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About Baker City herald. (Baker City, Or.) 1990-current | View Entire Issue (June 20, 2020)
SATURDAY, JUNE 20, 2020 The virus vigil continues locally But the relatively tran- quil conditions changed Mark Bennett is maintaining a vigil abruptly this week when of sorts, waiting for something he hopes Oregon’s biggest outbreak doesn’t happen. — more than 235 new A rash of coronavirus infections in cases — was confi rmed Bennett Baker County. with almost all of those Bennett, a Baker County commission- infections connected to er, is the county’s incident commander the Lighthouse Pentecostal Church in during the pandemic that has entered Island City near La Grande, about 45 its fourth month. miles from Baker City. As of Friday, Baker County had only And now, Bennett said, comes the one confi rmed case of the virus. It was waiting. reported May 6 and the person, who has “We’re making sure we’re prepared not been identifi ed but lives in the 97814 and trying to stay very vigilant,” ZIP code, recovered at home. Bennett said. By Jayson Jacoby jjacoby@bakercityherald.com SCHOOLS Witty told the Board. “In draft form, it does ap- Continued from Page 1A pear we can meet the guide- Superintendent Mark Witty lines for K-6 in-person school,” told the Board Thursday he said. “We need to manage night that keeping students the best we can to keep people and staff healthy through the healthy.” coronavirus pandemic will be That task becomes more the main focus of any plans diffi cult across the state for that are put forth for reopen- Grades 7-12, Witty said. ing schools. Baker Middle School will He presented several be the most diffi cult for the options for the startup of a District. new school year to the Board “That one is the most chal- during a Zoom video session lenging to manage because of the Board’s regular June of the square footage,” Witty meeting. said. “It has smaller class- Witty said he met with rooms and smaller hallways.” administrators, confi dential Providing in-person school employees and certifi ed staff will be tempered with require- representatives in an all-day ments to comply with the session Monday to review rules as much as possible, he reopening guidance provided said. by the Oregon Department of “That has been driven Education (ODE). home a little bit from what “There are 46 pages of happened in La Grande,” guidelines,” he said. “That’s Witty said, pointing to an quite a bit of detail we need to outbreak of 242 cases re- look through.” ported this week, at least 236 A report of reopening plans associated with an Island City for each school in the District church that did not comply must be submitted to ODE with the governor’s orders to before the new school year keep in-person meetings to a begins. minimum number of people Witty said he and Betty and to observe social distanc- Palmer, assistant superin- ing guidelines. tendent, will be meeting Technology upgrades that with Baker County Health will allow staff and families Department administrators to move easily if needed from on June 29 to discuss two in-person to online instruc- critical components of any tion or to a hybrid version plan: physical distancing and that blends both styles, will proper hygiene practices. require time to train staff School principals will be and families, Witty said. The on hand at the June 30 work District has invested $600,000 session to discuss reopening in the new technology, an in- plans for their buildings and vestment that Witty says will to answer questions, Witty provide the District with “the said. best technology in the state.” He said PACE, which “But we’ve got to have our provides insurance coverage families and our staff under- for the District, has notifi ed standing how to utilize it,” he schools that it will not be cov- said. ering any COVID-19 claims. Skye Flanagan, Baker That leaves the District Middle School principal, who with a large responsibility worked on the technology to manage the liability that project with Lynde Roberts could come with any illness of Chaves Consulting, echoed associated with COVID-19, Witty’s desire to provide JUBILEE Continued from Page 1A The problem was simply one of numbers, said Shelly Cutler, executive director of the Baker County Chamber of Commerce, which puts on Miners Jubilee. Cutler said she had delayed making a decision on the event because she had hoped Baker County offi cials might be able to persuade Oregon Gov. Kate Brown to allow counties with relatively few cases of COVID-19 — Baker County has had only one, as of Friday — to have public gatherings with more than the 250 people authorized in the current phase 2 guide- lines. During Miners Jubilee more than 500 people often congregate at Geiser-Pollman Park, where food and craft vendors set up their booths, Cutler said. She fi gured that Miners Jubilee might be feasible with a limit of 400 people. Even after the organizer of the bronc and bull riding events announced June 8 that those events wouldn’t happen — they help bring in visitors who also attend the Jubilee — Cutler said she was “still holding out hope” for the Jubilee. But then Brown announced a one-week pause in the state’s reopening plan due to a rising rate of COVID-19 cases. BAKER CITY HERALD — 3A COMMUNITY Given the incubation period of CO- VID-19 of up to 14 days, Bennett said it’s too early to know whether Union County’s outbreak might result in new cases in Baker County. The Union County Incident Manage- ment Team coordinated a drive-thru testing clinic Thursday and Friday at the Union County Fairgrounds in La Grande. Offi cials hoped to test 800 to 900 people over the two days. The clinic’s aim was to test people investigators identifi ed during contact tracing to be at risk for infection. Sabrina Thompson of The (La Grande) Observer contributed to this story. adequate training. “If we spend time on this, we will get more bang for our buck,” Flanagan said. And he empathized with the staff’s need to be support- ed by training in other areas as well as the year begins. Instruction also will be needed to help staff and students learn how to navigate inside and outside the buildings with respect to social distancing and personal hygiene requirements. “They deserve to be pre- pared,” he said. Witty offered three alterna- tives to adding more training to the startup of school: • The fi rst would be to work with the Baker Education Association to come to an agreement to start the year four days before the planned Aug. 24 date for the teaching staff. That plan would cost the District $50,000 per day for a total of $200,000. “I’m a little reticent to do that as we move into a reces- sion even though we are well- positioned,” Witty said. If the District could continue to receive CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act fund- ing for an extended period this option would be more attrac- tive, he said. • As a second option, Witty proposed moving four days on the District’s 2020-21 calendar designated as Friday work days for teachers (green days) and adding them to the begin- ning of the year for use as training days. Again, Witty said he was reticent to make that move because having those Friday work days spread throughout the year allows the District to be fl exible in dealing with issues as they arise • The third option Witty mentioned was to delay the start of school for students until after Labor Day this “I didn’t feel comfortable drawing it out, knowing that folks are trying to make plans. It just makes sense that we conceded and try to regroup for next year.” — Shelly Cutler, executive director, Baker County Chamber of Commerce, which organizes Miners Jubilee And then this week the state’s biggest outbreak of infections happened in Union County, which reported more than 235 new cases in four days. Cutler said it became clear that the 250-person limit was not likely to change soon. She spoke with the Cham- ber’s board of directors, and with Bill Harvey, chairman of the Baker County Board of Commissioners, and with Timothy Bishop, the county’s contracted tourism marketing director. “I didn’t feel comfortable drawing it out, knowing that folks are trying to make plans,” Cutler said. “It just makes sense that we con- ceded and try to regroup for next year.” Cutler said the Chamber generally makes a profi t of about $3,500 from the Jubilee. She said her larger concern is how the cancellation of the Jubilee and several other ma- jor summer events will affect local businesses. “I have really serious con- cerns for the business commu- nity,” she said. “We know how valuable tourism is to Baker County in the summer.” Other events that earlier year. Under the terms of the approved calendar, students are set to return to classes on Aug. 31, four days ahead of the Sept. 7 holiday. Again, this proposal comes with its own problems. “It does impact instructional time,” Witty said. In other business Thursday night, the Board adopted the District’s 2020-21 budget totaling $68,073,037.08. The budget includes a contin- gency of $4,453,760.83, and an unappropriated ending fund balance of $4,925,462.02 des- ignated as a planned reserve for future use, said Michelle Glover, the District’s business manager. Regarding the English/ Language Arts curriculum adoption, Assistant Super- intendent Palmer told the Board that after nearly a year of reviewing state guidelines, the District’s English/Lan- guage Arts team unanimously agreed that Houghton Miffl in Harcourt, the same fi rm that provided curriculum material 14 years ago, was the best choice to provide the upgrade. Palmer said the company “revamped its approach in 2020.” “(The curriculum) trans- fers from in-person to online seamlessly,” she said, and is well-suited to all students including those in special edu- cation or English as a second language programs. It also has strong components of gram- mar and spelling, Palmer said. The Board will consider approving the material, a $300,000 budget item, at a short meeting after the June 30 work session. Mark Johnson and Pat Flanagan also will return to the Board meeting to seek ap- proval to move forward with plans to build a community supported and funded soccer complex as part of the Baker Sports Complex. announced cancellations are the Baker City Cycling Classic bicycle stage race, the Hells Canyon Motorcycle Rally and the East-West Shrine All-Star Football Game. The Haines Stampede Ro- deo is still scheduled for July 3 and 4, along with fi reworks displays in Haines and in Halfway. The Baker County Fair will also take place in early August. L OCAL B RIEFING Three students earn scholarships through the PEO Sisterhood Three Baker students have received scholarships from Chapter CJ of the PEO Sisterhood, a philan- thropic organization dedicated to giving women op- portunities for higher education. Dallas Hardesty, a senior at the Baker Web Acad- emy, was awarded an $1,800 Oregon Marguerite scholarship. Hardesty, who has already earned credits toward an associate degree at Blue Mountain Commu- nity College, plans to teach vocational agriculture at Christ Sanctuary International in Uganda. She has been active in 4-H and FFA and has trav- eled to Honduras, Kenya and Uganda on service trips to promote health and agriculture. Jordan Howard, a student at Eastern Oregon University, received an Oregon scholarship of $1,400. Howard, a licensed pharmacy technician, is a pre- pharmacy student in her junior year at EOU. She is considering a focus on pharmacology in post-baccalau- reate studies. Sophia Yervasi, a student at Eastern Oregon Uni- versity, was awarded an Oregon Marguerite scholar- ship of $1,250. Yervasi, a 2017 Baker High School graduate, completed the culinary arts program at Walla Walla Community College. She worked in food service while attending the college and decided that studying business would support her goal of owning a food-related business. She will seek a business degree from EOU. Baker Ladies Golf and Bridge Association plans season-opening lunch July 1 The Baker Ladies Golf and Bridge Association will have its season-opening luncheon on Wednesday, July 1, at Quail Ridge Golf Course, 2801 Indiana Ave. Weather permitting, golf will start at 8:15 a.m., with lunch served at 12:30 p.m. and bridge following lunch. Prices are the same as last year — $9 for lunch, $1 for 50-50. Masks will be optional for bridge. Those who don’t feel well are asked to please not attend. All new and former members are welcome. For lunch reservations, call Dianne Ellingson at 541-523- 4553 or 541-519-4703 by Tuesday evening, June 30. New At The Baker County 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 • “The Grief Keeper,” Alexandra Villasante • “The Big Buddha Bicycle Race,” Thomas Mallon • “A Single Light,” Tosca Lee • “The Nanny,” Gilly MacMillan • “Tales of Pell,” series by Delilah Dawson NONFICTION • “Human Diversity,” Charles Murray • “Front Row at the Trump Show,” Jonathan Karl • “Exactly What to Say,” Phil Jones • “The MAGA Doctrine,” Charlie Kirk • “Hidden Valley Road,” Robert Kolker DVDS • “Bloodshot” (Sci-Fi) • “Endless Love” (Drama, 1981) • “The Gentlemen” (Action) • “The Last Full Measure” (Drama) • “The Lodge” (Horror) In a Facebook post Friday announcing that Miners Jubilee was canceled, the Chamber stated: “We did not come to this decision easily, but the restrictions on large gatherings and the recent outbreak in Union County make it impossible for us to proceed. Please accept our most sincere apology. We hope you understand we must adhere to Governor Brown’s mandates during this very diffi cult time. “We understand the sub- stantial fi nancial impact this cancellation and the other canceled events will have on Baker County.” Cutler said she hopes the situation will change enough by this fall to make it pos- sible to schedule some sort of community event that can help local businesses. “Whatever we can do to help strengthen the econo- my, that’s what we want to do,” she said. Open for dining in 6 am to 12 am Daily Take out and Catering is Available. 515 Campbell Street Baker City 541-523-4318 Visit the store for Baker’s best Gifts
