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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (July 18, 2020)
LOCAL Saturday, July 18, 2020 COVID-19 by the numbers* Worldwide cases: 13,616,593 Worldwide deaths: 585,727 U.S. cases: 3,555,877 U.S. deaths: 137,864 Total U.S. tests: 46,551,605 Oregon cases: 13,802 Oregon active cases: 10,359 tHE OBSErVEr — 5A Oregon deaths: 254 Total Oregon tests: 323,478 (4% positive) Union County cases: 379 Union County active cases: 331 Union County deaths: 2 Total Union County tests: 2,356 (15% positive) Wallowa County cases: 15 Wallowa County active cases: 14 Wallowa County deaths: 0 Total Wallowa County tests: 544 (3% positive) CONCERT Continued from Page 1A Nights series across the U.S. and Canada. The La Grande Drive-in will be one of only three sites in Oregon to show the concert. The others are in Milton-Freewater and Newberg, the sites of Ore- gon’s two other commercial drive-in theaters. The La Grande Drive- in’s capacity for the concert will be 300 vehicles. This is the total it can accommo- date and still meet social distancing standards in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic, said drive-in manager Patty Johnson. Spectators will be allowed to watch the concert out- side only if they sit in lawn chairs that are touching their vehicles. Tickets to the show are $114.99 per vehicle and must be purchased TRENDS Continued from Page 1A EO Media Group file photo Blake Shelton performs in Pendleton at the 2018 Pendleton Whisky Music Fest. Locals can watch a recording of a concert of the popular county music singer and television person- ality at the La Grande Drive-in the evening of July 25. in advance via ticket- master.com. The max- imum number of people allowed per vehicle will be six and all must have legal seat belts. Gates at the La Grande Drive-in will open at 6:30 p.m. and the concert will start at 9:30 p.m. Chamber, city officials have KN95 masks to distribute to small businesses The Observer Thursday, of 1.4 cases per day. In the last week, there have been just 10 cases, and two days have had none reported. The county’s trend has been a stark contrast to the rest of the state, which bot- tomed out at an average of about 33 cases per day in late May — a time when it seemed the worst of the pandemic in Oregon was passed. Since then, the seven-day average has been on the rise, and Thursday, thanks to the highest one-day total reported in the state of 437, reached 377 new daily cases. The positive test rate in Oregon also has been on the rise. Thursday it moved above 4%, and the weekly positive rate has increased each week during the last two months according to OHA, from just 1.6% during the week ending May 22 to 5.8% during the week ending July 12. The weekly rate has been above the state average the last four weeks, indi- cating the increase in cases is likely to continue. As of Thursday, the state had administered approxi- mately 318,200 tests, 2,305 of which were done in Union County. Brogoitti said one of the reasons Union County is seeing smaller numbers than elsewhere in the state might be because people are more spread out and able to properly social distance. “The places where we are really seeing an increase in numbers are places where spread is more likely to occur due to not being able to social distance due to condensed populations,” Brogoitti said. “And those areas where people cannot take the needed precautions.” She added, however, the virus is unpredictable, and a lack of a large uptick in the last week does not mean new cases will not spike again. The largest increase in the county came from the outbreak June 15 and 16. Since that outbreak, sev- eral places have experi- enced community spread of the virus, but with fewer infected. Brogoitti said it is unlikely any of the new cases are directly con- nected to any particular outbreak, such as occurred in June at the Lighthouse Pentecostal Church, Island City. Brogoitti said the data now show a majority of cases are not connected to other cases. ——— Observer reporter Ronald Bond contributed to this report. LA GRANDE — KN95 masks are available to small businesses within the La Grande city limits. In conjunction with the Union County Board of Commissioners, Union County Incident Com- mand and the city of La Grande, the Union County Chamber of Commerce received a shipment of 2,000 KN95 masks to dis- tribute to small businesses within the La Grande city limits. Businesses with less than 50 employees are eligible to receive these mask — free — for their employees, customers and clients. The masks will aid busi- nesses in compliance with Oregon’s face covering regulations as well as to further promote the health, safety and well-being of fellow citizens and patrons, according to a press release from the chamber. “We understand the financial and social diffi- culty the new requirements can be to the businesses and citizens within our communities,” chamber Executive Director Suzannah Moore-Hemann said of the new regulations. “We’re incredibly grateful the Union County Inci- dent Command identified the Chamber as an outlet to aid in getting masks out to the business and economic environment.” Masks are available by calling 541-963-8588 or emailing info@VisitUnion- County.org to arrange for pickup or delivery. “During these unprec- edented and challenging times, it is so uplifting to work together to support and promote the businesses and communities within and throughout the county,” Moore-Hemann added. COMPLAINTS Continued from Page 1A company normally gets roughly 2,000 complaints annually. One of the complaints against Outdoors RV on June 15 claimed an employee was told not to speak about being exposed to a family member who had tested positive for COVID-19. Northwood declined to comment on the allegation. An allegation against Umpqua Holdings in La Grande claimed employees were concerned after another employee showed up with COVID-19-like symptoms. The Union County complaints were reported between June 15 and July 2. The majority of the complaints submitted to OSHA were related to mask-wearing or social-dis- tancing mandates that Gov. Kate Brown put in place for workers in mid-June. Observer file photo Northwood Investments, the parent company to both Outdoors RV and Northwood Manufacturing, has been the cite of a workplace outbreak of COVID-19. Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division has received three COVID-19 workplace complaints against the La Grande company. Two complaints also stated an employee was not pro- viding hand sanitizer at rest rooms or break rooms, and another said an employee was not frequently cleaning or sanitizing commonly touched areas. Wal-Mart in Island City, Miller’s Home Center in La Grande, Tri County PACIFIC NORTHWEST Equipment in La Grande, Boise Cascade in Elgin and CJ’s Country Store in North Powder are the other businesses that saw com- plaints filed with OSHA. *As of 2 p.m. Friday, July 17. Sources: World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control and Pre- vention, Oregon Health Authority and Oregon Mili- tary Department. The concert was filmed especially for drive-in theaters. The series it is kicking off, Johnson said, is in response to the strong reception received for Garth Brooks’ June 27 drive-in concert, which was shown at drive-in theaters across the nation. Shelton has had numerous hit records during his career and won many honors. The Peo- ple’s Choice Awards in November named him the Favorite Country Artist. He also won Single of the Year at the Country Music Asso- ciation Awards for his song “God’s Country.” The entertainer also is well known as a suc- cessful coach on the televi- sion series “The Voice,” an American singing competi- tion series. “This is such a great way to enjoy music with your family and friends and stay safe,” Shelton said of the ACE Continued from Page 1A funding to repair the plumbing problem. “Because of their gen- erous contribution, our building has running water and working toilets again,” the press release stated. Arts and culture state- wide this week received a financial boost to counter losses due to the pandemic. The legislative Emer- gency Board approved more than $200 million in federal Coronavirus Relief Fund dollars to provide further economic support for Oregonians and small businesses with $50 mil- lion to provide relief to cultural organizations and events. About $24 million of that will provide grants to a number of institu- tions, according to a press release from the Emer- gency Board, including $4.71 million to the Oregon Shakespeare Fes- tival in Ashland, $700,000 to the High Desert Museum in Bend, and $375,000 to the Pendleton Round-Up. The Department of Administrative Ser- vices will distribute more than $9.8 million to independent venues. The remaining funds — almost $26 million — will be available through Busi- ness Oregon in grants to other music, culture and community venues and organizations that do not receive the grants directly from DAS. Art Center East con- drive-in concert on his web- site, blakeshelton.com. Shelton also wrote he will perform his older hits, sic as “Austin,” as well as newer songs. The concert also includes guest perfor- mances by fellow music stars Gwen Stefani and Trace Adkins. The La Grande Drive-in in the past has shown events other than movies. For example, the drive-in during its inaugural year of 1951 showed a film of a boxing match between featherweight world cham- pion Sandy Saddler and challenger Willie Pep. The La Grande Drive-in opened for its 2020 season May 15. The opening was about a month later than normal because of the pandemic. The drive-in now is the only movie theater oper- ating in Union County, due to the coronavirus. tinues to close its building to the public, but it is offering programs online. The ACE Writing Project has been meeting via Zoom, and art demonstra- tions were online during the last few months with the most recent being a glass blowing series. The “Embrace the Unknown” exhibit, with paintings by Theresa Henderson, has been live on the Art Center East website. The center has sched- uled more events for the coming month, which are listed on its website. The gift shop at the center also is selling items digitally as a way to keep artists and patrons connected. “I think we have learned a lot from the experiments we’ve done since we closed our doors,” Knowles said. “We care about acces- sibility, and doing these things online has made art more accessible to the community.” The center will con- tinue to provide ser- vices online even when it is open to the public, Knowles added. Shows and exhibits will be avail- able online and some classes may continue in a digital format. La GRANDE AUTO REPAIR 975-2000 www.lagrandeautorepair.com MOST ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY AVAILABLE Joe Horst ACDelcoTSS T O Y OUR H EALTH ALASKA, WASHINGTON, OREGON, IDAHO, MONTANA REACH 3 million Pacific Northwesterners with just One Call! HEALTH CARE DIRECTORY n PNDC CLASSIFIED - Daily Newspapers 29 newspapers - 1,187,980 circulation Number of words: 25 l Extra word cost: $10 Cost: $540 (Runs 3 consecutive days including wkds.) 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