OFF PAGE ONE
Thursday, March 25, 2021
East Oregonian
A7
Risk: Levels will again be reassessed and announced on April 6
Continued from Page A1
Um a t i l l a C o u n t y’s
numbers rose slightly, but
it retained its high risk
level rating. Union County
numbers were lower, but it
remains at moderate risk.
Grant County’s numbers
were sharply up, moving it
from the lower to moderate
risk.
In the northwest coast,
four counties were all in the
moderate risk level, but got
there in different ways. In
Clatsop and Lincoln coun-
ties, rising indicators moved
them up from lower, while
Columbia County’s improve-
ment dropped it from high.
Tillamook County remained
the same.
Statewide, 14 counties are
in the lower risk level. Jeffer-
son County dropped two
levels, while Lane and Baker
counties dropped one.
Fourteen counties were
at moderate risk level, with
increases in infection cases
and rates pushing Clatsop,
Grant and Lincoln up from
lower. Columbia and Polk
dropped from high.
Six counties are at high
risk. Douglas County moved
to high after an extended
period at the extreme risk
level.
Two counties are at
extreme risk. Coos County’s
rising numbers moved it up
from high to extreme, where
it joined neighboring Curry
County.
The Oregon Health
Authority sees COVID-19
rates in Southwestern Oregon
as troublesome. No county
that is west of the Cascades
COUNTY RISK LEVELS
Effective March 26–April 8
Lower risk (14)
Baker (moved from mod-
erate)
Crook
Gilliam
Harney
Hood River
Jefferson (moved from high)
Lake
Lane (moved from moder-
ate)
Morrow
Sherman
Wallowa
Wasco
Wheeler
Yamhill (moved from mod-
erate)
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Umatilla County remains in the high risk category according to new COVID-19 risk levels re-
leased by Gov. Kate Brown’s office on Tuesday, March 23, 2021.
Moderate risk (14)
Clackamas
Clatsop (moved from lower)
Columbia (moved from high)
a recent mass vaccination
event in Douglas County did
not come close to filling its
eligible slots for shots.
“It’s an indication they are
running out of people who
are interested in being vacci-
nated,” Allen said.
A new OHA rule will
grant a two-week grace
period to counties that
reduced their risk level in the
prior period but rebounded
with higher numbers in the
next period.
Instead of immediately
returning to the more restric-
tive rules, the counties will
get a two-week “caution”
period to try to get their
numbers down again. If they
are unsuccessful, then OHA
will move the county up at
the next risk level adjust-
ment.
This week, the caution
period was granted to two
counties: Josephine Coun-
ty’s cases and infection rate
should move it from high
risk to extreme risk. Klamath
County’s worsening infec-
tions were enough to move it
from moderate risk to high
risk. Both counties will retain
their current level and will
have their status reassessed
at the next round.
The next revision of risk
levels will be announced
April 6 and will go into effect
April 9.
pay to get their shot when we
can, in many cases, get to
them and reduce that time.”
Continued from Page A1
Just in time
The state’s approval
comes just in time for spring
harvest, which brings an
influx of agricultural workers
to the region annually, offi-
Housing:
Continued from Page A1
two-phase project that is
expected to be completed this
summer.
While the Tribes are
downsizing the size of the
park from 27 to 18 units,
Tovey said many of the trail-
ers were uninhabitable and
unoccupied at the time of the
flood, so the project is more
of a lateral move in terms of
numbers.
Tovey said the CTUIR
High risk (6)
Benton
Douglas (moved from
extreme)
Jackson
Josephine**
Marion
Umatilla
Extreme risk (2)
Coos
Curry (moved from high)
Source: OHA, Oregon Secretary of State
and south of the Willamette
Valley is at better than high
risk and many are in or just
exited extreme risk.
During testimony last
week before the House
Subcommittee on COVID-
19, OHA Director Pat
Allen said the issue wasn’t
just vaccine hesitancy, but
“vaccine obstinacy.”
Allen said six months of
data from vaccination efforts
show demand “varies wildly”
around the state.
W h ile vacci nat ion
appointments are booked
weeks in advance in most
areas, southwest Oregon
hasn’t matched its demand
with its supply. Allen said
LARGEST COUNTIES AND RISK STATUS
Seven of the 10 largest
counties in Oregon are
now at moderate or lower
risk level. None are in the
extreme risk category.
1. Multnomah
(pop. 829,560) moderate
New clinics
cials from both counties said.
In Umatilla County, harvest
season brings with it more
than 10,000 additional jobs,
officials say.
“That’s exactly why
we immediately raised
our hand” when the state
said counties could expand
vaccinations,” Lindsay said.
She added that the county’s
essential workforce is one of
the largest in the state and is
predominantly comprised of
Hispanic and Latino work-
ers.
Lindsay said she hopes the
new timeline will bring with
it a surge of vaccinations as
the county begins to see more
and more people hesitant to
get a shot.
As of Tuesday, March
23, only 300 appointments
had been made at the SAGE
Center clinic for the 1,200
doses provided by the state,
Lindsay said. She described
the lack of appointments as
“concerning,” though work-
ers are not required to make
an appointment to get a shot.
Morrow County officials
will be making further efforts
to communicate and educate
regional farmworkers about
the importance of getting
vaccinated as harvest season
continues, Lindsay said.
Umatilla County Public
Health Director Joe Fiumara
said he’s also concerned that
the vaccine turnout among
agricultural workers will be
slim, since many employees
cannot simply leave work to
get a shot.
So, the county has
contacted employers at agri-
culture and food process-
ing facilities to bring the
vaccines to them. Murdock
said the health department
has “talked to virtually all
employers of both process-
ing plants and farmers to try
to figure out strategies for
conducting vaccines where
they are.”
The county has already
held vaccine clinics at two
food processing facilities in
Weston, Fiumara said, and
more are planned for later in
the week.
“Our hope is that by
reducing some barriers for
these (food processing) and
migrant workers,” he said,
“they don’t have to neces-
sarily leave work, go to our
drive-thru on a Thursday or
Friday, maybe sit for a half-
hour in line, and then go back
to work and potentially miss
out on three or four hours of
In the coming weeks,
Fiumara said the county is
looking to work with state
officials to hold similar efforts
as the SAGE Center clinic in
Boardman. He added that the
state’s team could help bring
extra doses, which the county
desperately needs.
“We’re trying to do the
same thing here,” Fiumara
said. “Largely because that
(team) comes with additional
vaccines. That’s a big draw
for us.”
Since early March,
Umatilla County has been
entrenched at the bottom
of the state’s rankings for
COVID-19 vaccinations
per capita. The county has
vaccinated 1,576 people per
10,000 residents, which is
last in the state, according
to state data. Officials have
said the low rates are due to
a meager allocation from the
state.
“All of our grand plans
and designs are dependent
on getting enough vaccine,
which for us is a constant
problem,” Murdock said.
Fiumara said the latest
development shouldn’t
immediately change the rest
of the county’s vaccine time-
line.
“We’ll stick with the
state’s (timeline) as long
as we’ve got people to give
doses to,” he said. “If we feel
like we need to go further,
we’ll start those conversa-
tions with the state again
about moving beyond that.
It’s all about having vaccine
and getting it to people, and
we want to make sure those
folks who are high-risk have
ample opportunity to receive
it.”
is using the extra space to
replace the single-wides
with double-wides, and with
flood victims prioritized on
the tenant waiting list, some
have already moved into the
completed units.
The CTUIR’s new housing
developers are clustered at the
southwest corner of Mission
Road and South Market
Road, where the Tribes have
already established many of
its government and service
buildings.
Tovey said the idea is inten-
tional, an attempt to build a
more centralized community
in the Mission area. While
Mission has grown signifi-
cantly in recent years, Tovey
said it lacks a Main Street
and other traditional markers
of communities around the
country. Depending on how
area grows after the housing
projects are completed, Tovey
said other amenities like retail
and restaurants could be
added.
While most of the
CTUIR’s new housing efforts
are targeting tribal members,
it could affect Pendleton’s
tight housing market.
At the joint meeting, Kat
Brigham, the chair of the
Board of Trustees, said about
500 tribal members live in
Pendleton. If provided more
options on the reservation,
Brigham said some may
decide to leave the city for the
reservation, opening up more
real estate in Pendleton.
While Pendleton and the
CTUIR have largely operated
independently in pursuing
new housing for their respec-
tive communities, Tovey said
both sides have held discus-
sions about collaborating on
a mutually beneficial housing
project.
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
A nurse reaches for a vial of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine
during a vaccination clinic at St. Anthony Hospital in Pend-
leton on Dec. 28, 2020.
5. Marion
(pop. 349,120) high
6. Jackson
(pop. 223,240) high
7. Deschutes
(pop. 197,015) moderate
2. Washington
(pop. 620,080) moderate
8. Linn
(pop. 127,320) moderate
3. Clackamas
(pop. 426,515) moderate
9. Douglas
(pop. 112,530) high
4. Lane
(pop. 381,365) lower
10. Yamhill
(pop. 108,605) lower
Source: OHA, Oregon Secretary of State
Vaccine: Umatilla County last in vaccinations Gardener:
geared toward a commu-
nity of frontline workers that
have borne the brunt of the
pandemic — Hispanic and
Latino agricultural workers.
In Umatilla County,
Hispanic residents accounted
for more than 40% of the
county’s total COVID-19
cases in 2020, according to
data from the county health
department. The popula-
tion also tested positive at a
rate over three times higher
than non-Hispanics and were
hospitalized at a higher rate,
the data shows.
And in Morrow County,
Hispanic residents have
accounted for approximately
57% of the county’s total
COVID-19 cases, according
to data provided by county
officials as of March 12.
Officials from both coun-
ties have pointed to work-
place exposures in food
processing and agricultural
facilities as having contrib-
uted to the disproportion-
ately high rates of infection,
which echoes both state and
national trends.
“Our farmworkers were
disproportionately impacted
by COVID,” Murdock said.
“We had some very high
numbers, and it was people
who had no choice. If they
want to support their fami-
lies, they had to work. They
have to be out in the fields
and in the processing plants.
And while efforts are made
to try and protect them, it’s
very difficult. So, conse-
quently, they become very,
very vulnerable.”
Deschutes
Grant (moved from lower)
Klamath*
Lincoln (moved from lower)
Linn
Malheur
Multnomah
Polk (moved from high)
Tillamook
Union
Washington
Continued from Page A1
in 1998 and later he became
operations manager. Hodge,
divorced with two grown
children, retired in 2018 after
20 years with the company.
Hodge, 56, is a competi-
tive runner who sometimes
runs the 1.5 miles from his
apartment to the community
garden, where he frequently
spends 12 hours a week
during the height of the
season. When questioned
about his zeal for gardening,
he ticks off several reasons
— the physicality of working
hard, the mental challenge of
learning to grow things, and
the intangibles.
“You’re among plants and
nature and it’s a little bit spir-
itual,” he said. “It just feels
peaceful to be out here.”
Hodge enjoys fresh salads
made of his own homegrown
ingredients at least once a
day. He admits that before
becoming a gardener, he
didn’t eat nearly as many
vegetables. His bedroom
windowsill is now filled
with pots of herbs, kale and
arugula.
Hodge readily shares his
knowledge and bounty with
others. He offers produce to
neighbors and Agape House.
He gives away seeds gleaned
from his garden at the dentist
or the barbershop, or wher-
ever he happens to be. Once
during the Umatilla County
Fair Parade, he walked along-
side a Walmart Distribu-
tion Center float/semitruck
and, as his fellow employ-
ees distributed candy, he
gave away green beans in
little sacks. Most of the kids
looked at him quizzically, he
said, though some sampled
the beans straight away.
Hodge, who works two
of the 80 total plots at the
community garden, said
gardeners can borrow hoes,
shovels, watering cans and
other tools from the garden-
ing shed, and use bark and
compost piled near the plots
for free. Watering happens
automatically through a drip
irrigation system. Plots cost
$10 per year.
“All you have to do is plant
and harvest,” Hodge said.
Bringing in the bounty
Weeding and seeking
and destroying squash bugs
are also on the to-do list. In
his pair of 12-square-foot
spaces, he plants tomatoes,
green beans, squash and
leafy greens, such as chard,
arugula and collard greens.
He delights in slightly exotic
produce, such as the Arme-
nian cucumber, which is
long, light-skinned and has
the texture of a kiwi.
Some plants are easier to
grow than others. Arugula
usually germinates readily
from seed and can be planted
early. Green beans need
warmer soil, but grow easily
and produce a long time.
“I’ve seen them start
producing in early July and
go all the way through the
end of September,” Hodge
said. “It’s a fun plant.”
Chelle Hankinson, garden
facilitator at the Hermiston
Community Garden, calls
Hodge “the kale master” and
relies on him when a master
gardener is needed.
“Any time we do a
program, he is there,”
Hankinson said. “He’s our
Joe. He’s got a wealth of
knowledge.”
Hodge recently designed
a demonstration garden
with fellow master gardener
Norah Pratton to display a
variety of herbs. Eventually
recipes will be available for
each herb.
‘You can’t be
afraid to fail’
Fellow master gardener
Jeannette Byrnes watched
Hodge’s transformation
from novice to gardening
expert with fascination. The
two now help teach Seed to
Supper classes (when they
aren’t canceled because of
COVID) and she marvels at
Hodge’s easy and encourag-
ing style.
“I’m amazed at his pres-
ence and how much he
knows,” Byrnes said. “He’s
a very unassuming person
and you don’t expect all that
comes out of him.”
Diana Romero, formerly
OSU Extension’s master
gardener program coordi-
nator, called Hodge a “huge
asset” to the program.
“He was always avail-
able to provide his garden-
ing expertise by answering
the calls from the community
and he volunteered on numer-
ous community events where
he worked with children on
gardening art projects,” she
said. “I cannot think of a
community event in Herm-
iston where he did not volun-
teer, he loves giving back to
his community.”
Hodge just wants new
gardeners to find their confi-
dence.
“You can’t be afraid to
fail,” he said. “Have patience.
Sometimes you think some-
thing isn’t growing and a few
days later it takes off.”