SATURDAY, APRIL 10, 2021
BAKER CITY HERALD — 3A
State fixes vaccine
reporting problem
Invasive weed of the week
By Jeffrey Pettingill
The Enemy
Kochia (Bassia scoparia)
The Strategy
This annual weed can grow
from one to six feet tall. This
native plant of Asia has be-
come one of the worst weeds
in our development and agri-
cultural communities. Kochia
can be found anywhere from
the smallest gardens, to al-
leys, to gravel and asphalted
road shoulders, and even
affects all agricultural fi elds.
This plant is very green, with
slightly hairy leaves (espe-
cially when young) with one
main stem with off shoots
that taper to the top and
produces a very small cream
Rich Old/Contributed Photo
fl ower. Later in the summer
Kochia is an aggressive annual weed that can invade many types of sites.
it is a major contributor to
allergies.
plowing, etc). Mowing is very important to manage the
out the summer. It contains
Attack
ineffective because the plant weed. Persistent revegetation
toxins that can be hazard-
This plant competes for
will simply grow back within will help. As always call your
ous to horses and cattle and
sunlight and nutrients for
a week. There are numerous local Weed Authority for more
becomes a major distracter
all desirable vegetation. It
herbicides that can be used,
along roadsides.
details..
produces over 10,000 seeds
especially Dicamba (Banvel,
Jeffrey Pettingill is the weed
per plant and can germinate Defense
Vanquish, or Clarity), and
Getting an early start on
control supervisor for Baker
all summer long. An even
Floroxypyr (Vista or Sta-
controlling this weed is key to rane). 2,4-D has little effect
County. He encourages people
bigger problem is when this
limiting its damage. Once this on this plant. I must caution
with noxious weed questions
plant dries up later in the
plant becomes knee-high it is you in that this plant has
to call him at 541-523-0618
summer it becomes huge
or 541-519-0204. He also
fi re hazard and becomes a
very tough to control. Since
biotypes that are resistant
encourages people to like the
tumbleweed the following
this plant is an annual it can to many herbicides, even the
Baker County Weed District’s
year. It germinates from seed be controlled by mechani-
ones listed above. Rotation of
Facebook page.
with each rainstorm through- cal means (shovel, disking,
classes of herbicides is very
Pendleton Bike Week canceled again
By Antonio Sierra
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — For the
second year in a row, Pendleton
Bike Week is canceled.
The organizers behind the
motorcycle rally made the
announcement on the event’s
website.
“Due to COVID-19 and the
mandated restrictions the
official word has come down
and unfortunately, as most
anticipated, Pendleton Bike
Week 2021 … and the Summer
Chute Out III flat track race
have been postponed until (the)
third week of July 2022,” the
website states.
In an interview, bike week
owner Stuart Rice said the
reasoning behind the decision
was simple.
“Too many restrictions, not
enough freedoms,” he said.
Rice said he was among
the event organizers that met
with Gov. Kate Brown’s office
recently, but he said the staffers
they spoke to seemed more
concerned with another wave
of COVID-19 that could hit the
state in the coming months.
He said some of the concepts
that were discussed, like a 50%
cap on audiences, wouldn’t be
feasible for something like the
bike week concert.
Founded in 2015, Pendleton
Bike Week, along with Pend-
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian, File
A biker roars onto the tarmac at the Eastern Oregon Regional Airport during the 2019
“Ride with the Raiders” event that was part of Pendleton Bike Week.
leton Whisky Music Fest, was
among a slate of new events
that were supposed to help
drive tourism in Pendleton in
the months leading up to the
Round-Up.
A multi-day event that fea-
tured multiple rides, a classic
rock concert, a vendor area and
more, Pendleton Bike Week
had some success in its early
years. As interest in bike week
began to flag, Rice, the owner
of the Midway Bar & Grill in
Hermiston, took over the event
with the idea of revamping it.
Among his ideas was moving
the hub of the rally from the
Pendleton Convention Center
to the Round-Up Grounds and
making the event more afford-
able.
As it stands now, Pendleton
tourism season offers a check-
ered calendar.
Some events, like the
Jackalope Jamboree and the
Pendleton Cattle Barons, are
COVID
already committed to reviving
their events.
Whisky Fest still has its July
10 concert date on the schedule,
but organizers are still waiting
for more certainty from the
governor’s office before they can
feel confident in that date.
And Pendleton’s ultimate
event, the Round-Up, is project-
ing confi dence in holding a full
event in September, although
the details of how they will
operate are still under wraps.
Health Department send our condo-
lences to his family and friends.”
Continued from Page 1A
Baker County’s recent surge in new
The man, who had underlying medi- COVID-19 cases has slowed over the
cal conditions, tested positive on March past fi ve days, with 14 reported from
24. He died at his home, according to
April 4-8. There were 36 new cases dur-
the OHA.
ing the previous fi ve-day period, and 79
This was the county’s fi rst COVID-
from March 21-April 3.
19-related death since March 11, when
This winter, that total would have
an 81-year-old man died three days
moved the county from the lowest of
after testing positive.
the state’s four risk levels to the high-
“We’re really saddened to receive this est, and imposed the tighest restric-
report,” Nancy Staten, director of the
tions on businesses. But in mid-March
Baker County Health Department, said the state added a two-week “caution
in a press release. “All of us here at the period” for counties in some cases,
which keeps them at the current risk
level for two weeks.
Baker County will remain at the low-
est risk level through at least April 22.
Its risk level starting April 23 will be
based on case numbers and the positiv-
ity rate from April 4-17.
“The caution period is saving us from
having to go backwards, and our best
shot at avoiding a jump at the end of
April is for everyone to do what they
can to keep everyone else healthy and
get our cases numbers down again,”
said Mark Bennett, Baker County com-
missioner.
SCHOOL
expanded to two days on Jan. 25.
Baker School District Superintendent
Mark Witty said earlier this week that
middle school and high school students
will attend in-person classes four days per
week starting Monday, April 12.
He met on Wednesday, April 7 with
Nancy Staten, director of the Baker Coun-
ty Health Department, and she endorsed
the district’s plan for a full in-person
schedule for older students.
in-person. The most recent student case, a
middle school student, was reported Feb.
Continued from Page 1A
5, and there have been just two student
Since July 2020, a total of 14 Baker
cases since Dec. 9.
School District employees, including three
Students from grades pre-kindergarten
substitute teachers, have tested positive. through sixth grade returned to in-person
Nine Baker School District students
classes on a full four-day schedule on Oct.
have tested positive for COVID-19 since
14.
the school year started in early Sep-
Middle school and high school students
tember, although initially all students
returned to in-person classes one day
attended classes online rather than
per week on Nov. 9, and their schedule
By Jayson Jacoby
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) has fi xed an
error in its system for reporting county-level COVID-19
vaccination numbers, and the correction had a big effect
on Baker County, whose infl ated numbers prompted the
agency to look at the situation in late March.
On March 31 the OHA removed county data from its
website, after an offi cial acknowledged that numbers for
Baker County, which had been shown for more than a
week as having by far the highest rate of vaccinations,
were likely overstated by about 50%. The agency had
been reporting that about 62% of the county’s 16,800
residents had been either partially or fully vaccinated.
On Friday afternoon, April 9, the OHA resumed
including county vaccination statistics on its website,
govstatus.egov.com/OR-OHA-COVID-19.
The corrected website showed that 4,850 Baker
County residents had received were either partially
(1,511) or fully (3,339) vaccinated.
That’s almost 29% of the county’s population.
The county ranks slightly below average among Or-
egon’s 36 counties in the rate of vaccinations, measured
as the number per 10,000 residents.
Baker County’s vaccination (partial and full) rate of
2,883 per 10,000 residents ranks 21st out of 36 counties.
Other Baker County statistics:
• 6,582 doses of Moderna vaccine administered, along
with 780 doses of Pfi zer and 396 of Johnson & Johnson.
• Number of residents age 80 and older who are
partially or fully vaccinated is 696, about 68% of that
population group in the county.
• Ages 75 to 79 — a total of 505 people partially or
fully vaccinated, almost 58% of that age group.
• Ages 70 to 74 — a total of 778 out of 1,264 residents
partially or fully vaccination, almost 62%.
• Ages 65 to 69 — a total of 768 out of 1,548 residents
partially or fully vaccinated, almost 50%.
Totals for other age groups: 60 to 64 years (524); 50 to
59 (633); 40 to 49 (398); 30 to 39 (345); 20 to 29 (175); 19
or younger (28).
WOLF
Continued from Page 1A
Also, during a wolf
census fl ight this winter,
ODFW biologists saw a
gray wolf with the Cor-
nucopia pack with colors
similar to those of the wolf
hit on the highway, Ratliff
said.
Based on previous GPS
signals, that pack has
crossed Highway 86 in
that area, he said.
The Cornucopia pack’s
breeding male and female
produced their fi rst litter,
consisting of three pups, in
2019, and another litter in
the spring of 2020.
At the end of 2020 the
pack consisted of seven
wolves, Ratliff said.
Someone shot and killed
the Cornucopia pack’s
breeding male in late Sep-
tember 2020 in the Skull
Creek area of the Wallowa-
Whitman National Forest,
about one mile east of
Eagle Forks Campground.
Oregon State Police
investigated the case but
no suspects have been
arrested.
Based on this winter’s
aerial survey, the Cornu-
copia pack doesn’t have a
new breeding male, Ratliff
said.
If another male had
taken over that role, the
two breeding wolves would
have been running very
close together, and that
wasn’t the case, he said.
It’s possible, however,
that the pack’s breeding
female did mate, and if
that happened the female
will move soon into a den
to have her pups, Ratliff
said.
Biologists will be able to
determine that she’s gone
to a den based on data
from her tracking collar,
which emits radio signals
rather than GPS signals.
Recently the Cornucopia
pack has been in the area
near Highway 86, mostly
private land used for cattle
grazing, Ratliff said. He
said that “gives me con-
cern” because the wolves
could be close to cattle.
Ratliff said he has alerted
ranchers in the area to the
wolves’ presence.
Data from the collared
wolves in the pack in 2019
showed that they roamed
a 162-square-mile area
ranging from the southern
part of the Eagle Cap Wil-
derness near Cornucopia
(hence the pack’s name) to
the northern parts of the
Pine and Eagle valleys.
About 92% of the loca-
tion points were on public
land, according to ODFW.
SUMPTER
Continued from Page 1A
Sumpter City Recorder ReNae Cameron said
organizers have made some changes to comply with
COVID-19 precautions.
“Masks will be required, of course the social distanc-
ing, (and) we’re going to have the booths spaced out a
little more separate,” Cameron said. “And then we’ll
also have hand sanitizer at all of the booths.”
Cameron expects a similar number of vendors as in
past years.
That includes an estimated 75 vendors on the city
property at the Sumpter fairgrounds. She didn’t have an
estimated number of vendors along Mill Street through
downtown Sumpter.
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