Goldendale High School to Transition to Remote Learning

Goldendale High School

From Klickitat County Health Department:

Klickitat County Health Department was notified of an additional fourteen COVID-19 cases in individuals associated with Goldendale High School (GHS) this week after receiving reports of three positive COVID-19 cases last weekend.

More than 60 students and staff were absent from the High School Friday according to School Administration officials due to the significant number of close contacts and individuals identified as positive cases. Of the individuals testing positive for COVID-19, there does not appear to be any evidence of in-classroom transmission between students and staff at this time.

Starting Today, May 24th, the Goldendale High School will transition to remote learning for the week of May 24-27 (May 28 is a planned no-school day for the district) in order to minimize any further spread of COVID-19 among students and staff. This decision was made in consultation with KCHD out of an overabundance of caution to keep students and staff healthy as well as minimize any potential impacts to the GHS Graduation which is scheduled for June 11, 2021. Goldendale Middle and Primary Schools will continue with in-person learning.

Both the school district and the Health District are continuing to work to investigate any and all close contacts and possible exposures related to this individual case. They will also be contacting all of those individuals identified to provide quarantine information and resources to any individuals who may have been exposed.

Students and staff who have been identified as a close contact or who are a positive case should continue to work with school administration and KCHD staff on when they can safely return to the school setting.

You can help slow the spread of COVID-19 by getting vaccinated, wearing a face mask that covers your nose and mouth if you are unvaccinated when you are in public, washing your hands, and staying home when you are sick.

If you are currently experiencing any COVID-19 symptoms, please contact your primary care provider about getting tested. COVID-19 symptoms can be different for everyone but generally include some of the following: fever, chills, headache, muscle aches or pains, sore throat, sinus congestion, dry or productive cough, shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain or cramps, loss of smell or taste, and fatigue. Anyone with symptoms can be tested in Klickitat County by calling to make an appointment at Klickitat Valley Health, Skyline Health, or Northshore Medical Group.

Bull Tour 2021

By Tom Peterson

North Central Livestock Association President Jerod Warnock ranches near Madras and close to Bakeoven. His family has been on the ranch since the 1980s. Warnock and his Border Collies will work cattle this year at the Bull Tour.

The North Central Livestock Association is gearing up for its 2021 Bull Tour, which will focus on ranches in the Wamic and Tygh Valley area on Friday, April 16.

New North Central President Jerod Warnock said the traveling event has morphed some since it started decades ago. Warnock works outside of Maupin near Bakeoven on the family ranch, which he grew up on. 

“We move around to different ranches and see how ranchers are doing things and the new things they have implemented,” the 31-year-old said. “Different sponsors are on-site detailing information such as food supplements or latest machinery.”

This year the Tour will be focused at the Wasco County Fairgrounds, with several demonstrations, including team branding and demonstrations of how to best use dogs in moving cattle.  

“I think it is going to be a blast,” said Kyle Fields, who works on the Fields Ranch near Wasco. “People can learn something to help them ranch or farm, and it will be good to have everybody together. People are itching to see each other.” Fields was recently elected the North Central Livestock Association vice president.

 Warnock agreed that the tour was kind of a display of unique and best uses of natural resources when it comes to ranching and farming. Moving cattle from pasture to pasture, eliminating juniper to improve the watershed. “There’s never a best one,” Warnock said, noting ranches and practices vary depending on geography and terrain. “There’s no one size that fits all.”

“That’s what makes it interesting, all the different approaches,” he said. 

The tour will kick off at 9 a.m. at the Wasco County Fairgrounds in Tygh Valley and then move onto ranch tours before returning. Warnock said he and his Border Collies will working stock in the arena of the Fairgrounds. And all-new for 2021, is the action-packed Team Branding. Teams made up of four will brand from the ground as well as from their horses.

Fields, who raises feeder stock in registered Angus and SimAngus, on a ranch near Scappoose, said his work was his passion and the Tour was a great way to keep in touch with others in the same trade.

File photo of past Bull Tour - Credit Condon Chamber of Commerce and my personal favorite K’Lynn Lane.

“Getting to work with both farmers and ranchers, there is nothing else I would rather be doing. I care about the cattle industry and the people in the community running cattle. It’s a passion of mine.” 

North Central’s Breanna Wimber said she was excited for this year’s tour. 

“Once again you can expect a day jammed packed with tours, vendor engagement, amazing lunch and dinner, and various industry speakers,” she said. “We encourage people to bring a friend and invite new people. This annual event is always an amazing look inside the farms and ranches our beautiful region has to offer.” 

Tickets are $45 pre-purchased or $50 day of the event. Or buy 10 tickets for $400. 

For more information, call: 

Amy McNamee at 541- 325-2121

Breanna Wimber 541-806-3209 

Click here for their Facebook page.

Please Watch the Facebook for Additional Information and Ranch Branding Entry Info. 

Plans for childcare facility underway in Goldendale

The following is a press release from Washington Gorge Action Programs:

Goldendale, WA (November 11, 2020) – Work is underway in the Goldendale area to plan for a future childcare facility as well as to develop a path for individuals to become certified to provide in-home childcare. 

As part of a recent planning grant from the Washington State Department of Commerce, the Childcare Committee of Klickitat County recently contracted Larissa Leveque as the Childcare Liaison through its fiscal sponsor Washington Gorge Action Programs (WAGAP). Leveque is undertaking the role to create a more centralized point of information in regards to the childcare facility licensing process.

Larissa Leveque

This new journey is a personal one for her. Leveque has six years’ previous experience working in the childcare industry and is currently enrolled with Clark College, studying for her Associate’s Degree in Early Childhood Education. Her personal goal is to become certified to be a childcare center director. 

She and her husband recently moved to the Goldendale area and as she looked for opportunities in the industry, she quickly became aware that none existed locally.  She started inquiring about what is available and what would it take to start a center or provide in-home childcare. Her journey led her to Penny Andress, KVH Nurse Care Manager and a co-founder of the Committee. Andress said she was very excited about the timing of their meeting and that she is looking forward to the progress they expect to make as she said Leveque is, “so vested in bringing quality childcare to our community.”

“My job is to try to develop a business plan,” Leveque said, “for both the center we are hoping to develop, as well as for in-home providers.” She is working closely with the Washington Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCFY), the state agency that oversees licensing for childcare facilities. She is also becoming familiar with other programs such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) that provides reimbursement for nutritious meals and snacks that meet minimum guidelines. She noted that programs such as CACFP can help offset costs, which are often part of the barrier of running a successful facility, especially in a rural community.

Training and certification requirements are other areas that she is studying in an attempt to help bring information together in one location to help those interested in getting licensed to provide in-home childcare. The plans she is developing will be intended to aid them as they navigate through the many hurdles to opening their businesses. The overall goal will be to increase local capacity to support families with young children and assist local employers with workforce stability.

Leveque noted this is the beginning of a new stage for the childcare committee as it prepares to embark on a formal feasibility study to uncover the needs, potential local assets and requirements to bring licensed childcare providers to the Goldendale area. She invites groups and individuals interested in the licensing project to reach out to her by email at rissaleveque@gmail.com or call her at (360) 936-6478.  

Other interested individuals and organizations who would like to know more about the ongoing efforts of the Childcare Committee of Klickitat County should contact Leslie Naramore, WAGAP Executive Director at info@wagap.org or call her at (509) 493-2662 to learn more about how to contribute to the greater overall effort.

Washington Gorge Action Programs (WAGAP) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit Community Action Agency dedicated to helping individuals, families, and communities address basic human needs in Klickitat and Skamania Counties. For more than 50 years, the organization has offered support services to help people help themselves and reach self-sufficiency. Learn more at https://www.wagap.org/. For additional information email info@wagap.org or call (509) 493-2662.

Cutting out the Catalytic

By Tom Peterson

A recent hiker at Deschutes State Park found out how valuable his exhaust system was - the hard way. 

After a three-day campout up river, he returned to his Acura MDX parked in the gravel parking lot near the entrance to the park on July 21. 

But the car would not run. On further inspection, he found a crook had cut out his catalytic converter. The car had to be towed. 

Catalytic converter for an Acura MDX, similar to the one that was recently cut out of a vehicle at Deschutes State Park. Cost for a new one: $1,200.

It’s an old game, according to The Dalles Police Chief Pat Ashmore, noting thieves have been cutting the converters out and selling them for scrap for years. 

They can fetch from $50 to several hundred dollars a piece at scrap yards depending on the quality. They contain precious metals such as platinum, palladium and rhodium to help convert toxic gases and pollutants from the engine to less-toxic pollutants.

“It’s the first one we have had out here,” said Sherman County Undersheriff James Burgett. “I’d have to think cutting it out would have caused a lot of noise.”

The Acura was near the train tracks, and the thief could have used the noise of a train to blot out the noise from his cutting tool. 

It is speculated that thieves are using reciprocating saws to cut the converters out of the exhaust line. Saw blades have been found at multiple crime scenes. 

Burgett said it is fairly simple to find recyclers looking to purchase them, as he found one such business on Facebook. 

“It’s like when we used to have copper thefts, and thieves would do $20,000 of damage to a new home to get $200 worth of copper,” he said. 

Tim Urness of C.H. Urness Motors said the theft of catalytic converters out of newer vehicles cost the dealership more than $10,000 in damages at the start of the year. Thieves used a reciprocating saw to cut the parts out that can then be sold for scrap at $50 to $150 a piece. Meanwhile replacement costs run more than $4,000. No one has yet been pinned for the crime.

Tim Urness of C.H. Urness Motors in The Dalles has the receipts to prove that point. Derelicts cut out catalytic converters on two Urness’ vehicles  in January - a 2019 Chevrolet Silverado and a 2017 Ford F250. They were parked facing the railroad track in the parking lot across from The Dalles Chamber of Commerce.

Reciprocating saw - thieves likely used a tool similar to this to cut catalytic converters out of vehicles in our region.

Thieves likely got $300 for the converters. Total repair costs: $8,577.

“They’re ballsy, absolutely ballsy,” Urness said. “I would have paid them the $300 not to cut them off,” he said from his office on Wednesday. 

Witnesses said they saw the culprit cut out the converters from the Urness vehicles when the train was passing by to block out the noise. But no positive identification was made.

Once Urness discovered the theft, he said he had the remaining vehicles on the lot turned around to face second street so that police would be able to easily see anything unusual.

Two weeks later, Urness said somebody cut a hole in their fence near the Super 8 Motel to access catalytic converters that had been removed from vehicles. The company planned on returning them for $450 a piece. Thieves took all five, he said.

“It’s very, very frustrating.” 

The crime is a class C felony theft in the first degree. It carries a maximum of five years in state prison and a fine not to exceed $125,000. However, the property crime falls fairly low on the priority chart, when compared with crimes against people. Criminals charged with the crime are oftentimes left to return to court upon their own recognizance when charged with the crime. What some call a “catch and release.” 

Urness said the situation was both frustrating for him and police. “Their needs to be consequences or responsibility.”

Tommy Brace with The Dalles Auto Sales stands next to a Ford Explorer that had its catalytic converter sawed off. The cost of the damage was enough to make the vehicle unsellable, he said.

On west Sixth Street, Tommy Brace recently reported the theft of a catalytic converter. He and Yvonne Walton both said it was a common occurrence out back of The Dalles Auto Sale’s shop. 

Thieves recently cut out the driveline in a Ford Explorer to get at the converter. 

“They’re ballsy,” Brace said. Yvonne noted they have caught others sleeping in their “scrap” vehicles and leaving behind drug paraphernalia. 

While businesses, such as The Dalles Auto Store, use cameras to catch people red-handed, that does not always work when thieves are working under the cover of darkness. 

Walton said even their car carrier trailer had its catalytic converter stolen while it was parked on Pamona Street. 

Adam’s Auto on west Sixth Street had three catalytic converters cut out of vehicles earlier this spring. Owners Adam and Rachel Knopf owned all three.  So the theft came right out of their pockets.

Another similar theft in the same area occurred within the last two weeks.

And it ends up costing everybody more through higher prices, said Tim Urness. What’s worse, “It makes you feel violated,” he said.