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TUESDAY EDITION
January 18, 2022
National
Guard
returns
to area
hospitals
Following surge in
cases, National Guard to
deploy across state in
support of hospitals
By ALEX WITTWER
EO Media Group
LA GRANDE — Eastern
Oregon will see a return of
National Guard members to belea-
guered hospitals as yet another
wave of the COVID-19 virus
sweeps through the nation.
Gov. Kate Brown ordered a
second relief mission earlier this
month in support of Oregon’s hos-
pitals. Nearly 1,200 service mem-
bers across 40 hospitals were
requested by the Oregon Health
Authority. The expected deploy-
ment date is no later than Tuesday,
Jan. 18, and is expected to con-
tinue until mid-April.
Hospitals set to receive aid
from the National Guard include
Grande Ronde Hospital, La
Grande; Good Shepherd Health
Care System, Hermiston; Blue
Mountain Hospital District, John
Day; and Wallowa Memorial Hos-
pital, Enterprise.
“Grande Ronde Hospital and
Clinics is extremely grateful for
the guard members we will be
receiving here to help us with
staffi ng shortages in several of
our key support services that
have been severely impacted by
the current labor market,” Mardi
Ford, director of communications
and marketing, said. “GRH is, and
always has been, proud and sup-
portive of our military.”
As before, the soldiers will be
serving in nonclinical support
roles, such as material handlers,
equipment runners, COVID-19
testing support, custodial services
and other logistical services.
“(Hospitals) were reporting
that they were understaff ed,” said
Maj. Chris Clyne with the Oregon
National Guard. “The nurses and
doctors — you know, the clin-
ical care providers — were having
to take out the trash and do these
menial tasks, and it was getting
in the way of them providing the
care to patients. That way they’re
streamlined and they can just
See, Guard/Page A5
PLOWING AHEAD
ODOT crews
work around the
clock to keep
Interstate 84 open
By ALEX WITTWER
EO Media Group
UNION COUNTY — Tes-
mond Hurd likens the view he
sees plowing the roads at night
to that of Star Wars.
Hurd is part of the mainte-
nance crew with the Oregon
Department of Transporta-
tion in La Grande. In summer
months, he works on road
improvement and repair proj-
ects such as chip seals.
In winter, he commands
a nearly 30-ton piece of
machinery down Interstate 84.
It’s not hard to understand
the comparisons between
spaceships and the industrial-
ized behemoths ODOT uses to
clear roads.
At highway speeds, snow
resembles trailing stars after
the Millennium Falcon engages
hyperdrive. The plow even has
wings — blades attached to the
side of the vehicle that extend
just shy of 24 feet for clearing
snow. As it’s pushed away, the
snow forms wakes like those of
a naval ship pulling into port.
A pair of bright green laser
pointers — which keep track of
where the wings are — pierce
through the blanket of night.
Hurd said his job is to drive
in the worst weather conditions
every night.
On nights when the snow
falls unrelentingly, Hurd spends
the entire shift behind the
wheel. His only communica-
tion once his shift starts might
be through the CB radio, which
has a local channel for ODOT
operators in the fi eld and a
channel for relaying informa-
tion to dispatch about road
conditions.
The snow was falling fast
— though milder than previous
nights — as he worked to clear
I-84 on Wednesday, Jan. 5.
“When it’s snowing like this,
there will be lots of calls for
crashes or disabled vehicles,”
Hurd said.
He passed a semi that
appeared to be disabled and
alerted dispatch.
Snowplows are sentries for
ODOT capable of calling in
stuck or stranded vehicles — or
unchained semis.
Unchained
According to Oregon State
Police Capt. Stephanie Bigman,
troopers issued 32 violations
Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group
Tesmond Hurd with the Oregon Department of Transportation drives a snowplow through a snowstorm Wednesday,
Jan. 5, 2022, on Interstate 84 in Union County.
Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group
An Oregon Department of Transportation message sign on Interstate 84 in
Union County notifi es drivers that chain laws are in eff ect on Wednesday,
Jan. 5, 2022.
and warnings between Jan.
1 and Jan. 6 for commercial
vehicles that did not carry or
use chains when required. A
number of those violations
occurred along I-84 in North-
eastern Oregon, which had
been closed on Jan. 5 at one
point due to unchained semis
blocking the route at Cabbage
Hill near milepost 224.
The fi ne for unchained com-
mercial vehicles is $880 per
occurrence, up from $440. The
change occurred in September
2021.
“Commercial trucks not
chaining up when required is
a major contributing factor for
freeway closure that occur in
the mountain passes of Eastern
Oregon,” Tom Strandberg,
public information offi cer for
ODOT, said. “Once a truck
starts sliding or jackknifes it
can quickly block lanes and
close down the freeway. It can
then take several hours to get
the proper tow service pro-
viders to respond to the scene
and move the disabled vehicle.
Depending on the location and
duration of the closure, it can
impact hundreds or thousands
of motorists.”
According to an ODOT
press release, the estimated
cost of delays caused by trucks
failing to follow Oregon chain
laws is more than $8 million
a year — to the motor carrier
industry and other highway
users.
“When it comes to chaining,
I don’t chain — I don’t want
to hurt anybody — I park it,”
Samuri Schaff er, a truck driver
of more than 15 years, said on
Jan. 5 at the Flying J Travel
Center outside La Grande when
he was waiting out the snow-
storm that had closed Inter-
state 84. “I don’t deal with it
until they take off the chain
laws. There’s so much liability
on us.”
Schaff er stated the liabilities
for truck drivers can be severe
if they are involved in any acci-
dent, so he avoids the issue
entirely by keeping off the road.
If a truck is involved in
a crash where failure to use
chains is a factor, there could
be additional costs for the
motor carrier, according to a
press release from ODOT.
A Sisyphean task
Inside, the cockpit of the
snowplow is kept blisteringly
warm. It isn’t for comfort —
Hurd said he sheds jackets and
layers and opens the windows
even when it is below freezing
outside, and getting colder.
If it weren’t for the heat, he
wouldn’t be able to see out of
the windshield.
“You can see the snow on
the windshield,” he said. “It
will just freeze there, and it
will keep building and building
until you have to get out and
clear the windshield every few
miles.”
See, Plow/Page A5
Pediatric COVID-19 cases rise amid spread of omicron variant
OHA reports nearly
9,000 cases in the
first week of 2022
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
SALEM — The omicron
variant is creating a sharp
rise in pediatric COVID-19
cases.
The Oregon Health
Authority’s daily
COVID-19 report on Friday,
Jan. 14, indicated that the
agency is concerned over
the recent rapid increase
of COVID-19 cases among
children ages 0 to 17.
Pediatric COVID-19
cases saw a sustained
increase in August and
September of 2021, as
about 20% of the state’s
total COVID-19 cases
were reported among indi-
viduals younger than 18.
In the late fall and early
winter there was a signif-
icant decrease in juvenile
cases, and the percentage
dipped to roughly 12% in
INDEX
Classified ......B2
Comics ...........B5
Crossword ....B2
Dear Abby ....B6
mid-December. However,
since then, there has been
an increase from 12.7% on
Dec. 19 to 20.6% in early
January.
Since the start of the
pandemic, OHA has
reported 72,180 confi rmed
cases and 5,896 presump-
tive cases among people
younger than 18.
Throughout all of 2020
the highest weekly total for
pediatric cases was 1,100,
while at the peak in 2021
See, Children/Page A5
WEATHER
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Horoscope ....B3
Letters ...........A4
Lottery ...........A2
THURSDAY
Obituaries .....A3
Opinion .........A4
Sports ............A7
State ...............A8
Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group, File
Giavonna LaMiller, under the direction of volunteer Catherine Parks,
self-administers a COVID-19 test in the Bi-Mart parking lot, the site of
a mass testing event in La Grande on Friday, Aug. 27, 2021.
Full forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
Wednesday
32 LOW
39/34
Rain and drizzle
Mostly cloudy
OREGON’S STRING OF HOT YEARS CONTINUED IN 2021
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Issue 7
2 sections, 14 pages
La Grande, Oregon
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