REGION
Saturday, January 22, 2022
East Oregonian
A3
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Andy Nicolais/East Oregonian
In the last seven days, Umatilla County Health reported 1,608 new COVID-19 cases, an all-time high. The previous high-case-count record was the last week of September 2021, with 546 cases
reported in a seven-day period. The test positivity rate of 37.4% this week is the highest ever, indicating COVID-19 is circulating widely in the area.
Harris Park to
get new bridge
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — Harris
Park is getting a new cross-
ing bridge.
The Umatilla County
Board of Commissioners
at its meeting Wednesday,
Jan. 19, approved a contract
for Harry Johnson Plumbing
& Excavation Inc. to install
the structure at the county
park near Milton-Free-
water. The Walla Walla
company was the low bidder
at $600,397.50, beating out
six competitors. The project
includes $27,600 for bridge
removal and $39,000 for
the installation of a prefab-
ricated steel bridge.
County Public Works
Director Tom Fellows told
the board the funding is
coming through the state’s
bridge program. The county
“writes the check,” he said,
and the state reimburses all
but 10.2%.
The county also could
receive money for the bridge
from the Federal Emergency
Management Agency. If that
funding comes through,
Fellows said, the county
would funnel the money into
the state’s bridge program.
The county board also
approved the creation of
two new specialist posi-
tions in the county’s CARE
Program to work with
Umatilla County Commu-
nity Justice.
The funding for the
specialists comes from the
state’s Justice Reinvestment
Program, the state’s eff ort
to provide counties with
funds for crime prevention
and treatment services with
the goal of cutting down on
Oregon’s prison growth.
The county’s share of the
state program for the 2021-
23 biennium is $342,000.
Umatilla County Justice
and the CARE Program
have entered into an agree-
ment for services related
to Justice Reinvestment.
Under the deal, the CARE
program will provide two
specialists to work with the
county’s corrections clients
to help with their needs.
In a related move, the
board approved the creation
of administrative position in
CARES to assist its direc-
tor, Jenni Galloway. She
told the board in the meet-
ing that some of the Justice
Reinvestment money will
help cover the cost of the
position.
In other business, the
board approved a payment
of $22,600 to the Eastern
Oregon Trade and Event
Center, Hermiston, for rent-
ing bleachers for the 2021
county fair and for parking
management for the 2019
and 2021 fairs.
Pilot Rock has new mayor for rest of 2022
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
PILOT ROCK — The
Pilot Rock City Council
appointed one of its own
to fulfi ll the rest of former
Mayor Virginia Carnes’
term.
Carnes died Jan. 8 at the
age of 77. She was in the last
year of the four-year term.
City recorder Teri Bacus
reported the council at its
meeting Tuesday, Jan. 18,
selected Councilor Randy
Gawith to serve as the interim
mayor for the rest of 2022.
Gawith came on the
council in August 2021 as an
appointment to fi ll a vacancy,
Bacus said. He is retired and
drives a school bus.
The council also elected
Councilor Raymond Doherty
as council president.
Gawith’s appointment
means there is a vacancy on
the council. Bacus said the
city will advertise that in
time for applicants to apply
by Feb. 9 so the council can
elect a new member at its Feb.
15 meeting.
The council also held a
hearing on the closing out
of the Community Devel-
opment Block Grant Hous-
ing Rehabilitation Program
the city participated in since
2018.
Pilot Rock, Pendleton,
New signal cabinets dot downtown
Adams and unincorporated
areas of Umatilla County
formed a consortium to apply
for the $400,000 federal grant
to upgrade homes to suitable
living environments.
Bacus said the grant aided
31 people in 14 households,
helping to cover the cost of
replacing old heaters, for
example.
“It helped a lot of seniors,”
she said. “Most of them were
seniors.”
LOCAL BRIEFS
Rockfall closes
Highway 730 east
of Umatilla
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
A new traffi c signal cabinet sits at the intersection of South Main Street and South-
east Emigrant Avenue in downtown Pendleton on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022. The
Oregon Department of Transportation recently upgraded the signal cabinets and
corresponding traffi c signals as a part of its paving project on Interstate 84 from
Meacham to Kamela. The $54 million project will upgrade 10 miles of I-84 as well as
provide traffi c signal upgrades along state routes in or near the cities of Hermiston,
Pendleton, Umatilla, Stanfi eld and Milton-Freewater. ODOT anticipates wrapping
up the signal work later this spring with freeway improvements fi nishing in the fall.
UMATILLA — A rock-
fall and and an unstable slope
Wednesday afternoon, Jan.
19, shutdown U.S. Highway
730 on the Washington side
of the border.
The incident closed the
highway in both directions
between the Oregon state
line and Wallula Junction (13
miles south of Pasco). The
Washington State Depart-
ment of Transportation did
not have an estimated time
for reopening.
For update conditions in
Oregon, check TripCheck.
com or call 511/800-977-
6368. Outside Oregon, call
503-588-2941. For Washing-
ton Department of Transpor-
tation updates, visit wsdot.
com/travel/real-time/map.
— EO Media Group
