2A — THE OBSERVER
THuRSday, July 2, 2020
REGION
Daily Imbler High School graduation plans announced
Planner
By Dick Mason
The Observer
TODAY
Today is Thursday, July 2,
the 184th day of 2020. There
are 182 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
On July 2, 1881, President
James A. Garfield was shot
by Charles J. Guiteau at the
Washington railroad station;
Garfield died the following
September. (Guiteau was
hanged in June 1882.)
ON THIS DATE
In 1776, the Continental
Congress passed a reso-
lution saying that “these
United Colonies are, and of
right ought to be, free and
independent States.”
In 1937, aviator Amelia
Earhart and navigator Fred
Noonan disappeared over
the Pacific Ocean while
attempting to make the first
round-the-world flight along
the equator.
In 1976, the U.S. Supreme
Court, in Gregg v. Georgia,
ruled 7-2 the death penalty
was not inherently cruel or
unusual.
In 1986, ruling in a pair of
cases, the Supreme Court
upheld affirmative action
as a remedy for past job
discrimination.
In 2018, rescue divers in
Thailand found 12 boys and
their soccer coach, who had
been trapped by flooding as
they explored a cave more
than a week earlier.
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• 10 p.m.: 2-2-8-4
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OK Theatre
one of 8 to get
preservation
grant
By BIll Bradshaw
EO Media Group
ENTERPRISE —
Enterprise’s iconic OK
Theatre is to be the recip-
ient of part of a $615,000
grant in federal funds
the Oregon Parks and
Recreation Department
received for the preserva-
tion of historic theaters.
The state parks
department announced
the grants in a Monday,
June 29, press release.
Darrell Brann, who owns
the theater with his wife,
Christi, said he hadn’t
seen the press release,
but was looking forward
to it.
He said he had applied
for the maximum of
$100,000 a single estab-
lishment could apply
for and he expects to
receive about $85,000 of
that amount. He’s now
beginning the process of
arranging contractors to
do the work.
Brann said he hopes
to restore the theater to
its century-old look, and
although the original had
no marquee, he wants to
give it one that would fit
in 1919.
“One of the goals is to
bring back the marquee
… that’s a little more
appropriate to the time
period,” he said.
The press release said
work to the OK will be
to restore the façade and
store fronts, update the
concessions area and add
a bar service area.
Brann said some work
has been done to the con-
cessions area, which he
hopes to complete, as
well as add handicapped
access.
The theater has been
closed along with other
businesses because of the
coronavirus pandemic.
IMBLER — Imbler
High School’s graduation
plans have been finalized,
and they are marked by the
presence and absence of
tradition.
Commencement will
begin at 10 a.m. on the
Fourth of July near the
south end zone of the
school’s football field. The
only spectators will be the
families of the graduates,
who will watch from their
vehicles parked on the field.
This break from tradi-
tion allows for everyone
attending to conform to
social distancing rules
during the coronavirus
pandemic. Still, the Inde-
pendence Day commence-
ment will have a sense of
normalcy for the seniors,
who will sit together on the
graduation stage, main-
taining a long-standing
custom.
In addition, all seniors
will receive their diplomas
Saturday from the school
board’s chair, Pam Glenn,
continuing the tradition of
the head of the school board
presenting the diplomas.
The end result is Imbler
commencement may be the
most traditional of any high
school in Union County this
year.
“We want our seniors
to have as normal a grad-
uation as possible,’’ said
Imbler School District
Superintendent Angie
Lakey-Campbell.
Those speaking at the
graduation ceremony
include valedictorian Ben
Wagner and salutatorian
Brendan Colwell.
Following the gradua-
tion, families will be able to
leave their vehicles to have
a photographer take photos
with their graduates. Fam-
ilies will come up one at
a time for photos and then
return to their vehicles.
Lakey-Campbell said it
is likely all of the school’s
graduating seniors will
be able to attend the cere-
mony. All have remained
in the Grande Ronde
Valley except one student
who went to Utah but is
expected to be at Saturday’s
ceremony.
The Imbler School Board
decided in May to schedule
the graduation ceremony
for July 4 in the hopes the
pandemic would have dis-
sipated in Union County to
the point social distancing
standards would be relaxed,
allowing for a traditional
graduation in the high
school gym.
These plans were
derailed by the recent spike
in COVID-19 cases.
The board in May also
was hopeful that after the
graduation ceremony, stu-
dents could ride in Imbler’s
annual Fourth of July
parade, Lakey-Campbell
said.
That hope ended when
the city of Imbler canceled
the event because of the
pandemic.
Pendleton cautious
about interpreting sewer
COVID-19 data
La Grande is not
testing wastewater
By Antonio Sierra
EO Media Group
PENDLETON — There
may be COVID-19 in the
city of Pendleton’s waste-
water system, but city offi-
cials aren’t trying to take
the results literally.
According to an internal
spreadsheet provided by
the city, Pendleton has been
testing for the presence of
coronavirus at its sewage
plant since late March.
The system didn’t show
any results until April 5,
when a lab determined
that COVID-19 was preva-
lent in 0.84% of its sample,
a percentage it estimated
came from a community
of 150 infected people. The
lab didn’t detect anything
within the next six weekly
samples until June 7, when
Pendleton’s sample sud-
denly ballooned to a 4.2%
prevalence rate, which led
officials to estimate 730
cases in the community.
The sewer testing sug-
gested a COVID-19 sit-
uation in the Pendleton
area much more dire than
the individual testing data
made available by Uma-
tilla County Public Health
and the Oregon Health
Authority. Following
months of showing Pend-
leton’s COVID-19 overall
case count in the single
digits, Pendleton didn’t have
enough cases to have a spe-
cific number attached to it
until June 24, when OHA
reported 13 cases in the
Pendleton area.
City Manager Robb Cor-
bett compared the sewer test
results to an experimental
drug trial, a new method
of testing that needed more
time and work to determine
if it’s effective and accurate.
Corbett said the city
hasn’t publicized the results
or shared the data with local
health officials because
of the wildly fluctuating
numbers.
Wastewater Superinten-
dent Mark Milne isn’t trying
to take the tests results at
face value either, saying
the data may just show the
Pendleton area is seeing an
upward trend in COVID-19
cases.
There are no state or fed-
eral rules that require sewer
systems to test for the virus,
but Milne decided to begin
testing Pendleton’s system
after he saw a promotion
in Oregon Association
of Clean Water Agencies
offering $120 tests.
For the past three
months, plant staff have
been collecting a com-
posite wastewater sample
over a 24-hour period. They
transfer the sample to a
container Biobot provides,
which then goes to the com-
pany’s lab for analysis.
While Biobot’s 730-case
estimate suggests the Pend-
leton area has more cases
than public data has indi-
cated, Milne said Biobot
compared Pendleton’s
sample data to other cities
without factoring in what
makes those cities different,
such as density or industry.
Photo by Sam Anthony/EO Media Group
Heidi Dalton is renovating the interior of the historic Pythian Castle at First Street and
Washington Avenue, Baker City.
New owner hopes to recapture
glory of Baker City’s Pythian Castle
By Sam Anthony
EO Media Group
BAKER CITY —
Baker City’s Pythian
Castle remains a distinc-
tive example of downtown
Baker City architecture,
but its interior hasn’t aged
as well as its exterior of
locally quarried Pleasant
Valley tuffstone.
Heidi Dalton hopes to
change that.
Dalton bought the
Castle, which was built
in 1907 as a hall for The
Fraternal Order of the
Knights of Pythias, a
nonsectarian organiza-
tion, earlier this year with
the goal of restoring the
inside of the building to
its former glory.
Two days later, Dalton
started work on the
Castle, at the southwest
corner of First Street and
Washington Avenue.
She’s had the interior
stripped to the framing,
with the original win-
dows, boards and other
materials scattered on
the floor, waiting to be
reused.
While Dalton wants
to modernize the Castle
a bit, she also intends to
retain its original charm.
“Almost everything is
being reused,” Dalton said.
“Most of the pieces of trim
are being reused and the
original hardwood floors
are being refinished.”
Dalton said the history
behind the Castle was one
of the biggest reasons why
she bought it.
“I think it’s amazing
to think of all the people
who have walked on these
same stairs,” she said.
Dalton said she bought
the Pythian Castle from
a bank for $400,000, and
she hopes to have the
renovations done by the
end of summer. She sees
the building as both an
investment — with the
downstairs offices and
an apartment bringing
in revenue — and a
home for her and her two
daughters.
Dalton is a designer, as
well as the former execu-
tive director of the Baker
County YMCA. She has
restored homes in the
past, but she said this is
“definitely the biggest
project I’ve ever tackled.”
When finished, the
Castle’s 17,000 square
feet will include The Hen
House Cafe on the first
floor, an architectural
design studio, six offices
for businesses to lease, a
basement apartment, a full
housing area on the second
floor where Dalton plans
to live with her daugh-
ters, and a ballroom with
stained glass windows.
Dalton said that she
plans to turn the ball-
room, once the site of par-
ties, into an event center
that could be rented for
weddings, parties and
fundraisers when restric-
tions on the size of gath-
erings are eased.
Umatilla County churches respond to Union County outbreak
By Nada Sewidan
EO Media Group
UMATILLA COUNTY
— Some Umatilla County
churches have reexamined
their church service proto-
cols following a COVID-19
outbreak at a Union County
church.
The Lighthouse Pente-
costal Church in Island City
is now the site of the largest
outbreak in Oregon since
the pandemic began. The
church is linked to at least
236 people who have tested
positive for COVID-19.
Hermiston Assembly
Associate Pastor Alex Val-
le-Lopez said since the
Union County outbreak, his
church has been debating if
they should remain open or
temporarily close.
“As we’ve seen cases go
up, there have been conver-
sations among our staff,”
he said. “We are thinking
of closing as a preventative
measure.”
Valle-Lopez said that
conversations with other
members of the church have
ramped up, and although
views may be polarizing
on whether to go to church
or stay home, there is no
denying cases are spiking.
He said although the
church is following the
CDC-recommended guide-
lines, including social
distancing measures,
sectioning off pews and lim-
iting the number of families
in the church, he is unsure if
they’ll remain open.
“We want to be proac-
tive in ensuring health and
safety in our building and
staff,” he said. “There is a
strong possibility that this
weekend we might just
close out of abundance of
caution.”
A since-deleted video
of a church service in the
Lighthouse Pentecostal
Church showed members
worshipping in close prox-
imity to one another. Val-
le-Lopez said one way to
help mitigate close contact
in his congregation is to
limit the number of people
who can be in the church
building. While the space
can usually house about 500
people, they are now lim-
iting it to just 60 people at
a time.
“For us, whatever keeps
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people safe is what we’re
going to do,” he said.
As word was coming out
of the Union County out-
break, Executive Pastor Wes
Sheley at Pendleton First
Assembly said it became
clear he needed to talk with
their worshippers about
safety.
“The outbreak is unfor-
tunate,” Sheley said. “It’s an
individual leadership and
their decision, and it unfor-
tunately affects a lot of
people.”
Since the outbreak,
Sheley noted more congre-
gants have been attending
services virtually rather
than in person. He said
the driving factor for the
church’s safety protocols is
to be there not just for one
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“Our heart’s desire is
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Sheley said Pendleton
First Assembly is open
and welcomes up to 130
people spread through
the sanctuary. The church
also added additional ser-
vices throughout the week
to get in more worshippers
without compromising dis-
tancing measures.
First Christian Church
in Pendleton is among
churches that have either
delayed reopening plans or
remain closed in response
to the Union County
outbreak.
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She said the high school
is in a better position to
do this while conforming
to social distancing rules
because it has a class of
only 13, one of its smallest
in several years.
The families of the grad-
uates will each be allowed
to bring two vehicles to
commencement and will
have to remain in them
during the ceremony. Each
senior has received two
tickets for the entrance of
family vehicles to the grad-
uation. Drivers of vehi-
cles without a ticket will
not be able to attend the
graduation.
Drivers will be required
to park in spaces, which
will be drawn on the foot-
ball field.
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