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About Baker City herald. (Baker City, Or.) 1990-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 7, 2021)
THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 2021 BAKER CITY HERALD — 3A L OCAL B RIEFING Tim Bailey hired as executive director of Powder Basin Watershed Council VACCINE Continued from Page 1A That plan’s top priorities — Phase 1a — includes four groups (categories within each group are not listed in order of priority for vaccination). • Group 1: hospitals, urgent care, skilled nursing and memory care facility health care professionals and resi- dents, tribal health programs, EMS providers and other fi rst responders • Group 2: other long-term care facility residents and con- gregate care sites including health care professionals and residents, hospice programs, mobile crisis care and related services, secure transport, individuals working in a cor- rectional setting • Group 3: outpatient set- tings serving specifi c high- risk groups, in-home care, day treatment services, non-emer- gency medical transport • Group 4: health care pro- fessionals in outpatient, public health and early learning centers, death care workers, including mortuaries Doses of COVID-19 vaccine will be available on Friday, Jan. 8, for residents and staff at Meadowbrook Place, said Julie Daly, community rela- tions director and director of sales and marketing. Nicole Howerton, admin- istrator at Memory Lane Homes in Baker City, said that facility should receive vaccine doses within the next two weeks. According to the OHA, between 300,000 and 400,000 Oregonians are in one of the groups and eligible to receive a vaccine in Phase 1a. “We want to get through this 1a prioritization as soon as we can,” Staten said. A state committee is meet- ing regularly, she said, to determine priority groups for future phases, 1b and 1c. According to OHA, these are likely to include critical workers (including teachers and other school employees), people at high risk for severe effects from COVID-19 due to underlying medical condi- tions, and people 65 and older. Because the fi rst federally approved vaccine, produced by Pfi zer-BioNTech, must be stored at 94 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, the initial doses have been distributed through Saint Alphonsus Health System, which has freezers capable of storing the virus at the hospital in Ontario. Those doses are then driven to the Baker City hospital. The Baker County Health Department can’t store that vaccine here, Staten said. The Moderna vaccine, how- ever, does not require such cold temperatures for storage. Staten said the Health Department received its fi rst allocation of 100 doses of the Moderna vaccine last week. As of Tuesday, six Health Department employees had received their fi rst dose. Both vaccines require two doses. With the Pfi zer- BioNTech vaccine, the second dose is recommended about 21 days after the fi rst. Staten said some Baker County health care professionals will soon receive their second doses of that vaccine. The second dose of the Moderna vaccine will be given about 28 days after the fi rst. Although the health department’s role in vaccina- tion has been limited so far, Staten said that will change when the state moves into phase 1b, which will include many more people than in phase 1a. Staten said the depart- ment will set up clinics, likely at multiple locations, to inoculate residents. “We will be doing quite a few of those,” she said. “I wish I knew when. It’s going to take some time, but we want to get vaccine in arms.” At the Powder River Correctional Facility, the min- imum-security prison that houses about 320 inmates in Baker City, employees TESTING County Health Department, and Mark Bennett, Baker County commissioner, Continued from Page 1A both said this week that the Dec. 16 Michelle Owen, who is Baker City’s clinic, with its positivity rate of 1.5%, public works director, said she decided to helped push the county’s overall rate be tested although she has no symp- below 10%, making it possible for the toms. county to drop from the extreme-risk “I feel it’s important that, maybe I’m level to the high-risk level Jan. 1. asymptomatic, if there’s a chance that I “I think the more negative cases we would give it to somebody I would want show, the more we can get back to nor- to know,” Owen said. mal,” Linscott said. Owen and Linscott both said they Owen agreed. were motivated to get tested for a reason “This is an opportunity for two things other than fi nding out whether they’re — to help our community and bring infected. those numbers down so we can get back They also hope to contribute to reduc- to work and do what we need to do to ing Baker County’s test positivity rate, get things opened up,” she said. which is one statistic — the other is Staten pointed out that unlike the the number of COVID-19 cases — that testing clinics, which are open to every- determines the county’s risk level and one, whether or not they have symp- resulting business restrictions. toms, most other people in the county Nancy Staten, director of the Baker who are tested do have symptoms and Vaccines in Baker County As of Wednesday, Jan. 6, 209 people in Baker County had received the fi rst dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. The daily totals: • Dec. 18 — 34 doses • Dec. 19 — 1 • Dec. 20 — 0 • Dec. 21 — 25 • Dec. 22 — 1 • Dec. 23 — 32 • Dec. 24 — 0 • Dec. 25 — 0 • Dec. 26 — 1 • Dec. 27 — 2 • Dec. 28 — 7 • Dec. 29 — 10 • Dec. 30 — 78 • Dec. 31 — 11 • Jan. 1 — 0 • Jan. 2 — 0 • Jan. 3 — 1 • Jan. 4 — 0 • Jan. 5 — 6 have the option of receiving a vaccine at the hospital, said Debi Geddes, the prison’s correctional rehabilitation manager/administrative services manager. The prison, which until Dec. 13 had had no positive cases among inmates, as of Tuesday had 45 inmates and 13 employees test positive. are much more likely to be infected. When the county mainly tests people who have symptoms, its positivity rate will be higher, Staten said, than if test- ing is more widespread and includes people who have no symptoms. Results from Wednesday’s clinic likely won’t have much, if any, effect on the county’s positivity rate for the two-week period ending Jan. 9, which will deter- mine the county’s risk level for Jan. 15- 28. That’s because test results will take three to fi ve days. To register for the Jan. 20 clinic — pre-registration is recommended but not required — go to www.doineedaco- vid19test.com Free testing clinics are scheduled for Jan. 13 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Lions Park in Huntington, and on Jan 27 in Halfway from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at a loca- tion yet to be determined, Yencopal said. Tim Bailey, who recently retired after a 34-year career with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), is the new executive director of the Powder Basin Watershed Council. Bailey replaces Christo Morris, who served as executive director for fi ve Bailey years before leaving the position last fall, said Dorothy Mason, board president for the Watershed Council. “I have enjoyed working with the dedicated group of staff, volunteers and community partners,” Morris said. Bailey has lived and worked in Northeastern Oregon for most of his life. His most recent job was district fi sh biologist for ODFW in La Grande. He was instrumental in the agency’s effort to remove illegally introduced yellow perch from Phillips Reservoir and worked on many other watershed enhancement proj- ects in the Powder River basin. “I understand the culture of this rural area,” Bailey said in a press release. “I know what is important to individuals and communities in the region and have worked to develop and implement win-win solutions to restore watersheds in this context. I care about the people I work with. I strongly believe, based on practi- cal experience, in pursuing watershed restoration in a collaborative manner with the various interests repre- sented within a watershed and in a way that supports the livelihood of its residents.” The Watershed Council plans to have an open house this spring to give residents a chance to meet Bai- ley, depending on COVID-19 restrictions. He can be reached now at the Council offi ce, 2034 Auburn Ave., Suite B (across Auburn from Crossroads Carnegie Art Center). His phone number is 541-523-7288. New At The Library Patrons can reserve materials in advance online or by calling 541-523-6419. Drive-in hours at 2400 Resort St. are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. FICTION • “Hush-hush,” Stuart Woods • “The Invited,” Jennifer McMahon • “Gift of the Magpie,” Donna Andrews • “The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives in Your Home,” Joseph Fink • “The Better Liar,” Tonen Jones NONFICTION • “Red Scarf Girl,” Ji-Li Jiang • “All We Can Save,” Ayana Johnson • “Eleanor,” David Michaelis • “Listen To Me Good,” Margaret Smith • “Trust,” Osho DVDS • “Equus: Story of the Horse” (Documentary) • “A Nice Girl Like You” (Comedy) • “Piranhas” (Paranza Dei Bambini) (Action) • “Side Effects” (Drama) • “Tenet” (Sci Fi) Bend’s Pearl Harbor survivor overcomes COVID-19 ■ Dick Higgins has big plans for 2021, including celebrating his 100th birthday in July, and returning to Hawaii By Kyle Spurr The (Bend) Bulletin BEND — Dick Higgins, the 99-year-old Pearl Harbor survivor from Bend, told friends and family last month he would beat CO- VID-19 just like he survived World War II and a childhood in the Dust Bowl. A month later, doctors confi rmed Higgins’ success. He has recovered from the deadly virus. “He’s going to chalk it up to be- ing an Oklahoma kid that had to survive the Dust Bowl and Great Depression,” said Higgins’ grand- daughter, Angela Norton, in late December. Higgins, the oldest living Pearl Harbor survivor in Central Or- egon, tested positive for the virus Nov. 23, and quarantined at home, which he shares with Norton and her family. Norton’s husband and 6-year-old son also contracted the virus, but are now recovered as well. Doctors told Norton that elderly people are at a higher risk of se- vere illness and death from CO- VID-19, so Higgins is fortunate to beat the virus, especially without “He got very lucky for someone his age to be able to have such mild symptoms. He is doing so much better. He defi nitely has more pep in his step.” — Angela Norton, talking about her grandfather, Dick Higgins, a 99-year- old Pearl Harbor survivor who contracted COVID-19 in November but had relatively mild symptoms having to be hospitalized. “He got very lucky for someone his age to be able to have such mild symptoms,” Norton said. Despite no respiratory issues or hospital stays, it was still a dif- fi cult few weeks for Higgins. He had painful body aches, no appetite and had to visit the emer- gency room when his leg swelled. He stopped acting like himself and was losing his will to live, his granddaughter said. “He is doing so much better,” she said. “He defi nitely has more pep in his step.” Higgins will need his renewed energy for an eventful year ahead. NO MORE GUTTER CLEANING, OR YOUR MONEY BACK GUARANTEED! CALL US TODAY FOR A FREE ESTIMATE 15 % AND! 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During the attack, Higgins was a 20-year-old Navy radio opera- tor who woke to Japanese planes fl ying over his barracks on Ford Is- land. He recalls spending the day clearing wreckage from the Navy airfi eld and salvaging planes. He was two years into his naval service when the attack occurred. He saw joining the Navy as a way for some stability after growing up in a small Oklahoma town during the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. Higgins and his family have made the trip back to Pearl Harbor several times over the years. The family attended the national ceremony in Honolulu for the 60th, 65th, 70th and 75th anniversaries. Higgins hopes to keep the tradi- tion alive for the 80th anniversary. “He is back to wanting to live to 100 and go to Hawaii next year,” Norton said. “That’s incredible.” Higgins has one more goal be- yond the trip to Hawaii. He wants to be the longest living person in Contributed Photo Dick Higgins, a 99-year-old Pearl Harbor survivor from Bend, told friends and family last month he would beat COVID-19 just like he survived World War II and a childhood in the Dust Bowl. his family. To accomplish that feat, he has to outlive his late wife’s brother-in- Prepare for unexpected power outages with a Generac home standby generator We Cancel TIMESHARES for You Every year 150,000 people reach out to us for help getting rid of their timeshare. In 2019, we relieved over $50,000,000 in timeshare debt and maintenance fees. SCHEDULE YOUR FREE IN-HOME ASSESSMENT TODAY! We can help. 877-557-1912 FREE Get your free information kit and see if you qualify: 7-Year Extended Warranty* A $695 Value! 855-385-4473 Off er valid March 16, 2020 - June 30, 2020 Special Financing Available Subject to Credit Approval law who was 106. “His goal has always been to live to 106,” Norton said, “at least.” *Terms & Conditions Apply
