NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Thursday, May 27, 2021
Vaccinations replace infections as key to lower COVID-19 limits
By GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — The Medford
area has less than half the
number of COVID-19 cases
than the Bend area.
But re st au r a nt s i n
Deschutes County can have
twice as many customers as
Jackson County’s in their
dining rooms starting on
Thursday, May 27.
The virus is spreading
at twice the rate in Portland
than in La Grande.
But last call will be about
a half hour before lights out
at 11 p.m. in Union County
bars while down at the
Moda Center in Multnomah
County, people packed
together without masks at
an NBA playoff game. After-
ward, they can party until
midnight.
The comparisons under-
line the new reality in
Oregon this week: COVID-
19 cases are no longer the
only measuring stick for how
tight restrictions are placed
on counties.
The new key to opening
up: vaccination rates. Get a
shot of vaccine into the arms
of 65% of eligible residents
age 16 and up and any county
could be dropped to the least
restrictive level of rules.
“This disease remains
dangerous for those in
communities with high rates
of unvaccinated individu-
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
Christina Garcia, right, receives her first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine from Sharon Waldern
during a vaccination clinic at Good Shepherd Medical Center in Hermiston on Friday, Feb. 12,
2021. Vaccination rates now are key to reopening Oregon counties.
might find themselves still
facing moderate or high risk
levels of restrictions.
From May 27 through
June 3, the Oregon Health
Authority has placed 15
counties in the high risk
level, three at moderate risk
and 18 at lower risk.
Twelve of the lower
risk counties show smaller
numbers of COVID-19 cases
and lower percentages of
als,” Gov. Kate Brown said
on May 25. “That’s why I’m
encouraging all Oregonians
to roll up your sleeves, take
your shot, and get a chance to
change your life.”
The new format explained
why some counties with
high vaccination rates but
less than stellar marks on
COVID-19 cases could be
in the lower risk group while
counties with lower numbers
Forecast for Pendleton Area
TODAY
FRIDAY
| Go to AccuWeather.com
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
MONDAY
positive cases.
But six of the counties
are on the lower risk level
because of Brown’s waiver
for counties that have put
vaccine in just under two out
of three adults.
Deschutes, Multnomah,
Washington, Lincoln, Hood
River and Benton counties
have passed the mark and
will move to lower level
restrictions as of May 27.
Cool with clouds
and sun
Partly sunny and
warmer
Intervals of clouds
and sunshine
Very warm with
some sun
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
69° 46°
70° 42°
78° 45°
88° 58°
84° 52°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
72° 52°
75° 44°
83° 47°
95° 60°
89° 53°
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
55/47
68/42
69/43
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
70/48
Lewiston
58/49
74/54
Astoria
57/48
Pullman
Yakima 75/50
56/46
79/50
Portland
Hermiston
62/50
The Dalles 72/52
Salem
Corvallis
60/44
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
72/44
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
63/43
64/37
75/38
Ontario
83/50
Caldwell
Burns
78°
49°
75°
49°
100° (1947) 34° (1999)
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
60/46
0.00"
0.42"
0.94"
1.70"
1.42"
4.93"
WINDS (in mph)
81/48
74/35
0.01"
0.47"
1.11"
4.03"
7.58"
6.22"
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 73/37
63/48
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
69/46
69/51
73°
48°
73°
49°
99° (1936) 29° (1918)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
58/47
Aberdeen
67/44
67/48
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
58/49
Today
Boardman
Pendleton
Medford
72/44
Fri.
W 10-20
WNW 8-16
WSW 8-16
W 8-16
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
70/31
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
5:12 a.m.
8:33 p.m.
10:39 p.m.
6:08 a.m.
Last
New
First
Full
June 2
June 10
June 17
June 24
around Oregon. If a county
qualifies for lower level
risk status, “vaccinations
sections” where certifi-
cates are required can open
at theaters, restaurants and
other places.
OHA said it would post
additional details about the
policy on its website May 27.
The next risk levels will
be announced on June 1.
Counties where infection
rates and cases move them
into a higher risk level will
not have to immediately
implement restrictions. OHA
will allow a “caution period”
of one week in which to get
the metrics back down. If
cases and rates stay high,
the restrictions would then
be imposed for the follow-
ing week.
Counties with low vacci-
nation rates are far from
qualifying for the waiver.
They will have to live with
more restrictions for a longer
time.
OHA reports eight mostly
smaller counties have vacci-
nated less than 40% of resi-
dents. Larger counties in
the group include Umatilla
(34%) and Douglas (39%).
Unless there is a major
shift to higher vaccina-
tions and lower infections,
many counties will have to
wait until Oregon registers
an overall 70% mark for
residents with one shot of
vaccine.
New wolf killing laws prompt push
to revive protections for gray wolves
By MATTHEW BROWN
Associated Press
Breezy this
afternoon
The “one shot” rule was
put in place because most
Oregon residents have been
inoculated with either the
Pfizer or Moderna vaccine,
which requires two shots
given about a month apart.
A smaller number of
residents have received the
one-shot Johnson & Johnson
vaccine.
Normally, the risk level
changes go into effect the
Friday after the levels are
announced. But the levels
announced on May 25 will
go into effect on May 27.
The early start is to allow
the Moda Center in Mult-
nomah County to implement
another new Brown plan tied
to hosting the NBA playoff
game that night between the
Portland Trailblazers and
Denver Nuggets.
When Brown and the
NBA announced on May 24
that fans would be required
to prove they were quali-
fied to sit in the “vaccina-
tion sections,” some Oregon
Republicans criticized the
rule. If the state wanted to
have vaccination sections,
it should practice an “honor
code” and take people at their
word that they have had their
shots. But Brown said show-
ing the vaccination card was
a small step to take to protect
fans and their families.
The rules at the NBA
game are a template for
events and businesses
BILLINGS — Wildlife
advocates pressed the Biden
administration on Wednes-
day, May 26, to revive federal
protections for gray wolves
across the Northern Rockies
after Republican lawmakers
in Idaho and Montana made
it much easier to kill the pred-
ators.
The Center for Biologi-
cal Diversity, Humane Soci-
ety and Sierra Club filed a
legal petition asking Interior
Secretary Deb Haaland to use
her emergency authority to
return thousands of wolves in
the region to protection under
the Endangered Species Act.
Republican lawmakers
pushed through legislation
in recent weeks that would
allow hunters and trappers
to kill unlimited numbers of
wolves in Idaho and Montana
using aggressive tactics
such as shooting them from
ATVs and helicopters, hunt-
ing with night-vision scopes
and setting lethal snares that
some consider inhumane.
Idaho’s law also allows the
state to hire private contrac-
tors to kill wolves.
Wolves in the region lost
federal endangered protec-
tions in 2011 under an act of
Congress after the species
had rebounded from wide-
spread extermination last
century.
Hundreds of wolves are
now killed annually by hunt-
ers and trappers in Montana,
Idaho and Wyoming. Yet the
population remains strong
— more than 3,000 animals,
according to wildlife officials
— because the wolves breed
so successfully and can roam
huge areas of wild land in the
sparsely populated Northern
Rockies.
The new laws had been
opposed by some former
wildlife officials and reflect
an increasingly par ti-
san approach to preda-
tor management in state
houses that are dominated
by Republicans. Support-
ers of restoring protections
say the changes will tip the
scales and drive down wolf
numbers to unsustainable
levels, while also threatening
packs in nearby states that
have interconnected popu-
lations.
They argue the changes
violated the terms that
allowed state management of
wolves, and want Haaland to
act before the looser hunting
rules start going into effect in
Idaho on July 1.
“The (U.S. Fish and Wild-
life) Service was very clear
that a change in state law
that allowed for unregulated,
unlimited take of wolves
would set off the alarm,” said
attorney Nicholas Arrivo
with the Humane Society
of the United States. “This
is essentially an attempt to
push the population down to
the very minimum.”
The petition seeks to
restore protections across
all or portions of at least six
states — Montana, Idaho,
Wyoming, Eastern Wash-
ington, Eastern Oregon and
a small area of northern
Utah. It steps up pressure
on the administration over
wolf populations that were
declared recovered when
President Joe Biden served as
vice president under former
President Barack Obama.
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 101° in Palm Springs, Calif. Low 23° in Bridgeport, Calif.
IN BRIEF
Oregon woman arrested
for violating Hawaii
quarantine rules
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
WAILUKU, Hawaii — An Oregon woman
was arrested last week after arriving in
Hawaii because she violated travel quaran-
tine rules meant to protect the islands from
the spread of coronavirus, police said.
After arriving on a flight from Seattle,
Kelsey Newcomer, 36, of Portland, did not
have a negative pre-travel COVID-19 test
from an approved facility and she did not have
approved lodging where she could complete
a mandatory 10-day travel quarantine, Maui
police said.
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
-10s
-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
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.
Copyright © 2021, EO Media Group
90s
100s
warm front stationary front
110s
high
low
Circulation Dept.
For mail delivery, online access, vacation stops
or delivery concerns call 800-781-3214
211 S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton 541-276-2211
333 E. Main St., Hermiston 541-567-6211
Office hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Closed major holidays
EastOregonian.com
In the App Store:
80s
CORRECTION: In the Page A1 story “I just feel really blessed,” published Tuesday,
May 25, a photo cutline misidentified the name of a student. The student in the photo is
Samuel Vander Stelt.
The East Oregonian works hard to be accurate and sincerely regrets any errors. If you
notice a mistake in the paper, please call 541-966-0818.
ADVERTISING
Regional Sales Director (Eastside) EO Media Group:
• Karrine Brogoitti
541-963-3161 • kbrogoitti@eomediagroup.com
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
Multimedia Consultants:
Local home
delivery
Savings
(cover price)
$10.75/month
50 percent
541-564-4531 • kschwirse@eastoregonian.com
52 weeks
$135
42 percent
• Audra Workman
26 weeks
$71
39 percent
541-564-4538 • aworkman@eastoregonian.com
13 weeks
$37
36 percent
Business Office
EZPay
Single copy price:
$1.50 Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday
She was taken to a police station in
Wailuku and later agreed to leave Maui and
return to Oregon, police said. She was trav-
eling alone, according to Alana Pico, a police
spokesperson.
Newcomer couldn’t immediately be
reached for comment on Tuesday, May 25.
Travelers to Hawaii must comply with the
state’s pre-travel testing program, even those
who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Travelers must have a negative test result prior
to departing for Hawaii in order to bypass the
quarantine.
Hawaii authorities have been arresting
people who violate the rules.
— Associated Press
• Kelly Schwirse
• Dayle Stinson
541-966-0824 • dstinson@eastoregonian.com
Classified & Legal Advertising
1-800-962-2819 or 541-278-2678
classifieds@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