REGION
Tuesday, March 30, 2021
East Oregonian
A3
April brings grant opportunities for businesses affected by pandemic
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
UMATILLA COUNTY
— State and federal COVID-
19 relief legislation will
present more grant opportu-
nities to businesses in April.
The Restaurant Revi-
talization Fund is a $28.6
billion grant fund created by
the American Rescue Plan,
the latest federal stimulus
package. The Small Busi-
ness Administration has not
named a specific date yet for
applications to begin, but
has said it expects to open
the application period some-
time in April.
According to the SBA, the
fund will provide tax-free
federal grants to restau-
rants, bars, food trucks and
other eateries to cover their
losses caused by COVID-
19 and related restrictions
since February 2020. The
list of eligible items for the
grant money to be spent
on includes payroll, rent
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
A sign from the Hermiston Chamber of Commerce along East Main Street in Hermiston advis-
es shoppers that businesses are open on Nov. 20, 2020.
or mortgage, utilities, food
and beverages, cleaning
supplies, paid sick leave and
expenses related to creat-
ing outdoor dining areas.
Publicly traded companies
or those with more than 20
restaurants are not eligible.
The U.S. Chamber of
Commerce is urging restau-
rant owners to prepare now,
before the grant period
opens, by registering with
the federal System of Award
Management and prepar-
ing documentation of gross
revenues for 2019 compared
to 2020. More information
can be found at restaurant-
sact.com.
On April 8, the Small
Business Administration
also expects to open appli-
cations for the Shuttered
Venue Operators grant, for
venues affected by COVID-
19.
Q u al i f y i ng e nt it ie s
include event venue oper-
ators, theatrical producers,
live performing arts orga-
nizations, movie theaters,
museums and more. For
organizations in opera-
tion before January 2019,
grant awards will be for
45% of gross revenues from
2019 or $10 million, what-
ever is less. More informa-
tion is available at sba.gov/
funding-programs/loans/
covid-19-relief-options/shut-
tered-venue- operators-grant.
Business Oregon just
closed its first round of appli-
cations for the Commer-
cial Rent Relief Grant,
but expects to open up
another application period
in mid-April. The grant is
available to help commercial
landlords and small busi-
ness owners by providing
rent money for tenants with
fewer than 100 employees
that have fallen behind on
their rent payments because
of the pandemic.
More information can be
found at oregon4biz.com/
Coronavirus-Information/
CRR.
Locally, chambers of
commerce, the Umatilla
Electric Cooperative Busi-
ness Resource Center in
Hermiston and the Blue
Mou nt ai n Com mu n it y
College’s Small Business
Development Center can
provide additional informa-
tion to area businesses inter-
ested in pursuing state and
federal grants.
LOCAL BRIEFING
CTUIR to
vaccinate new
groups at clinics
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
A Pacific Power lineman uses a fire extinguisher to douse a smoldering utility pole on
Southwest 10th Street in Pendleton shortly after 10 p.m. on Sunday, March 28, 2021. Just
before 10 p.m., the Pendleton Fire Department was dispatched to a utility pole fire result-
ing from windblown electrical equipment. Shortly after Pendleton Fire arrived on scene,
line crews from Pacific Power responded and extinguished the pole.
Wind storm damage limited
Wind speeds
reach 74 mph at
Pendleton Airport
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
UMATILLA COUNTY
— Strong winds whipped
through the Pacific Northwest
on Sunday, March 28, causing
damage in Eastern Oregon.
Wind speeds of 74 miles
per hour were recorded at the
Pendleton Airport, accord-
ing to the National Weather
Service, and hit 68 miles per
hour at the Hermiston Munic-
ipal Airport. The highest
reported location in the area
was in Mission, where wind
gusts reached 85 miles per
hour.
The wind caused a few
small power outages in the
area. Tom Gauntt, a spokes-
person for Pacific Power, said
in the Pendleton area, eight
different reported outages
added up to about 150 total
customers who lost power,
with 11 customers yet to be
restored as of 10:30 a.m. on
Monday, March 29.
“Those are from trees on
lines and that sort of thing,”
he said.
Gauntt said Pacific Power
didn’t see any outages that
covered more than 200
customers in Northeastern
Oregon. The company’s larg-
est reported outages for the
weekend were in the Bend
area, where about 6,000
customers lost power. But for
areas where high winds are
common, Gauntt said, the
infrastructure proved resil-
ient.
Umatilla Electric Coop-
erative spokesperson Steve
Meyers said the coopera-
tive received reports of a
“few scattered outages” and
broken poles, causing three
members to lose power in the
Homestead area and about 40
members to lose power in the
Poverty Flats Road area about
8:20 p.m. on March 28.
In Pendleton, Parks and
Recreation Director Liam
Hughes said in an email on
the morning of March 29 that
crews were still checking
everything out, but so far he
knew of three trees down in
Pendleton parks and “a bunch
of downed limbs.”
In Morrow County,
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Commissioner Melissa Lind-
say said she had heard some
reports trees that had toppled
over, and there was a large
sheet metal grain bin that
had fallen over into part of
Kilkenny Road in the central
part of the county. Overall,
however, she said the damage
didn’t seem to be nearly as
severe as the May 2020 wind
storm that caused extensive
damage to the Wilson Road
Mobile Home Park in Board-
man.
“I made some phone calls,
did some double-checking,
and I think Morrow County
did OK,” she said.
The wind blew dust across
Interstate 84 and Interstate 82
in the region, at times obscur-
ing visibility. The Sherman
County Sheriff’s Office
posted warnings to Facebook
about dust shrouding Inter-
state 84 along the Colum-
bia Gorge. And according
to a traffic alert from Wash-
ington State Patrol’s public
information officer, a “minor
injury” crash involving seven
vehicles temporarily blocked
the westbound lanes of I-82
outside Richland, Washing-
ton.
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Locals invited to
Small Business Day
M I LT ON - F R E E WA-
TER — The Milton-Free-
water Downtown Alliance
invites local entrepreneurs
to Small Business Day, an
(844) 989-2328
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Solar panels sold separately.
A & G Property Management &
Maintenance
Barton Laser Leveling
Blue Mountain Community College
Blue Mountain Diagnostic Imaging
CHI St. Anthony Hospital
CMG Financial
CMG Financial
Columbia Point Equipment Company
Corteva Agriscience
Davita Blue Mountain Kidney Center
Desire For Healing Inc
Duchek Construction
Hill Meat Company
Jeremy J Larson DMD LLC
Kirby Nagelhout Construction Co.
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File/Bend Bulletin
Cpl. John Shown with the Oregon National Guard adminis-
ters a COVID-19 vaccine to Mary Freeman during a COVID-19
vaccination run by Yellowhawk Tribal Health Care Center at
Wildhorse Resort & Casino in Mission on Feb. 23, 2021.
online conference on April
13 hosted by Main Street
America.
To support small business
owners facing challenges in
the coronavirus pandemic,
the conference will offer
marketing strategies, infor-
mational resources and work-
shops with retail experts.
Registration for small
business owners costs $25,
but the local Downtown
Alliance will pay that fee for
the first 20 Milton-Freewa-
ter business owners who ask
to attend.
For more information, call
Milton-Freewater Downtown
Alliance Executive Director
Julie Culjak at 541-969-4485.
ODFW seeks
applicants for
council positions
SALEM — The Oregon
Department of Fish and
Wildlife is looking for
volunteers to serve on the
Access & Habitat Northeast
Regional Council, according
to a press release.
Applications are being
accepted for the position of
chairman and landowner
representative until April 25.
To apply, complete an appli-
cation, which can be found on
the ODFW website.
Volunteers in these posi-
tions meet quarterly to
consider funding projects
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MISSION — Yellowhawk
Tribal Health Center will be
holding another set of mass
vaccination clinics at Wild-
horse Resort & Casino at the
Confederated Tribes of the
Umatilla Indian Reservation,
this time with more groups
eligible, according to the
health center’s website.
Those eligible for the
vaccine include CTUIR tribal
members, people living on
the reservation, Yellowhawk
eligible patients, employees
of any CTUIR entity and
their families, students over
the age of 16 and teachers and
employees from Pendleton,
Athena, Pilot Rock, Helix and
Nixyaawii schools, and staff
at Blue Mountain Community
College.
Workers from all Pend-
leton area restaurants, food
trucks, fast food chains and
grocery stores are also eligi-
ble to get a shot.
First doses will be admin-
istered at the Wildhorse clinic
on April 12 and April 13 from
8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Second doses
will be administered on May
3 and May 4 at the same times.
People interested in getting
a vaccine can call 541-240-
8733 to schedule an appoint-
ment or use the registration
link https://airtable.com/shrb-
74wCvlR6fnNJR.
Yellowhawk officials
ask that, on the day of the
appointment, patients bring
their current class sched-
ules or student identifica-
tion, employee paystub or
employee identification, and
plan to spend 15 to 20 minutes
onsite after the vaccination to
be monitored for any potential
side effects.
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Kopacz Nursery & Florist
Landmark Tax Services
McEntire Dental
McKay Creek Estates
NW Metal Fabricators Inc
Pendleton KOA
RE/MAX Cornerstone
Rob Merriman Plumbing & Heating Inc
Starvation Ridge Farming, LLC
Sun Terrace Hermiston
Tum-A-Lum Lumber
Umatilla Electric Cooperative
Umatilla Electric Cooperative
WalMart
that open private land to
hunting access or improve
wildlife habitat for game
animals.
Applicants for the regional
positions should live or work
in the northeast region of the
state, which includes Union,
Wallowa, Umatilla, Morrow,
Gilliam, Wheeler, Grant and
Baker counties.
The statewide board and
regional councils are each
made up of seven volun-
teers — three landowner
representatives, three hunter
representatives and the chair.
Duties of the position include
participation in up to four
public meetings each year in
various communities in their
region to review A&H proj-
ect proposals and conduct
other council business.
The A&H Program is
funded by a $4 surcharge on
hunting licenses, and the sale
of deer and elk raffle entries
and auction tags.
— EO Media Group
3/26- 4/1
Cineplex Show Times
Theater seating will adhere to social distancing protocols
Every showing $7.50 per person (ages 0-3 still free)
Nobody (R)
1:40p 4:40p 7:40p
The Courier (PG13)
2:00p 5:00p 8:00p
Raya and the
Last Dragon (PG)
1:00p 4:00p 7:00p
Nomadland (R)
4:20p
Chaos Walking (PG-13)
7:20p
wildhorseresort.com • 541-966-1850
Pendleton, OR I-84 - Exit 216