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About Baker City herald. (Baker City, Or.) 1990-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 13, 2020)
THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 2020 LOCAL & NATION Biden picks California Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate By Kathleen Ronayne and Will Weissert Associated Press WILMINGTON, Del. — Joe Biden named California Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate on Tuesday, making history by selecting the fi rst Black woman to compete on a major party’s presidential ticket and acknowledging the vital role By John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune-TNS Black voters will play in California Sen. Kamala Harris speaks during a rally his bid to defeat President for former Vice President Joe Biden at Renais- Donald Trump. sance High School on March 9 in Detroit. “I have the great honor to announce that I’ve picked @ KamalaHarris — a fearless fi ghter for Harris’ record as California attorney the little guy, and one of the country’s general and district attorney in San fi nest public servants — as my running Francisco was heavily scrutinized during mate,” Biden tweeted. In a text message the Democratic primary and turned off to supporters, Biden said, “Together, with some liberals and younger Black voters you, we’re going to beat Trump.” who saw her as out of step on issues of Harris and Biden plan to deliver re- systemic racism in the legal system and marks Wednesday in Wilmington. police brutality. She tried to strike a bal- In choosing Harris, Biden is embrac- ance on these issues, declaring herself a ing a former rival from the Democratic “progressive prosecutor” who backs law primary who is familiar with the unique enforcement reforms. rigor of a national campaign. Harris, a Biden, who spent eight years as Presi- 55-year-old fi rst-term senator, is also one dent Barack Obama’s vice president, of the party’s most prominent fi gures and has spent months weighing who would quickly became a top contender for the fi ll that same role in his White House. No. 2 spot after her own White House He pledged in March to select a woman campaign ended. as his vice president, easing frustration Harris, who is also Indian American, among Democrats that the presidential joins Biden in the 2020 race at a moment race would center on two white men in of unprecedented national crisis. The their 70s. coronavirus pandemic has claimed the Biden’s search was expansive, in- lives of more than 150,000 people in the cluding Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth U.S., far more than the toll experienced Warren, a leading progressive, Florida in other countries. Business closures and Rep. Val Demings, whose impeachment disruptions resulting from the pandemic prosecution of Trump won plaudits, have caused an economic collapse. Un- California Rep. Karen Bass, who leads rest, meanwhile, has emerged across the the Congressional Black Caucus, former country as Americans protest racism and Obama national security adviser Susan police brutality. Rice and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Trump’s uneven handling of the crises Bottoms, whose passionate response to has given Biden an opening, and he en- unrest in her city garnered national at- ters the fall campaign in strong position tention. against the president. In adding Harris Rice congratulated Harris on her to the ticket, he can point to her rela- selection, calling her a “tenacious and tively centrist record on issues such as trailblazing leader.” Rice said she would health care and her background in law support Biden and Harris “with all my enforcement in the nation’s largest state. energy and commitment.” HOT HELP Continued from Page 3A Wachtel said that everything fell into place to allow the department to follow through on Medina’s “unique” request. “It was a matter of being SCHOOLS Continued from Page 1A Witty said Tuesday after- noon that he was pleased that state offi cials listened to the information pre- sented to them and eased the requirements for school districts in counties with populations of 30,000 or less or with a population density of fewer than six residents per square mile. Baker County meets both standards. “It does move away from the one-size-fi ts-all,” Witty said. “They’ve given us more fl exibility and more authority has been given to the local public health offi cials.” Under the original metrics the governor an- nounced July 28, schools couldn’t have in-person classes unless their county had a COVID-19 weekly case rate of less than 10 new cases per 100,000 population for three straight weeks, and a weekly positive test rate of 5% or below, also for three straight weeks. Baker County would not meet either metric based on the case totals for the past few weeks. To meet the case rate standard the county could not have more than one new case in any of the three weeks. The original metrics also had a statewide metric — no school district could offer in-person classes unless the statewide weekly positive in the right place at the right time,” she said. Medina took to Face- book at 6:56 p.m. Friday to express her appreciation for the police department’s will- ingness to help her father. “I am so blessed to have such a wonderful city looking out for my dad,” she wrote. “You have all went above and beyond for a daughter all the way in Garland, Texas, worried about her dad all the way in Oregon. This is why my house will ALWAYS back the blue.” test rate was 5% or below for three straight weeks. “It might have been impossible to get back to in-person school for the whole year had changes not been made to the original metrics,” Witty said. The new metrics, while allowing for a return to in- person classes sooner, still will provide for the safety of the students, the staff and the community in general, he believes. “I think this is a very strong move in the right direction for us,” Witty said. The new metrics an- nounced Tuesday exempt school districts in rural counties such as Baker from the statewide test rate standard. The weekly new case rate and positive test rate met- rics have been replaced. The new metric for the Baker School District to offer in-person classes requires that Baker County have 30 or fewer new cases over the preceding three weeks, with fewer than half of the new cases during that period happening during the last of the three weeks. Baker County would have met that requirement based on the most recent three-week period for which statistics are available, July 12-Aug. 1. During that pe- riod the county had 22 new cases, with nine in the last of the three weeks. However, the new metrics also require that county health offi cials conclude that there is no community spread of the virus. Witty said Tuesday that in his recent conversations with Dr. Eric Lamb, the county health offi cer, Lamb’s opinion is that there is com- munity spread happening, with between 2 and 9 new cases reported weekly since late June. For that reason, Witty said, the District will continue with plans for comprehen- sive distance education when school starts on Sept. 8. “The county has said we do have a community spread,” he said. “I have faith in their expertise and we’re going to lean on it. At some point — hopefully sooner than later — we will be able to come back to in-person school.” That decision will be made based on the likelihood that the district could continue to qualify to have in-person classes for an extended time, Witty said. He said Tuesday that it’s too soon to predict when in- person classes might resume. “We need to let the data tell the story before we start predicting what’s going to happen,” he said. The Baker School Board agreed during a special meet- ing Aug. 6 to review the num- bers after six weeks of classes — in late October — and to begin to plan from there. An all-online education system still will be available to families who don’t want their children to return to classrooms, Witty said. BAKER CITY HERALD — 5A TESTING COVID-19 in Baker County Continued from Page 1A That’s a rate of 6,629 per 100,000 people, based on the county’s estimated population of 16,800. Only Curry County has a lower testing rate, of 4,813 per 100,000. Curry County, on the southern Oregon Coast, has had 1,107 residents tested from a population of 23,000. Nancy Staten, adminis- trator of the Baker County Health Department, said Tuesday that Baker County’s testing total refl ects in part the number of people who have come to Saint Alphonsus Medical Center in Baker City or another health provider and had symptoms that meet the OHA criteria for testing. The state agency suggests people contact a health care provider, to be assessed for a possible test, if they have COVID-19 symptoms such as a cough, fever or shortness of breath, or if they have been in close contact with a person who has tested positive. Health offi cials defi ne close contact as being within 6 feet of a person for 15 minutes or more consecutively. Both Staten and Alicia Hills, the Health Depart- ment’s nursing supervisor, have said that some people identifi ed as close contacts with a person who tested positive, but who did not themselves have symptoms, have been asked to self- quarantine but have not also been tested unless they developed symptoms. Staten said Tuesday that although she would like to see more county residents tested, she doesn’t believe that the relative scarcity of tests is obscuring a large number of infected but nons- ymptomatic residents. If that had been the case, Staten said she would have expected the people with no symptoms to have spread the virus. That would have led to more people visiting WEEK START NEGATIVE TESTS POSITIVE TESTS March 1 March 8 March 15 March 22 March 29 April 5 April 12 April 19 April 26 May 3 May 10 May 17 May 24 May 31 June 7 June 14 June 21 June 28 July 5 July 12 July 19 July 26 August 2* 1 2 8 2 5 14 27 9 16 26 43 41 53 51 57 65 66 74 109 80 112 136 78 Source: Oregon Health Authority 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 3 6 7 9 1 *through Aug. 8 their doctor because they had symptoms, and thus more people being tested and, ultimately, more posi- tive tests. Baker County’s case total as of Wednesday was 45 — that includes at 41 people who tested positive as well as four “presumptive” cases. The fi ve cases reported Tuesday and Wednesday are positive tests, not presump- tive cases, Staten said. 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