FROM PAGE ONE
SATURDAY, APRIL 10, 2021
THE OBSERVER — 5A
MISSING
SHELTER
CIVICS
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vehicle. State police have
not been able to confi rm
reports of anyone seeing
Hendrichs since that time.
Hendrichs is an
employee of the Les
Schwab Tire Center in
Meridian, Idaho, where she
has worked since 1995 as
a bookkeeper. Taylor said
her sister is popular with
customers and is the type
of person who the late Les
Schwab, who founded the
tire company in the 1950s,
wanted his employees to be
like.
“She fi ts the image of
(an ideal) Les Schwab
employee to a T,” Taylor
said of her sister, who has
worked a total of 37 years
for Les Schwab.
Taylor said her sister
brightens the spirits of
customers.
“She makes them feel
valued,” she said.
Despite the lack of new
leads in the search for her
sister, Taylor said she has
reason to be hopeful, noting
she is impressed with how
many people are con-
tinuing to to help. These
include individuals with
the Jon Francis Foundation,
a nonprofi t that helps fi nd
missing persons, Valley
County Search and Rescue
of the McCall, Idaho, area
and the Oregon State Police.
Taylor is working closely
with Conner of OSP on the
search.
“Lt. Conner has been
phenomenal,” Taylor said.
Conner is hoping evi-
dence leading to Hendrichs
may be found now that
Was Wearing” became
available Friday, April 2.
The exhibit contains sto-
ries of sexual assault sur-
vivors in Union County.
You can fi nd a link to
the exhibit and more at
www.unioncountysfs.org/
awareness. (Shelter From
the Storm warns this con-
tains depictions and sce-
narios of sexual violence.)
The nonprofi t also is
hosting its annual Soup
Supper drive — although
with changes to accom-
modate social distancing
requirements — as well
as handing out bags
with resources to col-
lege students about sexual
assault, including how to
report an assault and what
to do if you or a friend is
assaulted.
As an additional way
to get the word out, the
Shelter From the Storm
has placed teal ribbons
on lampposts along
Adams Avenue in La
Studies and a teacher at
Kings Valley Charter
School in Independence,
said civics instruction is
scattershot now.
“There is inequity in
civics education where
some students receive ded-
icated focus on the subject
while others receive limited
instruction scattered across
multiple social science
classes,” Lepley said in a
statement after the Senate
vote. “This inequity has real
implications for our stu-
dents and our society and it
must be addressed.”
Democrats joined Girod
in speaking for the bill.
“In the leaner budget
years of the last couple
of decades, civics educa-
tion has been one of the
fi rst things on the chopping
block,” Sen. Jeff Golden of
Ashland said.
He said civics should
teach students how rights
and responsibilities should
be balanced in a democratic
society.
“My judgment is that our
sense of that balance, espe-
cially among young people
who have not had civics
education, is wanting and
needs addressing,” he said.
Majority Leader Rob
Wagner of Lake Oswego
sat on a City Club of Port-
land panel a decade ago that
assessed civics education in
the metro area. He said one
of its conclusions was that
the state should set stan-
dards and off er professional
development for teachers.
“One thing that should
not divide our citizenry is
our deep love and abiding
concern for our state and
federal constitutions and
our love for our country
and state,” he said. “That
requires an active citizenry
engaged in learning our his-
tory and how government
functions.”
Sen. Lew Frederick of
Portland, a former broad-
cast journalist, said real-
life politics isn’t as it is por-
trayed in television shows
or movies.
“At its core, it is a careful
acknowledgment and
respect for all Oregonians
— the ability and the desire
to make Oregon better by
working together,” he said.
“Demonizing other Orego-
nians only brings out more
demons, more targets —
and fewer paths to a better
state. Understanding those
paths is what the study
of civics is ultimately all
about.”
Sen. Chuck Riley of
Hillsboro said he has
off ered himself as a guest
speaker in schools. “I
encourage you to do the
same in your districts,” he
said.
The bill drew three
votes against it: Republi-
cans Dallas Heard of Rose-
burg and Dennis Linthicum
of Klamath Falls, and inde-
pendent Brian Boquist of
Dallas.
Rep. Paul Evans,
D-Monmouth, is the chief
sponsor of a similar bill in
the House.
FEES
Continued from Page 1A
$1,450 for residents.
Other rates are the
same whether someone
lives inside or outside
La Grande. Special care
transport, for example, is
increasing from $2,000 to
$2,500, and the per hour
rate for special events is
increasing from $150 to
$200. The new rates go
into eff ect July 1.
The city also will not
charge amounts in excess
of the caps to people on
Medicare and Medicaid.
“For those that I
think we feel are kind
of the most vulnerable
to increases, it would
not impact them in that
regard,” Strope said. “We
wanted to emphasize that.”
Strope called the
increases reasonable and
said they would be on
par if the city had been
increasing the rate to keep
up with infl ation. He also
said this would put La
Grande more in line with
similar jurisdictions.
In another unanimous
vote, the council approved
a program to help residents
pay their utility bills.
Councilor Gary Lil-
lard recently learned some
La Grande residents were
having diffi culties paying
their back utility bills
due to COVID-19 pan-
demic restrictions and clo-
sures, and they faced shut-
off s. The local nonprofi t
Community Connection
of Northeast Oregon Inc.
has been inundated with
requests for assistance.
To help, the city agreed
to allocate $20,000 to
Community Connection to
provide need-based grants
to La Grande residents so
they can pay their utility
bills. The money is coming
out of the COVID-19 loan
program the city set up in
2020 using money from
the general fund. Strope
said the local program still
has more than $185,000
available.
“I think this would be a
great opportunity to pro-
vide some much-needed
help in a pretty extraordi-
nary set of circumstances
for our community,”
Strope said.
OSP/Contributed Photo
Oregon State Police and others
plan on searching in May for Debo-
rah “Deb” Hendrichs of Star, Idaho,
who has been missing since Jan.
11, 2021, after her car ran out of gas
near Meacham.
ODOT is starting a road
construction project just
outside Meacham on Inter-
state 84. Conner is encour-
aging ODOT employees to
be on the lookout for evi-
dence. This includes cell-
phones. Conner said Hen-
drichs had at least two
cellphones.
The law enforcement
offi cer also wants people
who have cabins in the
Meacham area to report
anything suspicious they
have noticed since the dis-
appearance of Hendrichs.
Conner said in early
May a search team will
again scour the area. The
eff ort likely will include
the Jon Francis Foundation
and law enforcement agen-
cies and search and rescue
organizations. He said he
believes the odds are better
that something could be
found because much of the
area’s snow may be gone
by then.
Regardless of how the
search turns out, Taylor will
remain hopeful in her quest
to fi nd her sister.
“I know that God knows
where she is,” Taylor said.
“God loves her more than I
do, and I love her a lot.”
Community Connec-
tion also has similar deals
with other local govern-
ments, Strope said, and the
$20,000 will provide for
about two or three months
of relief for approved
citizens.
He also said the city is
set to receive about $2.7
million from the Amer-
ican Rescue Plan Act of
2021, the latest federal
COVID-19 relief package.
There are no regulations
yet for how local govern-
ments can spend their fed-
eral allocations, he said,
but the city will be able to
use the funds to backfi ll
for lost revenue, including
for declines in the transient
room tax and aquatic fees.
Before the vote, Coun-
selor John Bozarth asked
if utility providers Avista
and Oregon Trail Elec-
tric Cooperative had set
up programs to help locals
pay their natural gas or
power bills.
“I think those two com-
panies have a heck of a
lot more disposable funds
than we have,” he said.
After the council voted
in favor of the need-based
grants program, Strope
said he would fi nd out
more about what OTEC
and Avista have to off er.
In other business, the
council approved a hiring
incentive of up to $6,000
for the police department
for offi cers it hires after
April 7.
The city would pay the
incentive in three $2,000
installments: The fi rst for
applications who com-
plete fi eld training so they
can work solo; the second
upon completion of pro-
bationary status and 12
months of continuous ser-
vice (whichever occurs
last); and the third after
working 30 months of
continuous, satisfactory
service as a police offi cer
for the city.
The incentive is to
attract and hire experi-
enced police offi cer can-
didates to replace some of
the experience the depart-
ment lost with the high
number of retirements
over the last several years,
according to a memo to
the city council. Other
police agencies in Oregon
off er similar incentives.
The most valuable and
respected source of local news,
advertising and information for
our communities.
www.eomediagroup.com
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Roszanne Moldovan is a crisis response advocate with the local non-
profi t Shelter From the Storm, which helps survivors of interpersonal
violence. April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and the shelter
has put together several events to raise awareness during the an-
nual campaign.
Grande containing infor-
mation about Sexual
Assault Awareness
Month, commonly cited
statistics about assault
and a link to the shel-
ter’s website and phone
number.
Shelter From the
Storm also is encour-
aging community mem-
bers to wear jeans for
“Denim Day” on April
28 — a gesture that
came after an Italian
court overturned a rape
conviction in 1998 of
a 45-year-old driving
instructor, stating the
victim had to have helped
him remove her “very
tight jeans.”
In protest, women
members of the Italian
Parliament wore denim
jeans the next day. The
movement has become a
worldwide protest.
168 Oregonians got COVID-19
despite full vaccination, state says
By FEDOR ZARKHIN
The Oregonian/OregonLive
SALEM — So far 168 Oregonians
have tested positive for the corona-
virus despite being fully vaccinated
against COVID-19, leaving 19 hos-
pitalized and three dead — fi gures
so small that offi cials said they were
“good news.”
The case count means that of the
700,000 people who reached full
immunity, just 0.024% got infected
anyway.
“This shows the vaccines are
working really well,” said Dr. Melissa
Sutton, the Oregon Health Authority’s
medical director for respiratory viral
diseases. “All of those numbers are
good news.”
While coronavirus vaccines are
proven to be eff ective at preventing
hospitalizations and deaths among
those who do get infected, no vac-
cine is foolproof. Sutton was not sur-
prised by the death and hospitalization
counts, either.
“They are, of course, unfortu-
nate,” Sutton said. But the numbers
were “not more than we would have
expected.”
State offi cials calculated the number
of so-called “breakthrough” cases
among Oregonians who had reached
full immunity, which comes two
weeks after a fi nal vaccine dose. Offi -
cials track the cases because they
could point to dangerous mutations of
the virus.
It’s unclear how many, if any, of the
breakthrough cases Oregon announced
were caused by virus variants, Sutton
said, though none of them are known
to be.
State offi cials said many of the
people with identifi ed breakthrough
cases reported no symptoms and
were tested for other reasons, such
as care-facility workers who must be
screened at least once a month.
None of the three deaths was tied
to a variant, the state said. The state’s
information is current through April 2.
Oregon has now identifi ed 294
cases driven by variants the federal
government is concerned about. But
the health authority has detailed case
data for only 23.
That’s because the state identifi ed
the other 271 variant cases before fed-
Courtnie McCauliff e/Contributed Photo
Ruthie Mann, infection control offi cer at Wallowa
Memorial Hospital, prepares a syringe with the
Moderna COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday, March 9,
2021. In the background is Stacey Karvoski, WMH
quality director and nurse. State health offi cials re-
port 168 Oregonians have tested positive for the
coronavirus despite being fully vaccinated against
COVID-19.
eral health offi cials said those spe-
cifi c versions of the virus had to be
monitored closely. As a result, at the
time Oregon discovered those vari-
ants it didn’t check whether the
people infected with them had been
vaccinated.
The bill to mandate transparency is
still in the works.
Oregon’s disclosure Thursday
makes it at least the seventh state pub-
lishing breakthrough case numbers.
Offi cials initially denied a records
request from The Oregonian/Oregon-
Live for the data.
Lawmakers said the state should
reveal how many such cases health
investigators identifi ed. They also crit-
icized the state for hiding behind a law
allowing offi cials to conceal any health
investigation information they want,
with a bill pending in the legislature to
improve transparency.
Sutton said the agency will con-
tinue to update numbers about break-
through cases once a month.
Grande Ronde Hospital and Clinics proudly welcomes:
Jennifer Hoffman, FNP-C
To the GRH Urgent Care team as a Family Nurse Practitioner
Nurse Practitioner Jennifer Hoffman joins the GRH team from an urgent care facility in Peoria,
Illinois. She is a Midwest native and grew up on a small hobby farm, caring for many kinds of animals
throughout her upbringing. She loves the outdoors, including fishing, camping, hiking, hunting,
boating, and skiing, and fell in love with the western united states many
years ago. After a recent vacation to mountains in the area, she and her
family concluded it was time to plant some new roots “out west”.
Jennifer enjoys working in urgent care, particularly the variety and
challenges that the field presents. She is passionate about her work,
meeting patients where they are at in their healthcare journey, and treats
everyone as if they were her own family. She looks forward to building
new memories in beautiful Eastern Oregon. Join us in welcoming
Jennifer and her family to Union County!
GRH Urgent Care
Jennifer Hoffman, FNP-C
10303 S. Walton Road, Island City • 541.962.7845 • grh.org/urgentcare