WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 4, 2021 | SILVERTONAPPEAL.COM
PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK
Back in the spotlight
Wildfires bring
more ‘unhealthy
air’ days in
recent years
Tracy Loew
Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
Members of the Valley Shakespeare Company perform “Twelfth Night” last week at Western Oregon
University. CONNOR RADNOVICH/STATESMAN JOURNAL
Artists savor each moment
in return to the stage
Twelfth Night (or What You Will)
Salem had its first “unhealthy air” day on record in
2014, when smoke from multiple wildfires settled
over the city.
That increased to two days in 2015, two in 2017,
and four in 2018. In 2020, Salem recorded 11 un-
healthy air days, including seven that were consid-
ered “hazardous.”
From 1985 to 2014, Eugene had just two days with
air quality rated as unhealthy. It’s had between one
and 22 unhealthy air quality days for seven of the
past eight years.
Across the state, the number of unhealthy air
quality days caused by wildfires are increasing, the
Oregon Department of Environmental Quality’s an-
nual wildfire smoke trends report shows.
The report tracks wildfire-related air quality
trends in 24 Oregon communities, using data from
DEQ’s Air Quality Index.
The index measures levels of fine particulate mat-
ter, or PM 2.5, the primary pollutant in wildfire
smoke. It categorizes air quality, from best to worst,
as good, moderate, unhealthy for sensitive groups,
unhealthy, very unhealthy and hazardous.
The report calls the number of days in the four
See AIR, Page 2
Bill Poehler and Natalie Pate
7:30 p.m., July 29, 30, 31 at the Leinwand outdoor
stage, Western Oregon University. For more
information, go to
wou.edu/valley-shakespeare-company.
Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
The Severin Sisters
Law forbids
requiring vaccine
for health care
workers
H
annah Kellebrew’s life changed a
lot in the past year. She graduat-
ed from Western Oregon Univer-
sity, got married, got COVID-19,
recovered and started a new job at Dallas Re-
tirement Village. Still, there was something
missing. With coronavirus-related restric-
tions in Oregon making live performances in
arts like music, comedy and theater nearly im-
possible over the past year, Kellebrew couldn’t
get on stage in front of an audience. For a time,
she felt like she lost her purpose in life.
Thursday night, July 22, when she delivered the
line, “I am the man,” as Viola in “Twelfth Night” (or
“What You Will”), a few hundred people sitting in the
cool grass of the outdoor stage at Western Oregon
University roared with laughter.
The reaction Kellebrew elicited the opening night
of the Valley Shakespeare Company’s production of
Shakespeare’s excited her so much that she flubbed a
couple of lines later in the play. That moment, though,
made everything she went through over the past year
worth it.
“It’s been two years since I’ve had this feeling, and I
was extremely nervous, but nothing bad can happen
6:30 p.m. Aug. 4, Monmouth Main Street Park; 5:15
p.m. Aug. 7, Homer Davenport Music Festival,
Coolidge & McClaine Park, Silverton; 5 p.m. Sept. 4,
Trinity Vineyards, Salem. For more information
www.severinsisters.com.
Live Comedy
Friday open mic coming up on Aug. 6 at Keizer
Homegrown Theatre on the second floor of 980
Chemawa Rd NE. The show starts at 8 p.m., with
seating beginning at 7:30. Buy tickets and learn
about other PNW Comedy shows across the region at
pnwcomedy.com.
to me right now,” Kellebrew said. “I’m golden.”
Performers like Kellebrew had a large part of their
identity taken away over the past year. Some tried
performing virtually or in small, socially distanced
shows. Playing to a camera or in front of a distant,
masked audience was a poor substitute for what it’s
like in front of a full, live one.
And audiences are hungrier for live performances
than ever. They show up early, mingle with friends
they haven’t seen in years and experience something
they didn’t know if they would be able to do again.
“People are just so joyful to be out and about and
having an experience again, a real-live experience,”
said Amy Severin, one-third of The Severin Sisters, a
roots music group from Salem. “Having had that tak-
en away, having that back, we’re forever going to be
See ARTISTS, Page 2
Some state
employees eligible
for ‘hazard pay’
Connor Radnovich
USA TODAY NETWORK
Miniature State of Oregon flags are displayed in the
Senate floor in the Capitol in Salem, Ore. on
Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021. BRIAN HAYES / STATESMAN JOURNAL
State employees who worked mandatory, in-per-
son hours during the pandemic will be eligible for
one-time “COVID hazard payments” after new tenta-
tive labor agreements were struck early Tuesday
morning.
Workers who logged between 480 and 1,039 hours
between March 8, 2020 and June 30, 2021 are expect-
ed to receive $1,050, while those who worked more
than 1,040 hours are in line for $1,550.
This applies to all workers, whether they are union
members or not.
“State workers masked up and did their jobs
through a pandemic,” said Melissa Unger, executive
director of SEIU Local 503. “Hazard pay is a recogni-
tion of the risks they took to keep essential services
like food assistance, healthcare and infrastructure
running.”
In addition, AFSCME members who logged more
than 200 hours of in-person overtime during the
same timeframe are slated to receive $575. SEIU also
expects to have the same benefit for its members, but
is still in negotiations with the state on this detail.
It’s unclear if this benefit is also extended to non-
union-represented state workers.
The tentative agreements still need to be ratified by
a vote of all members.
See PAY, Page 3
Vol. 140, No. 33
Online at SilvertonAppeal.com
News updates: h Breaking news h Get updates from
the Silverton area
Photos: h Photo galleries
Register-Guard
USA TODAY NETWORK
A 32-year-old law sets Oregon apart as the only
state in the country where vaccines can’t be mandat-
ed for health care workers, firefighters, law enforce-
ment and probation officers.
The 1989 bill was introduced during the HIV epi-
demic to ensure health care workers are alerted when
they might be exposed to infectious diseases and
have access to preventative immunizations. But a
one-sentence item in the bill that says immunization
shall not be required as a condition of work has set a
unique challenge for health care and emergency ser-
vices employers.
When Dr. Patrick Luedtke, Lane County’s senior
public health officer, moved to Oregon a decade ago,
he was unaware of the law.
“I quickly bumped into it,” Luedtke said. “I was
working with a hospital and they wanted to mandate
the influenza vaccine for their health care workers
and I helped them write up a policy and a procedure,
and I decided to run it by the (state’s) medical direc-
tor for immunizations.”
He was surprised to learn about ORS 433.416, a
huge barrier to his policy or anything like it.
“It was a rude awakening, and that is the law of the
land here in Oregon,” Luedtke said. “It’s a challenge,
as you might imagine, in regular times and even more
so during pandemics.”
Some can require vaccination
One-time payments
between $1,050, $1,550
Salem Statesman Journal
Tatiana Parafiniuk-Talesnick
Serving the Silverton
Area Since 1880
A Unique Edition of
the Statesman Journal
QEAJAB-07403y
As the delta variant of the coronavirus continues
to spread throughout the country, many health care
workers in Oregon remain unvaccinated.
According to data released from the Oregon
Health Authority earlier this month, 70% of health
care workers are vaccinated — 5% more than the gen-
eral population. However, numbers vary depending
on vocation. While 94% of dentists and 87% of med-
ical doctors got their shots, only 57% of certified
nursing assistants and 56% of EMTs are vaccinated.
Long-term care facilities that voluntarily reported
weekly COVID-19 vaccination data to the state had
84% of residents and 62% of staff completely vacci-
nated as of May 9, the most recent data available.
The state on June 1 mandated long-term care facil-
ities provide data, but that data isn’t yet public. OHA
officials said the new data might be released in mid-
August.
In the meantime, people with loved ones in these
facilities have to depend on vaccination information
that’s voluntarily shared or learn more when there’s
an outbreak.
There are currently two active care facility out-
breaks in Marion County and one in Polk County, ac-
cording to Oregon Health Authority. There are 11 CO-
VID-19 cases at Salem Transitional Care, seven at
Dallas Retirement Village Health Center and three at
Providence Benedictine Nursing Center.
A large outbreak hit a Florence memory care and
assisted living facility west of Eugene earlier this
month and so far infected nine staff members and 20
residents at Spruce Point Assisted Living and Memo-
ry Care. As of Thursday, 25 have been infected, ac-
See VACCINE, Page 3