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East Oregonian
Protest:
Continued from Page A1
Jared Uselman, the president of
the Pendleton Professional Fire-
fighters IAAF Local 2296, said he
was working on negotiations with
the state over vaccination require-
ments when he was blindsided by the
governor’s order.
“I don’t think that vaccination
is wrong, I don’t oppose it by any
means,” Uselman said. “But I do
oppose people not having a choice.”
His stance was all about vaccina-
tion mandates, he said.
“I have a sense of responsibility
to advocate and protect the rights of
my members, both the vaccinated
and the unvaccinated side,” Usel-
man said.
Uselman, who wasn’t intending
to speak at the rally, felt the conver-
sation was moving away from the
mandate and more into conspiracy
theories when he decided to jump in
and talk about supporting those who
wish to get vaccinated but felt that
the state was overreaching.
“I don’t support coercion by the
government,” he said.
He added as a first responder he
understood he signed up to work
in a potentially dangerous profes-
sion and noted the firefighters he
represents have followed all hygiene
and sanitary procedures to limit
the transmission of COVID-19 and
would continue to do so. But, he said,
through open dialogue and under-
standing they should be able to make
good medical decisions on their own
and not be ordered to do so by the
governor.
The overwhelming majority of
experts agree the COVID-19 vaccines
are safe and effective against the vary-
ing strains. And, while breakthrough
cases still happen, the vaccines dras-
tically reduce serious cases of illness
and death. The Pfizer vaccine, now
marketed as Comirnaty, passed strin-
gent scientific and health standards to
gain FDA approval on Aug. 23.
“The public can be very confi-
dent that this vaccine meets the
Round-Up:
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Board of trustees Chair Kat Brigham
said Hamley’s, a tribally owned busi-
ness, needed to shut down for two
weeks after Pendleton Whisky Music
Fest because of the number of staff
who came down with COVID-19
after the event.
“I will encourage my entire
family not to go near the Pend-
leton Round-Up this year,” said
Shawna Shillal-Gavin, the chair of
Troops:
Continued from Page A1
The soldiers would
provide support to the hospital
through clinical and nonclin-
ical roles. The hospital chain
— which serves Baker City,
Ontario and Boise — also
requested six soldiers to assist
with operations in Ontario. It
was not known how many
soldiers were requested for
the Baker City location.
Wallowa County on Aug.
25 requested Oregon National
Guard support, according
to Brooke Pace, director of
communications and public
relations at Wallowa Memo-
rial Hospital. The request
came 12 days after Brown’s
announcement about deploy-
ing Oregon National Guard
soldiers to hospitals during
the recent surge of COVID-19.
In Grant County, several
members of the Oregon
National Guard already
started assisting operations
in the Blue Mountain Hospi-
tal District. The hospital is
among only 11 hospitals in
Oregon to receive support
from the nearly 500 national
guard members currently
activated. Officials with
the Oregon National Guard
indicated roughly 20 more
hospitals will be bolstered
by an additional 1,000 guard
members by next week, with
numbers varying based on
need.
Soldiers’ tasks include
assisting in support roles, such
as entrance screeners, janito-
rial services and security for
the hospital, as well as provid-
ing logistical relief for over-
worked health care staff who
have been on the front lines of
the pandemic for nearly two
years.
“We have staff burnout.
They have been working very
Umatilla County sheriff
comments on mandates
Despite the mandate being statewide, Umatilla County Sheriff
Terry Rowan said the vaccine and mask orders do not provide stat-
utory authority for sheriffs to enforce the governor’s most recent
orders on anyone.
“We are not a regulatory authority,” he said, before adding the
determination of whether someone gets the vaccination should be
a choice between the individual and their doctor.
Rowan said he believes Brown’s orders to be unconstitutional
and since COVID-19 is not a declared emergency by the state,
he doesn’t see any repercussions for not following them. He said
the expectation for the mandates was not to enforce them, but to
educate people about them.
“The mandates don’t provide authority to me to do anything,”
he said.
The governor’s office did not respond Friday by deadline to a
request for comment. So far, Brown has not made a public statement
asking sheriffs to enforcement any recent mandate.
— East Oregonian
high standards for safety, effective-
ness, and manufacturing quality the
FDA requires of an approved prod-
uct,” said Dr. Janet Woodcock, the
acting FDA commissioner, in a press
release.
But some don’t feel comfortable
with the state pushing it on people.
Jim Williams, a farmer who
attended the rally in support of
his daughter who is a nurse and is
expecting to give birth in Decem-
ber, said she was worried about
the vaccine affecting her baby and
was frustrated she had to choose
between getting the vaccine or
losing her job.
Williams, who had COVID-19
in the past, said the best solution to
the pandemic was to use common
sense and not put yourself or others
at unnecessary risk.
“If someone chooses to get it,
great,” he said, “just don’t push it on
me.”
According to the most recent data
from the Oregon Health Authority,
59% of all licensed healthcare work-
ers in Umatilla County have been
vaccinated for COVID-19, tied with
Curry and Douglas counties and near
the bottom of Oregon’s 36 counties.
As of Aug. 27, there is only one
available staffed adult intensive
care unit bed across all of Region 9,
which encompasses Baker, Malheur,
Morrow, Umatilla, Union and
Wallowa counties. With 4.2 million
people residing in Oregon, according
to 2019 census data, there are a total
of 51 available ICU beds across the
entire state. Many are being trans-
ferred across state lines to hospitals
in California or Washington as beds
fill up.
The shrinking number of beds
has meant those with life-threaten-
ing health concerns, such as being in
a car crash or having a heart attack
or stroke, might not be able to receive
treatment. In Roseburg on Aug. 19,
one man who tested positive for
COVID-19 died while waiting for
a bed, according to Oregon Public
Broadcasting.
Umatilla County on Aug, 27
reported 74 new cases of COVID-19
along with the 114th and 115th deaths
from COVID-19 since the pandemic
began.
the CTUIR Tribal
Health Commission
and a tribal member
who has lost a son
and brother to the
virus.
Brigham said
Brigham
opinions about the
2021 Round-Up
were varied among tribal members,
with some showing concern while
others wanted to participate like
normal. Curtis Bearchum, a
member of the subcommittee of
tribal members working with the
Round-Up on the health plan, said
people needed to take into account
personal responsibility and how
difficult the mask mandate is to
enforce.
Jill-Marie Gavin, an at-large
board member and Shillal-Gavin’s
daughter, floated the idea of limit-
ing the Indian Village to just vacci-
nated people or CTUIR members,
an idea the Round-Up was willing
to consider at the behest of the tribes.
Brigham said the board would meet
again to discuss the issue further,
taking an official position ahead of
the Round-Up. The first day of the
Round-Up is Sept. 11.
long, stressful hours, and we
are looking for ways to help
our staff out as they face this
next wave of COVID-19,” said
Mark Snider, public relations
and digital strategy coordina-
tor at Saint Alphonsus Health
System in Baker City.
Soldiers with the Oregon
National Guard served in
support roles rather than direct
clinical roles in Josephine
County in Southern Oregon,
which has experienced the
fastest growing outbreaks
of COVID-19 in the United
States within the past two
weeks.
“The goal is to help these
hospitals with nonclinical
support staff,” said Maj. Chris
Clyne, public affairs officer
with the Oregon National
Guard.
Mardi Ford, director of
communications and market-
ing at Grande Ronde Hospi-
tal, said the situation at the
hospital is fluid. While is has
not needed support from the
National Guard, that situation
could change.
“Yes, we are short staffed,
but at this point we have
contingencies locally and at
the state level for bringing in
support and are in the process
of working through all of that
if needed,” Ford said in an
email.
According to Ford, the
situation in Union County is
not as dire as it is in Southern
Oregon, which has seen one
of the largest spikes in hospi-
talization in the United States
in the past two weeks, but that
the hospital was monitoring
the situation in case it changes.
“Right now, we are manag-
ing. But it requires daily —
often hourly — oversight,”
Ford said.
Hospitals in Eastern
Oregon have reported staff-
ing issues and are looking to
add several dozen workers to
their ranks. As of Aug. 26,
Grande Ronde Hospital had
63 positions available on its
career webpage, while St.
Anthony had 57 open posi-
tions. Ontario had 41 open
positions, Wallowa Memo-
rial Hospital had 31 and
Baker City St. Alphonsus
Medical Center had 28 open
positions.
More than 1,600 new cases
Saturday, August 28, 2021
Wickers
Continued from Page A1
Roger was not vaccinated
against COVID-19, Gail said.
Neither is Gail, who is recover-
ing from COVID-19 and whose
son also contracted the virus. She
remains uninterested in getting
the vaccine.
The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention state
COVID-19 vaccines are safe and
highly effective at preventing
serious disease, hospitalization
and death from the disease.
Umatilla County continues
to break grim pandemic records
amid the delta variant crisis flood-
ing hospitals across the county,
Oregon and the nation. The
county reported four COVID-
19 deaths Aug. 25, a single-day
pandemic record, one more death
on Aug. 26 and two more n Aug
27. For two straight weeks, the
county has reported a pandem-
ic-high seven COVID-19 deaths.
Umatilla County has reported
115 COVID-19 deaths since the
pandemic started in March 2020.
A life together
Gail knew from the moment
she saw Roger’s photo online
that they were supposed to be
together. He had gentle eyes. He
was patient, hard working and
had a great sense of humor. And
he had faith in God, which was
essential to Gail.
The couple met through a
dating website. In July 2002, Gail
left home in La Grande and flew
down to visit him in San Diego,
where they fell in love over walks
on nearby beaches. On one of
their first dates, he played The
Beatles’ “Blackbird” for her.
“Every time I hear that song,”
she said, “I think of him.”
Two months later, he came to
La Grande and met her five chil-
dren, who instantly adored him,
she said. Within six months, the
couple began what would be an
18-year marriage.
After living briefly with Roger
in Southern California, Gail
knew she needed to be closer to
her children. So Roger sold his
beloved Toyota Land Cruiser so
they would have enough money
to make the move to Hermiston.
Bearing their first and only child,
Blake, they packed up a U-Haul
and headed north in May 2004.
With funds from the sold
Toyota, the Wickers drove around
Hermiston, searching for work
and a place to live. After living
briefly in a motel, they moved
into Sundial Apartments. Luck-
ily for them, employees at the
complex were so impressed with
of COVID-19 were reported
in Northeastern Oregon
since Aug. 11. Region 9,
which encompasses Morrow,
Umatilla, Wallowa, Union,
Baker, Grant and Malheur
counties, has just five staffed
intensive care unit beds avail-
able. Jackson and Josephine
Counties in Southern Oregon
reported having only one ICU
Roger’s professionalism they
offered him a job as manager. He
accepted.
Roger eventually found work
at the Bishop’s Central Store-
house for The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter Day Saints,
where he remained for 15 years
and where, it is believed, he
would eventually come into
contact with the virus that would
take his life.
On a sunny winter day in 2009,
the couple found their home.
Blissfully oblivious to the holes
in the wall, the cat pee-stained
carpet and the dented garage
door that would prevent them
from getting a loan for months,
Gail looked around and knew the
house was where they belonged.
“There were many things
wrong with the house,” she said.
“But my eyes just didn’t see any
of that. It was like a dream. I just
had a feeling and I didn’t see
anything that was wrong with it
until we came back.”
Roger quickly grew close to
Gail’s family. He became close
friends with her ex-husband. He
showed his skills as a handy-
man while repairing utilities for
friends and family. Today, the
deck he was repairing in their
backyard remains unfinished.
And he always found time to
travel with Gail. A Holiday Inn
Resort in Newport on the Oregon
coast, near the sea cliffs and
where they could view a light-
house on the horizon, was one
of their favorite places to travel.
The couple had plans to buy a
recreational vehicle and travel
together. Roger only needed to
work two more years to pay off
their mortgage.
“We just had a wonderful life,
traveling, going places,” she said.
As with any family, the little
moments are what Gail holds
closest: watching movies; eating
ice cream (his favorite flavor was
salted caramel); Roger wrestling
with Blake on a futon in the living
room.
And her house and Facebook
are full of images with every
memory: standing in a cave on
a San Diego beach; walking a
beach with metal detectors; play-
ing in a rock and roll band in a
living room; dancing with Gail in
the street at a car show in Walla
Walla.
“He was gentle, loving and
kind,” she said. “He had a manner
about him that was just so sooth-
ing. He just had a calming, sooth-
ing effect on anybody he spoke
with. He was loved by so many
people.”
She added: “It’ll be a great
meeting when we all meet in
heaven together.”
bed available.
As hospit ali zat ions
increase throughout the state,
the stress it puts on normal
operations at hospitals —
which transfer patients based
on availability — is immense.
Grande Ronde Hospital in
Union County reported last
week it had to transfer a
patient to Montana because
there wasn’t enough space
available at the hospital, which
has 25 beds.
“As the volumes continue
to rise statewide and as facil-
ities elsewhere in the state
become overrun and start
looking for other locations
to transfer patients,” Snider
said, “they turn to smaller
locations like Baker City.”
Have executive leadership experience and
a commitment to restoring salmon and
protecting tribal treaty fishing rights?
The Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission is seeking a dynamic,
high-level strategic thinker, a great spokesperson, and an effective
manager to serve as its Executive Director.
Help guide the organization tasked to provide technical assistance and
coordinate the fisheries management responsibilities of its four
member tribes—the Yakama, Umatilla, Warm Springs, and Nez Perce.
Be a part of the tribal effort to put fish back in the rivers
and protect the watersheds where they live.
To see complete position details, visit:
www.critfc.org/executive
Position closes August 31.
COLUMBIA RIVER INTER-TRIBAL FISH COMMISSION
YAK AMA · UMATILLA · WARM SPRINGS · NEZ PER CE
Por tland, Oregon · www.critfc.org · (503) 238-0667