FROM PAGE ONE
THURSDAY, JULY 29, 2021
THE OBSERVER — A5
CASES
Continued from Page A1
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Chairs and desks are covered up during renovations at Union High School on Tuesday, July 6, 2021. Interi-
or renovations of the historic building are expected to be completed before Aug. 31, 2021, the fi rst day of
school, though some exterior improvements may take longer to fi nish.
UNION
Continued from Page A1
manager for Kirby Nagel-
hout Construction, the gen-
eral contractor for the ren-
ovation project, said the
COVID-19 pandemic is
making it diffi cult for con-
tractors, including his, to
get materials and equipment
in a timely manner because
it has hurt supply chains.
“Procurement of mate-
rials has been a major chal-
lenge,” Towne said.
Except for the ele-
vator, almost all of the
other improvement proj-
ects are on pace to be com-
pleted on schedule. Proj-
ects set to be fi nished this
summer include the instal-
lation of a paved parking lot
in front of the east side of
S.E. Miller School, which
will boost safety; the cre-
ation of an east side entry
into S.E. Miller Elementary
School; the creation of a
more secure east side entry
at UHS; and renovations to
the main entry of the UHS
gym to make it much easier
for the physcially chal-
lenged to enter.
Work on these and other
projects is on schedule due
in large part to early pur-
chases of materials.
“We made our orders as
early as we possibly could,”
Towne said.
The orders were made
this spring after subcontrac-
tors were selected via a bid-
ding process.
Not all of the materials
DRIVERS
Continued from Page A1
leave to seek full-time
employment, while others
quit because they didn’t
understand what the job
entailed.
“They can be driving
anywhere between 20 and
84 students in a day, it can
be trying at times,” Car-
penter said. “My hat goes
off to them.”
Another reason that res-
idents are hesitant to apply
is because of the drug
testing requirement, Moore
said.
“You cannot drive a
school bus and smoke pot,”
he said. “Even though it’s
legal in Oregon, it’s a fed-
eral law. So a lot of people
who might have applied
to work for us, they’re
just going to go work at a
restaurant that doesn’t drug
test at all.”
Because the job is part-
have arrived yet but if they
are delivered on time, ren-
ovation work will be able
to continue on schedule.
Towne said his company
is in a much better posi-
tion than many other con-
struction companies who
have not even been given a
date for when their mate-
rials will arrive because of
supply problems.
Earlier this year, Union’s
upgrade project received a
funding boost when Union
School District received
about $1 million in federal
COVID-19 funding from
the state. This funding,
provided via an Elemen-
tary and Secondary School
Emergency Relief grant,
is covering the cost of
replacing heating and ven-
tilation systems in Union’s
two elementary school
buildings and an air circula-
tion system on the basement
fl oor of UHS.
Some of the renova-
tions have been particu-
larly challenging because
it has involved work in the
attic of the Union Elemen-
tary School’s Hutchinson
classroom building. The
attic can be oppressively
hot in the summer weather,
said Ryan Larson, project
superintendent for Kirby
Nagelhout Construction. He
said that when the outdoor
temperature reached 108
degrees during the recent
heat wave earlier, the tem-
perature in the Hutchinson
building’s attic was 152
degrees. Larson said crews
working in Hutchinson’s
attic at that time started
at 3 a.m. each morning to
avoid the dangerous heat.
Towne said the upgraded
heating and ventilation sys-
tems, like much of the work
being done this summer,
will not be visible but will
greatly improve the school
district’s infrastructure.
“A lot of the bond proj-
ects are behind the scenes,
but the benefi ts will be
huge,” Towne said.
He said the chance to be
part of the school district’s
renovation is an honor.
“It is fantastic to be a
part of something so signif-
icant to the school district,”
he said.
The renovation of Union
School District received
another boost, in addition to
the COVID-19 grant, ear-
lier this year when it was
awarded a $2.5 million
seismic upgrade grant from
the state. The grant will
cover the cost of making
UHS’s gym stronger so
that it will be better able to
withstand an earthquake.
The seismic upgrades will
be done in the summer of
2022, after which a new
gym fl oor will be installed,
said Cassie Hibbert, a
project manager with the
Wenaha Group, which is
managing the renovation
work.
Wells said the seismic
work will help ensure that
the Union community will
have a safe place to gather
and receive emergency ser-
vices if there ever is an
earthquake.
time, Moore said they often
hire retirees or other older
residents. This posed a
problem last year when sev-
eral drivers retired due to
COVID-19 risks.
“COVID put us fur-
ther behind than a normal
school year,” Moore said.
“When COVID hit, most
people getting seriously ill
were senior citizens, so we
had some people retire.”
Applications have been
slow to come in. The bus
company has placed adver-
tisements on the radio and
has advertised positions at
local events, such as Crazy
Days in La Grande, hoping
to draw in more applicants.
“Applications have
been hit or miss,” Maley
said. “Sometimes they’ll
call, and I’m told they’re
only looking for seasonal
work or hoping to get
unemployment.”
On multiple occasions,
staff members at the bus
company have had to fi ll
in for bus drivers who
could not make their route.
Moore said that hiring
more drivers would help
the company provide better
service.
“We’re trying to fi nd
enough drivers so our dis-
patchers and managers
don’t have to go out,”
Moore said. “They’re all
licensed and trained but we
don’t want them on the road
if we don’t have to.”
Maley agreed. She said
she is optimistic that the
company will soon be
able to operate with a full
staff and that new appli-
cants will see the appeal of
driving a school bus.
“I think people get
intimidated or think it’s
hard, but it’s not,” Maley
said. “We make sure people
are fully trained before
they go out. It can be
intimidating, but it’s very
rewarding, every day is dif-
ferent, that’s why I enjoy it
so much.”
WE’RE
on all counties in the state,
regardless of infection
levels, if 70% of residents
statewide had received at
least one shot of vaccine.
While just short of the
goal, Brown announced
that she would give the
green light to reopen the
state in time for the “near
normal” Fourth of July
holiday sought by Presi-
dent Joe Biden.
The announcement
also seemed to be a truce
in the political wars over
Brown’s emergency orders
that had been in place
since March 2020. OHA
would continue in an advi-
sory role, help get vaccines
to centers that wanted it,
and compile records on the
pandemic.
But county health
offi cials would now be
empowered to deter-
mine what was best for
their communities. Any
actions needed to curb the
virus would be decided by
county commissioners.
The blanket lifting of
restrictions came despite
a wildly diff erent rate of
infection and vaccinations
across the state. Several
counties in the Willamette
Valley, Deschutes County,
and some northern coastal
areas were above the 70%
mark. A high vaccination
rate in the three-county
Portland metro area
infl ated the overall state
numbers.
Elsewhere, vaccina-
tion rates were under 40%,
especially in Eastern and
Southwestern Oregon.
Many of the counties have
small populations, but the
list also included Umatilla
County, home to Pend-
leton and Hermiston, and
Douglas County, which
includes Roseburg.
At fi rst, the decline
in the virus seemed to
hold, even as other parts
of the country reported
an increase in the delta
variant, fi rst reported in
India. While most scien-
tists said it was no more
virulent than the original
virus, the delta variant
spread up to twice as fast,
roaring through parts of
the South and Midwest
like a viral wildfi re.
In Oregon, the Indepen-
dence Day holiday came
and went with a buoyant
public celebration across
the state. By July 9, the
seven-day average of new
cases fell to 110.
But the eddy soon
ended. As some indepen-
dent epidemiologists had
forecast, the lifting of
restrictions on counties
regardless of their indi-
vidual infection and vac-
cination levels created a
spike in new cases in areas
where most residents were
not vaccinated.
The result has been
an explosion of cases.
On July 27, Umatilla
County reported 8% of
all new COVID-19 cases
in Oregon, though it only
represents 2% of the state
population. The county’s
case rate was more than
seven times higher than
Multnomah and Wash-
ington counties, which
each have more than
500,000 more residents
than Umatilla County.
Grande Ronde Hospital/Contributed Photo, File
Doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine await use at Grande
Ronde Hospital in La Grande on Dec. 23, 2020. In July, a possible
fi fth wave of the COVID-19 is swelling in a pandemic-exhausted
Oregon that less than a month ago seemed to be on the verge of
recovery.
Hospitals fi lled up, with
at one point just 8 of 81
intensive care unit beds
unoccupied.
Union County has also
seen a recent spike. In
the last week, the county
reported an average of
nine cases every day, over
three times higher than the
case rate in early July. The
county reported 19 cases
on July 26, the highest one
day count since January.
Local control
or state mandates?
The length of the
current spike isn’t yet
known, but Oregon, which
reported more than 1,000
new cases on July 27, had
not reported over 1,000
cases in a day since a brief
spike in April. While the
current increase is still
forming, Oregon had not
averaged over 1,000 cases
per day since January 21.
Brown and state
health offi cials have said
that while the state does
have ultimate authority
over public health,
for now it would con-
tinue the policy of local
autonomy.
Oregon Health
Authority Director Pat
Allen said last week that
the state did not want to
make blanket directives on
the “highly political” issue
of mandatory vaccinations
and other requirements.
Federal and state
statements were often
contradictory.
The CDC on July 27
said masks should be
worn indoors only in
areas where the virus
was spiking. However,
all schools in the country
should mandate masks in
the classroom.
The Oregon Health
Authority said masks
should be worn indoors in
all counties regardless of
transmission levels. But
school mask decisions
were up to local authori-
ties, with no overall sug-
gestion from the state
agency.
The New York Times
reported that the diff er-
ences were confusing and
subject to interpretation
based on political views.
Republicans leaders
in Oregon were reluctant
to endorse anything that
seemed coercive to their
constituents.
Sen. Lynn Findley,
R-Vale, represents the
largest legislative dis-
trict in Oregon, including
Baker, Grant, Harney, Jef-
ferson, Malheur, Wasco,
Wheeler, and parts of
Deschutes and Lake coun-
ties. Malheur and Lake are
the only counties in the
state that have vaccinated
fewer than 40% of resi-
dents. Infection rates range
from virtually nonexis-
tent in Grant and Wheeler
counties to extreme in Jef-
ferson County.
Findley said that a
mask mandate would be a
tough sell in much of his
largely rural district, sug-
gesting “thorough educa-
tion” about “appropriate
precautions” instead.
“We’ve been here
before — mask mandates
are diffi cult to enforce
and put an undue burden
on our businesses who
become responsible for
implementing a mandate
at their doors,” he said.
Findley declined to say
if he had been vaccinated.
“I will not share my
personal medical informa-
tion,” he said. “I believe
the decision to get the
vaccine is a personal,
private matter between
an individual and their
physician.”
Pushing forward
with vaccinations
OHA said it would
push on with vaccination
eff orts, all voluntary.
Under a 1986 law,
Oregon is the only state
in the nation that spe-
cifi cally exempts med-
ical and health workers
from any vaccine require-
ments. Private compa-
nies in other industries
could require vaccination
as a condition of employ-
ment, but many govern-
ment workers could not
be compelled to be vac-
cinated because of union
contracts negotiated with
state and local govern-
ments and agencies.
The current Oregon
Health Authority count
shows that 68.6% of eli-
gible adults over the age
of 18 have had one shot
of vaccine. The state per-
centage is actually some-
what higher because some
federal programs aren’t
captured by the state
count.
The new goal is 80%
vaccinations, or just over
2.72 million adults, by
Aug. 31. That is looking
unlikely at the current
pace. The state needs just
over 389,000 more shots to
hit the mark.
To reach the goal, OHA
says it would need to be
inoculating 11,443 new
people per day.
The latest seven-day
average is 2,064.
STORAGE BUILDINGS
www.CountrysideSheds.com
A little bit more room
(541) 663-0246
Hours
Mon-Fri: 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Sat: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
2306 Adams Ave
La Grande, OR 97850
(541) 963-8411
HERE TO
Locally owned and operated
for over 25 years
We Can make it happen!
HELP
We're just west of I-84 (exit 261)
on Adams Ave at 20th St.
RENT to OWN
starting at
lesschwab.com
$
68 Month
10505 N. McAlister Road
(Corner of Hwy 82 & N. McAlister Rd.)