FROM PAGE ONE
TUESDAY, MAY 11, 2021
THE OBSERVER — 5A
Oregon allows youth Historic Columbia River Highway reopens
overnight camps to
resume this summer
By JAMIE HALE
The Oregonian/OregonLive
By JAMIE GOLDBERG
The Oregonian/OregonLive
SALEM — Oregon
will allow youth over-
night camps to resume
this summer with signif-
icant restrictions to pro-
tect against the spread of
COVID-19.
The state allowed day
camps to move forward
last summer during the
heart of the pandemic, but
banned overnight camps
for school-aged children.
But the Oregon Health
Authority released new
guidance last month to
allow both day and over-
night camp operators to
move forward with pro-
gramming this summer.
All youth programs,
including day and over-
night camps, must put
together communi-
cable disease manage-
ment plans, implement
enhanced cleaning stan-
dards, screen for symp-
toms and require anyone
who exhibits COVID-19
symptoms to stay home,
split participants into
stable groups of no more
than 30 and require that
both staff and most youth
participants wear masks.
The state will not require
children to wear masks
if they can’t wear them
due to medical condi-
tions or disabilities or they
are unable to remove the
masks on their own.
Overnight camp oper-
ators must all ensure that
there is at least 30 inches
between beds and that
campers sleeper head-
to-toe. Camps must limit
use of cabins and tents to
a single cohort of no more
than 30.
Overnight camp opera-
tors are also encouraged,
but not required to restrict
campers and staff from
leaving and returning to
camp during sessions.
Daily coronavirus
cases and the number of
people hospitalized with
COVID-19 in Oregon
had been rising steadily
since March, but declined
slightly over the past
week.
More than 36% of Ore-
gonians over 16 have been
fully vaccinated, while
nearly 16% have received
one vaccine dose and still
need to receive a second
dose.
The vaccines are only
authorized for people age
16 and older.
SALEM — A section
of the Historic Columbia
River Highway that has
been closed since Jan-
uary has reopened to the
public, the Oregon Depart-
ment of Transportation
announced Thursday, April
29, granting access to one
of the most scenic drives in
the region as well as sev-
eral waterfalls that have
been off -limits all spring.
The six-mile closure
between Bridal Veil and
Ainsworth State Park was
caused by landslides trig-
gered by heavy winter
rainstorms, exacerbated by
damage done to the land-
scape by the Eagle Creek
fi re in 2017, offi cials in the
Columbia Gorge said.
The closure blocked
access to the Wahkeena
and Horsetail Falls trail-
heads on either side of
Multnomah Falls, as well
as the Oneonta Trailhead
that had been closed since
December due to another
landslide. All three of
those trailheads are now
back open, ODOT said
Thursday.
Additionally, the One-
onta Trail is now open to
the Horsetail Falls Trail
junction, and the Gorge
400 Trail is open between
the Oneonta Trail and
Multnomah Falls, offi cials
said.
The Eagle Creek Trail,
which closed due to land-
slides in January only two
weeks after its long-antic-
ipated reopening, remains
closed to the public.
Landslides are not
unusual in the Columbia
Gorge, but this winter
they seemed to be a bigger
problem than normal. Offi -
cials said the particularly
wet winter and damage
from the Eagle Creek fi re
are to blame, as water has
run down the barren slopes
unabated.
At one spot about a
mile west of Multnomah
Falls, ODOT said crews
saw more than 30 debris
fl ows, a type of fast-
moving landslide, which
brought large rocks, trees,
mud and other debris
across the road and onto
adjacent railroad tracks.
Makenzie Whittle/The Bulletin, File
Bridal Veil Falls pours into a pool
below. The falls can be accessed
by a short trail from a designated
parking area above.
SHAKESPEARE
Continued from Page 1A
Turner said he is
delighted to have the oppor-
tunity to direct works in the
open-air site.
“I love outdoor theater,”
he said.
Turner explained he
enjoys tackling the diffi -
culties it imposes, such
as bad weather and intru-
sive sounds, including dogs
barking.
“The additional chal-
lenges make it fun,” he said.
The outside setting could
make addressing one chal-
lenge somewhat easier
— meeting the social dis-
tancing demands during
the COVID-19 pandemic.
Audiences will have to
adhere to social distancing
rules during the outdoor
productions.
Turner previously was
with the La Grande Shake-
speare Company, which
the Elgin Opera House
absorbed in 2019. The La
Grande Shakespeare Com-
pany, whose actors per-
formed throughout the
Grande Ronde Valley, offi -
cially no longer exists, yet
its presence remains strong.
Many of its actors now are
a part of the Elgin Opera
House and will be partic-
CASES
Continued from Page 1A
which equals 252 cases per
100,000 residents. Both are
slight declines over the pre-
vious period.
The rate of positive cases
remains at 6.4% — state
offi cials say anything above
5% has the potential to lead
to a rebound of cases.
Several counties had
case rates that would in the
past have pushed them into
the extreme risk category.
For large counties, an infec-
tion rate of more than 200
per 100,000 people would
place them in the most
restrictive of the state’s four
risk level tiers.
But Brown introduced a
new metric last month that
keeps counties from the
harshest limits, including a
ban on indoor dining.
Counties will not be
put in the extreme risk
level regardless of their
own COVID-19 num-
bers if the state overall has
under 300 hospitalizations
for COVID-19. After that
threshold is crossed, an
increase of 15% has to be
met to hit the extreme risk
level.
As of May 10, the
Oregon Health Authority
reported 324 confi rmed
COVID-19 cases in the
state, a slight reduction over
ipating in its Shakespeare
productions.
Turner said the La
Grande Shakespeare Com-
pany never had a home
and was forced to perform
anywhere it could, which
included Riverside Park and
in the back of a bookstore.
Today, though, the former
company will have many
opportunities to give pro-
ductions at the Elgin Opera
House inside and out.
“It is nice to know that
our audience knows where
it can fi nd us,” Turner said.
He acknowledged it is
ironic that although the La
Grande Shakespeare Com-
pany offi cially no longer
exists, it is in a sense
stronger than ever because
it has a home.
Performers in the Shake-
spearean productions
include Cody Wyld Flower,
who was a member of the La
Grande Shakespeare Com-
pany. He said one of the rea-
sons he enjoys performing
the Bard’s works is remem-
bering lines is easier. Turner
agreed, noting Shake-
speare’s words are easier to
recall because he sometimes
wrote them in verse.
“They are poems,”
Turner said.
the last period.
Under the rules, those
numbers mean no counties
will be put in extreme risk
level when the new limits
are announced May 11 and
go into eff ect May 14.
The new numbers show
Central Oregon has among
the highest levels of infec-
tion and rates. Deschutes,
Crook and Jeff erson coun-
ties are well above the 200
infections per 100,000
mark. But because of the
statewide metric require-
ment, they will almost cer-
tainly stay in the high risk
limit level, the second more
restrictive of the state’s four
tiers.
Deschutes County
reported 1,069 COVID-19
cases over the past two
weeks, with the cases per
10,000 rising to 542.6. Also
up is the positive test rate,
which at 9% is seen by
health offi cials as a fi gure
that could lead to future
exponential growth of
cases.
Crook County reported
546 cases per 100,000, a
slight increase. But its test
positivity rate fell to 8.6%
from 9%. While still high,
the rate is trending in the
right direction.
Jeff erson County also
saw its rate per 100,000 rise
to 315.3 cases per 100,000,
but its positive test rate fell
to 8.5% from 8.9%.
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Actor Caiti Burke (right) takes on the role of Elena Popov, a widow who inherited her husband’s debt in Anton Chekhov’s vaudeville “The Bear: A
Joke in One Act, or The Boor” during a rehearsal Sunday, May 9, 2021, of the Elgin Opera House production. Actors Cody Wyld Flower (left) and
Victoria Ingram (not pictured) join Burke for performances of the Russian playwright’s works.
CHEKHOV
Continued from Page 1A
restrictions curtailed his
opportunities. He said audi-
ences are an essential part
of any stage show.
“Plays are written on the
assumption that people are
there,” Flower said.
Burke said performing
without an audience can
be a defl ating experience
because it is hard to tell if
one’s lines are having the
eff ect they should.
“There is no energy,”
she said. “You are not sure
if you are landing or not.”
The Chekhov evenings
begin Friday, May 14, and
will continue May 15,
21, 22, 28 and 29. Perfor-
mances start at 7:30 p.m.
For information on pur-
chasing tickets, call 541-
663-6324 or visit the Elgin
Opera House’s website at
elginoperahouse.com.
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Actor Cody Wyld Flower (center) as Grigory Stepanovitch Smirnov raises his fi st against Victoria Ingram as
Luka during a rehearsal in Elgin on Sunday, May 9, 2021, of Russian playwright Anton Chekhov’s “The Bear:
A Joke in One Act, or The Boor.”
Shining the GRH Spotlight on:
HONORING OUR ENTIRE NURSING STAFF
National Nurses Week May 6-12, 2021
Since the 1950s, nurses have been celebrated
and recognized for their incredible work in the
medical field during Nurses Week. This year es-
pecially, we honor and thank them for every-
thing they have endured during the past year.
With courage, compassion, and resilience our
nurses have persevered during the pandemic to
care for the rest of us. Over the coming year, we
plan to shine the GRH spotlight on who they are,
GRH Oncology Services Nursing Team
what they have learned this year and how they
keep moving forward in challenging times. Watch for our GRH Spotlight in the weeks ahead to
learn more about our AMAZING nurses and others—your hometown health care heroes.
Your neighbors, your friends, your community hospital: We Are GRH.