REGION
Saturday, March 6, 2021
A3
East Oregonian
Yellowhawk to vaccinate area teens, school employees
East Oregonian
MISSION — The Confed-
erated Tribes of the Umatilla
Indian Reservation COVID-
19 Incident Command Team
has announced plans for
Yellowhawk Tribal Health
Center to vaccinate area high
school students 16 and over,
and school employees who
have not yet been vaccinated
on a fi rst come, fi rst served
basis.
The effort is in response to
reports of an increase in posi-
tive cases among teenagers
in the local area. High school
students who are 16 and over,
and school employees at
Pendleton, Athena, Helix and
Pilot Rock school districts are
eligible to register online.
“Our children are our
future,” said CTUIR Board
of Trustees Chair Kat
Brigham. “And to that end, if
we can help stop any spread
of this virus through teenage
students we are happy to help
provide some vaccinations.”
The appointments for
first doses will take place
on March 17 from 1-3 p.m.
MAKING AN APPOINTMENT
Area high school students over 16 years of age and school
employees who have not been vaccinated can register for
their fi rst and second appointment at https://airtable.com/
shrBvSnL3ehESq8jZ or by calling the vaccination line at
541-240-8733.
during a mass vaccination
event at Wildhorse Resort &
Casino. The Oregon National
Guard will be on hand to
administer the vaccine along
with staff from Yellowhawk.
“We really appreciate this
gesture from the Tribes,”
Umatilla County Commis-
sioner George Murdock said
in an email. “They have their
own source of vaccine and
they have been very gener-
ous in sharing it with people
they serve well beyond Tribal
members.”
Murdock commended the
Tribes’ efforts to vaccinate
as many people connected to
reservation and in the broader
community of Umatilla
County.
“In the end, this is about
getting vaccine for every
person in the county who
wants it and the Tribes have
really helped get shots in the
arms of Umatilla County resi-
dents,” he said.
The decision to provide
vaccinations was infl uenced
by the number of area high
school students engaging in
sports and other activities,
the number of positive cases
being reported, and plans
for Pendleton High School
students to return to the class-
room in late March.
“We encourage teens to be
smart about their safety inside
and outside of school,” said
Chuck Sams, CTUIR incident
commander. “Stopping the
spread in this sector is critical
to opening schools and keep-
ing our whole county moving
toward a full recovery.”
Prisons fi nish offering vaccines to inmates City council to
consider franchise
agreement for 5G
By BRYCE DOLE
East Oregonian
UMATILLA COUNTY
— Umatilla County’s two
state prisons fi nished the fi rst
step of immunizing all adults
in custody against COVID-
19 this week by successfully
offering the fi rst doses to all
inmates, according to spokes-
persons from the two prisons.
Two Rivers Cor rec-
tional Institution in Umatilla
fi nished offering fi rst doses
to all adults in custody at
the prison on Wednesday,
March 3, according to a TRCI
spokesperson, which capped
off initial vaccine efforts at
the county’s two prisons.
In all, 1,263 inmates at
TRCI were vaccinated of
the 1,726 offered a shot. The
prison held two large clin-
ics and three smaller ones to
vaccinate its inmates.
Prison offi cials at TRCI
are now vaccinating inmates
for a second time, with 195
having received a second
dose already, the spokesper-
son said.
Eastern Oregon Correc-
tional Institution in Pendleton
East Oregonian, File
Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution in Pendleton fi nished
its initial vaccination eff orts on Monday, March 1, with 1,081
inmates taking the shot of the 1,618 who were off ered one.
fi nished its initial vaccination
efforts on Monday, March 1,
with 1,081 inmates taking the
shot of the 1,618 who were
offered one.
The prison has also begun
vaccinating inmates with
second doses. As of March
1, 155 inmates were fully
immunized against corona-
virus, according to a spokes-
person from the prison.
The two facilities have
completed the fi rst round of
vaccinations after enduring
some of the largest COVID-
19 outbreaks among prisons
in Oregon.
At TRCI, 766 inmates have
tested positive for COVID-
19 since the pandemic began
— more than any prison in
Oregon. In January alone, 15
inmates who contracted the
virus died. And among staff,
127 have tested positive, the
second most in Oregon.
The prison suffered two
months of rapidly surging
case counts, with more than
600 inmates testing positive
between December 2020 and
February.
At EOCI, infection
surged through the summer
and fall 2020 seasons. With
458 inmates testing positive
since the pandemic began,
the prison has reported the
third highest case count
among Oregon prisons. Four
inmates who tested positive
for COVID-19 at EOCI died.
In response, inmates
from several state pris-
ons filed a lawsuit against
Gov. Kate Brown and other
state officials, criticizing
their response to outbreaks
throughout the state’s prison
system. In February, a federal
judge ordered the state to
begin offering the vaccine to
the state’s 11,000 AICs.
Currently, TRCI has
just 15 active cases among
inmates — a stark contrast to
active case counts in January,
which for weeks was upward
of 250. EOCI, currently, does
not have any active cases.
LOCAL BRIEFING
PHS athletes
quarantined after
COVID exposure
PEN DLETON
—
Umatilla County Public
Health confirmed that the
Pendleton High School boys
soccer and dance teams were
exposed to COVID-19.
In a Thursday, March
4, email, Pendleton School
District Superintendent
Chris Fritsch said the expo-
sure will affect 40 students
and fi ve staff members as the
teams quarantine until March
15.
Fritsch wrote that quar-
antine will cause the soccer
team to miss four games,
while he was unsure about
how the dance team’s activ-
ities will be affected.
Fritsch reiterated that
students in middle and high
school will still reopen for
in-person instruction on
March 29, and reminded
parents and students to
continue to follow the stan-
dard COVID-19 precautions.
Drive-thru
vaccinations in
Milton-Freewater
M I LT ON - F R E E WA-
TER — Grab your car keys
for a drive-thru vaccination
event in Milton-Freewater on
Thursday, March 11.
Umatilla County Public
Health staff and volunteers
will be at the Milton Seventh-
day Adventist Church, 1244
N. Elizabeth St., from 8 a.m.
to 6 p.m., or until COVID-19
vaccine doses run out.
Interested people are
highly encouraged to go to go
to Umatilla County’s vacci-
nation site to sign up for an
arrival time assignment.
Oregon is currently vacci-
nating people in Phase 1b and
those in Phase 1a who wish
to get vaccinated and haven’t
done so. Phase 1b includes
people age 65 and older,
child care providers, those
employed in early learning,
and educators and staff for
grades K-12.
This clinic will also offer
second-dose shots for people
who received a primary dose
on or before Feb. 11.
The March 11 vaccination
location will require drivers
to enter the church parking lot
from North Elizabeth Street
and exit onto Highway 11.
For more information go
to ubne.ws/3c63Pi8.
— EO Media Group and
Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — The
Hermiston City Coun-
cil will discuss a proposed
franchise agreement for
placement of small cell tech-
nology that can be used to
deliver 5G cellphone service
during its Monday, March 8,
meeting.
Cellphone carriers, inter-
net service providers and
other telecommunication
companies pay fees, known
as franchise fees, to place
their technology along city
rights-of-way. The proposal
before the council would
allow Oregon RSA#2,
described in the agenda
packet as the entity operat-
ing U.S. Cellular’s system
in the Hermiston area, to
pay to place “small cell”
wireless transmitters and
receivers on power poles
and street lights.
The fi ve-year agreement
would generate $5,670 for
the city in 2021, with a 3%
increase in fees per year plus
$270 per additional device
placed.
The consent agenda
for the March 8 meeting
includes a request from
planning department staff to
initiative the public hearing
and public notice process
necessary to amend the
city’s zoning ordinance.
The amendments would add
a new proposed use to some
residential zoning, known
as a “senior housing clus-
ter,” that would permit for
a mixture of memory care,
assisted living, and other
types of housing for senior
citizens on one property.
According to the agenda
packet, the proposed change
was spurred in part by the
city’s request for proposals
for creating a senior hous-
ing project on property on
Northwest 11th Street.
The March 8 agenda also
includes several presen-
tations at the start of the
meeting, including one on
school resources officers
and another recognizing
the winner of the Funland
Playground art contest. The
meeting will end with an
urban renewal agency vote
on a façade grant request to
help pay for new awnings at
149 E. Main St.
The meeting will begin
at 7 p.m. at the Hermiston
Community Center and
will be livestreamed on the
city of Hermiston YouTube
channel as well. The full
agenda packet can be found
at hermiston.or.us/meetings.
VISIT US ON THE WEB AT:
www.EastOregonian.com
3/5-3/11
Cineplex Show Times
Theater seating will adhere to social distancing protocols
Every showing $7.50 per person (ages 0-3 still free)
Raya and the
Last Dragon (PG)
1:40p 4:40p 7:40p
Chaos
Walking (PG-13)
1:20p 4:20p 7:20p
Tom and Jerry (PG)
2:00p 5:00p 8:00p
News of
the World (PG-13)
1:00p 4:00p 7:00p
wildhorseresort.com • 541-966-1850
Pendleton, OR I-84 - Exit 216
