INSIDE: Wildfire season starts early in Northeastern Oregon, A2
E O
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145th year, no. 100
REGONIAN
Tuesday, June 8, 2021
$1.50
WINNER OF THE 2020 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
UMATILLA COUNTY
Sheriff’s office mourns loss of deputy
East Oregonian
UMATILLA COUNTY — The
Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office
identified Jason Post as the deputy
who drowned Saturday, June 5, in
Wallowa County.
Post was 34 and leaves behind a
wife and baby girl.
The sheriff’s office reported
Post and three other adults entered
a craft on the water near the
Minam Store at Minam State Park
and an accident threw them into
the water.
“Deputy Jason Post did not loved throughout the entire law
reach shore and his body was enforcement community,” the
found shortly afterward,” accord- press release stated.
ing to a press release from the
Umatilla County Parole and
sheriff’s office.
Probation in mid-April
Post began his career
hired Post as a probation
in 2010 as a reserve officer
officer.
for the Umatilla County
“He was known for
Sheriff’s Office and in
his devotion to his fam-
ily,” according to the press
2013 was hired as a full-
release, “and he was very
time patrol deputy. He
open about making the
was a field training offi-
Post
cer and a mentor to many
career change so he could
officers.
focus on family and spend
“He was well respected and more time with them.”
Umatilla County sheriff’s dep-
uties and other law enforcement
agencies escorted Post’s body
from the Loveland Funeral Chapel,
La Grande, to home in Pendleton,
where local law enforcement and
first responders gathered to honor
him.
“Thank you for the overwhelm-
ing support that was demonstrated
by so many of our extended law
enforcement family yesterday as
we brought him home,” the sher-
iff’s office stated. “We express our
deepest condolences to his entire
family. We are your family and
our hearts are broken.”
Umatilla County sheriff’s Lt.
Sterrin Ward on June 7 reported
staff from the sheriff’s office and
parole and probation met that
morning for a debrief of the events
from the weekend.
“The family and agency are
beginning the process of planning
for a ceremony, but at this time
no finalized announcements have
been made,” Ward reported. “We
See Deputy, Page A9
HERMISTON
VFW
post’s
charter
revoked
Members are now
‘at large’ and must
have sponsor to join
another VFW post
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — Local mem-
bers of Veterans of Foreign Wars
Post 4750 of Hermiston said the
state VFW leadership revoked the
post’s charter.
The decision means mem-
bers of the post are now “at large”
members of the VFW and must
have someone sponsor them if
they want to join an adjacent post
in Ione, Kennewick or Pendleton.
According to Harold Roberts, a
former post commander, the post
has about $600,000 in assets,
including its building, cash and
equipment. Roberts said all of that
now belongs to the VFW Depart-
ment of Oregon.
“That money was raised by
local veterans, for local veterans,
and it needs to stay in the commu-
nity,” he said.
The state post did not respond to
multiple requests for comment, but
a member of Post 4750 provided
the East Oregonian with a copy of
a letter dated May 17 from State
Commander George Carroll, stat-
ing the charter had been revoked
and the Hermiston post was no
longer an official VFW post.
“If you have kept abreast of the
evolving situation at the Post, it
should not come as a surprise to
you,” he wrote.
The decision comes after a
See VFW, Page A9
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Sisters Sarah, left, and Emma House just received their second shot of the COVID-19 vaccine when a teammate on the Pendleton High
School tennis team tested positive. Due to their vaccination status they did not have to quarantine while at least 12 of their teammates
were required to do so, Sarah said.
‘Everyone has their own options’
Local high school
students question
COVID-19 vaccination
requirement
By BRYCE DOLE, JADE
MCDOWELL AND ANTONIO
SIERRA
East Oregonian
UMATILLA COUNTY — Sarah House
had just gotten her second vaccine when her
teammate on the Pendleton High School
tennis team tested positive for COVID-19.
A week before, the team had been rid-
ing the bus together. She said at least 12 of
her teammates were forced to quarantine —
and just before districts.
“There were only like five people that
went” to districts, said House, 16. “And
it’s because they were vaccinated or they
weren’t on the bus.“
Because House and her sister, Emma,
just had gotten the shot, they didn’t have to
quarantine. But one of her best friends did,
and it was strange to be at school without
her.
“It was just weird because we have a lot
of the same classes,” House said. “So she
didn’t come to school and she had to go
online, which is weird, because I was used
to her being there.”
As schools continue to grapple with the
pandemic, with outbreaks sending students
briefly back to their homes to isolate, stu-
dents face the question of whether or not to
get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Health officials say vaccines — which
are becoming more widely available for
youth — are the best bet to keep students in
school and to all but ensure a safe and nor-
mal fall 2021 semester.
Fiumara
Fritsch
Mooney
Mulvihill
Murdock
Sipe
refrained from formally encouraging stu-
dents to get vaccinated, saying the decision
should be left to families. “But again, part
of that is — with those choices could poten-
tially come consequences.”
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Muriel Jones-Hoisington, a 17-year-old Pend-
leton High School student, says while she
has chosen not to get the COVID-19 vaccine
at this time, she believes it’s ultimately up to
the individual to do their own research and
make the decision that works best for them.
“I do encourage students to get the vac-
cine,” said Umatilla County Commissioner
George Murdock, the liaison to the health
department. “It will certainly change the
picture and very likely help them for next
year with respect to participation in athlet-
ics, let alone wearing masks. My guess is
that the more of our young people who are
vaccinated, probably the more freedom and
flexibility they’ll experience in the fall of
2021.”
But with some students and families still
skeptical of the shot, school districts are
navigating a fine line between safety, edu-
cation and families’ individual choice.
“It’s trying to be neutral and respect the
rights of individual choice,” said Pendleton
School Superintendent Chris Fritsch, who
Schools report cases
According to the Oregon Health Author-
ity’s weekly outbreak report, Umatilla
County schools reported 71 student cases
and 32 staff cases since the beginning of
April, the first full month most county
schools began offering in-person classes
again.
State reports show a total of 21 students
in the Hermiston School District tested pos-
itive for COVID-19, spread across six of its
schools. Superintendent Tricia Mooney said
based on the limited information the county
health department gives the school district,
it appears the virus isn’t spreading through
classrooms once one student falls ill.
“I think our precautions and safety mea-
sures are working, definitely,” she said.
In all, 21 schools in Umatilla County,
including middle and high school, reported
cases since April, according to the state.
Though most of those schools were from
the Pendleton and Hermiston area, cases
also were reported in Stanfield, Umatilla
See Vaccination, Page A9