OFF PAGE ONE
Tuesday, March 1, 2022
Race:
East Oregonian
viduals who contributed to
her endeavor.
Continued from Page A1
T h e e x p e r ie n c e i s
costing her a great deal
of money — more than
$14,500, to be exact. In
addition, there is air fare,
gear, food, a tent and sleep-
ing bag. Specialized gear
for the weather she will
encounter all had to be
purchased new. Since she
will be going in March, and
since Patagonia (located in
South America) is in the
Southern Hemisphere, its
climate now will be close to
Wallowa County’s Septem-
ber or October.
“It could be 20 or 70
degrees,” she said. She
also had to commit at least
$1,000 to charity just to
enter, but has raised and
donated $1,500 to date.
Her chosen charities
were Safe Harbors in Enter-
prise and Shotzy Sanctu-
ary, in Union County, an
animal rescue and domes-
tic violence organization.
Donations are still being
accepted, and Joh nson
asks anyone who wishes
to support her challenge to
please donate to these char-
ities. She spent a year train-
ing and preparing for the
event, and appreciates the
support and donations of
local businesses and indi-
run the risk of penalty and
possibly disqualifi cation.
The terrain is difficult.
Johnson said riders “have to
fi gure out on your own the
terrain gates and fences,” and
how to contend with them.
In places, riders may have to
back track, since there are no
trails. It’s a point A to point B
to point C type of race begin-
ning to end. There is also
“lots of water. Water could
be my deterrent — bogs and
swamps,” she said.
It is also fi re season there.
“You can’t have fi res,” she
said. If a person must start a
fi re, “it better be to save your
life,” she said. There are
medics available. “Horse and
people are well taken care
of,” she said.
A rare race to ride in
This is only the second
race of its kind. The fi rst was
held in 2020, and the world
shut down during the race
due to the pandemic. The
second race, which would
have happened in 2021,
was canceled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
She said she was initially
drawn to the race by the story
of Bob Long, a 70-year-old
Idaho man who won the
Mongol Derby which is 1,000
kilometers, or 622 miles.
“I thought the story was
inspirational,” she said.
And, she added, “I’ve always
wanted to go to Patagonia.”
In addition to specialized
gear, there is a strict weight
restriction. Riders can only
weigh 187 pounds. Supplies
and gear — food, fi rst-aid kit,
tent, saddle bags and sleep-
ing bag — cannot exceed
22 pounds for 10 days, with
4-pound food-resupply bags
strategically placed along the
course.
“They are very strict
about weight,” she said. The
body weight restriction also
includes clothes and helmet.
The race has an extensive
veterinary support system
for the horses. Veterinarians
are at horse stations every
40-60 kilometers to check
the horses’ heart rates, respi-
The lay of the land
Brenda Johnson/Contributed Photo
Brenda Johnson, Wallowa County resident, is set to compete
March 3-13, 2022, in the Gaucho Derby endurance horse race
in South America’s Patagonia.
ration rates and to make sure
they are not being pushed too
hard. Each rider rides a total
of seven diff erent horses, said
Johnson, but each horse is
only ridden once.
The race supplies the
horses. There are three types
of horses used. A Criollo,
“like our mustangs here,”
she said. Arabians and
Percheron crosses are also
part of the mix. The saddle
is modifi ed for the race to be
light, “like a cross between
a Western and English,”
Johnson said. Riding can
only occur between the
hours of 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.
Riders who violate this rule
Main:
Overtime:
Continued from Page A1
Continued from Page A1
hardiness of its downtown
district.
“I read the Portland Busi-
ness Journal every week,”
Chrisman said. “For the last
two years, all I’ve been read-
ing about is gloom and doom
as business after business has
closed. I’m not talking about
Intel. I’m talking about little
retail shops and restaurants.
Lots of them failed because
of COVID and we just
haven’t seen that.”
Moe Pho Noodles & Cafe
co-owner Whitney Minthorn
said the city and chamber
were helpful in checking in
on the restaurant and intro-
ducing ideas that would help
them stay viable during the
pandemic. Minthorn said
Moe Pho adapted by creating
an online ordering system
that now accounts for the
majority of the business at
its 370 S. Main St. location.
Mo e Pho a c t u a l ly
expa nded du r i ng t he
pandemic when it opened
in the new food court at the
Wildhorse Resort & Casino.
While it could only open a
few days a week in its early
months, Minthorn said it
now operates seven days per
week. In the future, Minthorn
said he would like to expand
his business’ boba tea oper-
ations.
But not every business
owner shares the city’s sunny
outlook.
Michael Swanson has run
forward with tax credits the
agriculture industry didn’t
ask for.
“We’ve been at the table
in good faith since day one
and have off ered workable
solutions,” Cooper said.
“Democrats refused to be
part of that conversation.”
Under the newest version
of the bill, most farmers will
fall under three tiers of tax
credits intended to compen-
sate them for a portion of the
overtime payments:
• Farmers with fewer than
25 workers would receive a
tax credit for 90% of over-
time costs next year, with the
rate incrementally dropping
to 60% by the time it expires
at the end of 2028.
• Those with fewer than
50 workers but more than 25
would qualify for tax cred-
its that decline from 75% to
50% during that time period.
• Growers with more
than 50 workers would get
tax credits that begin at 60%
and fall to 15% in that time
period.
Due to the 24-hour nature
of animal care, dairies would
be subject to special rules
under the amended bill:
• Dairies with fewer than
25 workers would receive a
tax credit rate of 100%, of
overtime payments with no
limit.
• Those with more than
25 workers would qualify for
tax credits that begin at 75%
and drop to 50% in 2028,
their fi nal year.
The overtime thresholds
would be phased in under the
bill, starting at 55 hours per
week in 2023 and incremen-
tally decreasing to 40 hours
per week in 2027.
The total amount avail-
Masks:
Continued from Page A1
The decline in omicron-re-
lated severe cases accelerated
and the date was moved last
week to March 19. But on
Feb. 24, OHSU issued a fore-
cast showing Oregon would
dip below the 400 mark by
March 12. The next OHSU
forecast is due March 3.
OHA said the lifting of
the mask mandate did not
include changes to federal
and state rules on masks in
health care settings, airline
flights, public transit and
other specialized settings.
Updates will be provided in
coming days and weeks.
Brown’s statement did
not change her plan to lift
the state of emergency
earlier than April 1, the date
she announced last week.
The emergency rules gave
Brown wide powers to set
public policy during the
crisis, including the closing
and reopening of in-person
classroom instruction, busi-
ness hours, mask usage and
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Sale banners hang Friday, Feb. 25, 2022, from the awning at
Michael’s Fine Jewelry in downtown Pendleton as the shop’s
owner, Michael Swanson, prepares to close the business and
retire.
Michael’s Fine Jewelry at
234 S. Main St. for 20 years.
In March, Swanson plans to
close Michael’s for good.
Swanson said he’s shut-
tering the business because
he wants to retire rather than
for economic reasons. But
as he prepares to leave Main
Street, he’s not as optimistic
about its status as some of his
boosters.
He admitted most Main
Street storefronts are full, but
not all are as active as they
were in the past. While the
downtown area was once a
shopping hub, Swanson said
it’s never fully recovered
from losing former anchor
businesses, including J.C.
Penney Co. and Maurices.
Swanson added while
restaurants seem to be doing
well in the downtown area,
downtown Pendleton’s retail
sector was seeing an infl ux
in antique and second-hand
stores.
“That’s really not a good
place for a viable downtown,”
he said.
Denight said the city is
aware of some of the down-
town area’s retail short-
comings, but it was a part
of a larger trend for main
streets across the country as
they transition away from
commerce to being dining
and entertainment districts.
He added that the urban
renewal district is exploring
adding more retail that could
appeal to people already in
the area for dining.
“I think this changes
constantly,” he said. “It
moves more or less in one
direction. It’s not going to
be the way it used to be. It’s
going to be good. It’s going to
be a strong downtown. That’s
the main thing.”
limits on event sizes.
The three West Coast
states have sought to coordi-
nate on COVID-19 response
throughout the pandemic,
though they have gone their
economies are linked,”
Brown said.
Brown underlined that
the move did not mean the
pandemic was burning out
or nearly over.
“We will build resiliency
and prepare for the next vari-
ant and the next pandemic,”
she said. “As we learn to
live with this virus, we must
remain vigilant to protect
each other and prevent
disruption to our schools,
businesses, and communities
– with a focus on protecting
our most vulnerable and the
people and communities that
have been disproportionately
impacted by COVID-19.”
Oregon offi cials say they
are confi dent that the move
will not replicate the prema-
ture lifting of safeguards in
July 2021 that came almost
simultaneously with the
arrival of the virulent delta
variant that caused a record
918 deaths in September.
Critics said at that time that
lifting the ban statewide did
not take into eff ect the wide
differences in vaccination
rates and prior COVID-19
exposure.
“WE WILL
BUILD
RESILIENCY
AND PREPARE
FOR THE NEXT
VARIANT AND
THE NEXT
PANDEMIC.”
— Kate Brown, Oregon
Governor
own way at times, such as
the vaccine priority list in
early 2021. Brown said the
governors believed the mask
mandate change was best
done at the same time for
the stretch from the Mexi-
can border to the Canadian
border.
“Our communities and
PLEASE RECYCLE THIS PAPER
The terrain in Patagonia
is a desert and steppe-like
(terraced grass plateaus). It
is bound on the west by the
Andes. The Andes are part
of Patagonia, Johnson said.
“We’ll have various sections
of the race in the mountains.
They said our max elevation
will be around 8,000 feet,”
she said. The Colorado River
is to the north, the Atlan-
tic Ocean on the east and
the Strait of Magellan to the
South. The region south of the
strait, the Tierra Del Fuego
— which is divided between
Argentina and Chile — is
also often included.
able for tax credits would be
$55 million per year under
the newly-amended bill, up
from $27 million under the
previous version.
The Oregon Employ-
ment Department would
study the economic impacts
of the overtime requirements
and periodically report to
lawmakers, who’d then
decide whether to revise the
tax credit system.
Farmers would need to
obtain wage records from
labor contractors to benefi t
from the tax credits, which
troubled some Republi-
can members of the joint
committee.
Labor contractors aren’t
legally required to provide
that information, so farm-
ers may not be able to
convince them to do so, said
Boshart-Davis.
Farmers already are
competing for workers and
may not be able to fi nd labor
contractors willing to do the
added record-keeping, she
said. “If the labor contractor
doesn’t provide it, the farmer
doesn’t have the information
to apply for a tax credit.”
Holvey said the free
market would compel labor
contractors to provide those
records to farmers, while
growers could also choose to
hire workers directly instead
of using contractors.
During the Feb. 24 hear-
ing, the joint committee
rejected another amend-
ment Republican lawmak-
ers favored.
Under that proposal, the
state government would
contribute some overtime
wages directly to workers,
instead of providing tax
credits to farmers.
Because the state would
pay some overtime wages,
farmers would be able to
stay in business without
limiting the weekly sched-
A9
It is desert and semi-des-
ert terrain and treeless plains.
The relatively fl at tableland
rises from an elevation near
the coast of 300 feet to about
1,300 feet at the junction
of two rivers, then to 3,000
feet at the base of the Andes.
Another tableland region rises
to an elevation of 5,000 feet
and more. The area is also rich
in volcanic activity.
Johnson is originally from
Minnesota and had always
wanted to live in the moun-
tains. She’s lived in and loved
Wallowa County since 2012.
She has a graduate degree
from Clemson University
in South Carolina in aquatic
ecotoxicology. She works as a
farrier and a veterinary assis-
tant at the Enterprise Animal
Hospital. She is also a care-
taker for a local ranch.
For more information on
the race go to www.equestri-
anists.com.
“I also have a website —
www.brendasadventure.
com,” she said.
Johnson’s progress will
also be streamed in real time
via her GPS. Riders will also
give interviews along the way.
To donate to Johnson’s
charities, for Safe Harbors
use the shelter’s website at
www.wcsafeharbors.com.
For Shotzy Sanctuary, checks
may be mailed to 75506
Robinson Road, Elgin, OR
97827, or by using PayPal at
Shotzy08@live.com.
ules of employees, according
to the amendment’s propo-
nents.
“This provides resources
directly into the hands of our
workforce and also protects
their jobs,” said Boshart-Da-
vis.
Under the proposal, the
weekly overtime threshold
for farm employers would
be set at 48 hours except
for a “peak labor period” of
15 weeks per year, during
which the threshold would
rise to 55 hours.
Farmers would pay time-
and-a-half overtime wages
beyond those weekly thresh-
olds. Meanwhile, the state
government would pay the
added overtime amount after
40 hours per week.
In other words, take the
example of a worker who’s
normally paid $20 an hour
and who works 60 hours a
week during the peak labor
period.
The farmer would pay the
worker $20 an hour for the
fi rst 55 hours, then 5 hours
of overtime at the time-and-
a-half rate of $30.
Meanwhile. the state
government would pay that
employee $10 per hour for
the 15 hours worked after the
40-hour threshold but before
the farmer’s 55-hour thresh-
old kicked in.
“I believe this is a
unique solution to Oregon,”
Boshart-Davis said.
However, the Demo-
cratic members of the joint
committee voted down the
amendment after question-
ing its fairness to other work-
ers and employers, as well as
its labor law implications for
the state government.
“A lot of laws touch this
area,” said Sen. Kate Lieber,
D-Beaverton. “I’m trying to
understand if any of these
responsibilities would fl ow
to the state.”
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