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East Oregonian
Cases:
Brown said she was “very,
very concerned” with what
this means for hospitals,
adding that rural communi-
ties generally have less access
to health care than counties in
Western Oregon.
“Honestly, I’m very
concerned about the capacity
of health care workers them-
selves,” she said. “They have
been working day in and day
out for the last several weeks
providing incredibly valuable
patient care, life-saving care.
And to have an additional
surge on top of it is incredi-
bly frustrating, I’m sure, for
them after they have worked
so hard.”
Brow n i n Aug u st
announced a COVID-19
vaccine mandate for teachers
and health care workers with
an Oct. 18 deadline, citing the
alarming rise in cases driven
by the delta variant.
Besides Wheeler County,
more than a quarter of health
care workers in every county
in Eastern Oregon county
are unvaccinated, according
to state data. All would be
fi red or forced to resign under
Brown’s current mandate.
Last week, Dr. Jon Hitz-
man, Umatilla County’s
public health officer, said
if a COVID-19 surge were
to follow the Pendleton
Round-Up, its peak would
occur right around the
mandate’s deadline, placing
a greater strain on hospitals
that already are short-staff ed.
In the press conference,
Brown said she was “push-
ing forward on our vaccine
requirement for health care
workers because we have
a really stark choice right
now: a vaccinated workforce
that can continue to work
through our COVID surges
like the one we’re likely to
see again from the Pendle-
ton Round-Up, or an unvac-
cinated workforce that’s
depleted by quarantines and
illness.”
Much of the briefi ng was
taken up with mostly upbeat
news of overall drop of state-
wide cases, approval of
booster shots for some Pfi zer
vaccine recipients, and the
usual requests for continued
voluntary masking and social
distancing.
The rising numbers in
Umatilla County led the inde-
pendent pandemic monitor-
ing group COVID Act Now to
raise the county’s risk rating
to its highest level: Extreme.
Since first appearing in
Wuhan, China, at the very
end of 2019, COVID-19 has
infected 232.6 million people
worldwide and killed 4.76
million, according to the
Johns Hopkins Coronavi-
rus Resource Center. In the
United States, 43.2 million
cases have been reported and
692,058 have died.
for currency in the Capi-
tol, so you shake hands and
you make a deal. (When you
break a deal), especially when
it’s public like that, it’s irrep-
arable.”
Fallout from the scuttled
agreement also prompted
one Democrat to make an
announcement many had
expected. State Rep. Janelle
Bynum, D-Happy Valley,
will once again pursue the
House speakership.
“If the session proved
anything, it’s that we need
a reset,” Bynum wrote in a
Facebook post Sept“I’m not
saying it has to be puppies and
lollipops, but I think there’s
lots of room for us to do better
in terms of how we interact
with one another.”
Bynum, who was prepar-
ing to challenge Kotek for
the speakership earlier this
year before reaching her
own handshake deal with the
speaker, said she’ll once again
run once nominations are
open. Under normal timelines
that would not be until late
2022, but that could change if
Kotek decides to step down
from the role as she runs
for governor. A spokesman
said Monday she planned to
remain speaker during next
year’s one-month legislative
session.
“We’re defi nitely going to
have to do some repair work
between now and then,”
Bynum said Sept. 28 when
asked about how the redis-
tricting fight could impact
the 2022 session. “Otherwise
I think people will decide not
to run (for offi ce). It’s terribly
frustrating to be caught in
the middle of that and to feel
powerless.”
For her part, Kotek
declined to speculate Sept.
27 about whether the frustra-
tions from the redistricting
fi ght were likely to bleed into
future sessions. “I try not to
project that far ahead,” she
said. “I take one challenge at
a time.”
But the speaker did not
hesitate to place blame for the
heightened tension that has
marked the House in recent
years, noting she’d led the
chamber through nine regu-
lar and six special sessions.
“I’ve had my challenges
with Republican leaders, but
not to the level that I’ve had
with Leader Drazan,” Kotek
said. “I think you should ask
her why she has such a diffi -
cult time succeeding for her
caucus... I have a track record
working across the aisle with
everybody. My problem lies
with her.”
How the interpersonal
fracture plays out in the
future is not clear. Asked
about it Sept. 28, a spokes-
man for Drazan pointed to
her statement advocating for
Kotek’s censure.
If Republicans do seek to
infl uence next year’s session
with parliamentary delays or
walkouts, it might be their last
opportunity. A coalition of
Democratic allies have begun
pursuing measures on the
2022 ballot that would penal-
ize lawmakers for blocking
legislative action by walking
away, and eff ectively elimi-
nate their ability to require
bills to be read in full.
The coalition, No More
Costly Walkouts, has four
potential measures in play,
and has said it will decide
which to put before voters
based on official ballot
language and polling.
“The coalition will move
forward one or more of those
but they aren’t ready to make
an announcement,” said
Patty Wentz, a consultant
working for the group. She
added the group is “holding
fi rm on the fact there need to
be consequences for walk-
ing off the job.”
Continued from Page A1
When pressed for her level
of alarm amid the outbreak,
Brown said in the news
conference fi rst and foremost
that she did not attend the
Round-Up because she was
concerned about community
spread.
Brown said she was well
aware of the regional case
spike “as a result of the Pend-
leton Round-Up,” but she still
said “it’s a little early,” noting
the Round-Up only ended a
few weeks ago.
Deadly month
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
Fans cheer during the grand entry Sept. 18, 2021, of the
111th Pendleton Round-Up at the Round-Up Grounds. Gov.
Kate Brown on Tuesday, Sept. 28, said she was “gravely con-
cerned” about the spike in COVID-19 cases connected to the
Round-Up.
But the state’s own
numbers, along with those
from federal and non-govern-
ment groups, painted a darker
picture.
There were 424 COVID-
19 deaths in Oregon in
September as of Sept. 27,
making September the
third deadliest month of the
pandemic.
September surpassed
August’s death toll and could
exceed the January total of
476 by the end of the month.
Oregon’s Hospital Capac-
ity Web System, which tracks
availability of hospital beds
in the state, reported Sept.
27 that only six of 89 staff ed
adult intensive care unit beds
east of the Cascades were
available.
The Pendleton Round-Up
was canceled in 2020 amid
COVID-19 concerns, but
plans moved forward in early
summer as Brown dropped
many restrictions on activi-
ties when COVID-19 cases
appeared to bottom out at the
end of June.
The event went off as
scheduled despite a steep
wave of cases linked to the the
highly contagious delta vari-
ant that swept across Oregon
and fi lled state hospitals to
capacity.
It’s still too early to say if
cases foreshadow a new spike
statewide and health offi cials
are watching closely for that
possibility, Jeanne said.
Brown did not voice
any regret in not overrid-
ing local offi cials’ decision
to go ahead with the event.
The Round-Up brought tens
of thousands of people into
an area with high infection
rates and where just 51% of
eligible adults were vacci-
nated. Many of the visitors
came from areas in neigh-
boring states where vacci-
nation rates were also low.
Brown said the state
had pressed offi cials across
Oregon to encourage safety
protocols, including mask
mandates. She pointed to
other states where people are
gathering en masse without a
mandate.
“If you watch an Ohio
(State) football game in
Ohio, those stadiums fi lled
with 100,000 people, there is
hardly a mask there,” Brown
said. “That is very diff erent
here in Oregon.”
Prior to the mid-Sep-
tember event in Pendleton,
Brown said it was up to local
offi cials to ensure the safety
of the crowd. As for those
who attended, she said they
should mask up, follow social
distancing guidelines, but
otherwise “Let ‘er Buck,” per
the Round-Up’s slogan.
But masks were few and
far between throughout the
Round-Up, even though orga-
nizers were offering thou-
sands of them and had posted
signs encouraging masking
and distancing.
Fallout:
leadership in this state.”
Many Democrats
appeared to back Kotek’s
decision, and the House
speaker was praised on social
media for playing a brand
of political hardball more
common in Republican-led
states.
“I supported the speak-
er’s decision,” said state Rep.
Andrea Salinas, D-Lake
Oswego, who led the redis-
tricting effort for House
Democrats. “The House
Republicans were not play-
ing ball.”
But that feeling was not
universal, particularly among
more moderate members of
a House Democratic caucus
that has grown increasingly
liberal in recent elections.
During the House debate,
state Rep. Brian Clem, D-Sa-
lem, rose to announce he
would not run for reelection
for personal reasons. With
that decision revealed, he
chided Kotek for breaking
faith with Republicans.
“You cannot go back on
your word,” said Clem, one
of two Democrats who voted
against proposed legislative
district maps that should
maintain their party’s edge in
the House. “It was supposed
to be bipartisan or nothing.
The change in the process is
more than I can stomach. ...
This is not OK and I just can’t
dignify it with my vote.”
Clem said on Sept. 28
that he’d grown tired of
increasingly bellicose poli-
tics in Salem, where he said
members in both parties are
willing to go to increasing
lengths to achieve their ideo-
logical goals. He said Kotek
breaking her deal was one
example of that, but he also
criticized Republicans for
attempting to censure the
speaker.
“All of us are guilty
of doing things,” he said.
“You don’t have anything
Continued from Page A1
When they returned two
days later, Minority Leader
Christine Drazan, R-Canby,
put forward a motion to have
Kotek formally censured.
“When she chooses to
break an agreement made in
good faith, she is harming the
institution, creating greater
division and impacting our
ability to work together in
service to Oregonians,”
Drazan said. “She must be
censured for this conduct.”
The motion, f loated
immediately after Demo-
crats passed new political
maps largely along party
lines, was little more than an
opportunity for Drazan to air
grievances. Supermajority
Democrats dutifully voted
against disciplining their
leader, who has her sights
set on the governor’s offi ce.
Two Republicans opted to
leave the chamber rather than
participating. The motion
failed on a 33-14 vote.
Drazan herself suggested
that she would face reprisals
for urging censure. “I recog-
nize that there’s probably
nobody who believes that I
personally won’t face some-
thing for my decision to bring
this forward,” she said.
The GOP leader was not
alone in decrying Kotek’s
decision. Time and again,
Republicans rose Sept. 27
to oppose new maps for
the state’s legislative and
congressional districts, and
to complain about the broken
agreement.
“Now we can’t trust that
deals are being brokered
fairly,” said state Rep.
Suzanne Weber, R-Tilla-
mook. “And I don’t know
how we come back from
that when we’ve lost so
much of the trust and the
‘It is inevitable’
Fiumara, Umatilla County
Public Heath boss, has said
the number of COVID-19
cases tied to the Round-Up
is an undercount, as many
people who have tested posi-
tive are aware of others who
have and are not cooperat-
ing with health offi cials. The
reported cases include people
who had COVID-19 symp-
toms prior to the event and
yet still chose to come, offi -
cials have said.
“When so many people
come together in one loca-
tion, it is inevitable,” Umatilla
County Commissioner
George Murdock said in an
email. “The same thing has
happened each time restric-
tions in Oregon have been
lifted.”
No county or state offi cials
voiced any interest publicly
in stopping the Pendleton
Round-Up from happening.
Until this past week,
COVID-19 cases had
declined statewide for three
consecutive weeks.
But state offi cials acknowl-
edged in the press conference
that cases had fl at-lined over
the previous week. They cited
the Pendleton Round-Up
outbreak specifi cally as one
of several factors contributing
to this trend.
Last week, Umatilla
County reported 505 new
COVID-19 cases, the coun-
ty’s second-highest total since
the pandemic started.
On Sept. 28, the county’s
average daily cases reached a
new pandemic high, topping
its previous record set in
August, a month when more
county residents died with
COVID-19 than any other
month — 22.
But public health directors
for Umatilla County and the
Umatilla Indian Reservation
voiced alarm in recent days
about the speed with which
the outbreak has unfolded.
County offi cials have said
they are preparing for the
surge to continue for several
weeks. In response, tribal
offi cials reinstated pandemic
restrictions that hearken back
to those from the pandemic’s
early stages, including limited
social gatherings.
Hospital strain
Thursday, September 30, 2021
OBITUARY
Margaret Jane Franklin-Martin
March 19, 1948 — Sept. 12, 2021
Oregon City
Margaret Jane Frank- as a middle school teacher at
lin-Martin, MA, educa- St. John the Apostle in Oregon
tor, devoted wife, loving City and then Christ the
mother, sister and daugh- King in Milwaukie. Marga-
ret completed her
ter, succumbed
career back at St.
to complications
John the Apos-
associated with
tle with a focus
pancreatic and
on middle school
ovarian cancer and
science and math
passed away Sept.
12, 2021, at Prov-
curriculum. She
idence Portland
was an avid propo-
Medical Center in
nent of STEM
Portland. Margaret
education and asso-
was born on March
ciated programs
19, 1948, in Walla
and advocated for
Franklin-Martin
Walla to John and
them in her vari-
Gloria Franklin
ous positions later
(Powell), and is survived by in her career.
her husband, Terry Martin;
Margaret was a multi-
daughter, Dr. Drew Martin; media artist at heart and an
mother, Gloria Franklin; and avid crafter in her later years
two younger sisters, Chris with a particular penchant for
(Tim) Pacheco and Jeanne making lovely handcrafted,
Irving (Franklin).
themed wreaths, handmade
With a keen inter- gifts and holiday decora-
est in pursuing a career in tions. There was not a square
education like her mother, foot of her home without a
following graduation from seasonal pop of color and
McLoughlin High School Michaels craft store was like
(Mac-Hi) in Milton Free- a second home. She enjoyed
water, Margaret headed to using natural objects, espe-
Moscow, Idaho, and the cially rocks, wheat and pine
University of Idaho to begin cones, to create beautiful art
her undergraduate studies. and decorations for her home
She joined the Kappa Alpha and the homes of her family
Theta sorority and was very members. Her creative spirit
active in campus life. Marga- and unique perspective will
ret went on to complete her be missed.
bachelor’s degree at Portland
Growing up, Margaret
State University and begin always loved animals and
her career as an educator in her family had a variety of
Oregon. Later in life, Marga- dogs and other pets. Later
ret completed her Master of in life she and Terry had
Reading Literacy degree at three toy poodles, Sparky,
Lewis & Clark College with Peppy and Boom Boom, as
her daughter, Drew, in tow for well as her horses, Blitz and
many classes.
Roladon (Donny); in addi-
On March 18, 1979, tion to a myriad of feline
Margaret married her high companions. After the fi nal
school sweetheart, Terry move back to Oregon City
Martin, who had graduated on their 5-acre farm, the
from the United States Naval Martin household continued
Academy and was in the to be a beacon for “dumped”
process of pursuing a career cats and dogs in need of
as a Marine Corps fighter forever homes, including
pilot. They moved around Mary Ann, Stormy and Rex
extensively during the early and many, many more. After
years of their marriage to the passing of her horses,
accommodate Terry’s various Margaret started a herd
postings, making homes in of wool-breed sheep and
Arizona, California, Oregon angora goats and enjoyed the
and Virginia. On Sept. 21, shearing, cleaning, process-
1982, they welcomed their ing and spinning of their
daughter, Lauren Drew wool and mohair. In her later
Martin, while Terry was life, through natural attri-
stationed in Monterey, Cali- tion, the animal menagerie
fornia. The family eventu- was reduced to a handful of
ally settled back in Oregon well-loved cats, including
City long term, when Drew Leo, Spicy and Jack, then
reached school age, while those that survived her,
Terry completed his commit- Nikki, Bart and Toby. All of
ment to the military.
her animals were incredibly
While Margaret started lucky to have such a dedi-
her career as a teacher shortly cated, loving caretaker that
after finishing undergrad always put their needs fi rst.
as a middle school teacher Her surviving fuzzy felines
in Milwaukie, she took a will miss her constant care,
prolonged hiatus to raise her aff ection and love.
daughter and take care of the
In lieu of fl owers, dona-
homestead during Terry’s tions can be made to the
years of service. After Drew Oregon Humane Society &
entered high school, Margaret Cat Adoption Team (CAT) in
eagerly returned to teaching her name.
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Students in Bailey Watson’s fi rst grade class settle in Aug.
30, 2021, for the fi rst day of school at Highland Hills Elemen-
tary School in Hermiston. The Oregon Health Authority re-
ported the Hermiston School District as of Sept. 22 had 36
students with COVID-19 and seven staff cases.
Schools:
Continued from Page A1
“I’m going to do every-
thing in our power to keep
schools open,” she said.
While the number of
students and staff directly
affected by COVID-19 is
relatively small in districts
the size of Hermiston and
Pendleton, a few cases can
go much further in a district
such as Helix, which has
one of the smallest student
bodies in the state.
Helix has had nine
students and eight staff test
positive for the virus since
the year began. For staff
members, that represented
about one-third of their
ranks.
Helix Superintendent
Brad Bixler said staff didn’t
test positive for the virus
all at once, which gave the
district the fl exibility to bring
in substitutes as needed and
avoid shutting down classes
or the school. With its most
recent case coming on Sept.
8, Bixler said Helix is back at
full strength.
Bixler said parents have
done a good job of commu-
nicating with the district
and keeping their students
home if they think they’ve
been exposed or sick. Like
its neighboring district to the
south, Helix is keeping an
eye out to see if Round-Up
will have an effect on
students or staff .
While the Helix School
District’s coverage area
doesn’t intersect with
Pendleton, a significant
amount of Helix’s students
and staff commute from
Pendleton. Bixler said he’s
“crossing my fingers” that
Helix won’t see new cases
arise from the rodeo.