yesteryears
A15
A7
“The fights against the coronavi-
rus and the climate crisis go hand-
in-hand." — Peter Cornelison, Earth
Week, A8
3
INSIDE
See SERVING, page A10
Cohousing meets online
Closures continue
Every Sunday in April at 2
p.m., Adams Creek Cohousing
will meet via Zoom. To attend,
contact Friends@AdamsCreek-
Cohousing.com or www.Adam-
sCreekCohousing.com.
The Hood River Art Club is sus-
pending further meetings due
to the COVID-19 Coronovirus.
Hood River Democrats has can-
celed its April 9 meeting. Until
further notice, Lyle Lions Mon-
day night meetings and first
Saturday pancake breakfasts
are canceled until further no-
tice, as are the Tuesday Senior
Lunches. Lyle Lions' annual
visit by the Easter Bunny has
also been canceled.
05105 97630
PPE D ONATION D RIVE
people,” she said. But she’s been able
to expand the service to include home
health and hospice patients and,
thanks to an increase in volunteers,
is looking to further open the service
to anyone who is over the age of 60
or has some kind of condition that
makes going out into public danger-
ous.
“I am getting a lot of interested new
volunteers because people are on
furlough or are unemployed and are
looking for some way to feel useful
to the community,” Willson said. “As
long as I continue to get more volun-
teers, we can serve more and more
people this way.”
However, the service can only be
provided based on the number of vol-
unteers, so “if we max that out, we’ll
implement a waitlist,” she added.
The volunteer onboard process has
been streamlined: Because volunteers
are not meeting face-to-face with cli-
ents, only basic contact information
and a background check are required.
There is also an orientation with Will-
7
Photo by Kirby Neumann-Rea
“If you would have told me two
or three months ago that we’d have
to invent a new program model and
implement it in a week’s worth of
time, I would have said you were
crazy,” said Volunteers in Action
Program Coordinator Britta Willson
March 25.
But that’s exactly what she’s had
to do.
VIA, a program of Providence
Hood River Memorial Hospital that
serves seniors, veterans, those living
below the Federal Poverty Limit and
those who are isolated and vulner-
able, has been modified due to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’m feeling like this is going to be
long-term, considering how things
are going,” she said. “Right now,
we’re doing a pilot program — I
just came up with the model last
week and we’re implementing it this
week, to troubleshoot and see how
things go.”
All in-person visits with clients
have been canceled, as has transpor-
tation. Instead, volunteers are check-
ing in with clients via weekly phone
calls and grocery runs.
She has partnered with The Next
Door, Inc., and is running the pro-
gram in a fashion similar to NDI. As a
way to avoid contact, volunteers pur-
chase groceries on account; clients
will get invoiced for the expenses at
a later time.
Volunteers then leave the groceries
at the client’s front door. As of now,
there hasn’t been much of a demand
for grocery visits, but Willson sees that
changing as client’s’ supplies of food
begin to deplete.
Her next task: Working out details
needed for prescription pick up.
“The next big thing will be prescrip-
tions because starting next month,
people will need prescriptions re-
filled,” she said.
Willson said that, as she began
looking at changes to the program,
she thought it would simply serve
existing VIA clients.
“I thought it would be a huge,
overwhelming need from our own