6A — THE OBSERVER
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2021
SPORTS/STATE
Eastern Oregon University/Contributed Photo
Eastern Oregon University infi elder Carsten Mander-
bach gets ready for a pitch in this undated photo. The
EOU Mountaineers played their fi rst baseball games in
14 years on Thursday, Feb. 11, 2021, in Caldwell, Ida-
ho, against the College of Idaho. The Yotes took both
games in the doubleheader.
Mountaineers
drop two in return
Outdoor contact sports to resume to baseball action
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Students with the La Grande High School football team line up for training on Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021. Gov. Kate
Brown that day eased restrictions on outdoor contact sports.
The Observer
By SARA CLINE
Associated Press/Report for
America
PORTLAND — Gov.
Kate Brown announced
Wednesday, Feb. 10,
that some outdoor con-
tact sports, including high
school football, can resume
this week.
In addition, the Oregon
Health Authority reported
data shows a “sharp
decrease” in daily cases,
hospitalizations and deaths
from the previous week.
“This has been a dif-
fi cult year for Oregon’s
youth athletes and, as our
COVID-19 numbers have
dropped, I have been com-
mitted to working with our
health experts to reevaluate
our protocols for sports,”
Brown said. “School sports
play an important role in
fostering students’ mental,
emotional, and physical
health. We will proceed
with caution, to ensure
that teams are following
health and safety precau-
tions to protect our athletes,
their families, and their
communities.”
Health and safety proto-
cols for school sports teams
are determined based on
the counties risk level.
In “lower risk” and
“moderate risk” counties,
practices and games for
outdoor contact sports can
“School sports play an important
role in fostering students’ mental,
emotional, and physical health.”
— Gov. Kate Brown
resume. In “high risk” and
“extreme risk” counties,
where COVID-19 remains
more widespread, schools
and other sports organiza-
tions can opt-in to resuming
outdoor contact sports with
additional protocols in
place; On-site COVID-19
testing for symptomatic
individuals, contact infor-
mation for contact tracing
and a waiver identifying
health and safety risks and
a commitment to isolation
and quarantine if exposed to
COVID-19.
In addition schools in
“high risk” and “extreme
risk” counties must
also have at least lim-
ited in-person instruction
occurring, “with the goal
of achieving hybrid or full
in-person instruction for
students this school year,”
the governor’s offi ce said in
a press release.
Schools and sports orga-
nizations in “high risk” and
“extreme risk” counties that
do not opt in and implement
the protocols and require-
ments will continue to
be limited to non-contact
sports, practices and games.
Indoor contact sports are
still banned.
“To all of Oregon’s high
school athletes: I am asking
you now to be leaders in
your communities,” Brown
said. “We’ve given you the
chance to play, but with that
opportunity comes great
responsibility. If COVID-19
numbers spike, we may have
to shut down contact sports
again.”
Brown said that during
the past year she has
received many emails from
athletes, coaches and par-
ents, asking for sports to
resume.
“I am challenging you
now to devote your energy
to making sure in-person
academics can resume for
your kids, too,” Brown said.
“If our school gyms, fi elds,
and weight rooms are to
reopen, we owe it to Ore-
gon’s children to make sure
our classrooms, libraries,
and science labs fully
reopen as well.”
In addition, as
COVID-19 cases in the
state decrease, Brown
said the Oregon Health
Authority will review and
update the exemption for
college sports––allowing
Division 2, Division 3, and
NAIA schools to submit
health and safety plans to
resume college athletics.
The health authority
reported 555 new confi rmed
and presumptive COVID-19
cases Wednesday, bringing
the state’s total since the
start of the pandemic to
148,475. The death toll is
2,044.
Offi cials from the health
authority said that the most
recent weekly data shows
cases have decreased.
During the week of
Feb. 1, the health authority
reported a 15% decrease
of cases from the previous
week and the lowest weekly
total in three months.
New COVID-19 related
hospitalizations similarly
declined by 8% from the
previous week. Virus-re-
lated deaths decreased to
66 — the lowest weekly
total since mid-November.
CALDWELL, Idaho
— The Eastern Oregon
University Baseball team
ended its 14-year hiatus
Thursday afternoon, Feb.
11, as it played a non-
conference doubleheader
against longtime rival
College of Idaho.
The two teams played
a pair of nine inning con-
tests in Caldwell, Idaho,
with the Yotes winning
the fi rst game 13-9 and
the second 5-1.
The fi rst match fea-
tured a total of 28 hits,
according to the press
release from EOU, with
College of Idaho having
the edge at 17-11. While
the Yotes had fi ve errors,
the Mountaineers still fell.
Game two was a
defensive battle for the
fi rst half of the contest,
according to EOU, with
just 13 total hits. The
Yotes had the edge 8-5,
but committed four errors
to EOU’s one.
MOUNTAINEERS
STAT LEADERS:
• Brooks Dyer and Easton
Watterson both went 2-4
to lead the offense.
• Carsten Manderbach
scored one run while hit-
ting 1-4.
• Tristan Fergus had the
lone RBI for Eastern.
• Jacob Farnsworth suf-
fered the loss (0-1) in a
relief effort. He worked
three complete innings
and fanned three batters.
• Nick Jennings pitched
six strikeouts in three
innings while allowing
just two hits.
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February is National
Heart Month
Ontario seeks to boost
tax on marijuana sales
By LILIANA FRANKEL
Malheur Enterprise
ONTARIO — A new
lobbyist will be heading to
Salem on behalf of the city
of Ontario.
The Ontario City
Council voted Thursday,
Feb. 11, to allot $20,000
toward promoting legisla-
tion that would increase the
amount of tax the city col-
lects on its marijuana sales.
Voting yes on the mea-
sure were Councilors
Freddy Rodriguez, Sam
Baker, Michael Braden,
John Kirby and Ken
Hart. Mayor Riley Hill
wasn’t present, but he
has been a vocal propo-
nent of increasing taxes on
marijuana.
Despite its small size and
rural character, Malheur
County, where dispensaries
are concentrated in Ontario,
consistently ranks third in
marijuana sales statewide,
just behind Portland-area
counties.
Ontario saw $9.5 mil-
lion in sales in January
alone. It assesses a 3% sales
tax on that revenue and the
state collects an additional
17%. The state then allo-
cates 10% of its marijuana
tax collection back to cities,
but it does so based on a
formula relating to a city’s
population, not the amount
of marijuana sold in a par-
ticular community.
Ontario, as a border city
where dispensaries serve
a large proportion of Ida-
hoans, is at a disadvantage.
It attracts customers from
across the Boise area, but its
offi cial population is small.
That means Ontario
sends about $1.7 million a
year to Salem, but get backs
only 3% of that.
House Bill 2014 would
change the state formula so
the share of money some
cities receive would be
based on sales of marijuana
rather than their population.
This would likely mean
an increase of funds for
Ontario. The money redis-
tributed to Ontario by the
state of Oregon, currently
about $55,000 a year, has to
be spent on public safety.
The only uncertainty
is Ballot Measure 110,
which voter approved in
November 2020 to decrim-
inalize possession of most
drugs in Oregon. The law
capped state revenue from
marijuana at $11.25 million
per quarter. All revenue in
excess of that now goes to
the Drug Treatment and
Recovery Services Fund.
Ontario City Manager
Adam Brown estimated
with the cap in place, the
amount of money avail-
able for redistribution to
cities would be effectively
reduced by 75%.
“In reality, what the gov-
ernment did was defund the
police, because that money
was for public safety,”
Brown said.
House Bill 2015, mean-
while, would allow Ontario
to raise the local tax
from 3% to 10%.
According to Brown,
legal marijuana is a rela-
tively “inelastic” product,
meaning that even if its
price should rise, users will
continue to buy at about the
same rate. Brown said that
as such, Ontario has plenty
of room to raise taxes
without worrying that those
taxes will depress sales.
Ontario spends the $3
million a year it collects
through the 3% sales tax
mostly on one-time costs
such as buildings, parks,
and other improvements,
code enforcement, and
retirement debt.
Brown estimated a 10%
local tax would give the city
around $10 million a year.
The $20,000 the city has
moved to spend on a lob-
byist will come from the
city’s general fund.
“Lobbyists in Salem will
know who the infl uencers
are, the mavens,” said
Brown, explaining why the
investment is worthwhile.
Two years ago, Brown
went to Salem with Mayor
Riley Hill to advocate for a
tax change, but they were
unsuccessful.
Brown said that he
would consider asking city
offi cials in Portland to col-
laborate in funding the lob-
byist, since the legislation
would benefi t them as well.
The councilors expressed
their support for Brown in
looking for partnerships to
help fund the lobbyist.
“Having a partner would
help out,” said Rodriguez.
Take action to protect
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toward protecting your
heart health!
“Exercise 30 minutes every
day and get outside!”
-Gerrie Gardner, FACC, FACP
GRH Cardiology Clinic
900 Sunset Drive
541-963-BEAT(2328)