REGION
Saturday, March 5, 2022
East Oregonian
A3
CTUIR lifts mask mandate
BY JILL-MARIE GAVIN
Confederated Umatilla
Journal
MISSION — The Confed-
erated Tribes of the Umatilla
Indian Reservation Board
of Trustees voted earlier
this week to end the mask
mandate on the reservation
eff ective no later than Friday,
March 11, at 4 p.m.
The move came Monday,
Feb. 28, the same day Oregon
Gov. Kate Brown announced
Oregon, California and
Washington would lift
mandates simultaneously at
11:59 p.m. March 11. Accord-
ing to a press release from
CTUIR, the vote followed the
recommendation of Yellow-
hawk Tribal Health Center
as the public health authority
for the tribes. And the mask
mandate could end sooner if
Yellowhawk gives the OK.
The board of trustees,
however, split on the vote.
Board Vice Chair Aaron
Ashley, Secretary Sally
Kosey, General Council
Chair, members-at-large
Toby Patrick, Boots Pond
and Lisa Ganuelas voted in
favor of rescinding the mask
mandate, which has been in
eff ect since Aug. 13, 2021.
Board Treasurer Sandra
Sampson and member-at-
large Corinne Sams voted
against the polled resolution.
Sampson said she voted no
based on the unavailability of
vaccines for children age 6
months to 4 years.
“I wanted to see it
extended to at least May 15
when kids have opportunity
to get vaccinated,” she said.
“They are our most vulnera-
ble population when it comes
to the omicron and delta vari-
ants of COVID. All of East-
ern Oregon is still less than
49% vaccinated.”
The resolution ending
the mask mandate states the
board will continue to fund
the COVID-19 screeners to
monitor for signs and symp-
toms of illness in the Nixy-
aawii Governance Center
until April 29, but that date
also could be subject to
change. When the mandate
ends, it will be at the discre-
tion of each entity’s CEO or
executive director on whether
they choose to continue to
require masks for indoor
public use.
Interim-Deputy Executive
Director Teara Farrow-Fer-
man provided the Confeder-
ated Umatilla Journal with a
draft memo from the Offi ce
of the Executive that states:
“The state will end their
mask mandate on March 11,
2022, for indoor and outdoor
public settings and schools,
however, state and federal
requirements, such as those
for health care settings, public
transit and other specialized
settings, will remain in place
for a period of time.”
Masks will remai n
required for indoor settings
on Kayak Public Transpor-
tation and within the Yellow-
hawk Tribal Health Center.
Hines did not have a fi rm
date for when the indoor use
mandate would be lifted at
the clinic.
Board Chair Kat Brigham,
who did not vote on the polled
resolution, said in a state-
ment: “I trust the removal of
the mask mandate because
it is based on good data and
Yellowhawk’s consistency
with the state. Masks will be
removed, but please continue
to follow the guidelines that
continue to remain in place.
If you would like to continue
to wear your masks, we
support you and your safety
measures.”
Showing their support for Ukraine
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
A small group of demonstrators gather Wednesday, March 2, 2022, on the sidewalk at Roy Raley Park in Pendleton to
show solidarity with Ukraine. The group said they were joining others across the state in a show of support for the
country following Russia’s invasion.
Drone company tests medical delivery service
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
PEN DLETON — A
customer at the Pendleton
Unmanned Aerial Systems
Range is partnering with the
Confederated Tribes of the
Umatilla Indian Reservation
and Interpath Laboratory to
test out drone-assisted medi-
cal test delivery.
In a Feb. 22 press release,
Spright, an Arizona UAS
company, announced it was
going to work with both enti-
ties to create a proof-of-con-
cept drone delivery network
between Interpath and the
Yellowhawk Tribal Health
Center on the Umatilla Indian
Reservation. Spright held its
fi rst test fl ight between Pend-
leton and Mission the week
before the press release.
Spright and its partners
assert that transferring deliv-
ery services from vehicles to
drones will allow Interpath to
deliver and receive lab speci-
mens throughout the day and
off er a greener alternative to
gas-powered cars.
“Many com muni-
ties located in remote or
rural areas lack timely and
convenient access to essen-
tial medical supplies and
service,” Spright President
Joe Resnik said in a state-
ment.“We look forward to
this proof-of-concept, show-
casing drone delivery’s abil-
ity to solve many of health
care’s existing access and
effi ciency challenges, while
also improving patient care
and experience.”
In the press release, Inter-
path President Tom Kennedy
added a transition to drones
could help his business save
money while Yellowhawk
CEO Aaron Hines said a
successful drone program
could improve health care
services for the clinic’s
patients.
“If this pilot program is
successful and we are able
to utilize this service, our
patients have the opportu-
nity to benefit from more
rapid test results and access
follow-up medical proce-
dures and services,” he said.
“This project could help us
further our mission of provid-
ing high-quality, primary
health care for the (CTUIR).”
Spright is a subsidiary
of Air Methods, a Colo-
rado aviation company that
specializes in emergency
patient transportation.
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Walls take shape Tuesday, March 1, 2022, at the Wildfl ower
Apartments in Pendleton.
Major housing
developments
inch forward
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — As the
calendar nears spring, several
housing projects across Pend-
leton are gearing up to take
the next step in their devel-
opment.
The largest among them
is Westgate Apartments, a
200-unit complex south of
Blue Mountain Commu-
nity College. The project has
been through a long gesta-
tion period: The city granted
the development planning
approval and an incentive
package back in 2019.
But Westgate Apartments
still is proceeding. Commu-
nity Development Director
Tim Simons said he recently
met with an engineer with
the developer, the Wilson-
ville-based I&E Construc-
tion.
Simons said I&E now
has its underground utilities
subcontractor on-site and has
begun the work of connect-
ing the property to the city’s
water, sewer and natural gas
systems. The engineer didn’t
provide an updated time-
line, Simons said, but he
anticipated that activity will
pick up as the weather dries
out during the spring and
summer months.
“I think they are waiting
until the weather will stabi-
lize enough that their crews
won’t be standing around in
the rain,” he said.
Pendleton’s housing
market remains tight as
local offi cials say demand
outstrips the city’s aging
housing stock, further push-
ing up the prices of for-sale
homes and rentals. The city
has a number of housing
projects in various stages
of development, but until
they’re fi nished, residents are
waiting to reap the rewards.
One project closer to frui-
tion is the Wildfl ower Apart-
ments. A partnership between
Chrisman Development
of Enterprise and Oregon
Housing and Community
Services, Wildfl ower is an
80-unit complex near Olney
Cemetery that is partly meant
to off er aff ordable housing to
Pendleton residents who lost
their homes to the Umatilla
River fl oods of 2020.
Simons said the complex
will encompass several diff er-
ent buildings and Chrisman
already has erected walls on
some of the buildings. Based
on the pace of development,
Simons said Wildfl ower is
on track to begin welcoming
tenants this summer.
On the single-family hous-
ing front, Simons said Pend-
leton developer Dusty Pace is
in the process of getting city
approval for a 15-home devel-
opment east of St. Anthony
Hospital. He added that Pace
already has extended South-
west 18th Street in anticipa-
tion of the new subdivision.
The project is being
dubbed the Katelyn Addi-
tion, which had to change its
name from the Blakely Addi-
tion after Umatilla County
deemed it too close to another
housing subdivision called
Rice-Blakey.
Simons said the city
receives inquiries from devel-
opers interested in building
new housing each week,
but many never get past the
discussion phase. Simons said
local developers like Pace are
assertive in proceeding with
their housing projects, but
out-of-town developers tend
to hesitate over Pendleton’s
steep topography and rocky
soil, leading them to the
fl atter and sandier environs
of Hermiston.
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