LOCAL & STATE
TUESDAY, JULY 7, 2020
BAKER CITY HERALD — 3A
Invasive weed of the week Wyden seeks
extension of
jobless benefits
By Jeffrey Pettingill
The enemy
Scentless chamomile (Tri-
pleurospermum perforatum).
The strategy
This biennial bushy,
branched plant has recently
been found invading many of
our roadsides, pastures and
other disturbed sites. This
plant has white fl owers with
a yellow center similar to an
oxeye daisy. Daisies usually
produce one or two fl owers
per plant where this plant can
produce hundreds of radi-
ant fl owers. The leaves are
feathery looking and the plant
grows to about 2 feet high.
Attack
Scentless chamomile is a
prolifi c seed producer. Once
established the plant does an
excellent job of outcompet-
ing desirable plants. Due to
the plant’s unusual charac-
teristics livestock normally
choose not to eat it. It likes to
grow along waterways where
the seeds can fl oat down the
waterway and contaminate
other lands. Where it exists
in pastures the livestock tend
to eat everything else around
it beyond recognition. As it is
a fairly dense plant it really
shades out desirable plants.
The defense
Scentless chamomile is
COVID-19
Continued from Page 1A
Bennett said Saint Al-
phonsus Medical Center in
Baker City has reported an
increase in the number of
people coming to the hospital
after they were interviewed
by a contact tracer from the
Health Department.
Many of those people, along
with others who had potential
COVID-19 symptoms, have been
tested recently, Bennett said.
The Oregon Health Author-
ity on Monday reported that
546 Baker County residents
had tested negative for the
virus, up by more than 40
from late last week.
That’s 3.25% of the county’s
population of about 16,800.
Bennett said those tests
are diagnostic, meaning they
are intended to determined
whether a person is currently
infected.
The OHA tally doesn’t
involve antibody tests, which
can determine whether a per-
son was previously infected
with the virus.
Bennett said contact
tracers, who try to interview
people who might have been
in close contact with a person
who tested positive, recom-
mend all those who were in
close contact to self-isolate,
regardless of whether their
test was negative.
That’s due in part to the
test not being 100% reliable,
Bennett said.
He said he’s heard from
various sources that the test’s
accuracy runs between 50%
and 80%, meaning that in
from half to 20% of cases a
person who is infected could
have a negative test result.
Gina Bennett (no relation
to Mark Bennett), a Baker
If you are
traveling
for the
4th of July,
drive safe!
By Peter Wong
Oregon Capital Bureau
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden has renewed his effort for an
extension of unemployment benefi ts as the Oregon
Employment Department continues to work on 70,000
claims fi led by people newly eligible for those benefi ts.
Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance
Committee, joined Senate Minority Leader Chuck
Schumer of New York last week to introduce legislation
that will set one of the Democrats’ markers for the next
congressional aid plan for the coronavirus pandemic.
See Benefi ts/Page 5A
MASKS
Photos by Rich Old
Scentless chamomile in bloom. The biennial plant is a prolifi c seed producer.
in the aster family (thistles,
knapweeds, dandelions) thus
control is similar. Mechanical
control can be effective when
the patches of weeds are new.
It is a fairly new invader,
therefore researchers have
not put much effort into
insects that will eat on it. Tor-
don 22K, Curtail, Milestone,
or Opensight provide excel-
lent control. We have also had
good luck with Telar XP and
Escort XP, but little control
with 2,4-D and Roundup.
Application early in the year
City resident who was tested
last week after having several
symptoms consistent with
COVID-19, including a fever,
headache and body aches,
said she received her test
result Monday morning, and
it was negative.
However, she said the per-
son who called her from St.
Luke’s Clinic in Baker City,
where she was tested, told
her the test was about 70%
reliable.
Bennett, 64, said she is self-
isolating for at least 10 days
after her symptoms resolve.
She said she planned to do so
regardless of the test result.
“My concern is for the com-
munity, of course,” Bennett
said. “I felt it was important
that I go (to be tested).”
Geographic data
It’s not possible, based on
publicly available data, to
pinpoint, even by ZIP code,
the addresses of the six
Baker County residents who
recently tested positive.
The Oregon Health Author-
ity issues a weekly report that
shows positive cases by ZIP
code. However, for areas with
fewer than 10 cases the agency
lists only the range of “1-9”
rather than the actual number.
Baker County’s fi rst con-
fi rmed case was a resident
who lives in the 97814 ZIP
code, which includes Baker
City and much of Baker Valley.
The latest state report still
shows a “1-9” range for 97814
— as it would even if all seven
people who tested positive have
an address in that ZIP code.
The Health Authority also
doesn’t not connect posi-
tive cases to individual ZIP
codes with fewer than 1,000
residents, instead aggregating
those cases.
Series Continues
Jeffrey Pettingill, weed control supervisor for Baker
County, will be writing an occasional article about a
common noxious weed in the area. Pettingill encourages
people to call him if they have weed questions or see
a species they’re not familiar with. His offi ce number is
541-523-0618 and his cell is 541-519-0204.
is best, but if not possible to
get it early try applying the
herbicide when the fl owers
are in the bud stage.
This is a new plant to the
region so we all need to do our
part to keep it from becoming
the next noxious weed.
None of Baker County’s
other ZIP codes has more
than 1,000 residents, so if
there are any positive tests
in any of those areas they
wouldn’t be listed, by that ZIP
code, in the report.
support,” Lemar wrote in her
email. “Safely. Not gathered
closely singing loudly without
masks on.”
Lemar said she’s particu-
larly worried about gather-
ings that could contribute
to the spread of the virus
because her adult daughter,
Katie, who lives with her, has
a rare metabolic disorder
called cystinosis, is diabetic, a
cancer survivor and has had
a kidney transplant.
Those conditions mean
Katie is in a higher risk cat-
egory should she be infected
with the virus, Lemar said.
Lynette Perry of Baker
City Events, which puts on
Sunday afternoon concerts at
the park during the sum-
mer, said the events have
never drawn as many as 200
people so she’s not concerned
about approaching the
250-person threshold.
Several people posted
comments on the Herald’s
Facebook page expressing
their concerns about a photo-
graph on the newspaper’s
website showing spectators
sitting in bleachers at the
Haines Stampede rodeo on
Saturday.
Commenters said they
were bothered because it
appeared that fans weren’t
complying with social dis-
tancing, and also that few
were wearing face masks.
The Herald sent a question
to the rodeo’s Facebook page,
and received this response
Monday afternoon: “At this
time we have received noth-
ing but positive feedback.”
Concerns about weekend
gatherings
Jane Lemar of Baker City
said she was surprised, and
upset, when she walked her
dog past Geiser-Pollman Park
Sunday morning and saw
a group of people attending
the annual God and Country
worship service.
Lemar, who said she
counted at least 170 people
at about 10:30 a.m. and what
she estimates was twice that
number an hour or so later,
said she was bothered by
what seemed to her a lack of
social distancing and very few
people wearing masks.
“From my perspective it
looked like everyone was
clustering in groups,” Lemar
said on Monday.
The statewide face mask
mandate that Gov. Kate
Brown announced last week
doesn’t apply to outdoor
gatherings.
Phase 2 of the state’s
reopening plan, which Baker
County entered June 6, does
limit outdoor gatherings to
250 people.
Baker City Police Chief Ray
Duman said Monday after-
noon that the department
hadn’t received any com-
plaints about Sunday’s event.
Lemar sent an email listing
her concerns, along with photo-
graphs she took at the park,
to City Manager Fred Warner
Jr. and to members of the city’s
parks and recreation board.
“These people have a right
to worship, no doubt, that I
New Name.
Same Great Team.
Same Exceptional
Service.
Continued from Page 1A
“Police response will
depend on what the situa-
tion is,” Duman said.
For example, if a person
defi es the order to wear a
mask and refuses to leave
an area, or instigates an
altercation, police will
respond, Duman said.
If employees instigate a
fi ght by taking it upon
themselves to remove
customers, however, that
scenario might have a
different outcome.
“Does an employee
have the right to physi-
cally force a person out of
a store?” Duman said. “We
will be discussing that
with the DA.”
Complaints also could
be forwarded to the appro-
priate state agencies, such
as the Oregon Liquor Con-
trol Commission (OLCC)
or the Occupational Safety
and Health Administration
(OSHA), he said.
Duman said customers
should consider the choice
they are making when
deciding whether or not to
wear a mask into a busi-
ness such as Albertsons
or Safeway grocery stores,
which can require them to
wear masks.
“Customers can comply
or they don’t get to eat,” he
said. “They have a choice.
Life is about choices.”
Police offi cers also con-
tinue to use discretion in
deciding whether to wear
masks when responding
to calls. And they have
been granted permission
to testify before the grand
jury through livestream
video rather than appear-
ing in person.
It’s vital to keep his
offi cers healthy in order
to continue to serve the
community effectively,
Duman said.
As a worst-case sce-
nario, offi cers might not
respond to some service
calls, a practice that some
larger agencies already
have implemented.
In cases of vandalism,
for example, Duman said
victims could fi ll out a
crime report online and
send it to police for further
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541-523-5223
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The public also will
be asked to wear masks
when they enter the front
lobby of the police station
at 1768 Auburn Ave.
Masks are required in
the lobby of the Baker
County Sheriff’s Offi ce as
well, said Ashley McClay,
Sheriff’s Offi ce spokes-
woman. The offi ce is
continuing to process by
appointment concealed
handgun licenses, boat
licenses, public fi nger-
printing and necessary
civil process paperwork,
and operating the drug
take-back program.
Corrections offi cers are
wearing masks in the
jail and deputies also use
their discretion to either
wear a mask or maintain
social distance of 6 feet or
more when responding to
calls, McClay said.
She and Chief Duman
agree that people seem
to miss the point that
wearing a mask — or not
wearing a mask — wheth-
er viewed as a political
statement or not, is aimed
at protecting other people,
not necessarily the mask
wearer.
“It’s about others,”
McClay said.
Duman added that how-
ever the governor’s directive
is perceived in the com-
munity, Baker City Police
officers will do their best to
comply with the governor’s
executive orders.
“I think we’re in this for
a period of time, so we’re
trying to make the best of
it,” he said.
Duman said it is in the
public’s best interest to
help curb the spread of
coronavirus to keep busi-
nesses open.
“What people don’t get
is that if the trend doesn’t
break and we end up going
back to phase one, every-
thing is going to be shut
down,” he said.
Open for dining in
Travis T. Hampton, D.P.M.
La Grande
1408 N Hall Street
“I think we’re in this for a
period of time, so we’re trying
to make the best of it.”
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601 Medical Parkway
Baker
3175 Pocahontas Rd.
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