SATURDAY, JUNE 13, 2020
BAKER CITY HERALD — 3A
LOCAL & STATE
Rachel Center
fundraising drive
starting June 21
OREGON REPORTED 178 NEW CASES OF CORONAVIRUS ON THURSDAY, A DAILY RECORD
Brown pauses reopening for
some counties due to case spike
By Chris Collins
ccollins@bakercityherald.com
■ One-week pause doesn’t affect Baker County, which has been in phase 2 since June 6
Portland Tribune
Gov. Kate Brown on Thurs-
day evening issued a one-
week pause in the schedule
to reopen counties closed for
weeks because of the pan-
demic quarantine.
Multnomah County was
scheduled to go into Phase 1 of
reopening on Friday.
The announcement came
as the state reported 178 new
positive cases of the virus on
Thursday, June 11, surpassing
the previous one-day record of
146 cases set just last Sunday.
On Friday there were 142
new cases reported.
“When we began reopen-
ing nearly a month ago, I was
clear that COVID-19 case
counts would rise. We now
see that happening in several
parts of the state, both urban
areas and rural communities,”
Brown said in a Thursday
evening press release. “As I
have said before, reopening
comes with real risk. As we
navigate the reopening, we
are carefully monitoring the
capacity of our public health
system to respond to COV-
ID-19 cases without becoming
overwhelmed. The noticeable
increase in COVID-19 infec-
tions in Oregon over the past
week is cause for concern.”
CHURCHES
Continued from Page 1A
During phase 1, from
May 15 through June 5, the
church required its members
to wear face masks.
However, with larger
groups allowed under phase
2, church elder Karl Wittich
said the church will return
to a single Sunday service.
Face masks are optional, not
required.
St. Francis de Sales Catho-
lic Church won’t be fully
opening, but the church will
likely increase its capacity for
services from 25 to 50.
“We’ve been sanitizing the
pews and doors and doing
6-foot distancing,” said Dawn
Coles, parish secretary.
To comply with guidelines,
the church has been skipping
two pews for every full one,
and has been careful to keep
adequate distance between
families.
Harvest Church, which
usually has about 300
worshippers, has continued
doing small group in-person
services, but the bulk of its
services have been online or
parking lot services.
On Easter, the church
drew on the idea of a drive-in
The Rachel Pregnancy Center’s baby bottle fundrais-
ing drive will begin on its usual ending date of Father’s
Day and continue through July this year.
The annual Mother’s Day opening of the Rachel
Center’s fundraising event was postponed this year
because of the COVID-19 pandemic, said Vera Grove,
the center director and only paid employee.
Baskets of bottles, where monetary donations can be
placed, are ready for church representatives to pick up
at the Rachel Center offi ce at 2192 Court Ave. during
regular hours, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday
(June 16, 17 and 18) from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The offi ce is
closed from noon to 1 p.m. for lunch. Grove said those
who can’t make it to the offi ce during regular hours,
also may call to come in at other times on Tuesday,
Wednesday or Thursday.
The baby bottles represent the living babies who are
supported by the fundraiser, Grove said.
“It’s a visual statement that a baby is alive,” Grove
said. “A baby is a life that God has created.”
A new feature this year, for those who would prefer
to write a check to the Center during the fundraiser
rather than collect change in a baby bottle, offers self-
addressed envelopes to fundraiser participants.
managing several simultane-
ous workplace outbreaks.
• Marion County has seen
an almost 40% increase in
cases over the last week and
new hospital admissions for
COVID-19 of county residents
has increased over the last
two weeks.
further reopening.
• Polk County has seen an
“This one-week pause will increase in cases over the last
give public health experts
week and is managing a work
time to assess what factors
site outbreak.
are driving the spread of the
Current status of reopening
virus and determine if we
and all guidelines are avail-
need to adjust our approach
able at coronavirus.oregon.
to reopening. I will work with gov. Currently:
doctors and public health
• Twenty-nine counties are
experts to determine whether in Phase 2.
to lift this pause or extend it
• Three counties are in
or make other adjustments.” Phase 1 and have applied for
Beyond this week’s spike
Phase 2: Hood River, Marion,
in cases, other factors played and Polk. These applications
into the decision to pause
are being put on hold for one
reopenings. They include:
week.
• Multnomah County has
• Three counties are in
seen an increase in residents Phase 1 and have not yet ap-
admitted to the hospital
plied for Phase 2: Clackamas,
over the last two weeks.
Lincoln, and Washington.
The percent of tests that are
• Multnomah County is in
positive is going up, in the
baseline status. County lead-
face of increased testing. More ers have applied for Phase 1,
than 40% of the new cases in and that application is being
the last week have not been
put on hold.
traced to a source.
Gary A. Warner of the Oregon
• Hood River County has
Capital Bureau contributed to
seen an increase in new cases
this report.
over the last week and is
“This one-week pause will give public
health experts time to assess what factors
are driving the spread of the virus and
determine if we need to adjust our
approach to reopening.”
— Oregon Gov. Kate Brown
Phase 1 reopening, allowing
some restaurants and other
businesses to reopen, was ap-
proved for 31 of the state’s 36
counties in mid-May.
While much of Oregon has
moved into Phase 2, including
Baker County, nearly half of
Oregon’s 4.3 million popula-
tion live in counties that are
lagging behind.
Multnomah County, which
includes Portland, is the only
county that has not started
the reopening process. It has
applied to go into Phase 1
beginning Friday. Marion,
Washington, Clackamas, Hood
River, Lincoln and Polk coun-
ties are still under Phase 1.
“In order to ensure that
the virus is not spreading too
quickly, I am putting all coun-
ty applications for further
reopening on hold for seven
days,” Brown wrote. “This is
essentially a statewide ‘yel-
low light.’ It is time to press
pause for one week before any
“People are really excited.”
— Troy Teeters, head pastor,
Baker City Church of the
Nazarene, talking about
worshippers returning to
regular services
movie to create “parking lot
services,” where members
tuned into a radio station,
107.9, and listened to the
service while in their cars.
As phase 2 comes into
effect, the Harvest Church
plans to split services into
two and hopes to be able to
have around 150 people per
service, if they can comply
with social distancing guide-
lines.
Troy Teeter, head pastor at
the Baker City Church of the
Nazarene, said “people are
really excited” to return to
regular services.
Teeter said the church
plans on having two separate
services for at least June 14,
21 and 28, one in the main
church at 9 a.m. and one at
10:30 a.m. in the Family Life
Center, a separate building.
The church also plans to
have a secure offering box
instead of passing around
an offering plate, and the
Eucharist offerings will be
individually wrapped.
See Fundraiser/Page 5A
New At The Library
Patrons can reserve materials in advance online
or by calling 541-523-6419. Drive-in hours at 2400
Resort St. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.,
and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.
FICTION
• “Daddy’s Girl,” Danielle Steel
• “Credible Threat,” J. A. Jance
• “The Persuasion,” Iris Johansen
• “Wrath of Poseidon,” Clive Cussler
• “The Summer House,” James Patterson
The hardest part, Teeter
said, is the coming and going
of people through the door-
ways when the service begins
and ends, but the church is
asking its members to wear
face masks during these
times.
Teeter also said that while
he understands people have
different ideas and beliefs on
the situation, he’s trying his
best to comply with what sci-
ence and government health
offi cials are saying.
NONFICTION
• “Dinner in French,” Melissa Clark
• “A Year in Flowers,” Erin Benzakein
• “The Blue Zones Kitchen,” Dan Buettner
• “D&D Dungeon Masters Guide,” Mike Mearls
• “How the South Won the Civil War,” Heather
Richardson
DVDS
• “1917” (Action)
• “Birds of Prey” (Sci-Fi)
• “Clemency” (Drama)
• “Gretel & Hansel” (Horror)
• “The Hustle” (Comedy)
The family of
Betty Green
THANK YOU
The family of Elvyn Bell thanks everyone for
the cards, gifts of food and flowers, and outpouring
of love and support during his long illness and
death. Your kindness will always be remembered.
“You’ll love the work we do. I guarantee it.” - JR
would like to thank everyone for their cards, food,
donations to the quilt club and sincere sympathy that you
showed to our families during the passing of our mother.
She was truly a lady and a queen and even a little feisty.
We would also like to express our gratitude to Memory
Lane for the wonderful care that they gave our mom her
last 3 years. They are like our extended family. A thank
you to Stephanie at Tami’s Pine Valley Funeral Home for
helping with moms final arrangements and for helping with
her beautiful memorial stone. We are so proud to live in
Baker City, Oregon where people really care about people.
Sincere thanks
with His blessings,
225 H Street • East of I-84 • 541-523-3200 • grumpysrepair.com
Larry and
Rocky Morris
Steve and
Marilyn Jones
Open for dining in
6 am to 12 am Daily
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541-523-4318
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