hermiston council wants to raPP with local restaurants | REGION, A3
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145th year, No. 89
REGONIAN
Thursday, May 13, 2021
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WINNER OF THE 2020 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Tribes report sudden spike in COVID-19 cases
surge includes 12
cases involving
children between
4 and 18 years old
By BRYCE DOLE
East Oregonian
MIssION — The Confeder-
ated Tribes of the umatilla Indian
reservation have reported 14 new
COVId-19 cases in the past two
weeks, including 12 cases that
involve children between the ages
of 4 and 18, according to a press
release.
Each of the 12 children have or
are currently experiencing symp-
toms, and one adult has been hospi-
talized, the press release said.
The outbreak appears “to have
occurred among school-age children
who were in the same classrooms or
rode the same school buses,” though
the press release did not disclose the
school where the outbreak occurred.
The press release added that
community gatherings also contrib-
uted to the spread of infection.
The newly reported cases come
after six straight weeks where not
a single case was reported among
tribal members and patients eligible
for care at yellowhawk Tribal health
Center, the press release said.
But last week, tribal officials
reported five new cases. And on
Monday, May 10, nine new cases
were reported, the press release said.
With the addition of the new
cases, there are now 17 active
COVId-19 cases on the reservation,
the press release said. That makes
this one of the sharpest upticks
reported on the reservation since
19 cases were reported in a week in
december 2020, according to data
on the CTuIr website.
Yellowhawk officials are work-
ing to trace the outbreak, reaching
out to families and close contacts,
though residents have so far been
reluctant to provide information, the
press release said.
CTuIr Board of Trustees Chair
Kat Brigham is asking that commu-
nity members cooperate with health
officials.
“Please provide good informa-
tion to help yellowhawk protect the
community. We know everyone is
tired of dealing with this disease, but
we must cooperate and continue to
do our part to get out of this emer-
gency,” she said. “People are expe-
riencing a bigger range of symptoms
so it makes getting vaccinated even
more urgent.”
The new cases reported last
week prompted officials to cancel
several tribal events, including a fun
run, a painting class, a community
school prom at Nixyaawii and the
Nixyaawii Celebration Commit-
tee’s annual root Feast Pow Wow,
according to the CTuIr website.
since the pandemic began, tribal
health officials have reported 259
COVId-19 cases, 13 hospitaliza-
tions and one death, according to
data on the CTuIr website as of
Thursday, May 7.
UMATILLA COUNTY
County
rethinks
mental
health,
policing
umatilla County
officials say potential
program could look
similar to program
used in Eugene
By BRYCE DOLE
East Oregonian
PENdLETON — umatilla
County officials are looking
toward a possible new network
of mental health professionals to
assist, or possibly replace, law
enforcement in responding to
calls for people suffering from a
mental health or addiction crisis.
The idea, officials say, would
be similar to the “CahOOTs”
system in Eugene, where a
two-person team of medics
and mental health profession-
als respond to calls involving
mental illness, homelessness
and addiction, with an empha-
sis on de-escalation.
But umatilla County, with its
sprawling locale, is far different
from Lane County and Eugene,
and now, county officials are
trying to reimagine how the
system could work within the
county.
“They’re police officers or
corrections deputies, not mental
health professionals,” umatilla
County Commissioner John
shafer said. “It makes sense
— let someone who’s a mental
health professional deal with
someone in crisis instead of law
enforcement.”
See Mental health, Page A8
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
A rider runs the American flag past the bucking chutes on the opening day of the 2019 Pendleton Round-Up on Sept. 11, 2019.
‘Let ’er Buck’
Gov. Kate Brown
optimistic 2021
Pendleton round-up
will go forward in
september
By ANTONIO SIERRA
and BRYCE DOLE
East Oregonian
S
aLEM — Oregon Gov. Kate Brown
said she “would fully expect” for the
Pendleton round-up to go forward
as planned this year, with guidelines
from the Centers for disease Control and
Prevention like mask wearing in place.
Brown’s statement came during a
press conference on Tuesday, May 11,
where the state set new reopening goals
pending vaccinations.
When 70% of Oregonians over the age of 16
receive at least their first dose of the vaccine,
Brown announced, capacity limits on restau-
rants, bars, stores, gyms and venues for athlet-
ics and entertainment, as well as limits on
people who can gather for events and festi-
vals, would be lifted.
The state also announced that individual
counties with 65% of residents 16 and older at
least partially vaccinated can move to lower
risk starting on May 21, which allows restau-
rants, bars, gyms and indoor entertainment
establishments to operate at half capacity.
When asked whether moving to lower risk
and lifting restrictions would allow for major
events like the Pendleton round-up, Brown
said “there may be some CdC guidelines
around masking that we will want to align with
as we’re meeting Oregon’s needs, but I would
fully expect that we will be able to Let’er Buck,
so to speak, in september.”
For the Pendleton round-up associa-
tion’s board of directors, they took Brown’s
comments as a positive sign that they would
be able to realize their goal since they canceled
the 2020 rodeo: a fully functional round-up
in 2021 with all of the usual parades and side
events.
“We love to hear it,” round-up Vice Pres-
ident Nick sirovatka said. “The Pendleton
round-up is an institution, not just in Pend-
leton, but on our side of the state. It brings a
lot of good opportunities to our communities.
having the governor coming out with an opti-
mistic stance that we would be able to move
forward and hold our events is always a good
thing to hear.”
While the governor reiterated that the
round-up would need to follow CdC guide-
lines when reopening, sirovatka said the safety
plan for 2021 is still a “living document” that is
subject to change as the CdC makes changes
to its own rules in the coming months.
See Round-Up, Page A8
years of work reach fruition
East Improvement
district dedicates
$50M East Project
By BEN LONERGAN
East Oregonian
uMaTILLa — More than six
decades after regulators first docu-
mented groundwater declines in
umatilla and Morrow counties, the
East Project irrigation system was
dedicated along the Columbia river
on Tuesday, May 11.
The more than $50 million proj-
ect aims to provide farmers with
river water in lieu of pumping from
the ground in an effort to recharge
depleted aquifers and allow farmers
to grow higher value crops.
“It wouldn’t be possible unless
there was a lot of people supporting
it, and then the benefits are going
to be broad,” said Carl st. hilaire,
president of Jsh Farms in hermis-
ton. “Just as the support was broad,
the benefits will be broad in terms
of economic benefits for the entire
community.”
st. hilaire is the district chairman
of the East Improvement district, the
public entity created to build and
operate the East Project. The district
was created by 13 landowners and
spans 26,500 irrigated acres.
“I think the main thing is it’s
kind of a miracle that the stakehold-
ers could get together and agree on
promoting a project,” st. hilaire
said.
While the improvement district
See Project, Page A8
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
East Improvement District chairman Carl St. Hilaire, left, and Rep. Bobby
Levy, R-Echo, cut a ribbon during the dedication of the East Project along
the Columbia River on Tuesday, May 11, 2021.