PENDLETON DOMINATES IMC BASKETBALL TEAM | SPORTS, B1
Cracking
through
the heat
Lightning cracks Wednesday,
June 30, 2021, over the fields north
of Pendleton as a summer storm rolls
through the region on the heels of a
record-breaking heat wave.
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
JULY 3-4, 2021
145th Year, No. 111
$1.50
WINNER OF THE 2020 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Caution
remains
a must
for many
Umatilla County to
keep contact tracing
center open for
two more years
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
UMATILLA COUNTY —The
impacts of COVID-19 in Umatilla
County will last much longer than
the laws set up to
contain it.
On Thurs-
day, July 1, the
state lifted the
lion’s share of its
COVID-19 restric-
tions, meaning
Lundgren
social distancing
and mask require-
ments were lifted in
almost all settings.
T he fol low-
ing day, Umatilla
Cou nt y Boa rd
of Commission-
ers Chair George
Murdock
Murdock said he
learned the county’s
contact tracing center will need to
stay open for another two years. As
the state leaves behind the remnants
of the COVID-19 lockdown,
Umatilla County will have to figure
out how to protect a population that’s
overexposed and undervaccinated.
Alisha Lundgren, Umatilla
County deputy health director,
See COVID-19, Page A10
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Tour guide Becky Ramirez explains the history of the Shamrock Card Room Thursday, July 1, 2021, during a tour of the Pendleton Un-
derground. With the June 30 end of COVID-19 restrictions, Pendleton Underground Tours lifted its mask requirements.
Mask on, mask off
Downtown Pendleton
businesses vary in
COVID-19 guidelines
as state mandates end
By BRYCE DOLE
East Oregonian
P
ENDLETON — When Brooke
Armstrong heard about Oregon
lifting its pandemic restrictions
on Wednesday, June 30, she
said she felt little relief. Over
time, she’s grown numb to the constant
changes, dreading what might come next.
“I would say I was super, super excited,”
said Armstrong, the executive director of
Pendleton Underground Tours. “But I don’t
really have much reaction anymore.”
Pendleton Underground, one of the
See Mask, Page A10
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Charlie Herrington, right, plays a small guitar Thursday, July 1, 2021, during a demon-
stration for Sandee Haskett at Pendleton Music Co. in downtown Pendleton. The busi-
ness has chosen to continue to require customers and staff to wear masks following the
end of the statewide mask mandate on June 30.
Man dies from heat stroke in Hermiston trailer park
By BRYCE DOLE
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — The first
person in Umatilla County to
reportedly die from a heat-related
illness amid the record-breaking
heat wave was a man who suffered
heat stroke in his trailer in Herm-
iston on June 24, according to
Umatilla County Medical Exam-
iner Aimee Rogers.
James Anfeldt, 47, of Spokane,
was found by his 6-year-old son
who was living with him in a
trailer at Panelview RV Park,
according to Rogers. The boy
thought his father was sleeping all
day before he requested help from
a neighbor, she said.
The Umatilla County Sheriff’s
Office responded to the report of a
little boy requesting medical assis-
tance that day, according to sher-
iff’s Lt. Sterrin Ward. The boy,
soaked in sweat, flagged down
the deputies at around 6:30 p.m.,
officials said.
Deputies found Anfeldt dead on
the floor of the trailer, Rogers said.
By that time, Anfeldt’s trailer had
reached about 130 degrees.
Rogers said he likely died the
night before.
Anfeldt had been working as
a construction worker in Pendle-
ton and had hypertension, Rogers
said. She said she suspects he
suffered external hyperthermia
due to working long hours in the
heat that exacerbated an electro-
lyte imbalance and contributed
to his death.
Temperatures in Hermiston
and Pendleton on June 24 were in
the 90s, according to the National
Weather Service in Pendleton.
Anfeldt was one of 95 heat-re-
lated deaths the Oregon State
Medical Examiner reported
during the heatwave that has
scorched the Pacific Northwest
the past week. According to the
Oregonian/OregonLive, he is the
first identified victim of the heat-
wave in Oregon.