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‘The
benefi ts New COVID-19 surge hits exhausted Oregon
says delta variant
will be State
has increased tenfold in
the past two weeks
huge’
Baker
County
Fair/OSU
Extension
Services-
Baker
County
“The
food
is fre
sh,
locall
y sou
rce
d and
unbeli
ev
Bond project work
continues in Union
School District
this summer
By GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — A possible fi fth
wave of COVID-19 is swelling in
a pandemic-exhausted Oregon that
less than a month ago seemed to be
on the verge of recovery.
“The highly contagious delta
variant has increased tenfold in
the past two weeks in Oregon, and
it is now estimated to be associ-
ated with 80% of the new cases in
Oregon,” said Dr. Dean Sidelinger,
the state’s top epidemiologist, in
a rare evening statement Tuesday,
July 27.
While less deadly and sweeping
than earlier spikes, hospitals are
fi lling up with the unvaccinated as
local and state offi cials in Oregon
both decline to issue directives to
curb the outbreak, unlike other
states.
The U.S. Veterans Administra-
tion, as well as the states of Cali-
fornia and New York, have issued
requirements that workers be either
vaccinated or face weekly testing
for the virus.
Gov. Kate Brown’s offi ce over
the past two days has said it was
studying actions elsewhere and
consulting with the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.
Late Tuesday, the Oregon Health
Authority suggested residents in
all counties wear masks in public
spaces indoors. But OHA under-
lined that it was not a directive.
Case counts are
back on the rise
Oregon’s latest rise in cases
comes less than a month after a
celebratory announcement that
nearly all pandemic restrictions
on business and social activities in
the state would be lifted on June
30. Brown had said she would
remove the risk level restrictions
See, Cases/Page A5
By DICK MASON
The Observer
UNION — People who
have mobility issues may
soon feel as if they have
wings when visiting Union
High School.
Union High School’s
classroom building, which
opened in 1912, in about
four months will have an
elevator to serve those who
need a lift. The elevator
will be one of the jewels of
major renovation work to be
conducted over the next 14
months in the Union School
District, much of it funded
by a $8 million bond
package voters approved in
2019. The package is made
up of a $4 million bond and
a $4 million state matching
grant.
A signifi cant portion
of the bond work, which
started in 2020 and is
shifting into high gear this
summer, involves making
buildings far easier to get
into for the physically
challenged.
“We want people to
be able to enter and leave
buildings with dignity,”
said Union School Dis-
trict Superintendent Carter
Wells while providing a
recent update on how the
renovations are progressing.
The elevator, which
will be installed just out-
side the south side of UHS,
will make it relatively easy
for people to enter and exit
each of the school’s three
fl oor levels, since it will
take people to entryways to
each.
The installation of the
transport mechanism was
scheduled to be installed
this summer but has been
delayed several months
because of shipping delays
caused by the COVID-19
pandemic.
Shawn Towne, project
Filling vacancies
Union County schools face bus driver shortages as new school year looms
By CARLOS FUENTES
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Optimal
hours. Weekends off . No expe-
rience required. A recruitment
bonus check of up to $1,500.
Even with these prom-
ised perks, schools in Union
County are facing a bus driver
shortage — and a strict dead-
line for hiring as the school
year rapidly approaches.
“It’s been an ongoing eff ort
to get more drivers,” said
Chuck Moore, regional vice
president of Mid Columbia
Bus Company, which pro-
vides bus drivers to schools
in La Grande, Union, Cove
and North Powder. “It’s been
a struggle for a while, but now
we’re advertising everywhere
we can and asking anyone we
can.”
Mid Columbia Bus Com-
pany has 28 bus drivers in
Union County, but they are
hoping to hire four more in the
near future. These drivers typ-
ically serve around 1,400 stu-
dents in the county, according
to Kathaleen Maley, La
Grande manager of MidCo.
The La Grande School Dis-
trict is the company’s biggest
client in the county, with 2,300
students across all seven of its
schools. In the 2019-20 school
year, 1,170 students in the dis-
trict regularly rode a bus to
and from school, Maley said.
According to Scott Car-
penter, assistant superintendent
of the La Grande School Dis-
trict, bus driver shortages have
never stopped students from
having access to a bus route.
“Routes are built every year
based on the needs of the com-
munity,” Carpenter said. “His-
torically, we’ve always been
able to help families who need
the bus and we think this year
is going to be the same.”
The school district hasn’t
yet created the routes for the
upcoming school year, but
MidCo is working hard to
ensure they will be able to pro-
vide enough drivers.
The company is off ering
$1,000 signing bonuses to
applicants who don’t have
their CDL and $1,500 to those
who have a CDL, the highest
signing bonus the company has
See, Union/Page A5
INDEX
Business & Ag.......B1
Classified ...............B4
Comics ....................B7
Crossword .............B4
Dear Abby .............B8
Alex Wittwer/The Observer, File
A student boards a school bus after school on Friday, April 2, 2021, outside La Grande Middle School. As the school
year approaches, schools in Union County and beyond are facing a shortage of school bus drivers.
ever off ered,
According
“I think people get intimidated or think it’s
according to
to a survey
Moore.
conducted in
hard, but it’s not. We make sure people are
Although
May by youth
fully trained before they go out.
the pandemic
transporta-
exacerbated
tion company
Kathaleen Maley, La Grande manager of Mid Columbia Bus Company
the driver
HopSkip-
shortage,
Drive, nearly
Moore said
20-plus years, but we also
four-fi fths of
that recruitment and reten-
have some that last a year or
school transportation profes-
tion have been issues for
two,” he said. “If they stay for
sionals in the United States
many years. He estimates that
a couple of years, we usually
said they were experiencing a
30% of new bus drivers leave
keep them, but there’s consid-
bus driver shortage.
within the fi rst two years of
erable turnover in those fi rst
Bus drivers leave their jobs
employment.
two years.”
for various reasons. Some
“We’ve got drivers in La
The bus driver shortage
See, Drivers/Page A5
Grande that have been there
isn’t new, and it isn’t just local.
WEATHER
Horoscope .............B4
Local........................A2
Lottery ....................A2
Obituaries ..............A3
Opinion ..................A4
SATURDAY
Records ..................A3
Spiritual Life..........A6
Sports .....................A9
State ................ A7, A8
Sudoku ...................B7
Full forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
Friday
62 LOW
101/65
Mainly clear
Very hot
SEEKING THE SOURCE OF A GRAND RIVER
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Issue 88
3 sections, 38 pages
La Grande, Oregon
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