Morrow County Sheriff ’s Offi ce ends EMS calls for Boardman Fire | REGION, A3
TUESDAY, MARCH 1, 2022
146th Year, No. 55
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WINNER OF 16 ONPA AWARDS IN 2021
Oregon will lift mask mandate March 11
By GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — Oregon will drop
its indoor mask mandate on March
11, more than a week earlier than
announced last week.
Gov. Kate Brown said Monday
morning, Feb. 28, that Oregon, Cali-
fornia and Washington would lift
their mandates simultaneously at
11:59 p.m. March 11. The new date
includes ending mask mandates in
schools. The order will aff ect over
51.2 million people from the Mexi-
can border to the Canadian border,
about 15% of the national popula-
tion
The move comes on the two-year
anniversary of the first case of
COVID-19 reported in Oregon,
on Feb. 28, 2020, in Washington
County. Working with California
and Washington was crucial to
having a unifi ed timeline for the
change in mask policy, Brown said.
“As has been made clear time
and again over the last two years,
COVID-19 does not stop at state
borders or county lines,” Brown
said in a statement. “On the West
Coast, our communities and econ-
omies are linked. Together, as
we continue to recover from the
omicron surge, we will build resil-
iency and prepare for the next vari-
ant and the next pandemic.”
The move by the three states
comes after the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention
late last week called for new guide-
lines to determine risk that would
HOUSE BILL 4002
allow for the loosening of restric-
tions for 70% of the country’s popu-
lation where coronavirus is posing
a low or medium threat to hospi-
tals. However, the map released by
the CDC showed much of eastern,
central and southwestern Oregon
remained in the 30% of population
areas that remain at high risk.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom
and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee
issued similar statements the morn-
ing of Feb. 28 with the same date
and time for dropping indoor mask
mandates.
The new date is the second time
in two weeks health offi cials have
moved up the date for lifting mask
mandates.
Brown originally said the mask
mandate would end March 31, about
when Oregon Health & Science
University projected the state would
drop below 400 daily patients in
hospitals who were positive for
COVID-19.
See Masks, Page A9
DOWNTOWN PENDLETON
Overtime ag
bill headed
for House,
Senate votes
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
SALEM — The full Oregon
House and Senate will vote on a bill
to end Oregon’s agricultural overtime
exemption after it passed a fi nal legis-
lative committee.
The Joint Committee on Farm
Worker Overtime on Thursday,
Feb. 24,, approved House Bill 4002
in a 6-4 party line vote after updating
it with a new multi-tiered tax credit
system for farmers.
“I truly believe it was the best
approach we could get,” said Rep.
Paul Holvey, D-Eugene, the commit-
tee’s co-chair. “I think we all want the
best thing for people.”
The bill was “well-vetted” and
lawmakers tried to accommodate the
concerns of farmers while ensuring
“a better and more fair” wage system
for farm workers, he said.
Proponents of HB 4002 argued
farm workers shouldn’t be unfairly
excluded from overtime wages
aff orded to other employees.
Many decried the agricultural
exemption as a racist relic that
violated the constitutional guarantee
of equal protection under the law.
However, critics countered farm-
ers can’t aff ord higher labor costs and
likely will limit weekly work sched-
ules, harming their businesses as well
as employees.
“Are we intending for them to
get a second job if they’re capped?”
asked Rep. Shelly Boshart-Davis,
R-Albany. “Working 30 hours for one
employer and 30 hours for another
employer is less healthy.”
Mary Anne Cooper, vice pres-
ident of the Oregon Farm Bureau,
said the 40-hour overtime threshold
is “completely unworkable” and will
“cause the closure of many family
farms.”
She said the joint committee’s
decision shows Democrats were
unwilling to seriously consider how
the bill will hurt farmers and their
employees. Instead, they pressed
See Overtime, Page A9
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Michael Swanson, owner of Michael’s Fine Jewelry in Pendleton, poses for a photo Friday, Feb. 25, 2022, in the showroom of his downtown
Pendleton jewelry store. Swanson is in the process of selling off the store’s merchandise and plans to retire from the business.
The state of Main
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
ENDLETON — The city
of Pendleton is excited
about the prospects of its
business community.
In the city’s February news-
letter, Economic Development
Director Steve Chrisman said
although more than 1,000 restau-
rants closed around the state due
to the coronavirus pandemic,
P
Pendleton lost none. He credited
the work the Pendleton Cham-
ber of Commerce and Charles
Denight, the associate director
of the Pendleton Development
Commission, did to inform busi-
nesses about fi nancial assistance
to get through fi nancial struggles.
“Many towns were not so
forward-thinking and they are
now paying the price,” he wrote.
“The belief has always been that
the American downtowns that
stayed vibrant and busy would
undoubtedly be the fastest to
recover, and even grow.”
Pendleton on Feb. 15 received
more good news.
At a meeting, the development
commission received a report
that showed 87% of South Main
Street storefronts were occu-
pied, a two-point increase from
the year before. When the study
was expanded to include every
storefront between Southeast
and Southwest Sixth streets, the
84% occupancy rate was down
compared to 2021 but still close
to the historical average.
As COVID-19 cases rapidly
fall across Umatilla County —
and with Gov. Kate Brown’s
a n n o u n c e m e n t M o n d a y,
Feb. 28, that Oregon’s indoor
mask mandate ends March 11 —
the city staff has celebrated the
See Main, Page A9
Wallowa County equestrian
to participate in endurance
race in Argentinian Patagonia
By ANN BLOOM
For the Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — If enthusiasm
had a scale from 1-10, then Brenda
Johnson would be at about a 12.
Johnson is preparing for a 10-day
endurance horse race, called the
Gaucho Derby, that takes place in
Argentinian Patagonia, March 3-13.
Riders ride for 311 miles, using
seven diff erent horses, relying on
a map and a GPS tracker, and must
fi nish in 10 days. There are no trails.
The race is a test of horse and
rider endurance, navigation and
survival skills.
She is in an elite group. There
were over 400 applicants and only
35 were chosen to compete.
So why is she doing it? She
laughs at the question. “Cause I’m
crazy!” she said.
She explains, more seriously,
that she has always wanted to do it
and is, “just doing it to do it.”
There are riders from around the
globe including Europe, the United
States, South Africa and Australia
participating.
See Race, Page A9
ST. ANTHONY HOSPITAL &
OREGON HEALTH AUTHORITY
NO APPOINTMENT
NEEDED.
ESTIMATED RESULT
TIME 2-4 DAYS
Brenda Johnson/Contributed Photos
Wallowa County resident Brenda Johnson is set to compete March 3-13,
2022, in the Gaucho Derby endurance horse race in South America’s Pa-
tagonia.
OPEN TO ALL
WEDNESDAYS
11AM TO 2PM
ST. ANTHONY HOSPITAL
2801 ST ANTHONY WAY - PENDLETON
FREE
C OVID
D RIVE -T HRU
T ESTING
(S ELF A DMINISTERED )