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NORTHWEST East Oregonian A2 Saturday, February 13, 2021 2% of EOU students living on campus test positive for COVID-19 By PHIL WRIGHT La Grande Observer LA GRANDE — Eastern Oregon University reported COVID-19 testing of more than 1,200 students resulted in a positive rate of just 2%. EOU in a press release reported students’ compli- ance with health and safety protocols allowed the univer- sity to keep case counts at a minimum while continuing operations, including provid- ing a significant number of in-person classes and services during the COVID- 19 pandemic. Prior to the start of winter term, EOU tested all students living in on-campus resi- dence halls for COVID- 19 once during winter break, then a second time upon returning to campus. Student-athletes complete regular COVID-19 tests to continue participation in practices. EOU conducted more than 1,200 tests in Janu- ary of students living on campus, according to the press release, which resulted in that 2% positivity rate. Dally Evans, of Lakev- iew, is a freshman living on campus at Eastern. The elementary education major credited the university for steps to control the spread of coronavirus. “I think EOU is doing a Alex Wittwer/La Grande Observer Marcy Barlett cleans the common room at one of the residence halls on the Eastern Oregon University campus in La Grande on Monday, Feb. 8, 2021. EOU reported it continues to take measures to control the spread of COVID-19, including implementing social distancing mea- sures and the creation of a COVID-19 case management team. great job with it,” Evans said. When students started the school year in the fall, she said, they had to quar- antine for three days, “then we did a mass testing on the football fi eld.” After that, she said, came a few more days of quarantining, and before winter break the university provided students with test- ing kits to take home and mail in. Heather Wiggins, direc- tor of EOU’s Student Health Center, also is a family nurse practitioner and a faculty member at Oregon Health & Science University in Port- land. She said large-scale testing provides important information to reduce the spread of COVID-19. “At least 40% of the spread of COVID is through asymptomatic or presymp- tomatic individuals, who either are already ill and do not have any symp- toms or have not yet devel- oped symptoms,” Wiggins said in the press release. Forecast for Pendleton Area TODAY SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY Very cold with snow at times Cloudy and very cold Remaining cloudy and cold Strong winds gradually subsiding Partly sunny and chilly 22° 14° 25° 20° 27° 15° 29° 22° PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 33° 30° 39° 32° 39° 34° HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 34° 29° 41° 32° 42° 35° OREGON FORECAST ALMANAC Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows. PENDLETON through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Seattle Olympia 37/31 20/10 26/16 Longview Kennewick Walla Walla 22/14 Lewiston 36/32 28/15 Astoria 41/35 Pullman Yakima 28/19 35/28 25/16 Portland Hermiston 35/30 The Dalles 27/15 Salem Corvallis 46/37 Yesterday Normals Records La Grande 27/16 PRECIPITATION John Day Eugene Bend 49/41 34/21 34/20 Ontario 38/20 Caldwell Burns 21° 18° 47° 29° 68° (2011) -15° (1929) 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date Albany 45/38 Trace 0.12" 0.42" 0.71" 0.31" 1.70" WINDS (in mph) 38/17 38/23 0.46" 0.60" 0.52" 1.51" 3.45" 1.90" through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Pendleton 27/14 44/35 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date HERMISTON Enterprise 22/14 27/21 19° 13° 46° 29° 68° (1977) -10° (1929) PRECIPITATION Moses Lake 35/29 Aberdeen 22/12 26/16 Tacoma Yesterday Normals Records Spokane Wenatchee 35/30 Today Boardman Pendleton Medford 49/38 Sun. N 6-12 WNW 6-12 NE 4-8 NE 4-8 SUN AND MOON Klamath Falls 40/27 Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021 Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today 7:00 a.m. 5:19 p.m. 8:22 a.m. 7:33 p.m. First Full Last New Feb 19 Feb 27 Mar 5 Mar 13 NATIONAL EXTREMES Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states) High 88° in Immokalee, Fla. Low -41° in Moore, Mont. “Frequent large-scale testing is one measure that can help reduce the risk of an outbreak spreading quickly. … This type of testing is especially important when students are returning to campus from many different areas after winter break, and may have been unknowingly exposed, or are already infectious but are not showing any symp- toms.” Carrie Brogoitti, COVID- 19 incident commander at Union County’s public health authority, the Center for Human Development Inc., said the organization has a longstanding, positive rela- tionship with EOU that has helped mitigate the spread of COVID-19 locally. “Of all the places in our community where there could be risk of spread or potential outbreaks, EOU has done a tremendous job of being proactive,” Brogoitti said in the release. “They have great plans in place and have been swift to act in isolating and quar- antining COVID-19 cases to limit or stop the spread in our community. They have really taken it seriously and have worked really hard to limit the risk to their students and the community.” She said EOU helped inform and coordinate many aspects of the pandemic response, and the universi- ty’s presence in La Grande is not a primary reason for the county’s “extreme risk” status. “Over the last year we have seen COVID-19 activ- ity and outbreaks touch almost every area of our community. In many of these instances, to the best of our knowledge, this activity has been community spread,” Brogoitti said. “EOU has coordinated their testing events with public health and these testing events have New police station will be on the May ballot for M-F voters By SHEILA HAGAR Walla Walla Union-Bulletin MILTON-FREEWATER — Voters in Milton-Freewater will have the opportunity to consider approving a new city police station in May. Milton-Freewater City Council members voted unan- imously on Monday, Feb. 8, to put a $7.7 million general obli- gation bond on the upcoming ballot. If approved, the money will come from property taxes, about $7.25 a month per $100,000 of assessed property value, offi cials said. T he stor y of why Milton-Freewater could use a new station goes back about 100 years. That’s how long the city’s police department has oper- ated in the basement of Milton-Freewater City Hall on South Main Street, once the town of Milton bought the former Columbia College in 1929. The basement has been called a “rabbit warren” of boxy, shotgun-style rooms with little to no natural light in much of the station. The addi- tion of security measures and NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY technology has reduced usable square footage even more. The same could be said of the station’s heating and cool- ing, although that recently failed, leaving the basement without heat for the cold snap predicted this week, City Manager Linda Hall told council members. For more than 20 years, officials have pondered building a station on a 16,500-square-foot, city- owned lot across Columbia Street, which runs behind Main Street facing city hall. In October 2020, the city hired Portland-based FFA Architecture & Interiors to do an early concept design. FFA staff members John Pete and Ian Gelbrich presented working blueprints, based on staff and space needs, plus the surrounding neighborhood and country- side on Feb. 8. The proposed station would be about 7,200 square feet and would house Milton-Freewa- ter Police patrol offi cers and 911 dispatchers. The build- ing would include conference and report-taking rooms, two holding cells, offi ces, evidence rooms, a public lobby, a break Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. -0s 0s showers t-storms 10s rain 20s flurries 30s snow 40s ice 50s 60s cold front E AST O REGONIAN — Founded Oct. 16, 1875 — 70s EastOregonian.com In the App Store: East Oregonian (USPS 164-980) is published Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, by the EO Media Group, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801. Periodicals postage paid at Pendleton, OR. Postmaster: send address changes to East Oregonian, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801. 80s 90s 100s warm front stationary front 110s high low PORTLAND — Cities and counties in Oregon aiming to ban homeless people from sitting, sleeping and camping on public prop- erty may soon face a barrier under a proposed bill introduced by state lawmakers earlier this month. House Bill 3115 would require local govern- ments to be “objectively reasonable” when regulating sitting, lying, sleeping or keeping warm and dry on public property. If passed, the measure would largely force cities statewide to comply with the well known “camping lawsuit” in Boise, Idaho, where a federal judge ruled that prosecuting people for sleeping on the streets, when there are no shel- ter beds available, is unconstitutional and cruel and unusual punishment. “We have a lot of folks continuing to live in public spaces, and that ruling in the court said Circulation Dept. For mail delivery, online access, vacation stops or delivery concerns call 800-781-3214 ADVERTISING Regional Sales Director (Eastside) EO Media Group: • Karrine Brogoitti 541-963-3161 • kbrogoitti@eomediagroup.com 211 S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton 541-276-2211 333 E. Main St., Hermiston 541-567-6211 Offi ce hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed major holidays Copyright © 2021, EO Media Group room, interview spaces and training areas. It will also be seismically sound, set up for modern tech- nology, accessible to those using mobility devices, and provide privacy and safety for residents to attend to police business. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a jump in building material prices, it similarly caused a project slowdown, meaning labor costs are currently lower, Pete said, noting the bond amount is adjusted for a possible 4% cost escalation. Public safety buildings cost more than equally sized construction due to the need for them to be seismically sound, house back-up genera- tors and create secure spaces, he told council members. The single-story station’s roof is designed to blend with nearby residences and echo the foothills of the Blue Moun- tains, the FFA architects said. As well, the preliminary design mimics the open front of the public library, adjacent to Milton-Freewater City Hall. That station’s exterior brick and metal cladding would pay homage to its city hall sibling. IN BRIEF Proposed Oregon bill aims to limit bans on homeless camping -10s led to identifi cation of cases, quick treatment, and imme- diate isolation to prevent spread.” EOU’s systems contained a minor outbreak in mid-Jan- uary after students who had tested negative began expe- riencing symptoms, EOU reported. Contact trac- ing found no employees or shared spaces were exposed. EOU assigned each affected student a caseworker to p r ov id e w r a p - a r o u n d services. And a newly hired COVID-19 response nurse provided direct care and consultation for the students. Wiggins said Easter’s COVID-19 case manage- ment team is there to ensure students have the support they need. “The response nurse is on the team along with repre- sentatives from student affairs, residence life, the student health center and the athletic department. This team meets routinely to help provide support to all students who are in isolation or quarantine,” she said. Faculty also provided remote-access resources for students since the pandemic began in spring 2020. Adapt- ing in-class curriculum to suit remote and hybrid courses also allows students to self-isolate or quarantine if they are ill or potentially exposed to the virus. Advertising Manager: SUBSCRIPTION RATES • Angela Treadwell 541-966-0827 • atreadwell@eastoregonian.com Local home delivery Savings (cover price) $10.75/month 50 percent • Kelly Schwirse 52 weeks $135 42 percent 541-564-4531 • kschwirse@eastoregonian.com 26 weeks $71 39 percent • Audra Workman 13 weeks $37 36 percent EZPay Single copy price: $1.50 Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday Multimedia Consultants: 541-564-4538 • aworkman@eastoregonian.com Business Offi ce • Dayle Stinson 541-966-0824 • dstinson@eastoregonian.com that you can’t penalize people for experienc- ing homelessness if there isn’t enough shelter,” Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek, who is the sponsor of the bill, said. Twelve years ago, a group of homeless people sued the city of Boise for ticketing them for sleeping outside, despite there being a short- age of shelter beds in the area. In 2018, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that cities cannot prosecute people for sleeping on the streets if there is nowhere else for them to go. A $1.8 million settlement was reached on Feb. 8 in the Robert Martin v. City of Boise case; this includes $1.3 million to create over- night shelters or rehabilitate existing shelter spaces, $435,000 for the plaintiffs’ attorneys, and $5,000 in damages to the plaintiffs. The 9th Circuit is the largest court of appeals, meaning the ruling affects Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. — Associated Press Classifi ed & Legal Advertising 1-800-962-2819 or 541-278-2678 classifi eds@eastoregonian.com or legals@eastoregonian.com NEWS • To submit news tips and press releases: call 541-966-0818 or email news@eastoregonian.com • To submit community events, calendar items and Your EO News: email community@eastoregonian.com or call Renee Struthers at 541-966-0818. • To submit engagements, weddings and anniversaries: email rstruthers@eastoregonian.com or visit eastoregonian. com/community/announcements • To submit sports or outdoors information or tips: 541-966-0838 • sports@eastoregonian.com COMMERCIAL PRINTING Commercial Print Manager: Holly Rouska 541-617-7839 • hrouska@eomediagroup.com
