2A — THE OBSERVER
Daily
Planner
TODAY
Today is Thursday, Nov.
12, the 317th day of 2020.
There are 49 days left in the
year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN
HISTORY
On Nov. 12, 1948, former
Japanese premier Hideki
Tojo and several other World
War II Japanese leaders
were sentenced to death by
a war crimes tribunal.
ON THIS DATE
In 1929, Grace Kelly — the
future movie star and Prin-
cess of Monaco — was born
in Philadelphia.
In 1942, the World War II
naval Battle of Guadalcanal
began. (The Allies ended up
winning a major victory over
Japanese forces.)
In 1982, Yuri V. Andropov
was elected to succeed the
late Leonid I. Brezhnev as
general secretary of the
Soviet Communist Party’s
Central Committee.
In 1987, the American
Medical Association issued
a policy statement saying it
was unethical for a doctor to
refuse to treat someone sole-
ly because that person had
AIDS or was HIV-positive.
In 1996, a Saudi Boeing
747 jetliner collided after
takeoff from New Delhi,
India, with a Kazak Ilyushin
76 cargo plane, killing 349
people.
In 2009, Army psychiatrist
Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan was
charged with 13 counts of
murder in the Fort Hood,
Texas, shooting rampage.
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DELIVERY ISSUES?
If you have any problems
receiving your Observer,
please call 541-963-3161.
EOU online enrollment numbers up
University makes
adaptations for
pandemic response
By Sabrina Thompson
The Observer
LA GRANDE —
Eastern Oregon Universi-
ty’s fall enrollment show-
cases a rise in the number
of students learning online
and in its masters of arts
teaching program.
EOU released the data
Tuesday, Nov. 10. Uni-
versity Vice President
Tim Seydel said in a press
release the online enroll-
ment increase was expected
due to the coronavirus pan-
demic. The university saw a
6.6% increase in online stu-
dents from the 2019 enroll-
ment numbers, with 48%
of undergraduate students
taking courses online.
“If you look at the num-
bers here, that’s where you
see a shift: fewer on-campus
students, more online stu-
Eastern Oregon University/Contributed Photo
Students at Eastern Oregon University, La Grande, follow
physical distancing guidelines in this photo from Sept. 23,
2020, while waiting to check in on move-in day. EOU re-
ports its online enrollment went up 6.6% for 2020.
dents — and that helps us
balance out our enrollment
portfolio,” Seydel said in
the press release. “The other
big thing we work on a lot is
retention. It’s not just about
getting them in the door, it’s
about how we take care of
those students when they
get here.”
Kevin Walker teaches
online business courses
for EOU and said students
often choose to study and
learn online because of the
flexibility it allows when
scheduling for classes.
“Ordinarily, students
tend to be interested in
online education because
of work or family commit-
ments,” Walker said. “It’s
not hard to see how rural
students would fit this cat-
egory but it’s not at all
unusual for EOU’s online
students to be working
in urban areas and can’t
simply quit working to
get a degree they need to
be promoted or to change
careers.”
Walker said classes that
were already online did not
have to change much, but
for classes that were more
suited for in-person instruc-
tion, such as art, music, the-
ater and lab-based courses,
there was a scramble to find
an online equivalency for
teaching the classes online.
“Sometimes you can
use technology to create
workarounds,” Walker
said. “Not ideal but suffi-
cient. Faculty have adapted
to the pandemic restric-
tions and their own risk
factors. I meet with my
students via Zoom both as
a class and via individual
meetings pretty regularly
to keep them on track.
Most faculty do that to try
to keep them engaged.”
Eastern Oregon Uni-
versity enrolled 2,853 stu-
dents for the 2020 school
year. According to the
report, 35% of these stu-
dents are from Eastern
Oregon. While this is a
0.4% dip in enrollment
from 2019, the school
anticipated a possible drop
in overall enrollment due
to the pandemic.
The university also saw
a dip in retention overall,
with 73% of students from
the 2019-20 school year
returning this fall.
More graduate students
are enrolling at Eastern
Oregon University. In
2019, the master of arts in
teaching program enrolled
45 graduate students. The
program now has 60 stu-
dents. Graduate students
make up about 8% of the
total student population.
Popular undergraduate
majors include business
administration, health and
human performance and
psychology.
Union County voter turnout surpasses 80%
Region remains
Republican, while
state trends toward
Democrats
By Sabrina Thompson
The Observer
UNION COUNTY
— Union County voters
returned just shy of 80.2%
of ballots in the Nov. 3 elec-
tion, the highest turnout
since the 2012 general elec-
tion when turnout reached
82%.
“This election was
different from the pre-
vious two general elec-
tions,” County Clerk Robin
Church said. “Voters
returned their ballots early,
we had the majority prior
to election day. In the pre-
vious generals we were hit
very hard on election day.
Receiving the ballots ear-
lier was a great help to us.”
Church said her office
has challenged some bal-
lots due to signatures not
matching or because the
ballot return envelope was
not signed.
Voters have until Nov.
17 to take care of the issue.
County voters over-
whelming supported
Donald Trump for pres-
ident 68.2% to 28% for
former-vice president Joe
Biden. About 2.6% of
votes went to third-party
or write-in candidates.
Overall, the state of
Oregon favored Joe Biden
56.5% to 40.3% for Trump.
The county stayed true
to its conservative atti-
tudes about politics in
other races as well in fed-
eral races, with each posi-
tion receiving more than
60% of local votes. State-
wide, though, Democrats
won most of those posi-
Library goes back to takeout service due to virus
Building will be
closed to the public
By Dick Mason
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Many
readers will be reaching for
Cook Memorial Library’s
doorbell instead of its
bookshelves for the next
2-1/2 weeks.
The library in La
Grande announced
Monday, Nov. 9, it will
be closed to the public
through Sunday, Nov. 29,
because of the COVID-19
pandemic.
The closure will comply
with Gov. Kate Brown’s
two-week “pause” require-
ment, which took effect
Wednesday in Union
County and eight other
counties in the state in an
effort to slow the spread
of the coronavirus. The
library, which was closed
Wednesday for Veterans
Day, will continue to pro-
vide service through its
takeout service beginning
Thursday.
“We all must do our
part to stop this virus
from spreading further in
our community,” said the
library’s director, Kip Rob-
erson, in a press release.
THuRSday, NOVEmBER 12, 2020
LOCAL/REGION
Ben Lonergan/EO Media Group, File
The Cook Memorial Library, La Grande, is returning to
takeout only until Nov. 29.
“By not encouraging
patrons to come inside the
library and by limiting
library staff and patron
interactions, we can reduce
the chances of anyone
contracting the virus and
hopefully prevent a longer
closure or even tighter
restrictions.”
Roberson said the
library typically has had
between 100 and 150
people come inside each
day. That means patrons
and staff are having a lot
of brief interactions with
one another, increasing the
likelihood of exposure to
COVID-19.
The library’s takeout
service will function
exactly as it did earlier this
year when the library was
closed due to COVID-19.
Patrons can place items on
hold in the library’s online
catalog or by calling the
library at 541-962-1339
and telling a staff member
what they want to borrow.
Once the library con-
firms a patron’s order is
ready, the individual can
pick it up at the front door
Monday through Friday
from 10:00 a.m. to noon or
from 4-6 p.m.
“Ring the the doorbell,
and we’ll bring your items
out to you,” Roberson said.
The library started
its takeout program ear-
lier this year because of
the COVID-19 pandemic
and kept it in place as
an option until Oct. 19
when the library building
was again opened to the
public.
The library still will
have story time for chil-
dren on its YouTube
channel, and people will
be able to call staff to ask
questions and receive book
recommendations.
“We will be offering
all of our regular services.
You just can’t come inside
for the next two weeks,”
Roberson said.
The library director said
the decision to close the
library was difficult but
necessary.
“We’re taking this pre-
caution because we believe
it’s the right thing to do,”
said Roberson. “We truly
care about the health and
well-being of every one of
our patrons and we don’t
want to endanger the health
of our patrons or our staff.
We want everyone to be
able to celebrate a happy
and healthy Thanksgiving
this year.”
To visit the library
online go to www.cookme-
moriallibrary.org.
tions, except for Cliff
Bentz, who will represent
Oregon’s 2nd Congres-
sional District n the U.S.
House of Representatives.
Union County also
voted Republican for
state legislators, with Bill
Hansel of Athena win-
ning reelection to the seat
for Senate District 29 and
Bobby Levy of Echo win-
ning the open seat for
House District 58.
On the four state ballot
measures, Union County
backed two and voted
down on two, although
statewide all four passed.
Measures 107 and 108
received more than 50%
of the vote each in Union
County. Measure 107
allows for laws restricting
campaign contributions,
spending and advertising.
Measure 108 increases cig-
arette and cigar taxes and
establishes a tax on e-ciga-
rettes and vapes.
More than 50% of
Union County voters were
against Measure 109 and
110. Measure 109 allows
for the manufacturing,
distribution and admin-
istration psilocybin, and
Measure 110 reclassified
possession and penalties
for specific drugs while
increasing statewide addic-
tion and recovery services.
Island City, Union councils
vote for redesignation
By Dick Mason
The Observer
UNION COUNTY —
The Grande Ronde Enter-
prise Zone received votes
of confidence Monday
night, Nov. 9, from the city
councils of Island City and
Union.
The councils, at separate
meetings, passed resolu-
tions calling for the redes-
ignation of the Grande
Ronde Enterprise Zone, an
area promoting new busi-
ness development in Union
County. The zone is oper-
ated jointly with the county
and the cities of La Grande,
Island City, Elgin, North
Powder and Union.
La Grande and Union
County earlier passed res-
olutions calling for the
redesignation of the zone.
The city councils of Elgin
and North Powder are set
to vote on redesignation
later this year. The zone’s
current designation expires
Dec. 31.
Island City Mayor
Delmer Hanson said he was
pleased his council voted
in support of the Grande
Ronde Enterprise Zone.
“Anytime we can do
anything to help industry,
we feel it is a move in the
right direction,” Hanson
said.
The enterprise zne is
designed to boost new
businesses. Those that
qualify under state rules
receive breaks on their
property taxes, according
to Union County admin-
istrative officer Shelley
Burgess, the zone man-
ager. New businesses
that qualify also receive
assistance from Business
Oregon, the state agency
with the task of helping
businesses grow and
expand.
Union Mayor Leonard
Flint also endorsed the
zone.
“It creates a level
playing field (for cities
competing for businesses),”
Flint said.
The Grande Ronde
Enterprise Zone, which
covers a total of 11.9 miles,
was founded in 1987 when
it had three entities —
Union County, La Grande
and Island City, and was
named the Union County
Enterprise Zone. Union
joined in 1998, Elgin in
2001 and North Powder
came on board in 2009.
Umatilla County hospitals confident they can accommodate COVID-19 patients
By Alex Castle
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — Health
officials around Oregon
have raised concerns about
hospital capacity in the
state during the current
surge of COVID-19 cases.
Local officials and hospitals
are confident in the ability
to keep up with increases
in hospital admissions, but
are keeping an eye on the
number of available beds
filling up elsewhere in the
state.
State health officials
warned in late October
the increasing rate of new
cases could result in hos-
pitals reaching capacity by
mid-December, and that
was before the Oregon
Health Authority reported
the state’s highest weekly
case count last week and
daily numbers repeatedly
broke records.
“It’s something we’re
always worried about,”
Umatilla County Public
Health Director Joe Fiu-
mara said. “With that being
said, even through our big
uptick in the summer, the
hospitals in our area made
specific arrangements to
expand capacity and it was
never really tested.”
From Thursday, Nov. 5,
to Monday, Nov. 9, 4,160
new cases of the virus
have been reported, or an
average of 823 per day.
There have been 126 new
cases reported in Umatilla
County during that span.
“We’ve been nervous
with how these rates are
going,” Fiumara said. “I
think we’ve felt here that
we’ve been able to stay on
top of it — our hospitals
have been able to stay rela-
tively available, our tracers
have been able to follow up
within 24 hours — but you
never know when you’re
going to get to that point
where you’re not doing that
anymore.”
Data from the Oregon
Health Authority showed
three people with con-
firmed or presumptive cases
are hospitalized and over
one-third of hospital beds
were available as of Friday,
Nov. 6, in Region 9, which
includes Umatilla, Morrow,
Union, Wallowa, Baker and
Malheur counties.
The Oregon Health
Authority reported there
were three hospitalizations
within the region as of Nov.
6. At the peak of virus cases
surging locally in July, data
showed 15 people were hos-
pitalized in the region.
At Good Shepherd
Health Care System in
Hermiston, new CEO Brian
Sims is getting familiar
with all the specifics about
the hospital’s capacity and
resources, but said health
officials in the county are
meeting together weekly
on COVID-19, including
discussing hospitalization
levels.
He said it’s important to
think of hospital capacity
not just in terms of one spe-
cific hospital, but region-
wide, as it is not uncommon
for patients — with
COVID-19 or otherwise —
to be transferred between
hospitals. Someone from
Umatilla County may need
more specialized care and
be flown to a Portland hos-
pital, for example.
“You have to look at
this holistically, across the
state,” he said.
In early July, when Uma-
tilla County Public Health
was reporting 12 resi-
dents hospitalized with
COVID-19 and the majority
of the county’s COVID-19
cases were in Hermiston,
spokesperson Caitlin Cozad
said in an email that Good
Shepherd had been able
to care for all COVID-19
patients in its regular Crit-
ical Care Unit and had not
needed to open the 12-bed
COVID-19 unit it had cre-
ated as a contingency in
the event the ICU reached
capacity.
For St. Anthony Hos-
pital in Pendleton, Mar-
keting and Communica-
tions Director Emily Smith
indicated in an email that
its maximum capacity is
30 people, though its con-
tingency plan is to begin
transferring patients before
ever reaching that number.
“We feel confident in
our preparation to handle
a COVID surge should
one arise, as well as the
possibility of transfer-
ring patients out if that
becomes a necessity,” she
stated.