INSIDE: Happy canyon announces princesses for 2022 | PAGE A3
Tuesday, december 14, 2021
146th year, No. 23
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WINNER OF 16 ONPA AWARDS IN 2021
EFFORTS BOOST VACCINES
AMONG HISPANICS
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
The Pendleton Fire Department logo
adorns the side of an aircraft fire en-
gine Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021, at Pend-
leton Fire Station No. 3 at the Eastern
Oregon Regional Airport in Pendleton.
Fire chief
wants to
staff airport
fire station
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
according to Joseph Fiumara,
public health director for umatilla
county Public Health, around 34%
of Hispanic people in the county
are vaccinated against the corona-
virus. In contrast, 43% of the coun-
ty’s white population is vaccinated,
he said. These numbers may not be
precise, he said, because they are
from a survey in which Hispanic
people were overrepresented.
PeNdLeTON — Like the range
it is designated to protect, Pend-
leton Fire station No. 3 usually is
unmanned.
The fire station at 4615 N.W. A
st. by the eastern Oregon regional
Airport has long been unstaffed, but
Pendleton Fire chief Jim critchley
is looking to change that with the
support of airport administrators.
On any given day, seven on-call
firefighters and paramedics are split
between two Pendleton fire stations.
completed in 2019, Pendleton Fire
station No. 1, 1455 s.e. court ave.,
is the fire department’s headquarters
and normally maintains five on-duty
personnel. Pendleton Fire station No.
2, 1200 southgate, gives the depart-
ment a presence south of the union
Pacific railroad and Interstate 84 and
keeps two firefighters and paramedics
on staff. Both facilities are bolstered
by resident interns in addition to the
career staff.
That leaves Fire station No. 3 at
the airport, which mostly acts as a
place to house vehicles and equip-
ment that could be picked up at the
building should there be a fire in the
area.
critchley said the department was
used to getting about 15 minutes of
lead time on fires in the airport area,
but some recent fires convinced him
the airport fire station needed to be
staffed. He referenced two field fires
the department responded to during
the summer. While the airport was
never seriously under threat, crtich-
ley said the situation could have
been worse if the wind was blowing
a different way.
One of the marketing appeals of
the Pendleton uas range is its vast
empty spaces. besides the industrial
park to the south of the airfield, wheat
fields and dry brush mostly surround
the airport. While that may be a desir-
able quality for drone companies
looking for a safe, discreet place to
test their technology, it also provides
plenty of fuel for fire season.
“Fire is a threat to everyone in the
West,” he said.
See Outreach, Page A9
See Airport, Page A10
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Maria Ugarte, right, looks away Friday, Dec. 10, 2021, as she receives her second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine from Sergio Gonzalez, a licensed
practical nurse, during a vaccination clinic in Hermiston.
Setting up for the shot
Hermiston clinic
addresses disparity
in cOVId-19
vaccination rates
By ERICK PETERSON
East Oregonian
HermIsTON — Walking to
the door of a recent pop-up cOVId-
19 vaccination clinic in Hermiston,
maria ugarte admitted to feeling
emotional about getting a shot.
“I’m scared,” the umatilla resi-
dent said. “but I’m going to get
done with it. I’m going to get the
shot.”
Ugarte’s story
Initially afraid of how the
vaccine would affect her disabled
daughter, she and other family
members did not get vaccinated.
she said she thought her family
would not need to be vaccinated, as
long as they followed other guide-
lines. so, they were careful to wear
masks, wash their hands and social
distance wherever possible, ugarte
said.
and still, the infection reached
their home, she said.
she said she got sick and was
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Jose Garcia carries a vaccination clinic sign Friday, Dec. 10, 2021, while
setting up for a free COVID-19 vaccination clinic at New Horizons drug
and alcohol rehabilitation center in Hermiston.
bedridden for 21 days. also, her
daughter came down with cOVId-
19, ugarte said, and she had a bad
experience at Good shepherd
medical center, Hermiston. The
hospital was stretched thin at the
time of her daughter’s arrival, she
said. ugarte described the hospi-
tal as lacking beds and equipment,
as other patients were also being
treated.
“I thought I had lost her,” she
said. “Thank God she’s OK.”
after they recovered, family
members started getting vaccina-
tions, she said. Ugarte got her first
Pfizer shot in October. She said she
wanted to wait until she was feeling
well before getting the necessary
second shot. It is only now, she said,
that her “foggy brain,” fatigue and
cough, symptoms of cOVId-19,
have passed.
“I just want to tell everybody
that this thing is freaking real,”
she said of cOVId-19, “and they
should be afraid because they can
die of it.”
New Horizons drug and alco-
hol rehabilitation center in Herm-
iston provided its space for the
clinic. center director Jose Garcia
greeted ugarte and welcomed her
to fill out paperwork and then get
her shot.
This was Garcia’s fifth vacci-
nation event at New Horizons, he
said. He provided space for health
care providers to vaccinate individ-
uals. Meanwhile, he offered visitors
air purifiers, hand sanitizer, masks
and more. He passed out informa-
tion about cOVId-19 prevention
in english and spanish. He set out
boxes of food, made available by
agape House in Hermiston.
County public health boss
looks into the numbers
Protecting Funland
surveillance cameras,
laser ‘glo-fence’ help
protect Hermiston park
By ERICK PETERSON
East Oregonian
HermIsTON — Funland Playground
in Hermiston is getting more measures to
keep vandals and trespassers at bay.
brandon artz, director of the Hermis-
ton Parks and recreation, said the park is
a community gem and he wants to keep it
from unnecessary damage, particularly in
the wake of a recent social media storm
about the park.
A warning of possible theft
The initial Facebook post was from
a sharp-eyed community member who
noticed bolts were loose on a piece of
equipment, the treasure chest. This citi-
zen voiced concerns to parks and rec
on Facebook. artz said the public grew
worried someone was preparing to steal
the chest, then it disappeared from the
park, which seemed to confirm some
suspicions.
However, artz said, the culprit was
parks and rec. after recognizing the chest
was loose, he said he had staff remove the
chest until it could be properly reinstalled.
even after artz issued the explanation,
Facebook commenters voiced distress
about security at the park.
according to the director, though,
there is plenty of security for the play-
ground and more on the way.
Erick Peterson/East Oregonian
See Funland, Page A10
Brandon Artz, director of Hermiston Parks and Recreation, on Fri-
day, Dec. 10, 2021, discusses damage to Funland Playground.