The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current, April 28, 2020, Image 5

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The Observer., April 28, 2020, Page 5, Image 5

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Newspaper Page TextLOCAL TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2020 JOBLESS Continued from Page 1A weeks as The Orego- nian/OregonLive reported Thursday the state hopes to begin processing claims for self-employed workers and contractors as early as next week. Unemployment claims in Union County, which peaked two weeks ago when 311 people ﬁ led, also saw the number drop to the lowest in ﬁ ve weeks. The county had 179 initial claims for the week ending April 18, the ﬁ rst time the claims have been below 265 since the stay-at-home orders went into effect. Still, that pushes the number of claims pro- cessed in Union County above 1,300, which is about double the number of people unemployed in February, according to the Employment Department website. In all, 1,347 claims have been ﬁ led in the county since the week ending March 15. That number is up 57.1% in the last two weeks. Manufacturing (48 claims), health care and social assistance (36) and accommodations and food service (30) were the three hardest-hit industries in Union County over the past week. Manufacturing continues to be the most severely impacted industry in the county. It has seen the most job losses each of the last ﬁ ve weeks. It reached 184 claims ﬁ led the ﬁ rst week following state and nation- wide closures, and had 139 for the week ending April 11. ONLINE Continued from Page 1A learning, we went back to a set schedule,” Kilgore said. High school students know that, for example, at 9 a.m. they are in English class, at 10 they go to their math class, at 11 their sci- ence class starts. Many teachers do the classes from their regular classrooms where they have access to their materials. More teachers are put- ting videos of their lessons online. In the past, this practice has helped stu- dents who are traveling for athletics or FFA keep up to speed. They can watch it when they have time, and they aren’t falling behind. In the primary grades, DOJ Continued from Page 1A alone anyone who thinks they possess the skill and knowledge to manage the complexities of the Union County Sheriff’s Ofﬁ ce as I have for the past 15 years.” Bowen, however, said he spoke with Rasmussen directly about the investi- gation and looked into the facts for himself. “He told me he had done nothing criminally wrong, ‘just some ethical violations’,” Bowen said. “I am not OK with ‘just eth- ical violations.” Rasmussen claimed Bowen knew about the Photo by Bill Bradshaw/EO Media Group Megan Pinkerton (left) has Lynn Bradshaw sign for homeschool materials she dropped off in April for Lynn’s daughter Savannah, lower right. Enterprise, like Joseph, delivers breakfast, lunch, and both drop off and pick up “paper and pencil” lessons. teachers must touch base with each student once a week. Most are in contact more often. So there’s been inquiry before he and the local law enforcement union gave its endorse- ment for the sheriff in November. Bowen then was president of the union. According to Bowen, the sheriff at the time said the investigation was due to disgruntled employees. After checking it out the claim, Bowen said he decided to run for sheriff. The sheriff said cam- paigns can bring out the worst in people. “Bowen seems ready to say anything if he believes it will help him win,” Ramussen stated. The two also differ on the nature of their past pro- fessional relationship a lot of phone calls, a lot of Google Classroom, and other academic software. Parents are working Before running against his boss, Bowen said Ras- mussen was prepping him to take over as sheriff and there were conversations about him running for sheriff after this next term. Rasmussen said those dis- cussions were about Bowen getting more leadership training, education and broader experience in law enforcement for the future should he decide to run. Bowen and Rasmussen continue to work together. Rasmussen said it has been relatively smooth so far. Bowen noted it has been a little bit awkward due to the change in their profes- sional relationship. “I feel like we will THE OBSERVER — 5A All told, 570 of Union County’s claims have been in manufacturing jobs, which accounts for 42.3% of all layoffs in the county the past ﬁ ve weeks, and 43.5% of the 1,310 jobs the industry reported having in February. Accommodations and food service (255 claims) and health care of social assistance (156) continue to be the second and third most-impacted industries in the county in the last ﬁ ve weeks. Baker County, which saw its highest one-week jump in claims during the week ending April 11 with 139, added 95 to the unem- ployment rolls in the past week, bringing its ﬁ ve-week total to 535. Wallowa Coun- ty’s total unemployment claims nearly doubled in the last two weeks, adding 53 and 34 for a count of 197. Umatilla County saw 1,118 new claims in the past two weeks, giving it a ﬁ ve- week total of 2,767 jobs lost. Each of the three coun- ties has seen a higher per- cent-increase in losses than Union County in the last two weeks, with Umatilla County up an additional 67.8%, Baker County up 77.7% and Wallowa County up 79.1%. The pandemic has impacted the neighboring counties in different ways. Nearly one-third of the jobs lost in Umatilla County (911) and about 30% in Baker County (160) have been in accommodation and food service, the most-im- pacted industry in those counties. Wallowa Coun- ty’s hardest-hit industry is unclear as several of the claim numbers are marked as conﬁ dential. closely with their kids because “… a kinder- gartner really can’t get on the internet for a class all by themselves,” Superinten- dent Lance Homan said. At JCS, every student — with the exception of the six elementary students in Imnaha and one family who is out of range of cell service and internet — has access to online classes, courtesy of school-owned Chromebook laptops and “hotspots.” Still, some families want their students to learn via paper and pencil. For those students, the buses that deliver 145 breakfasts and lunches are an academic lifeline. They take student work back to the teachers and deliver the teacher’s com- ments, corrections, assign- ments and more to the students. Virtual learning, how- ever, may create a gap for teachers to address later. “Without the face-to- face daily contact, I think that is impossible,” Kil- gore said. “The opportu- nity for rigor is there if they want it. But when we go back to classroom learning in the fall, we’ll be taking into account that we have had the two extremes of learning and everything in the middle.” never have the relationship we used to have,” Bowen said. Sheriff’s candidate Shane Rollins said Ras- mussen should address the public on the issue and will make no further com- ment. And candidate Bill Miller used to be a ser- geant in the sheriff’s ofﬁ ce and left because he did not want his name tired to Ramussen’s. “I’m not surprised he is under investigation,” he said. “I left because of differences in leadership philosophies, his behav- iors and how he treated his command staff. All things I witnessed and later con- ﬁ rmed with other people.” Blazing Fast Internet! 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Let us do our part to keep you safe in this time of uncertainty “People Who Care” 1123 Adams Ave., La Grande 541-963-5741 redcrossdrugstore.com 306 W North St, Enterprise (541) 426-7455 olivebranchpharmacy.com Imagine The Difference You Can Make DONATE YOUR CAR 1-844-533-9173 FREE TOWING TAX DEDUCTIBLE Help Prevent Blindness Get A Vision Screening Annually Ask About A FREE 3 Day Vacation Voucher To Over 20 Destinations!!! YOUR PERFECT BUNDLE FORUMS Continued from Page 1A way of life, and the federal government took it away,” he said. The candidate also spoke of the need to lower the cost of medical care, which he said is rising at twice the rate of inﬂ ation. “It is on an unsustainable track,” Smith said. He attributed this to a shortage of health care pro- fessionals, which is creating a supply and demand situa- tion boosting costs. “We need to graduate at least three times as many doctors and nurses each year (to effectively address the shortage),” Smith said. He said the high cost of medical care is one of the top causes of bankruptcies in the United States. He also said he feels strongly about the Second Amend- ment, just as Fager does. “I am not going to give my guns away, and I am not going to support laws that ask other people to,” Smith said. Fager said he believes guns are essential to retaining liberty. “You cannot have lib- erty without guns, end of story,” Fager said. “Do I love guns? Put all trust in them? Do I believe they are a savior? No, I do not, but they are essential for lib- erty. Without them you can forget about freedom.” He said if citizens did not have guns, the United States would be at risk of being “completely run over by the government.” Fager said he considers himself a regular person, noting that his campaign slogan is, “It is time for a career commoner. It is time for a common citizen with common sense.” He said he has a wide variety of professional experiences, including work in commercial ﬁ shing and construction. He said these experiences would serve him well in Congress, a set- ting where he would try to apply “out-of-the-box thinking and concepts.” Fager and Smith both said if elected they would be opposed to any tax increases. “The federal government has proven time and again that it will not live on its own budget. I see absolutely no reason to raise taxes, to take money and give it to a government, which has no end to its ability to spend money,” Smith said. Fager said taxes are hit- ting the middle class too hard. Fager and Smith were joined at the virtual forum by candidates Cliff Bentz of Ontario, David Campbell of White City, Knute Buehler of Bend, Jason Atkinson of Central Point, Justin Liv- ingston of Bend, and Jimmy Crumpacker of Tumalo. All are seeking to suc- ceed Greg Walden, R-Hood River, who is completing his 20th year in Congress and is not running for reelection. The EO Media Group also is sponsoring online forums Friday and Saturday for the 16 candidates run- ning to replace Walden. The forum for Democratic can- didates is Friday and there are two forums Saturday for Republican candidates. La Grande-based Eastern Oregon Alive TV will livestream the forums, and you also can view them on The Observer’s Face- book page. If you are unable to watch the events live, the forums will be available for viewing later on The Observer’s website and at EOAlive.tv. T E L E H E A L T H BUNDLE NOW. SAVE ALL YEAR. Now save $ 30/mo. for a whole year on a bundle with DIRECTV and AT&T Internet. w/24-mo. TV & 12-mo. Internet agmts & combined bill. Savings based on extra $10/mo. oﬀ for 12 mos. compared to previous price, plus $10/mo. discount on internet and $10/mo. bill credit for 12 mos. on TV when you bundle. $ 79 98 mo. 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DIRECTV SVC TERMS: Subject to Equipment Lease & Customer Agreements. Must maintain a min. base TV pkg of $29.99/mo. Programming, pricing, terms and conditions subject to change at any time. Some oﬀers may not be available through all channels and in select areas. Visit directv.com/legal or call for details. The Addams Family: ©2019 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc. and BRON Creative MG1, LLC. All Rights Reserved. ©2020 AT&T Intellectual Property. All Rights Reserved. AT&T, Globe logo, DIRECTV, and all other DIRECTV marks contained herein are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T aﬃliated companies. All other marks are the property of their respective owners. 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! 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