BUSINESS & AG
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2021
STATE BUSINESS NEWS
State fi nes Florence
cafe nearly $18K
over COVID-19 rules
FLORENCE — The
state of Oregon has fi ned
a Florence restaurant
nearly $18,000 for will-
fully exposing workers to
COVID-19 after an investi-
gation in which offi cials say
compliance offi cers were
threatened.
The Oregon Occupa-
tional Safety and Health
Administration on Tuesday,
Feb. 23, announced the fi ne
for The New Blue Hen, The
Register-Guard reported.
The New Blue Hen,
doing business as Little
Brown Hen Café, had been
allowing indoor dining
since at least Dec. 26, a
state investigation found.
“The business did so
despite knowing it was vio-
lating a public health order
limiting the capacity for
indoor dining to zero in an
‘extreme risk’ county,” the
state news release said.
The restaurant did not
immediately respond to a
request for comment.
Complaints about the
restaurant led to an inspec-
tion during which, “several
people – including one car-
rying a fi rearm – blocked
the business’ entrance and
threatened compliance offi -
cers” on Jan. 4, according
to the state.
The state assigned two
compliance offi cers and
both identifi ed themselves
during the inspection and
asked to speak to the owner,
the state said, at which
point they were threatened.
The people at the
entrance followed them to
their cars shouting at them
as they left, offi cials said.
Michael Wood, admin-
istrator for Oregon OSHA,
imposed the $17,800 pen-
alty, which is twice the
minimum penalty for a
willful violation to refl ect
“the need to ensure a
more appropriate deterrent
effect where employers
insist on disregarding
THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD — 3B
ZIPLY
Continued from Page 1B
public health measures.”
Airline ordered to
pay $3.2 million
after woman falls,
later dies
PORTLAND — A jury
has ordered Alaska Airlines
to pay $3.2 million to the
family of a 75-year-old dis-
abled woman who died four
months after falling down a
Portland International Air-
port escalator.
KGW reported the
family of Bernice Kekona,
of Spokane, Washington,
fi led a wrongful death suit
against Alaska Airlines in
December 2017, alleging
neglect at the airport con-
tributed to her injuries.
The jury returned its ver-
dict Monday, Feb. 22.
In June 2017, Kekona was
traveling from Hawaii to
Spokane with a transfer of
planes in Portland. She was
disabled with an amputated
leg and other health issues.
At the Portland airport,
while trying to get to a gate
for her connecting fl ight,
she fell down an escalator,
resulting in signifi cant inju-
ries that led to her death,
according to the lawsuit.
In a statement, the Seat-
tle-based airline said:
“We’re disappointed in
the ruling and are evalu-
ating next steps. There is
no more important respon-
sibility than the safety and
wellbeing of our guests,
whether they’re in our care
or the care of a vendor.”
Kekona’s family said
they had requested gate-
to-gate service for their
mother, who needed wheel-
chair assistance. According
to the complaint, gate
agents met Kekona as she
deplaned in Portland and
provided her a wheelchair
ride to the top of a sky-
bridge. She was then left
alone, according to the
family, and became con-
fused, leading her to tumble
in her wheelchair down an
escalator.
— Associated Press
served when it comes to
internet access.
When Ziply lights
lights up the fi rst addresses
Wednesday throughout
La Grande, it will be the
third fi ber build project in
Oregon that’s ready for ser-
vice in less than a year.
Ziply Fiber has been
building fi ber to under-
served markets across
the Northwest since
June 2020. The com-
pany’s work will con-
tinue over the next sev-
eral weeks in a staggered
rollout across La Grande,
but Ziply Fiber already
has deployed many miles
of new fi ber-optic cables
throughout the region and
will continue to build out
more territory.
During this rollout, the
company also reported
its DSL customers will
begin seeing service
improvements.
Part of Ziply Fiber’s
investment is improving
its core and aggregation
network, across which all
FOOD
Continued from Page 1B
The effort has delivered
136.5 million food boxes,
which initially con-
tained only fresh produce
but later also included
meat, milk and now fi sh.
Nearly a year later thou-
sands of people still line
up for the boxes.
On a Thursday after-
noon in downtown Des
Moines with tempera-
tures hovering at 15
degrees, a slow stream
of people walked up to
a food pantry trailer at
the city bus station for
boxes containing a gallon
of milk, produce and
chicken.
“It puts a smile on
your face,” said Dave
Lestina, 59, who lives off
a small disability check.
Ziply Fiber/Contributed Photo
Ziply Fiber technician Greg Medina works to install fi ber to a home in Kirkland, Wash-
ington in November 2020. The company recently announced its fi ber-optic network in
La Grande goes live Thursday, March 4, 2021.
internet traffi c travels.
“While there’s still
more work to be done,
by improving the quality,
capacity and reliability
of those critical network
components, customers of
all types of services will
benefi t,” the press release
stated.
Ziply Fiber’s headquar-
ters is in Kirkland, Wash-
ington, and the company
has major offi ces in Bea-
verton, Everett, Wash-
ington, and Hayden, Idaho.
He counts on getting a
food box from the distri-
bution spot a few blocks
from his small downtown
apartment and notes that
“it seems like some of it’s
better than what you can
buy at the supermarket.”
As Thomas Wash-
ington, 59, waited for
food to be piled into a
basket on the back of his
motor scooter, he said,
“We need more of these
for people who can’t get
down here.”
The United Fresh Pro-
duce Association, an
industry group, and food
bank offi cials have been
working on recommen-
dations that could con-
tinue the program pos-
sibly even beyond the
pandemic.
Matt Unger, who
heads the Des Moines
Area Religious Coun-
cil’s network of 14 pan-
tries, said the program
now provides 2,400 food
boxes to his organization
a week.
Even assuming
demand drops as corona-
virus infections decline,
Unger said, roughly 10%
of U.S. households had
trouble getting enough
food before the pandemic
hit. The food boxes are
“the most accessible pro-
gram that I’ve seen come
out of the government,”
he said.
Still, Carrie Calvert,
a vice president of
Feeding America, a Chi-
cago-based network of
200 food banks, said it’s
important to note that the
USDA’s Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Pro-
gram, known as food
stamps, provides nine
times the total amount
of food distributed by all
food banks. The larger
program, which enables
people to use debit cards
to shop at grocery stores,
is still the most effective
way of providing food,
Calvert said.
Sue Wilson, who
heads a largely volunteer
food pantry in southern
Iowa, said demand for
food boxes remains
strong, with volunteers
driving boxes 20 or 30
miles to smaller, rural
communities, where the
need is often greatest.
Wilson said her small
group has to borrow
heavy equipment to
handle the pallets of food
boxes, and doesn’t know
what she’d do if the pro-
gram ended.
“It’s been a huge
blessing for our
community,” she said.
Enterprise’s team was
Tegan Evans and Destiny
Wecks. Joseph’s team was
Anabelle Russell (second
at Districts and fi rst at Sec-
tionals) and Jonah Staigle
(third.)
Extemporaneous
Speaking:
Bailey Vernam of
Enterprise.
Job Interview:
Enterprise’s team was
Alona Yost and Casidee
Harrod. Joseph’s team was
Josey Wearin and Grace
Hickman.
The FFA mission is to
provide the next generation
of leaders who will change
the world by focusing on
premier leadership, per-
sonal growth and career
success through agricul-
tural education, according
to the press release. This
mission has been proven
through the hard work of all
of our students during these
challenging times.
In a statement from Wal-
lowa’s FFA adviser, Jeremy
McCulloch, he said most
of that chapter’s activities
for FFA Week were cur-
tailed by the pandemic
restrictions.
“Everybody’s picking
and choosing with all this
going on,” he said.
“This year in Wallowa,
we were forced due to
COVID-19 restrictions to
stay pretty much in-house
during FFA Week. Many
years we are able to do out-
side events in the commu-
nity and engage with our
alumni and supporters in
more ways,” McCulloch
said in an email. “The focus
this year, being forced by
regulations to be internal,
have shifted toward making
sure our next generation
of FFA members, our Dis-
covery members in sev-
enth and eighth grade are
prepared for FFA member-
ship and excited for what
the future holds. Chapter
offi cers helped with some
team-building projects and
we have some commu-
nity service projects we are
working on in the shops.
McCulloch said his
chapter is working toward
spring.
“Our Introduction to
Agriculture class also spent
FFA Week gearing up for
spring activities like the
annual plant sale and our
chapter offi cers have began
discussions about our (we
hope) annual chapter ban-
quet,” he said.
CHECK YOUR FIBER AVAILABILITY
To check your address for fi ber availability or to receive alerts
when fi ber internet is available at your home or business, can
register at ziplyfi ber.com/LaGrande.
FFA
Continued from Page 1B
worked a minimum of 500
hours. They must prove
involvement in the FFA,
serve on a chapter com-
mittee, complete 25 hours
of community service and
more. Joseph had seven
members earn this honor
and Enterprise had 21
members.
Joseph members who
earned this honor are Ana-
belle Russell, Hayden Hite,
Jonah Staigle, Trace Col-
lier, Ian Goodrich, Des-
tany Moore and Maggie
Zacharias.
Enterprise members
who earned the State FFA
Degree were Andy Huwe,
Elizabeth Rowley, Bailey
Vernam, Dylan Jennings,
Gideon Gray, Jada Gray,
Hunter Harvey, Destiny
Wecks, Landon Green-
shields, Lannie Stonebrink,
Alona Yost, Gaven Winn,
Kasey Duncan, Rilyn Kirk-
land, Caylynn Beck, Alex
Albanez, Carrin Yaw,
Grace Collins, Flynn Nave,
Gracie Ellis and Addie
Royes.
In the CDE team
competitions:
Soils Judging and
Crops and Weeds:
Joseph placed fi rst.
Rituals:
Joseph’s Beginning
Greenhand Team placed
second and Enterprise’s
Beginning Team was
fourth.
Agriculture Sales and
Service:
Joseph’s Advanced
Team placed second and
its Beginning Team placed
Chelcee Mansfi eld/Contributed Photo
Joseph Charter School’s Advanced FFA competitors pose recently in the school’s re-
furbished gym. They are, from left, Layla Snyder, Juston Rogers, Mary Thiel, McKenzie
Keffer, Josey Wearin, Anabelle Russell, Jonah Staigle, Trace Collier and Hayden Hite.
fi rst, Enterprise’s Advanced
Team placed fourth and its
Beginning Team placed
fourth.
Advanced Parliamen-
tary Procedure:
Enterprise’s Team of
Flynn Nave, Alona Yost,
Bailey Vernam, Cody Fent,
Trace Evans, Aubrina Mel-
ville and Maclane Melville
placed fi rst in Districts and
fi rst in Sectionals. Joseph’s
Team of Mary Thiel,
Hayden Hite, Trace Col-
lier, Juston Rogers, Layla
Snyder and McKenzie
Keffer.
Beginning Parliamen-
tary Procedure:
Enterprise’s team of Jes-
sica Jourigan, Talia Aase,
Brandon Charlton, Zach
Farr-Roberts, Alex Rowley,
Quincee Zacharias and Codi
Cunningham placed fourth.
Joseph’s team of Owen
Gorham, Kane Johnson,
Aimee Myers, Cooper
Nave, William Clark,
Andrew Beachy and Payton
Hess placed second in Dis-
tricts and fi rst in Sectionals.
Creed Speakers:
Enterprise’s team
was Codi Cunningham,
Quincee Zacharias and Jes-
sica Journigan. Joseph’s
team was Kane Johnson
and Rhyson Collier.
Beginning Public
Speaking:
Enterprise’s team was
Zander Flores, Sydney
Hopkins and Lily Royes.
Joseph’s team was Cooper
Nave (third) and Jaxon
Grover.
Sophomore Public
Speaking:
Enterprise’s team was
Tanner Kesecker, Emily
Love and Harlie Stein.
Joseph’s team was Mary
Thiel (fi rst at Districts,
fourth at Sectionals) and
McKenzie Keffer.
Advanced Public
Speaking:
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