INSIDE: Spotlight goes out on Eastern Oregon Gymnastics Academy| PAGE A3
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2021
146th Year, No. 8
WINNER OF 16 ONPA AWARDS IN 2021
GOOD TIMES
Umatilla County celebrates Halloween with big events
$1.50
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Beetlejuice sits on an exam table Fri-
day, Oct. 29, 2021, at the Pendleton
Animal Welfare Shelter, Pendleton.
Deadly disease
making way
though local
cat populations
Vets, others urge cat
owners to vaccinate
pets against panleuk
By ERICK PETERSON
East Oregonian
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Becky Ramirez, left, hands out candy to trick-or-treaters Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021, along Main Street in Pendleton.
By ERICK PETERSON
East Oregonian
U
MATILLA
COU NTY —
Halloween 2021
will be a holiday
to remember for
people of East-
ern Oregon.
Fr i d ay t o
Sunday, Oct. 29 to 31, 2021,
people turned out for local
events. Some attended the
activities as visitors, others as
helpers, but everyone seemed
to be enjoying themselves.
It was a big year for many
people, as they delighted in
experiences that had been
canceled the year prior
because of the coronavirus
pandemic.
At Downtown Trick or
Treat in Pendleton with her
family, Dawn Skinner, Pend-
leton, was one of the many
people making her way to see
the Heritage Haunt. It was at
the Heritage Station Museum
and included costumed char-
acters and candy giveaways.
It was fun, Skinner said.
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Trick-or-treaters hustle along Main Street in downtown Pendleton on Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021.
She especially liked treat-
ing her granddaughter to the
tradition because she was not
able to experience it last year.
Granddaughter Sawyer
Skinner, 4, was dressed up
as Ariel, from Disney’s “The
Little Mermaid.” Downtown
Trick or Treat was fun, she
said. She also said she liked
the Echo Corn Maze & Pump-
kin Patch, which she had
visited earlier with her family.
It was scary, she said,
adding she and her group got
lost in some places.
“We used teamwork and
found our way out,” Danny
Kain, Pendleton, said.
See Halloween, Page A9
UMATILLA COUNTY —
Veterinarian and other animal
welfare professionals have
noticed an uptick in feline panleu-
kopenia in Umatilla County. As
they warn the public about this
disease that kills cats, especially
young kittens, they also spread-
ing the word on how they can help
prevent it.
“I’ve never seen it this bad,”
Carol Boggs said.
Boggs is a volunteer and
treasurer for Fuzz Ball Animal
Rescue, Hermiston. She also
assists Cat Utopia of Pendle-
ton and at the Pendleton Animal
Welfare Shelter, Pendleton.
Her work includes trap-
ping, fostering and transporting
animals. In a regular week, she
traps around 20 cats and dogs,
she said, but recent weeks have
not been normal. Last week, she
was not capturing animals at all,
and she has limited all contact
with the creatures she would
ordinarily be helping, because
of her fear of panleukopenia
contamination.
Panleukopenia, also called
“panleuk,” is an infectious disease
among cats. Mark Sargent,
Oregon Trail Veterinarian Clinic
veterinarian, explained details
of the disease. Its literal transla-
tion is “all white low,” referring
to its eff ect, lowering a cat’s white
blood cell count.
Cats pick up the virus in their
environment, the veterinarian
said, sometimes from other cats,
but soil also can be a source of
infection. Indoor cats may be less
at risk, but even they are suscep-
tible to the disease if someone
tracks the virus into their home.
Jessie Frischman, veterinar-
ian with Hermiston Veterinarian
Clinic, added the disease attacks
bone marrow, decreases white
blood cells and sets up its victim
for other infections. Symptoms
include vomiting, loss of appetite
and diarrhea. Death often follows,
she said.
See Cats, Page A9
Cars pour in for drive-thru booster vaccine clinic
At least 400 people
received boosters at the
clinic, offi cials said
By BRYCE DOLE
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — A line of cars
Friday, Oct. 29, stretched from the
Pendleton Convention Center to Roy
Raley Park as hundreds of people
lined up for the long wait to get their
COVID-19 booster shot.
Offi cials said at least 400 people
received boosters at the clinic, where
fl u shots and fi rst COVID-19 doses also
were available. The line was so long that
some people said they waited more than
two-and-a-half hours for their shot.
“I have other plans today,” said
an impatient 88-year-old Delores
Hendricks, laughing. At around
1:15 p.m., she was near the end of the
line after arriving at the clinic two
hours before.
“I don’t want to get the virus,”
said Hendricks, a Pendleton resident
since 1950. “People my age, they don’t
always make it … I don’t know why
people don’t want to get (the vaccine).
I think they should. We need to get rid
of this thing.”
The clinic was scheduled to start at
9 a.m., but the earliest patients showed
up at 7:30 a.m. Health offi cials deliv-
ered doses on a breezy day where the
rain, at times, poured sideways. Joe
Fiumara, Umatilla County’s public
health director, said health offi cials at
the clinic were “a little cold and a little
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
wet.” Some offi cials wore trash bags
Vehicles fill the parking lot Friday, Oct. 29, 2021, at the Pendleton Con-
over their sweatshirts.
vention Center for a drive-thru clinic for the COVID-19 booster and flu
vaccinations.
See Clinic, Page A9