THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2021
YEARinREVIEW
Photos by Alex Wittwer
Lightning appears to strike the Blue Mountains as a crop harvester
collects grass seed near Alicel on Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021.
Pandemic dominates
the news cycle in 2021
ANDREW
CUTLER
FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK
ere we are at the end of another year.
It hardly seems possible that we’re
turning the page on 2021 and moving
into 2022. It seems, at least for me, that
each successive year just races by quicker than
a hiccup. That especially seems the case as we
continue to be trapped in this COVID-19-induced
nightmare.
And yet, no matter how much whining I do,
here we are, waving goodbye to 2021.
With the turning of the calendar page comes
The Observer’s annual year-in-review section. As
I started preparing for this project, I went back
and looked over last year’s section, helmed by
former editor Phil Wright. When I read Wright’s
column that looked back at 2020, one thing
jumped out to me — the fi nal sentence.
“Here is to a better 2021,” Wright wrote to bid
farewell to 2020.
Did we get one?
At fi rst glance, if one didn’t get their fi ll of
pandemics and mandates during 2020, 2021 cer-
tainly was a repeat in a lot of aspects. For much of
the year, especially early, the state as a whole, and
Union County specifi cally, struggled with vacci-
nations. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown targeted June
30 after the state failed to reach its initial goal of
vaccinating 70% of Oregon’s eligible population
by June 21.
It looked like we would fi nally be rid of
COVID and the mandates when Oregon reached
Brown’s 70% vaccinated threshold, and she
famously held a press conference at Providence
Park in Portland on June 30 and exclaimed, “Wel-
come back, Oregon.”
The event was marked by the celebration of
the lives of people who were lost to the pan-
demic, as well as commending the eff orts of fi rst
responders and essential workers who put the
state on their shoulders over the past year. The
crowd consisted of a political and business “who’s
H
who” of Oregon, with attendees including Oregon
Secretary of State Shemia Fagan, countless legis-
lators and local city and county elected offi cials.
That optimism and the accompanying “return
to normal” was short-lived, however, as the delta
variant reared its head later in the summer, sig-
naling that the pandemic wasn’t through with us
just yet.
And now, as 2021 turns to 2022, another new
variant — omicron — looms on the horizon and
promises the very real possibility of more of the
same in the new year.
The omicron variant of COVID-19 is
spreading very rapidly in other parts of the
world and is capable of infecting people who’ve
been fully vaccinated. Pandemic modeling from
Oregon Health & Science University predicts that
by February hospitalizations could peak at num-
bers far higher than the delta variant’s September
surge.
Much about the omicron variant remains
unknown, including whether it causes more or
less severe illness. Early studies suggest the vac-
cinated will need a booster shot for the best
chance at preventing omicron infection, but even
without the extra dose, vaccination still should
off er strong protection against severe illness and
death.
COVID-19, again, certainly is the story of
2021, and the pandemic and its ramifi cations
promise to continue to redefi ne much for us, per-
sonally and professionally, in 2022. But it also
continues to show we are a community full
of people striving to improve themselves and
improve where we live.
That applies as well to the crew at The
Observer. The last two years have reaffi rmed for
us the value of our mission to cover local news
and bring a light to the people, situations and sto-
ries that shape all of our lives in this corner of
Oregon.
———
Andrew Cutler is the interim editor of The
Observer and the regional editorial director for
the EO Media Group, overseeing The Observer,
East Oregonian and four more newspapers in
Eastern Oregon.
A Healthy & Happy
From your friends
and neighbors at GRH.
Marcy Bartlett on Monday, Feb. 8, 2021, cleans the common room at a
residence hall on the Eastern Oregon University campus in La Grande. EOU
reported it continues to take measures to control the spread of COVID-19,
including implementing social distancing measures, the creation of a
COVID-19 case management team and requiring vaccinations for students
and staff in the fall of 2021.
Union County Sheriff Cody Bowen speaks at a medical freedom rally on
Fourth Street in La Grande on Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021. In August, Bowen
penned a viral letter to Gov. Kate Brown outlining his grievances about mask
and vaccine mandates, drawing support — and ire — from Union County
residents. Several other Oregon county sheriff s chimed in with their own
letters in opposition to the state’s pandemic safeguards.
2021
May your home be filled with joy, happiness
And flooring you love!
LA GRANDE
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