WEEKEND EDITION
E O
AST
145th Year, No. 149
OCTOBER 2-3, 2021
$1.50
WINNER OF 16 ONPA AWARDS IN 2021
UMATILLA RESTAURANT OWNERS BUILD ‘BRIDGE’
TO REVAMP FORMER BAR’S IMAGE REGION, A3
INSIDE
WORK
ZONE
AHEAD
REGONIAN
N.W. CRANE SERVICE IN
‘BEST POSITION’ EVER
COVID-19
shutdown
Local business says employee satisfaction is
among keys to avoiding employment problems
In the days leading up to closing his Stan-
fi eld store, RetroRagz shop owner Dave Bender
was sorting out the antiques inside. He was
trying to fi gure which items he still could sell,
which he could give away and which he could
keep for himself.
Bender received two positive tests for
COVID-19 on separate occasions at RiteAid
pharmacies. The fi rst positive test was in July
2020 in Everett, Washington. The second was
in Hermiston. But said he thinks he actually
suff ered one case prior to the other two.
By ERICK PETERSON
East Oregonian
Multiple COVID-19 cases
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Workers with N.W. Crane Service Inc., of Hermiston, unload parts of a crane while assembling it Monday, Sept. 27, 2021, at Kadlec Re-
gional Medical Center in Richland, Washington. The crane service is among several companies that have managed to avoid the staffi ng
problems plaguing other industries as a result of the pandemic.
By ERICK PETERSON
and SUZANNE ROIG
EO Media Group
HERMISTON — Not every company
is feeling the employment pinch equally,
according to some local construction
companies and at least one economist.
People at N.W. Crane Service Inc. and
other companies say they are not having
the same problems with staffi ng as in other
industries. And when they do have personnel
issues, they are not related to the pandemic.
“We’re blessed,” said Ryan Karlson,
logistics manager at N.W. Crane Service in
Hermiston. Though he credited much of his
success to luck, his company’s achievements
in hiring and maintaining staff seem to be
more than a fl uke.
First, he said, crane businesses attract a
special sort of person. Karlson’s company
employs 12 crane operators and drivers.
Karlson himself is an experienced crane
operator and knows a thing or two about
this type of worker.
Crane operators, he said, are excited by
the challenge of their work. Often, prior to including ones owned by Amazon, allow
beginning their careers, they looked up at only certifi ed workers. And many employ-
cranes while doing other construction, and ers, Karlson said, require employees to fi nd
they wanted to get behind the controls of the and pay for their own certifi cates.
huge machines.
He said he suspects his employees appre-
This desire, he said, is sometimes hidden ciate their training, but also other perks. He
deep in their hearts. When they fi nally talk off ers insurance and vacations. Depending
to an employer about crane work, and they
on their experience, a new driver can
learn about the opportunities, they are
earn $20 to $22 per hour. His crane
excited. And when they get a job, often
operators can earn $23 to $40 or
they do not want to leave it.
more.
Being able to off er employ-
These are nonunion jobs,
EDITOR’S
ees a challenging, fulfi lling
but Karlson said employ-
NOTE
and enjoyable job, then,
ees can benefi t from
Today is the fi fth of a fi ve-part
accounts for part of N.W.
not being union
series of articles by EO Media Group
Crane’s employment
looking at the lack of workers for jobs in
members. Union
success. This is not
Central, Eastern and Coastal Oregon — why
employees, he
the end of the expla-
workers are not returning to previously held
said, might
jobs and how businesses are
nation, however.
have to wait years
functioning without being fully
A major reason Karl-
before they can
staff ed. This last segment
son has been able to foster
receive crane training.
looks to the future.
loyalty is because he off ers
This is not the case for his
in-house certifi cations, which
workers — they can start
employees appreciate.
training right away.
Certificates are important for
crane operators. Many work sites,
See Work, Page A10
Getting COVID-19 twice, according to
Joseph Fiumara, Umatilla County Public
Health director, is not
unheard of.
Dave Bender
“ We c o n s i d e r
closes
everyone who is not
vaccinated to be
RetroRagz
susceptible to infec-
without
tion, and this includes
individuals who have
having much
already tested posi-
of a chance
tive before,” he said.
“Per Oregon Health
to open it
Authority guidelines,
any individual who tests positive, symptomatic
or not, 90 days after previously testing positive
is considered to be reinfected.”
People commonly think their fi rst infection
leads to developing antibodies, he explained,
which protect them from another infection. But
this is not the case, and the “immune system is
much more complex than that,” he said.
Verifi ed multi-occurrence cases of COVID-
19, though, are uncommon, Fiumara said. His
department claims there have been 116 such
cases through Aug. 31.
“We do not have many documented reinfec-
tions, so I do believe it is rare,” he said. “Three
times is likely very rare.”
Bender’s troubles
Back in December 2019, Bender became ill
with what he thought was a common fl u. It was
strange, because he had unusual symptoms —
loss of smell and taste, common symptoms of
COVID-19. But he did not, then, think it was
the emerging coronavirus.
See RetroRagz, Page A10
Erick Peterson/East Oregonian
Dave Bender, RetroRagz shop owner, inspects
“Stanley,” a wooden seal on Sept. 24, 2021.
The seal was among items that he was selling
in his Stanfi eld store prior to closing it after he
caught COVID-19 at least twice.
Local autism advocate reaches social media stardom
By BRYCE DOLE
East Oregonian
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
William Wehrli, and his 4-year-old chocolate Labrador retriever Rossy,
pose for a portrait on the porch of Wehrli’s home Thursday, Sept. 30, 2021
in Pendleton. Wehrli, who has autism and is a local autism advocate, made
a video supporting a boy who has autism, and the video went viral.
PENDLETON — When the social
media star announced in a video that
her 5-year-old son has autism, William
Wehrli knew he wanted to reach out.
Wehrli has autism and is a local
autism advocate living in Pendle-
ton. He wanted to tell her that doctors
predicted he would never be indepen-
dent or graduate; that he proved them
wrong when he obtained his master’s
degree; that he has his own home,
pays his rent, owns a car, cares for a
dog, cooks, cleans and works many
jobs.
He made a video on Sept. 5 on
TikTok, the social networking service
focused on sharing videos, saying just
that.
“This was me assuring that her son
would also be able to succeed and be
independent,” Wehrli said.
He was shocked when Laura Clery
responded.
Clery is an actress and comedian
who consistently receives millions of
views across multiple social media
platforms. She took a video with her
husband reacting to Wehrli’s video.
They smiled, held their hands over
their heart and blew kisses. As with
all of her videos, thousands of people
commented back.
Who’s cutting onions? Clery wrote
in the comments.
“I’m not crying my eyes are just
sweating,” a commenter said. “My
grandson has autism. This video
makes me so happy. Thanks for shar-
ing.”
See Autism, Page A10