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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (April 25, 2020)
2A — THE OBSERVER SATURDAY, APRIL 25, 2020 LOCAL DAILY Union County Jail reduces inmate population PLANNER In response to TODAY Today is Saturday, April 25, the 116th day of 2020. There are 250 days left in the year. COVID-19 pandemic, jail releases inmates TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT On April 25, 1945, during World War II, U.S. and Soviet forces linked up on the Elbe River, a meeting that dramatized the collapse of Nazi Germany’s defenses. Delegates from some 50 countries gathered in San Francisco to organize the United Nations. ON THIS DATE In 1507, a world map pro- duced by German cartogra- pher Martin Waldseemueller contained the fi rst recorded use of the term “America,” in honor of Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci. In 1859, ground was bro- ken for the Suez Canal. In 1874, radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi was born in Bologna, Italy. In 1898, the United States Congress declared war on Spain; the 10-week confl ict resulted in an American victory. In 1915, during World War I, Allied soldiers invaded the Gallipoli Peninsula in an unsuccessful attempt to take the Ottoman Empire out of the war. In 1917, legendary jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald was born in Newport News, Virginia. In 1959, the St. Lawrence Seaway opened to shipping. In 1983, 10-year-old Samantha Smith of Man- chester, Maine, received a reply from Soviet leader Yuri V. Andropov to a letter she’d written expressing her concerns about nuclear war; Andropov gave assurances that the Soviet Union did not want war, and invited Sa- mantha to visit his country, a trip she made in July. In 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope was deployed in orbit from the space shuttle Discovery. (It was later dis- covered that the telescope’s primary mirror was fl awed, requiring the installation of corrective components to achieve optimal focus.) In 1995, show business legend Ginger Rogers died in Rancho Mirage, California, at age 83. LOTTERY Megabucks: $3.5 million 4-22-27-29-38-47 Mega Millions: $174 million 13-15-24-67-70-17 x2 Powerball: $37 million 1-33-35-40-69—PB-24 x5 Win for Life: April 22 1-9-20-40 Pick 4: April 23 • 1 p.m.: 7-7-5-8 • 4 p.m.: 8-3-0-4 • 7 p.m.: 4-5-9-9 • 10 p.m.: 7-5-1-0 Pick 4: April 22 • 1 p.m.: 5-2-1-8 • 4 p.m.: 1-4-8-6 • 7 p.m.: 4-8-2-5 • 10 p.m.: 7-8-6-4 DELIVERY ISSUES? If you have any problems receiving your Observer, call the offi ce at 541-963-3161. TODAY’S QUOTE “I think it is all a matter of love: the more you love a memory, the stronger and stranger it is.” — Vladimir Nabokov, Russian-born author (1899- 1977) BUDGET Continued from Page 1A The budget committee will fi rst meet on June 3, at which time its members will receive the school dis- trict’s proposed 2020-21 budget. The committee will have the option of approving the budget at that meeting or meeting again on June 10 and June 17 to look more closely at the proposed spending plan. The budget com- mittee is responsible for approving a proposed budget, which then will be submitted to the school board. The school board will vote on adoption of the budget June 24. In other matters, the school board received a presentation from Carol Samuels, managing director for Piper San- dler Companies, a multi- national independent bank By Sabrina Thompson The Observer La GRANDE — The Union County Jail is working to keep the inmate population low as a response to the coronavirus pandemic. The jail released two inmates who were at or near completion of their sentence and let another four out who were low-level offenders in pretrial status on March 19. Concerns about overwhelming the health care system if an out- break were to occur and about the cost of medical care for inmates were the primary factors in bringing the jail’s population down to 16 inmates, Union County Sheriff Boyd Rasmussen said. The jail can hold up to 37 inmates overseen by the Union and Wallowa County criminal justice systems. Having reduced numbers allows for more separation between inmates. Union County is in line with other counties, according to Ras- mussen, with the jail at 43% of capacity. Baker (31%), Malheur (32%), Grant (26%) and Curry (31%) county jails are all below 50% usage of facilities. Umatilla (68%) and Lincoln (52%) coun- ties are at the highest usage. This is according to a report provided by jail manager Nick Hilter. When inmates enter into cus- tody, they are no longer covered by Medicare or Medicaid or Vet- erans Affairs benefi ts and the cost falls onto the county. Rasmussen said if an outbreak were to occur, the jail would not be able to cover the expenses, which would include overtime and the medical costs of treating inmates who had COVID- 19. He said another reason for the Staff photo by Ronald Bond The number of inmates at the Union County Jail, shown above, has been reduced to 16 in an attempt to keep the jail population low during the coronavirus pandemic. Legislative Emergency Board tables rural hospital proposal By Dick Hughes For EO Media Group SALEM — Oregon leg- islators balked Thursday at loaning $50 million in fed- eral money to rural hospi- tals reeling from the coro- navirus pandemic. Members of the Legis- lative Emergency Board tabled the proposal so it could be reworked to include forgivable loans or straight-out grants. Several legislators said hospitals would be unable to take out loans, even at zero percent interest for the fi rst year as Gov. Kate Brown has pro- posed, and the allowable uses were too restrictive. “This was federal money given to us to pass on to our rural hospitals. Why are we making it a loan program as the state?” asked Sen. Bill Hansell, R-Athena. “It’s wrong. It’s morally incorrect in my opinion. This money should be grants from the beginning. In that way, we could actually help our rural hospitals.” Thirty-three rural hos- pitals would be eligible. But Sen. Betsy Johnson, D-Scappoose, said the plan envisioned by Brown’s staff was the equivalent of throwing only a 6-foot rope to someone drowning 10 feet offshore. “We would look so incredibly foolish if we allowed hospitals to go broke on our watch during a global pandemic,” Johnson said. “But there is all kind of stuff wrong with what the governor’s folks have written.” House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland, noted that some hospitals are get- ting federal assistance, and fi nancial services com- pany. Samuels spoke to the board about the potential refi nancing of payments the school district must make for general obliga- tion bonds. Money from the bonds funded about $30 million in capital con- struction and building maintenance in the school district between 2015 and 2018. Refi nancing the debt payments could reduce the property tax payments property owners in the school district must pay for the bond. Merle Comfort, chair of the La Grande School Board, said the the school district will be monitoring market condi- tions to see if a refi nancing package will be feasible to pursue in the future. Com- fort said the the school district will be ready to respond quickly if the eco- nomic conditions improve to the point that the school district will be in a posi- tion to potentially save tax- payers money. “This was federal money given to us to pass on to our rural hospitals. Why are we making it a loan program as the state?” Sen. Bill Hansell, R-Athena with Congress approving additional funding this week. “I think we want to be cautious about how we don’t just unilaterally say everybody needs, frankly free money,” she said, “because there are a lot of businesses and a lot of places around the state that need that money, too.” After a recess, Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, called for tabling the proposal, saying Brown’s staff agreed with that move. No date was set for when the Emergency Board would take up the issue again. The board did approve coronavirus-related funding for rent assistance, small businesses, domestic violence resources, COVID-19 testing for workers in long-term care facilities, and aid to jobless workers, such as undocu- mented immigrants, who are ineligible for unem- ployment insurance. Many of the details have yet to be worked out. Legislative Fiscal Offi cer Ken Rocco told the Emer- gency Board, which for the fi rst time was meeting by video conference, that it remained unclear how much federal aid Oregon was getting and what restrictions accompanied the money. Hospital offi cials from across the state had told legislators earlier in the week that hospitals cumu- latively were losing $13 million a day due to the costs of COVID-19 equip- ment, a state ban on non-urgent surgeries, fewer people receiving care in emergency rooms and other factors. More than 30,000 Oregon workers in the health care and social assistance fi elds have applied for unemployment since March 15. Oregon Health & Sci- ence University announced Thursday that it was sub- stantially reducing salaries and making other cutbacks to deal with a projected revenue loss during the next 28 months of $1 bil- lion to $1.4 billion. “It is not just the rural hospitals that are strug- gling,” Sen. Elizabeth Steiner Hayward, D-Bea- verton, who is a physician at OHSU, told her Emer- gency Board colleagues. La GRANDE AUTO REPAIR 975-2000 www.lagrandeautorepair.com MOST ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY AVAILABLE Joe Horst T E L E H E A L T H “Every single health system in the state is strug- gling as a result of this.” Brown announced Thursday that as of May 1, she was lifting the ban on elective medical and dental procedures. Steiner Hay- ward said that would help, but hospitals would take time to ramp up and have lost signifi cant income in the meantime. The board approved the 11 items on its agenda, all on a bipartisan basis and most of them unani- mously. Much of the dis- cussion centered on fi scal accountability for how relief money is spent and ensuring that rural areas benefi t. Legislators approved a new program under which businesses employing 25 or fewer workers could be eligible for state grants or loans if they have not received federal aid. Rep. David Gomberg, D-Otis, said he had been concerned that coronavirus assistance had not been going to the smallest of small businesses, which are the economic backbone of his district. “People are hurting everywhere,” he said. “According to the state economist, they’re hurting particularly hard in my part of Oregon.” The state will contract with community develop- ment fi nancial institutions to run the program, but Gomberg noted those insti- tutions primarily are along the Interstate 5 corridor. “I worry that it’s not going to support everyone equally,” he said, “that perhaps we’re focused on helping the most people rather than people who are hurt the most.” VOTE LAURIE DRAPER OTEC Board of Directors Position 3 Harney County Raised in Grant County and a Harney County Resident for 37+ years, my entire working career has been in customer service (US Bank, small business owner, and ODFW). I hope to continue that service for the member-owners of Oregon Trail Electric. Now retired, I have the time and energy to work with the OTEC Board and offer a fresh perspective to continue to provide reasonable, reliable power for you. ACDelcoTSS I ask for your vote. S E R V I C E S To protect our patients, improve access and convenience, and decrease potential exposure to germs, we have now expanded our award-winning telehealth services to include Virtual Visits at many of our clinics! If a GRH Virtual Visit makes sense for your next appointment, either call your GRH clinic today to find out more, or message your care team via MyChart! Frank Szumski, DO, Family Medicine—Regional Medical Clinic Some health concerns are best evaluated face-to-face, so if your provider decides a GRH Virtual Visit is not right for you, please know we're taking every precaution to keep you safe, including screening patients and employees, enforcing strict cleaning routines, and using medical masks and other PPE as the situation requires it. We're committed to keeping you safe and healthy! For trusted health information you need right now, visit GRH.org or follow us: facebook.com/grh01 @granderondehospital An Independent Insurance Agency Reed & Associates for excellent service LOCALLY! Nicole Cathey change is to avoid overwhelming the hospital with inmate patients. The jail is following recom- mendations from the Oregon State Sheriff’s Association and is in cooperation and agreement with the Union County District Attorney’s Offi ce and state courts as to which inmates go free. District Attorney Kelsie McDaniel said the jail has main- tained excellent communication with her offi ce regarding the reduc- tion. She cited several reasons efforts have been made to keep down the jail population, including restrictions on police patrols, cut- ting back on court proceedings and statewide changes to inmate transports. “While the jail population fl uc- tuates regularly, this is the lowest it has been in years,” McDaniel said. Rasmussen said the most important factor is the jail con- tinues to house high-risk inmates to keep residents safe. 10106 N. ‘C’ • Island City 541-975-1364 Toll Free 1-866-282-1925 Medicare, Auto, Home insurance and Annuities www.reed-insurance.net Kevin Reed
