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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (July 21, 2020)
2A — THE OBSERVER TuESday, July 21, 2020 LOCAL/REGION Daily Umatilla County seeks testing help Planner By Alex Castle EO Media Group TODAY Today is Tuesday, July 21, the 203rd day of 2020. There are 163 days left in the year. TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT On July 21, 1925, the so- called “Monkey Trial” ended in Dayton, Tennessee, with John T. Scopes found guilty of violating state law for teaching Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. (The conviction was later overturned on a technicality.) ON THIS DATE In 1796, Scottish poet Robert Burns died in Dum- fries at age 37. In 1861, during the Civil War, the first Battle of Bull Run was fought at Manas- sas, Virginia, resulting in a Confederate victory. In 1944, American forces landed on Guam during World War II, capturing it from the Japanese some three weeks later. The Dem- ocratic National Convention in Chicago nominated Sen. Harry S. Truman to be vice president. In 1969, Apollo 11 astro- nauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin blasted off from the moon aboard the ascent stage of the lunar module for docking with the command module. In 1980, draft registration began in the United States for 19- and 20-year-old men. In 1990, a benefit concert took place in Germany at the site of the fallen Berlin Wall; the concert, which drew some 200,000 people, was headlined by Roger Waters, a founder of Pink Floyd. (The concert ended with the col- lapse of a mock Berlin Wall made of styrofoam.) In 1998, astronaut Alan Shepard died in Monte- rey, California, at age 74; actor Robert Young died in Westlake Village, California, at age 91. In 1999, Navy divers found and recovered the bodies of John F. Kenne- dy Jr., his wife, Carolyn, and sister-in-law, Lauren Bessette, in the wreckage of Kennedy’s plane in the Atlantic Ocean off Martha’s Vineyard. In 2000, Special Counsel John C. Danforth concluded “with 100 percent certainty” that the federal government was innocent of wrongdo- ing in the siege that killed 80 members of the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, in 1993. In 2008, former Bos- nian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, one of the world’s top war crimes fugitives, was arrested in a Belgrade suburb by Serbian security forces. (He was sentenced by a U.N. court in 2019 to life imprisonment after being convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.) In 2009, prosecutors in Cambridge, Massachusetts, dropped a disorderly con- duct charge against prom- inent Black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr., who was arrested by a white officer at his home near Harvard University after a report of a break-in. In 2011, the 30-year-old space shuttle program end- ed as Atlantis landed at Cape Canaveral, Florida, after the 135th shuttle flight. LOTTERY Megabucks: $4.1 million 1-9-23-25-30-42 Mega Millions: $101 million 12-13-21-46-57—21 x3 Powerball: $97 million 13-16-32-58-59—PB-9 x2 Win for Life: July 18 3-4-65-72 Pick 4: July 19 • 1 p.m.: 6-8-0-9; • 4 p.m.: 5-3-6-3 • 7 p.m.: 2-1-2-9; • 10 p.m.: 9-7-2-2 Pick 4: July 18 • 1 p.m.: 7-9-3-4; • 4 p.m.: 8-1-0-3 • 7 p.m.: 9-9-5-9; • 10 p.m.: 3-4-1-8 Pick 4: July 17 • 1 p.m.: 6-4-5-0; • 4 p.m.: 9-1-5-9 • 7 p.m.: 4-7-2-4; • 10 p.m.: 7-6-4-5 DELIVERY ISSUES? If you have any problems receiving your Observer, call the office at 541-963-3161. UMATILLA COUNTY — Following a week of reporting 255 new con- firmed cases of COVID-19 and the ninth death of a county resident who had tested positive for the virus, Umatilla County now sits atop the state with 151.2 cases per 10,000 res- idents, according to the Oregon Health Authority. The county has reported 1,261 confirmed and presumptive cases of the virus as of Friday, July 17, and the Oregon Health Authority identified 629 of those cases within the Hermiston ZIP code, the Contributed photo most cases within a single A sign advertises drive-thru COVID-19 testing at Hermiston’s Good Shepherd Health ZIP code in the entire Care System campus on Monday, July 13. More than 150 people, both with and without state. symptoms of the virus, were tested at the event. As local and state offi- cials try to figure out how to best stem the ongoing ally haven’t maybe pro- for COVID-19 test results.” some have been unable to spread of the virus, Uma- vided a lot of sick leave tilla County has asked On the other hand, get tested when they’ve or have the money to the state to help develop a Harry Geller, chief execu- needed it. tive officer of St. Anthony make the changes to get free testing event targeted “We’ve had reports Hospital in Pendleton, by if their staff are to stay at residents who have from Hispanic individ- uals that it’s taken them said sample collection and home,” Fiumara said. struggled to get access to multiple attempts to get testing turnaround time Good Shepherd Hos- testing. pital in Hermiston held tested when they met all has yet to be significantly “We need to explore its first drive-thru testing the criteria initially,” Fiu- impacted by any shortages. the idea of doing what we mara said. “It’s just kind of event on July 13, where “Turnaround time can to make testing more exacerbating the inequities more than 150 people, both is excellent, typically readily available, par- ticularly to those people that we already knew were with and without symp- between under 24 hours up toms, were tested. Caitlin who may have some diffi- here.” to 48 hours. Occasionally culty affording it,” Uma- Cozad, the hospital’s mar- Umatilla County Chair it exceeds 48 hours,” he keting and communica- tilla County Commis- John Shafer said July 16 stated in a July 17 email. tions director, stated in a sioner George Murdock the county reached out St. Anthony Clinic has July 14 email the hospital said at a county meeting to the Oregon Health collected nearly 500 sam- ples for COVID-19 tests was hoping to host more Wednesday, July 15. Authority about acquiring testing events in the future as of July 17, according According to the state assistance to plan a as “resources and capacity to Geller, and can col- Oregon Health Authority, testing event in the area. lect up to 30 samples per allow.” Umatilla County residents A spokesperson But as testing ramps up day. However, the clinic have been tested at a rate with the Oregon Health is taking samples only in Umatilla County and of 911 people per 10,000, Authority stated in a July for individuals who have all across the nation, both which is above the state- 17 email the state was wide average of 764. symptoms or have been those things are starting unaware of any testing But as Hermiston’s exposed to a known case events planned at this time. to come in shorter and cases have spiked the of the virus. shorter supply. Fiumara said he’s less county to the top of the Fiumara said he’s “Many labs across the keen on the need for a state, Umatilla County started to hear reports of large-scale testing event of country are having diffi- culty keeping up with the Public Health Director Joe those without symptoms. labs struggling to con- tinue quick turnaround specimens submitted,” Fiumara highlighted that However, he is in favor of times, which complicates Cozad stated. “(Good many of the county’s His- targeted solutions. panic and Latino residents the health department’s Shepherd) has been con- “It’s about providing tracted with Lab Corp, live in that area and have attempt to adequately eval- a mechanism for some uate and respond to case which is taking anywhere been disproportionately of these workplaces and data. between two and 10 days affected by the virus. And employers who tradition- North Powder shares school opening plan By Dick Mason The Observer NORTH POWDER — North Powder School Dis- trict Superintendent Lance Dixon said he believes students benefit most from learning at school with their classmates, not at home via distance education. This is why Dixon has announced school in North Powder is set to begin Aug. 31 with all stu- dents attending in class- rooms four days a week. The plan is designed to meet COVID-19 social distancing rules. Dixon said this is what parents desire for their sons and daughters. “For the most part they want their kids back in school every day,” said Dixon, whose school dis- trict has operated on a four-day week for at least the past three decades. Should North Powder reopen its schools, it would be the first time for reg- ular classes there since mid-March when Oregon closed all schools due to the coronavirus pan- demic. Teachers taught the remainder of the 2019-20 school year via distance education. Contributed photo The North Powder School District completed its new school and gym in 2019. The district plans to reopen its schools Aug. 31 with students attending classes four days a week and social distancing protocols in place. “While we cannot yet plan for school as normal, we have worked within the guidelines from the Oregon Department of Education to create a plan that gets us as close to a normal year as pos- sible,” Dixon told parents in a letter. “If the Oregon Department of Educa- tion requirements change, we will revise the plan accordingly.” Dixon said students need to get back to school for their own mental well-being. “Their routine and extracurricular activi- ties were taken away from them. We will create issues we have not seen yet (if students cannot soon return to school). Students need socialization,” he said. Dixon said that under the plan, elementary classes would be fairly tra- ditional, while secondary classes, grades 6-12, would be taught in cohorts of 17-24 students. Dixon said North Powder is in a good position to offer on-site classes while conforming to social distancing rules. He explained the district’s classrooms can accommo- date up to 24 students and still meet social distancing rules, and all of North Powder’s classes have about 25 students or fewer. Instruction in all classes would be livestreamed on the internet, allowing stu- dents who cannot attend to watch in real time at home or via archived video. Dixon said the lives- treaming will be important because state rules will require students who miss school because of an illness to remain home longer than usual as a precaution. Should the state make social distancing rules more stringent, the North Powder School District would activate a plan B reopening, with half of the students attending school on-site on alternative days during a four-day week. On the alternate days, stu- dents would attend classes via distance education, Dixon said. This would ultimately mean students would attend school two days a week and study at home two days. The Oregon Depart- ment of Education is requiring all Oregon school districts to submit their reopening plans to it by Aug. 15. Dixon said the Union County Public Health Department too will review North Powder School District’s reopening plan to determine whether it meets social distancing requirements. Baker schools might start a week later By Sam Anthony EO Media Group BAKER CITY — Baker School District Superintendent Mark Witty is proposing to start classes Sept. 8 rather than Aug. 31, as originally planned, to give teachers and staff an extra week to prepare for changes related to the pandemic. And the district’s ath- letic director told the school board during its meeting Thursday that fall sports schedules also likely will have to be modified. “Best case scenario, things will get moved back a little and we’ll play locally,” athletic director Buell Gonzales Jr. said. “But we might lose football completely.” Gonzales said the exec- utive board of the Oregon School Activities Associ- ation, which governs high school athletics, will meet next week to discuss fall sports. The board will meet July 30 at noon to discuss Wit- ty’s proposal to start classes on Sept. 8, the day after Labor Day. The district’s plan calls for students in grades K-6 to attend classes in person four days per week as usual. Students at Baker Middle School and Baker High School would be divided into two groups, with one group attending classes at the school 2 days per week while the other group attends the same classes online. But Witty told the board Thursday that he is preparing for the possi- bility that even that lim- ited schedule of in-person classes won’t be possible depending on the severity of the pandemic. “Quite frankly, I think we have to realize that we might have to prepare for all-online this year at some point,” Witty said. The July 30 meeting will be devoted to the question of whether classes should start Sept. 8. The board will also meet on Aug. 13 to review a detailed reopening plan for the fall, including the schedule for all schools. School districts must submit their reopening plans to the Oregon Department of Education by Aug. 15. Although the district’s goal is to have as many in-person classes as pos- sible, Witty said some fam- ilies have already told dis- trict officials that they plan to have their children take all classes online this fall. News Briefs La Grande man dies in motorcycle crash UNION — A multi-ve- hicle crash Sunday in Union County took the life of a La Grande man. Oregon State Police reported Keith Walker, 62, was operating a Harley Davidson motorcycle and heading north on Highway 203 between between Union and La Grande when at about 4 p.m. he entered the southbound lane and collided with a Ford F350 pickup and then a Toyota Camry. State police troopers and emergency personnel from the Union County Sher- iff’s Office and Cove Fire Department responded to the scene at 4:09 p.m. Walker sustained fatal injuries and was pro- nounced deceased. The drivers of the two vehi- cles did not suffer serious injuries, OSP reported, although the vehicles sus- tained damage. The preliminary inves- tigation did not reveal why Walker’s motorcycle crossed into the oncoming traffic, according to the state police. Small fire put out in La Grande garage LA GRANDE — A small fire broke out in the garage Sunday evening at a duplex in La Grande at Second Street and Jefferson Avenue. La Grande Fire Depart- ment Capt. Merle Laci said firefighters extinguished the flames soon after arriving on scene. A neighbor called 911 at 6:18 p.m. after seeing smoke coming from the garage of the home at 2103 Second St. The La Grande Fire Department, Island City Fire Department, Union Ambulance and La Grande Police Department arrived within three or four minutes of the call. “There was limited ven- tilation when we got to the scene so it was mostly smoke,” Laci said. “Once we got the doors open there were some flames but a lot of yellow and white smoke.” It took the fire crew less than an hour to put out the blaze. Laci said there is some structural damage that the building’s owner, Dennis Lewis, will assess. The cause of the fire is under investigation. Sarah Reichoff, who rents the duplex where the fire occurred, said she didn’t see anything suspicious before the fire broke out. “I was at home relaxing and I looked out my window and saw smoke and heard someone screaming,” Reichoff said. Police seek source of bogus 911 call LA GRANDE — A 911 caller who claimed he committed assault with a firearm sent police hustling Saturday to a La Grande neighborhood. But the call was bogus. La Grande police in a press release reported the dispatch center on Sat- urday at 1:04 p.m. received a call on the police depart- ment business phone line from a male who claimed he committed an assault with a firearm inside a residence on the 2500 block of Locust Court. Due to the nature of the call and the caller’s state- ments, a large number of law enforcement officers responded. Crews closed several streets in the area during the response and investiga- tion, according to the press release, and police set up a command post at 22nd Street and East H Avenue. Officers contacted the residents where the crisis was reported to have occurred and found the report was false and everyone in the home was safe. La Grande police reported the residents had not called for help and had no knowledge of what the caller claimed. — The Observer
