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WEEKEND EDITION
JANUARY 8 – 9, 2022
146th Year, No. 33
$1.50
WINNER OF 16 ONPA AWARDS IN 2021
County sees ‘mind boggling’ spike in COVID-19 cases
County to receive ‘just
over’ 10,000 at-home
tests from state but
unknown when
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
UMATILLA COUNTY —
During the first full week of
2022, Umatilla County hit some
dark milestones in its continuing
experience with the coronavirus
pandemic.
The county on Wednesday, Jan.
5, had 218 new COVID-19 cases,
according to the Oregon Health
Authority. And on Jan. 6, the county
announced 306 new COVID-
19 cases, an all-time high for the
daily case count since the county
recorded its first case in March
2020.
The latest spike in cases brings
Umatilla County to a total case
count of 16,355. While the tally
doesn’t diff erentiate between fi rst-
time and repeat COVID-19 diagno-
ses, there are enough cases that 1 in
5 Umatilla County residents could
have contracted the virus at some
point during the pandemic.
While there have no mandates to
shut down local businesses again,
local institutions are starting to
feel the eff ects of the latest wave.
Nixyaawii Community School
announced on Jan. 5 it would shut
down for the rest of the week due to
the number of COVID-19 related
illnesses.
With the onset of the omicron
variant, Umatilla County Public
Health Director Joe Fiumara said
his department was expecting a
spike, but not so soon.
“I think what surprised us was
just how fast and just how soon it
showed up,” he said. “We really
thought we had a couple more
weeks before it was going to spike
and I don’t think we were expect-
WINTER WEATHER
ing it to spike this dramatically. (It
happened) almost overnight. This
really happened in a matter of a
couple of days. We went from 20
cases a day to over 100, which is
mind boggling.”
Although COVID-19 spread
is rising rapidly, Fiumara doesn’t
anticipate introducing new strate-
gies or initiatives during the spike.
“At the risk of sounding ill
prepared, I don’t know that there’s
much more we can do that we’ve
already been doing,” he said.
Fiumara added the county will
continue to promote vaccinations
and boosters plus staying home if
residents feel sick.
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group
Trucker Ken Spriggs makes his way toward the Flying J Travel Center, La Grande, after winter weather
Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022, forced the shutdown of Interstate 84 and other roads. Now 78, he said he is con-
sidering making this his last season of driving.
DISPATCHES FROM FLYING J
By ALEX WITTWER
EO Media Group
L
A GRANDE — Brenda
Holman belongs to a dying
generation of truckers.
Her blazer is embroidered
with “Aunt B.” on the right
breast. She jokes that she is an
aunt to seven, mother to none. A
byproduct of the lifestyle, she said.
She noted it was diffi cult to fi nd a
partner. She’s been a trucker for
more than 32 years.
Inside her truck, a collection
of books. A physical map of inter-
states. A small bed, slightly dishev-
eled. A CB radio hangs above the
driver’s seat. A smattering of note-
books and pens placed neatly on
the dashboard. A small monitor
attached to the dash for checking
the routes, though she usually uses
her phone to fi nd information on
road closures.
Her CB radio has become more
silent over the years, with less chat-
ter coming over the airwaves. She
remembered when truck stops
were abuzz with truckers swapping
stories and jokes over coff ee when-
ever the roads were closed.
On Wednesday, Jan. 5, she
found herself stuck for more than
24 hours at Flying J Travel Center,
La Grande, as repeated accidents,
heavy snow and maintenance
closed down Interstate 84. It had
See Cases, Page A7
Pausing sports is just
a recommendation
Local schools
staying the course
with COVID-19
precautions
Closure of I-84 on Jan. 5
leaves truckers stranded
in the Grande Ronde Valley
Based on the experiences of
countries that already endured the
wave of illness the omicron variant
caused, Fiumara is hopeful the wave
will be short-lived and won’t result
in a rash of hospitalizations. He said
the silver lining of the wave is that
it’s showing plenty of people still
have access to testing.
A lack of tests has been a concern
across the country, especially as
people have trouble fi nding at-home
rapid tests in stores. In late Decem-
ber, the Oregon Health Authority
announced it was purchasing 12
million at-home tests that it would
been closed off and on several
times during the past week. Snow-
drifts one day, wrecks and traffi c
blockages by unchained semitrail-
ers the next. Dozens of other truck
drivers had been stranded there, as
well.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve
been shut down with this many
trucks parked,” Holman said.
Rows of trucks were parked,
placed and maneuvered into the lot,
blocking each other in and forming
a logistical slide puzzle, one made
trickier when the roads were clear.
She was anxious to leave Flying
J — the roads had just opened east-
bound, albeit briefl y — and solic-
ited other truck drivers to move
their rigs so she could maneuver
See Truckers, Page A7
PENDLETON — Student-ath-
letes have been through a lot the
past two years because of the
COVID-19 pandemic — from
sports being shelved to seasons
being altered.
Things might take another turn
for the worse as the Oregon Depart-
ment of Education suggested
during its meeting Monday, Jan.
3, that schools and other organiza-
tions should pause extracurricular
activities or ensure they have the
same layered mitigation eff orts as
during the school day.
The recommendations are advi-
sory only, but the ODE said schools
that proceed with extracurricular
activities, especially if students
don’t wear masks, should expect
rapid COVID-19 transmission.
ODE also said the risk should be
clearly explained to families.
“That is a last resort,” Oregon
School Activities Association
Executive Director Pete Weber said
of pausing extracurricular activi-
ties. “The ultimate goal is to keep
schools in in-person schooling. We
believe it’s critical for them to be
able to do their activities.”
The Oregon Health Authority
and ODE strongly suggest schools
strengthen their safety protocols
with indoor masking, encourage
vaccinations, recommend frequent
hand washing and sanitizing and
limiting spectators.
COVID-19 cases are up 140%
in Oregon, and the Oregon Health
Authority on Jan. 6 reported
Umatilla County had 306 cases
— the highest one-day count since
numbers have been tracked.
At the present time, the OSAA
does not require COVID-19 test-
ing of student-athletes, and Weber
said local school districts have been
given the green light to make deci-
sions that they believe work best
for their schools and communities.
“They have local control as to
what they believe makes sense
for them and their communities,”
Weber said. “At this point, I think
everyone is waiting to see what the
surge looks like. I was at a confer-
ence in California, meeting with
people from all 50 states. Some
have reached the peaks of their
surge and it’s on the way out.”
In Eastern Oregon, confer-
ences are staying with their current
mandates. Intermountain Confer-
ence athletic directors.discussed
the matter during a meeting Jan. 7.
“We just talked about what each
school is doing,” Pendleton Athletic
Director Mike Somnis said. We are
staying with what we have been
doing. We are asking fans to wear
a mask while attending games, we
make masks available, and make
announcements during games.
We are not talking about pausing
anything. We are doing a good job
within our own conference and we
are staying the course.”
Heppner AD Greg Grant said
the Blue Mountain Conference,
which also includes Pilot Rock,
Stanfi eld and Weston-McEwen,
is following the mandates set
forth by the OHA to provide the
safest possible environment for
student-athletes.
“That has not changed and will
not change,” Grant said. “We are
sick of reading about this. We want
to read stories about real people.
Part of my meeting today (in
See Sports, Page A7
State lawmaker from Crane seeks to
limit governor’s emergency powers
By STEVEN MITCHELL
Blue Mountain Eagle
CRANE — A state lawmaker from
Eastern Oregon will look to trim the
powers of state government during an
emergency when the Legislature meets
for a short session next month.
A bill written by Rep. Mark Owens,
R-Crane, would amend Oregon’s
Constitution to spell out when gover-
nors can declare emergencies, what
powers they can exercise and, more
importantly, how long they can unilat-
erally keep them in place.
Oregon has been under a state of
emergency since March 8, 2020, when
Gov. Kate Brown declared her inten-
tion to take extraordinary measures
to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
Brown has extended the state of emer-
gency several times since then.
Under Owens’ proposal, known as
Legislative Concept No. 49 until it is
assigned a bill number, the governor,
when making a declaration of emer-
gency, must specify each county where
the emergency exists and list reasons
why local jurisdictions should be under
a state of emergency.
According to the proposed legis-
lation, the declarations cannot exceed
increments of 30 days. After 30 days,
the decision to extend a state of emer-
gency would go to a local govern-
ing body for a vote. County and city
governing bodies could then create a
hybrid of emergency restrictions if
they choose to do so regarding such
measures as masking, school closures
See Lawmaker, Page A7
Blue Mountain Eagle, File
State Rep. Mark Owens, R-Crane, speaks during a meet-and-greet with con-
stituents on Nov. 10, 2021, at the Squeeze-In Restaurant and Deck in John
Day. Crane has written a bill to amend Oregon’s Constitution and limit the
governor’s emergency powers.