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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 29, 2020)
First phase of Wheatridge renewable energy Facility now online | REGION, A3 E O AST 145th year, No. 31 REGONIAN Tuesday, december 29, 2020 $1.50 WINNER OF THE 2020 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD Final levee repair work begins Legislators OREGON reflect on special session contractors removing mill race from levee near southeast Third By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian PeNdLeTON — Ten months after floods inundated Pendleton, the city is patching over one of the last areas where the umatilla river unexpectedly penetrated the city’s flood defense system. contractors started repair work on monday, dec. 28, on the Pend- leton levee near southeast Third street. Pendleton Public Works director bob Patterson said crews will extract an old arch contained within the levee before installing a new wall and applying grout to completely seal off that area of the levee from future high-water tem at two different points. On the west end of town, flood waters breached a levee near some indus- trial land, flooding Keystone RV co. and cor-Tek, forcing the large- scale employers to either curtail or suspend operations while they made repairs. The state eventually granted Pendleton $1.8 million to repair that section of the levee. events. The contractor expects to complete the project on Wednes- day, dec. 30. In Pendleton, the February floods destroyed homes and dam- aged businesses, battering a com- munity that was trying to with- stand its second major flood in as many years. The flood tested Pendleton’s infrastructure, and water got through Pendleton’s levee sys- See Levee, Page A7 By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian saLem — The Oregon Legislature’s third and final special ses- sion of the year was “defi- nitely memora- ble,” said rep. Greg smith, r-Heppner. as the Leg- islature met Barreto inside the Ore- gon capi- tol on mon- day, dec. 21, with masks and social distanc- ing, protesters attempted to Hansell force their way into the build- ing after being denied access due to cOVId- 19 restrictions. Oregon state Police declared the protest, Smith organized by the right-wing group Patriot Prayer, an unlaw- ful gathering and arrested four protesters for trespassing and disorderly conduct. smith said there is “no place” for violence or destruc- tion of public property, and he categorized the amount of tax- payer dollars used in the police response as “unfortunate.” He also said, however, that he felt with the technology and infrastructure available to the state there should be more public access to the Legisla- ture during sessions conducted during the pandemic. “I’m of the opinion this whole process could have been avoided,” he said. The capitol building is not the Legislature, smith said, and the Legislature is not required to meet there. He said he would have liked to see the Legisla- ture make use of the spacious field houses of area colleges, with each chamber meeting in a separate athletic facility where observers could be safely accommodated with plenty of social distancing and venti- lation. at minimum, he said, he would like to see people be allowed to make an appoint- ment via Zoom to testify before committees. See Legislators, Page A7 Health care workers at St. Anthony, Good Shepherd start vaccinating By KATHY ANEY AND JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian P eNdLeTON — The atmo- sphere in the st. anthony Hospital conference room on monday, dec. 28, was upbeat. Ten health care workers who waited there to receive the hospital’s first coronavirus vac- cinations could barely contain their elation. “This is huge,” said dr. John mcbee. “This is the beginning of the end of the pandemic.” each person answered screening questions and signed a consent form. McBee went forward first, sat down in the hot seat and rolled up his left sleeve. Tracy Wart, infection prevention nurse at st. anthony, cleaned the surgeon’s arm with alcohol and prepared the syringe. “ready?” Wart asked. mcbee nodded and the nurse slowly injected the vac- cine into the surgeon’s deltoid muscle. “The first step to normalcy,” he said after Wart withdrew the needle. This initial session was a test drive of sorts using the contents of one 10-dose vial of the moderna vaccine as a pre- cursor to a full-scale vaccina- tion of employees. st. anthony President Harry Geller watched happily as he leaned against a wall. “This is the light at the end of the tunnel,” he said. Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian Dr. John McBee receives the first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at St. Anthony Hospital in Pendleton on Monday, Dec. 28, 2020. The hospital began vaccinating staff on Monday morning and plans to continue to do so throughout the week. “It’s exciting.” Hospital employees aren’t required to get vaccinated, but Geller hopes most will do so. “It’s not mandatory,” he said. “(However), the care commu- nity, we’ve got to reach at least two-thirds vaccinated to get herd immunity. I think that’ll happen over time as it rolls out. more and more people are get- ting comfortable with the idea of taking it.” The caveat, he said, is a new coronavirus mutation sweep- ing through england that is more transmissible and harder to control. The variant might require an even higher percent- age to reach herd immunity, maybe up to 90%. That might be a harder sell. The health care workers in the conference room, how- ever, were all in. dr. bill Pow- ell, medical director in the hospital’s emergency depart- ment, gave a hang loose sign hand sign as he got his injec- tion. Powell said the vacci- nation means he won’t worry quite as much about bringing cOVId-19 home to his family. “I have a son with down syndrome and heart disease,” he said. “I’ve been trying hard not to expose him. Now there is less risk of taking it home.” afterward, vaccine recipi- ents received stickers that read, “I got my cOVId vaccine.” each person was required to remain in the room for 15 min- See Sleeves, Page A7 ‘The purple unicorns of Pendleton’ adjust to their new home mindy and emily arnold relocated from south carolina to umatilla county Editor’s Note: This story is part of an annual series by the East Oregonian called “Our New Neighbors,” which introduces the community to people who have moved here in the past year. By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian PeNdLeTON — mindy arnold keeps a running checklist of things she wouldn’t like to do again, and moving cross-country during a pandemic is one of them. Last summer, mindy and emily arnold packed up their three children, two cats, one dog and two turtles into three cars to make the more than 2,500-mile journey from south carolina to Pendleton. On day 1 of their move, the car driven by Tara, a family See Unicorns, Page A7 Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian The Arnold Family, (from left) Sofia Guerrero, 18, Elyse Flores, 10, Bradle- igh Arnold, 7, Emily Arnold and Mindy Arnold pose for a portrait with their dog, Knuckles, in the living room home of their Pendleton home on Sat- urday, Dec. 19, 2020. COVID-19 NUMBERS TOTALS FOR WEEK ENDING 12/27/20 IN UMATILLA COUNTY RISK LEVEL HIGH NEW WEEKLY CASES 514 TOTAL CASE GOAL 40 OR LESS OVER 2 WEEKS POSITIVE TEST RATE % 11.4 POSITIVE 0.4 TEST GOAL % % 5