SATURDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2021
BAKER CITY HERALD — A3
LOCAL & STATE
STREETS
JOBS
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According to ODOT data, in
the five years after Campbell was
restriped to three lanes in 1997 the
number of crashes on that section of
street dropped by 15%.
Traffic engineers say the three-
lane system, with a center turn
lane, is especially effective at reduc-
ing rear-end collisions, since drivers,
unlike with the four-lane configura-
tion, aren’t in a travel lane as they
wait to turn left.
Despite her concerns about the
striping on 10th Street, Stadler
said other proposed improvements
would be beneficial.
“The really important part of the
whole project is that it is addressing
the safety concerns and the acces-
sibility to all modes of transporta-
tion,” Stadler said. “So, it’s not just
about people driving their cars on
those three corridors, it’s also about
pedestrians being able to walk
down 10th Street.”
The proposal suggests adding
sidewalks and bike lanes on both
sides of 10th Street from H Street
north to Hughes Lane, and side-
walks on both sides from H Street
south to Broadway. Curbside parking
would be allowed on both sides of
10th Street south of H Street.
For Cedar Street north of D
Street, the proposal calls for a
10-foot-wide bicycle/pedestrian path
Grant County saw a 1.5% de-
crease, down to 6.6%, and Morrow
County recorded one of the lowest
year-end decreases with just
0.9%, down to a 4.4% unemploy-
ment rate.
Union County is largely back
on track, according to economists,
but not fully recovered from the
1,400 jobs lost at the start of the
pandemic. Leisure and hospital-
ity regained 87% of jobs lost,
but remained roughly 60 shy of
full recovery.
Evidence of those statistics
can be found in persistent help
wanted signs at fast food chains
such as McDonald’s and Dairy
Queen, while job advertisements
have largely disappeared from
the windows of local restaurants
downtown. Restaurants such as
Mamacita’s International Grill
have had to close down temporar-
ily due to staffing shortages, while
others such as local bistro and
eatery Wine Down have closed
permanently.
Ranked among Oregon’s 36
counties, Umatilla County placed
14th in September, tied with
Jackson, with an unemployment
rate of 5%. Umatilla County’s sea-
sonally adjusted unemployment
rate has fallen by 1.2 percentage
points since September 2020 with
COVID
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According to the Oregon
Health Authority (OHA),
78% of the nearly 14,100
doses administered in the
county were of the Moderna
vaccine.
The Pfizer vaccine, by con-
trast, which received federal
approval for booster shots on
Sept. 22, accounts for 14% of
doses given in the county. The
one-dose Johnson & Johnson
vaccine accounts for a little
more than 7% of doses.
Federal officials have said,
however, that people eligible
for a third dose don’t have to
take the same vaccine that
they had originally.
According to OHA data, a
total of 91 vaccine doses were
given in Baker County on
Tuesday, Oct. 26 — 75 Mod-
erna doses, 12 Pfizer doses
and four Johnson & Johnson
doses. The OHA database
doesn’t distinguish between
first, second or booster doses.
Tuesday’s total of 91 doses
was the most given in the
county since May 27, when
94 doses were given — 48
Moderna, 31 Pfizer and 15
Johnson & Johnson.
Federal officials recom-
mend a booster dose for
people 65 and older, for
residents of long-term care
facilities who are 18 or older,
and for people who have com-
promised immune systems
or other underlying medical
conditions.
The booster dose, which is
designed to reverse declining
levels of protection against
the virus, is also recommend-
ed for certain types of work-
ers, including first respond-
ers, health care workers and
grocery store employees.
Staten said county offi-
cials might schedule large-
scale vaccination clinics to
handle the demand.
S. John Collins/Baker City Herald, File
The 10th Street business district.
on the west side of the street, and
a 6-foot-wide walking path on the
east side.
The bicycle/pedestrian path
would also continue south of D
Street.
The project also includes a
proposed rebuild of the intersec-
tion of 10th Street/Hughes Lane/
Pocahontas Road. Possible changes
include realigning 10th Street just
north of the intersection. Traffic
heading north on 10th Street would
have three lane options — straight,
onto Highway 30 toward Haines,
right onto Hughes Lane, or left onto
Pocahontas Road.
The Health Department
put on several such clinics at
Baker High School in Febru-
ary, March and April.
The county administered
more than 600 doses, all of
them the Moderna vaccine,
on each of four days — Feb.
26, March 12, March 26 and
April 9.
Health clinics and phar-
macies have also adminis-
tered COVID-19 vaccines,
including the Pfizer and
Johnson & Johnson vaccines.
Even with the age recom-
mendations for booster doses,
there is a large potential
demand for those doses in
Baker County.
Almost 4,100 county resi-
dents ages 60 or older have
been vaccinated. That’s about
24% of the county’s popula-
tion.
That age range, which ac-
counts for almost 38% of the
county’s population, also has
by far the highest vaccination
rate in the county.
• Ages 80 and older, 71%
— 785 of 1,106 residents
vaccinated. The statewide
vaccination rate in this age
group is 81.8%.
• Ages 70 to 79, 69.8%
— 1,530 of 2,192 residents
vaccinated. The statewide
vaccination rate in this age
group is 89.7%.
• Ages 60 to 69, 57%
— 1,758 of 3,082 residents
vaccinated. The statewide
vaccination rate in this age
group is 80.6%.
Overall, Baker County’s
vaccination rate, which had
been the sixth- or seventh-
lowest among Oregon’s 36
counties for much of the
summer, has been overtaken
by Harney County and now
has the fifth-lowest rate, with
53.1% of residents 18 and
older vaccinated.
Harney County, which has
had infection rates and test
positivity percentages near
the highest in the state over
Drivers traveling east on
Pocahontas Road would also have
three lanes — straight onto Hughes
Lane, left onto Highway 30 or right
onto 10th Street.
The project analysis is available
on the city’s website: https://www.
bakercity.com/DocumentCenter/
View/1961/TM6_Future-Condi-
tions_Analysis_Final
“This plan that we’re working on
we should have completed and to
the (city) planning commission and
then the (city) council in January
maybe into February; we’ve basi-
cally done the heavy lifting on this,”
Owen said.
job growth primarily through the
public sector, including 470 govern-
ment jobs.
Morrow County’s seasonally
adjusted unemployment rate fell
by 0.9 percentage points, down
to 4.4% since September 2021
— ranking Morrow sixth out of
36 Oregon counties, tied with
Clackamas and Yamhill. The total
increase across Northeastern Or-
egon counties was approximately
1,450 jobs over the year ending in
September. Of those jobs added,
700 were in the private sector.
Across the state, unemploy-
ment rates fell to 4.7%, down from
its high of 13.2% in April 2020
when government-mandated shut-
downs halted economies across the
United States. The unemployment
rate sits slightly higher than its
pre-pandemic level of 3.5%, flirting
with the idea of a full recovery as
COVID-19 infections fall across
the state, and vaccination rates
rise to 80%, according to the Or-
egon Health Authority.
Unemployment claims fell dra-
matically over the year, tumbling
from 1,918 unemployment claims
in September 2020, to just 794 in
September 2021, a nearly 60%
drop in claims numbers. Those
claims numbers had been continu-
ally dropping since January 2021,
and the last three months, starting
in July, have had marginal de-
creases as federal unemployment
benefits dry up.
In Baker County, after
Breakthrough cases
a record weekly total of
Baker County’s percent-
139 cases from Sept. 12-18,
age of breakthrough cases
weekly totals dropped for four
— infections in people who
straight weeks. There were 37
are fully vaccinated — has
cases the week Oct. 10-16, a
increased over the past
month, as overall cases have drop of almost 74% from the
record week.
declined.
The county’s case total
The OHA’s most recent
rose to 51 from Oct. 17-23.
breakthrough case report,
The current week is on
released Thursday, Oct. 27,
pace to have the fewest cases
covers the week Oct. 17-23.
since mid-July. For the first
During that week, 12 of the
county’s 51 cases were break- five days of the week, Oct.
24-28, the county reported
through — a rate of 23.5%.
17 cases. The county has had
The statewide break-
fewer than 10 cases every day
through case rate for that
Cases drop, average
since Oct. 20, the longest such
week was 27.9% — 2,156 of
age rises
streak since mid-July.
With three days left in the 7,723 total cases.
There are no active work-
Statewide, the number
month, October’s case count
was down by about 66% com- of total cases has dropped in place or school outbreaks in the
county, according to the OHA.
pared with September, which eight consecutive weeks.
set a record with 465 cases,
an average of 15.5 per day.
From Oct. 1-28, Baker
County had 170 cases, a daily
average of about 5.8.
The average age of people
who tested positive increased
during the first half of Octo-
ber.
From Oct. 1-15, residents
ages 60 to 69 accounted for
25.6% of the county’s cases,
the largest percentage in any
age range.
During September, by
contrast, people in their 60s
accounted for 9.8% of Baker
County’s cases.
During September, most
of the county’s record-setting
number of cases — about
69% — were in residents
younger than 50.
But during the first half
of October, residents younger
than 50 accounted for 33.6%
of the county’s cases.
Residents 70 and older
continue to account for a
For Discounted
relatively small percentage of
2021-2022 Season Passes
the county’s cases.
PURCHASE
BY OCTOBER 31!
There were no such cases
in the county during the first
ON-LINE: AnthonyLakes.com
half of October.
LA GRANDE: Mountain Works
During September, people
BAKER CITY: Kicks or
70 and older accounted for
The Trailhead
9.9% of the county’s cases.
the past month or so, has a
vaccination rate of 53.3%.
The four counties with
lower rates than Baker
County’s:
• Lake, 43.2%
• Malheur, 46.6%
• Gilliam, 48.2%
• Grant, 48.8%
Rates among other coun-
ties in the region:
• Union, 57%
• Umatilla, 53.5%
• Morrow, 55.1%
• Wallowa, 66.6%
LAST CHANCE
Staten said the Health
Department’s contact
tracers have found several
recent instances of multiple
people in the same house-
hold being infected.
“We are seeing a decline,
and that’s refreshing,”
Staten said. “But the virus
is still in the community
and we need to take precau-
tions.”
The county’s test positiv-
ity rate dropped to 12% for
the week Oct. 10-16, the
lowest rate since mid-July.
The positivity rate rose
to 14% from Oct. 17-23. For
the current week, starting
Oct. 24, the positivity rate,
for the first four days of the
week, was 9.2%.
PURCHASE
ONLINE
TODAY!
New At The Baker County Library
Patrons can reserve
materials in advance online
or by calling 541-523-6419.
This week, Baker County
Library has added 6 new
bestsellers, nine movies,
one audiobooks, 39 chil-
dren’s books, and 124 other
books, including 59 that
are available online. See
everything new this week
to Baker County Library
District at wowbrary.org.
Materials featured, and in
library collection, does not
indicate endorsement or
approval of contents by the
library. Selections are based
on factors such as demand,
public interest, diversity
of viewpoint, community
relevance, and others.
FICTION
• “The Judge’s List: A
Novel,” John Grisham
• “Forgiving Paris,” Karen
Kingsbury
• “A Court of Silver
Flames,” Sarah J. Maas
• “West with Giraffes,“
Lynda Rutledge
• “When Two Feathers
Fell from the Sky,” Margaret
Verble
ton: How We Almost Lost
Our Democracy and Still
Could,” Adam Schiff
• “The Beatles: Get Back,”
The Beatles, Peter Jackson,
and others.
• “The Pioneer Woman
Cooks’ Super Easy! 120
Shortcut Recipes for Din-
ners, Desserts, and More,”
Ree Drummond
NONFICTION
• “Crazy Faith: It’s Only
Crazy Until It Happens,”
Michael Todd
• “E.R. Nurses: True Sto-
ries from America’s Greatest
Unsung Heroes,” James Pat-
terson and Matt Eversmann
• “Midnight in Washing-
MOVIES
• “Don’t Breathe 2” (Hor-
ror)
• “Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe
Origins” (Action)
• “Space Jam 2” (Family)
• “Stillwater” (Drama)
• “The Suicide Squad”
(Sci-Fi)
Upload your photo,
sign the waiver,
and we’ll mail
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