STATE
CHAMPIONS
Justin Hodge takes down Kyle
Hayner of Toledo in overtime to
win the 152-pound state wres-
tling championship title.
DREW LUSCO AND
JUSTIN HODGE
EO Media Group/Ronald Bond
WIN STATE
WRESTLING TITLES
PAGE A10
Wednesday, March 4, 2020
152nd Year • No. 10 • 18 Pages • $1.50
MyEagleNews.com
Oregon identifies third case of coronavirus in Umatilla County
No cases confirmed
in Grant County, and
local health officials
are following CDC
guidance
NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS
OHA continues to recommend all people in Oregon take everyday precautions to
prevent the spread of many respiratory illnesses, including COVID-19 and influenza:
• Cover your coughs and sneezes with a tissue and then throw the tissue in the trash.
• Wash your hands often with soap and water for 20 seconds. If soap and water are
not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60%
alcohol.
EO Media Group
The coronavirus has arrived in
Eastern Oregon.
The Oregon Health Authority
announced Monday that it had a third
presumptive case of coronavirus diag-
nosed in Umatilla County. Prelimi-
nary reports indicate the county resi-
dent attended a youth basketball game
in the gymnasium at Weston Middle
School, 205 E. Wallace St., in Weston,
on Saturday, Feb. 29. The person is
hospitalized in Walla Walla, the health
authority said.
Athena-Weston School District
officials have closed the gym and are
deep cleaning out of an abundance
• Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.
• Clean and disinfect surfaces that are often touched.
• Take care of your health overall. Staying current on your vaccinations, including flu
vaccine, eating well and exercising all help your body stay resilient.
EO Media Group/Ben Lonergan
A sign along Highway 331 in Mis-
sion warns that Wildhorse Resort &
Casino is closed for cleaning after
an employee returned a presump-
tive positive test for the COVID-19
virus.
of caution. The gym is physically
detached from the rest of the school.
• Consult CDC’s travel website for any travel advisories and steps to protect yourself if
you plan to travel outside of the US.
Health officials do not consider the
separate school building to pose any
risk of exposure.
OHA is investigating the case to
see how many other people came into
close contact with the victim. Under
federal Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention and Prevention (CDC)
guidelines, other spectators who may
have been in a closed environment
with the individual would be consid-
ered “low-risk” exposures.
Athena-Weston School District
Superintendent Laure Quaresma told
the Walla-Walla Union Bulletin that
the victim is a man who didn’t have
kids in the district, and the game at the
middle school gym was not affiliated
with any of the district’s sports teams.
“We don’t have kids with any
symptoms,” she told the Union-Bulle-
tin. “We know what to look for, and
we have been in close contact with
Oregon Health Authority.”
The person diagnosed with coro-
navirus, more specifically known as
COVID-19, is also an employee at
Wildhorse Resort and Casino, the
Confederated Tribes of the Uma-
tilla Indian Reservation confirmed
Monday.
As a precaution, the tribes’ board
of trustees ordered the tribes to close
Wildhorse Resort and Casino, Nixy-
aawii Community School, Head Start,
Daycare and Senior Center until all
See CDC, Page A18
Seneca raising funds and building bridges
Sewer project expected
to be completed this
year, and fire station
fundraising continues
By Rudy Diaz
Blue Mountain Eagle
Members of the Seneca City
Council and residents have worked
together to complete construction on
several projects and raise funds for the
new fire station as work on the new
lagoon is expected to wrap up this
year.
Planning for the $3.5 million
wastewater project began in 2012, but
the project will finally be completed
in the summer of 2020, according to
Seneca City Manager Raamin Burrell.
“Our old lagoons, at one point,
were allowed to dry, and there is the
worry that the lining cracked on it,
and it has been slowly leaking into the
ground underneath the lagoon,” Bur-
rell said. “Even though when they
tested it they never found any evi-
Contributed photo/Raamin Burrell
The city rebuilt and widened the bridge on North Bridge Road with help from Nolan Riis, Seneca Mayor Brad
Smith, Shane Koppel and Lucas Moore and several other volunteers.
dence of that, it’s still a concern.”
The construction of the lagoon has
also provided a new waste system for
the new subdivision. This will allow
the city to sell property for new resi-
dences in town, Burrell said.
The city also plans to complete a
project to chip seal the roads through
the use of the Small City Allotment
grant from the Oregon Department of
Transportation.
ODOT awarded $50,000 to Sen-
eca in 2016, and the project will
focus on main residential streets and
does not include Forest Road 16 or
Highway 395.
Burrell said, while big projects
are planned to be completed in the
summer, the city recently completed
several projects through local efforts
such as work on the North Bridge
Road and a free library in city hall.
The city rebuilt and widened the
bridge on North Bridge Road with
help from Nolan Riis, who milled the
lumber, and several volunteers such
as Seneca Mayor Brad Smith, Shane
Koppel and Lucas Moore. Burrell
said they and several other volun-
teers helped with the dismantle and
the rebuild.
“With the help of Councilor Barb
Northington, Suzanne Hood, Mary
Carr, Don and Linda Pace, Sue Find-
ley, and Amanda Born, we were
able to finish and install the shelves
I designed for city hall to house the
Seneca Free Library,” Burrell said.
“Don Pace did all the cutting of the
lumber, Linda Pace and I did most
of the staining, and Barb Northing-
ton, Suzanne Hood and I put them
together. Amanda Born and Mary
Carr helped me with the polyure-
thane. Then we connected the two
See Seneca, Page A18
John Michael Montgomery to headline Grant County Fair
Opening acts include
Jessie Leigh and
American Idol winner
Laine Hardy
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
Bestselling singer and songwriter
John Michael Montgomery will head-
line this year’s Grant County Fair
Aug. 14.
Opening acts will include Jes-
sie Leigh followed by American Idol
winner Laine Hardy, Grant County
Fair Manager Mindy Winegar said.
Tickets cost $45, or $20 for people 12
and younger. Gates will open at 6 p.m.
The Grant County Court also
approved at its Feb. 26 meeting Win-
egar’s request for engineering draw-
ings to install a new picnic and stor-
age area.
Grant County CASA follows
up with county on funding
request
Hanna Hinman, executive director
of Grant County CASA, followed up
on the organization’s previous request
for additional funding.
County Judge Scott Myers said,
since the last time Hinman was at
court, he met with Margaret David-
son, director of Community Con-
nections of Grant County, and that
Davidson has her staff researching
fundraising opportunities for CASA.
Commissioner Jim Hamsher asked
Hinman where she was regarding
Harney County’s participation. Hin-
man said, currently, Harney County is
not taking any funding requests from
community organizations.
Hamsher said the county is con-
sidering an ordi-
nance to put out to
the voters imposing a
local 3% tax on mar-
ijuana. Should vot-
ers approve, it could
potentially
open
John Michael up another revenue
Montgomery stream for organiza-
tions like CASA, Hamsher said.
Grant Soil and Water
District updates court on
new approach to water
quality management
Grant Soil and Water District Man-
ager Kyle Sullivan walked the court
through the Oregon Department of
Agriculture’s Strategic Implementa-
tion Area plan. Sullivan told the court
the SIA has been in place since 2014,
and ODA is now implementing the
project in Grant County.
“We feel this was implemented
statewide without regard to con-
ditions on the ground,” Sullivan
said.
Sullivan said there is a lack of
monitoring information in ODA’s SIA
plan. Additionally, he said the dis-
trict is concerned that the program is
overly ambitious.
The district’s board of direc-
tors have many years of water qual-
ity experience, and that has not been
taken into consideration with respect
to the SIA plan, Sullivan said.
Nonetheless, Sullivan said that the
way the plan is proposed, it appears
that the ODA is looking for input
from other agencies, such as the
state’s Department of Environmental
Quality.
Commissioner Sam Palmer said he
is concerned the soil and water district
will be seen as the “bad guys.”
See Fair, Page A18