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February 10, 2022
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THURSDAY EDITION
Family
disputes
OHA
report
State says Wallowa County
woman died from COVID,
but family says ‘not true’
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group
Face mask requirement signs hang in the doorway of Big 5 Sporting Goods, La Grande, on Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022. The Oregon Health Authority announced on
Feb. 7 that beginning March 31, face masks will no longer be required indoors.
READY TO DITCH THE
MASKS
Local support appears strong for state decision
to end mask mandate no later than March 31
By DICK MASON
The Observer
L
A GRANDE — Oregonians now
know how many more days they’ll
be required to wear masks in
indoor public spaces.
The Oregon Health Authority
announced on Monday. Feb. 7, that it will
end the requirement masks must be worn in
public places indoors no later than March
31. This timeline also applies to mask
requirements inside schools. The school
mask mandate will be lifted after March
31, according to an OHA press release.
Falling COVID-19 numbers are the
reason the OHA is lifting its requirements.
By late March, health scientists expect
that about 400 or fewer Oregonians would
be hospitalized with COVID-19, the level
of hospitalizations the state experienced
See, Masks/Page A5
SALEM — The family of a
Wallowa County woman who
died in December is disputing an
Oregon Health Authority report
that COVID-19 had anything to
do with her death.
“Definitely not
a COVID death,”
said Josh Barnett, a
Salem resident, of
his mother, Theresa
Malec, a former resi-
dent of Wallowa.
Malec
Malec died at
Barnett’s home in Salem on
Dec. 15, 2021, about two weeks
after being diagnosed with liver
cancer, Barnett said.
Barnett said there was a delay
in the processing of her death cer-
tificate, and when he received it,
he had some suspicion that her
death might be called a COVID-
19-related death.
On Jan. 27, OHA reported
the death of a 70-year-old Wal-
lowa County woman in its daily
COVID-19 report. It said the
woman died on Dec. 15 after a
positive test on Aug. 4.
While OHA does not pro-
vide names on its report — and
declined to confirm to the Chief-
tain if the death it reported was
indeed Malec — Barnett said
it’s not too difficult to make the
assumption that the death in the
report was his mother.
COVID-19, though, was not
what killed her, he said, and the
death certificate, which he pro-
vided to the Chieftain, shows
that.
Contracted COVID, but
defeated it
Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group
Celine Vandervlugt, the teen services librarian at Cook Memorial Library, La Grande, laminates a book
cover on Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022. Face masks will not be required indoors in public places after March 31,
the Oregon Health Authority announced on Feb. 7.
Barnett said his mother — who
earlier in the year had defeated
breast cancer before the unex-
pected liver cancer diagnosis —
did indeed have COVID-19 in
early August, but healed up only
a couple days after receiving
treatment.
“She got ivermectin and the
See, Death/Page A5
Stores: Sales pick up during Super Bowl weekend
Popularity of snack items increases
during Super Bowl weekend
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE — The
Los Angeles Rams are a
4-1/2 point favorite to beat
the Cincinnati Bengals
in this weekend’s Super
Bowl, which means experts
believe the outcome of the
game is anything but a
certainty.
This much is certain,
though — the contest,
which starts at 3:30 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 13, in Los
Angeles, will again give
many grocery stores in
Union County a chance
to score big. Store owners
anticipate being blitzed by
waves of customers buying
WEATHER
INDEX
Business ........B1
Classified ......B2
Comics ...........B5
Crossword ....B2
snacks, soft drinks, beer
and condiments as fans pre-
pare for the big game.
“The day before the
Super Bowl is crazy. It is
our most busy day of the
year, even busier than New
Year’s Eve,” said Fred Bell
Jr., who owns La Grande’s
Short Stop Xtreme Froyo
and Espresso with his wife,
Tara.
Bell said chips, beer and
soft drinks are his best-
selling items on Super
Dear Abby ....B6
Horoscope ....B4
Letters ...........A4
Lottery ...........A2
SATURDAY
Obituaries .....A3
Opinion .........A4
Sports ............A9
Sudoku ..........B5
Bowl weekend.
Randy Willson, who
is co-owner of Grocery
Outlet, Island City, with
his wife, Michelle, said
his store annually experi-
ences a boost in sales for
the week leading up to the
Super Bowl as people stock
up for parties.
“We probably see a 20%
bump,” he said. “It has
quite an impact.”
Willson compares the
boost in sales to what Gro-
Full forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
Friday
27 LOW
47/25
Mainly clear
Partly sunny
ELECTRIC EXPERIENCE: FLY FISHING FOR TROUT
cery Outlet experiences on
Thanksgiving, the Fourth
of July and Memorial Day.
He said sales of chips,
chicken wings, soft drinks,
beer, dips, beef and items
for outdoor barbecue jump
during Super Bowl week.
To accommodate the added
demand, Willson said that
an extra truckload of inven-
tory is always ordered for
Super Bowl week.
See, Stores/Page A5
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541-963-3161
Issue 18,
3 sections, 32 pages
La Grande, Oregon
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Online at lagrandeobserver.com