This week's installment of the Esther Lilly Hundley diaries features a whole lot of berry picking, and Decoration Day remembrances, just two snapshots of life in Gales Creek in 1931.

Sandi Evans was elected president of the Gales Creek Cemetery Association, replacing JoAnne Schmidlin, who served in the position since 1982, writes Joyce Sauber in a special column for the Gales Creek Journal

We’re following a host of races throughout Washington County and the wider region, and we’ll be posting updates throughout the night and morning as they become available.

In a late Monday night ruling, the Oregon Supreme Court stepped in to put a hold on a dramatic decision by an eastern Oregon judge that declared not only Gov. Kate Brown’s restrictions on church gatherings but all her “Stay Home Save Lives’’ coronavirus emergency orders “null and void.’’

This week's installment of the Esther Lilly Hundley diaries features BEES and MOLE SNOOTS, just two snapshots of life in Gales Creek in 1931.

A Baker County judge has invalidated Brown’s restrictions on businesses and social gatherings, along with every other executive order Brown has issued under a state of emergency she ordered due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the Oregon Secretary of State, 17% of eligible voters in Washington County had sent in a ballot as of press time.

Measure 34-297 would renew the five-year property tax levy currently providing 40 percent of library system funding the library system, which is set to expire in July 2021.

Measure 34-296 would replace the existing five-year levy, which expires in June 2021, and run from July 2021 to June 2026.

What was life like in the Gales Creek Valley in the 1930's? Find out in this installment of the Esther Lilly Hundley diaries. This week, the family puts in a garden, and a new addition to the family arrives: A Ford Coupe.

Tillamook-based Adventist Health wants its customers to know it now offers on-demand, virtual office visits, known as telemedicine, to allow patients to visit their health care provider from home via cell phone, tablet, or computer during the COVID-19 stay-at-home order.

While some parks are beginning to open to day use activities in the state, the Oregon Department of Forestry is further restricting activities in forests in their jurisdiction, temporarily halting dispersed camping in state forests, effective Monday, May 11.

With temperatures expected to be in the low 80’s and high 70’s for much of the state this weekend, the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) is warning that conditions in April and May have been unusually dry and could pose increased fire danger.

The Oregon Health Authority and the Oregon Department of Agriculture released a joint statement saying there is no evidence that animal or human food, or food packaging, is associated with the transmission of COVID-19.

Come May 15, Oregon will take its first steps along the tightrope of reopening public life, tentatively lifting its coronavirus stay-home order on a county-bycounty basis and once again changing the rules of social and economic engagement across the state.

Some state parks will open this week, but not the Banks-Vernonia State Trail or Stub Stewart State Park, according to the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department.

Because of a mishmash of zip codes in the region, It's unclear if any cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the Gales Creek area.

Two online town halls featuring local politicians and health officials have been scheduled to take place Thursday, May 7 and Monday, May 11.

What was life like in the Gales Creek Valley in the 1930's? Find out in this installment of the Esther Lilly Hundley diaries. This week, the family heads to a relic of Old Portland to see a dance/walking competition at Lotus Isle.

Gov. Kate Brown signed an executive order Friday extending Oregon’s state of emergency to July 6 in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown unveiled a bevy of new initiatives and details Friday to beef up testing and contact tracing as businesses look to reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Frontier Communications completed the sale of their fiber and telephone network operations in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana to Ziply on Friday.

Interim Emergency Management manager of Washington County, John Wheeler, has dropped the interim title from his role and will serve as the Emergency Management manager of Washington County.

May 1 kicks off Wildfire Awareness Month, a public safety marketing campaign held by the nonprofit organization Keep Oregon Green and local, state, and federal fire agencies and other organizations.

The Balm Grove dam removal project in Gales Creek was once envisioned as a way to mitigate negative impacts to fish habitat caused by proposed projects at Hagg Lake's Scoggins Dam. Clean Water Services now says the Balm Grove project has stalled after running into permitting and funding issues.

What was life like in the Gales Creek Valley in the 1930's? Find out in this installment of the Esther Lilly Hundley diaries. This week, Esther celebrates a birthday, and there's a whole lot of fishing.

Want to vote in the May 19, 2020 primary? If you’re not already registered to do so, you need to register by 11:59:59 p.m. on Tuesday, April 28. That’s tomorrow, as of our 3 p.m. Monday press time, for those keeping track at home.

Studded tire season has once again been extended — this time to May 15 —in light of social distancing orders as the state grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic. But, ODOT says, if you can take them off before that while maintaining social distancing, please do.

Oregon OSHA has received about 2,800 complaints from employees so far who are still required to go into work rather than telecommuting; the complaints come from workers who say it is more than possible for their employer to allow them to work remotely, from home.

What was life like in the Gales Creek Valley in the 1930's? Find out in this installment of the Esther Lilly Hundley diaries. This week, it reaches 82 degrees, and Esther gives Billie and Elsie a much-needed babysitting break to slip away up to the Soda Springs area.