ELECTIONS: CONGRESS, CIRCUIT COURT JUDGE | PAGES A3, A14
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
152nd Year • No. 19 • 18 Pages • $1.50
MyEagleNews.com
A distant Mother’s Day
With senior homes locked
down, families forced to
stay away on holiday
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
Mother’s Day is coming up on
Sunday, but with the coronavirus
pandemic, the holiday will look
much different this year.
As senior homes across the coun-
try continue to stay shuttered to vis-
itors, Valley View Assisted Living
will hold a Mother’s Day “door-
way” tea and bingo social for its 26
residents, 20 of them being mothers.
Stephanie Rodriguez, executive
director at Valley View, said the res-
idents, instead of gathering together
in a group for tea and bingo, sit in
their doorways to socialize.
“They really like it,” she said. “It
is a great way for them to socialize,
but still maintain appropriate social
distancing.”
Rodriguez said the doorway con-
cept is used for exercises and games
as well.
But the restrictions from see-
ing loved ones on Mother’s Day are
hard on everyone.
“I think any time you’re restricted
from seeing a loved one is difficult,
especially during a holiday like
Mother’s Day,” Rodriguez said.
Nancy Burns, whose mother
Shirley Mulcahy has been at Val-
ley View for nearly three years, said
having her mother at an assisted liv-
ing facility is very difficult right
Contributed photo
Shirley Mulcahy
now.
“I have a fear that she’ll pass
during this time, and I won’t be
there,” Burns said.
Burns said Mulcahy, who has
dementia and will turn 89 this
month, had just gotten through a flu
scare in November before the out-
break of COVID-19.
In Oregon’s reporting data,
deaths in long-term care facili-
ties account for over 50% of all
COVID-19 deaths. Residents of
nursing homes tend to have under-
lying health conditions, live in close
contact with others and rely on per-
son-to-person interactions.
Many people have seen their
lives dramatically change and are
coping the best they can.
But for people like Burns’
mother, her cognitive health
depends heavily on social engage-
ment. Studies have shown activities
such as regular bonding with loved
ones, learning new skills and inter-
acting with friends can slow the
progression of memory loss.
“She’s losing her words again,”
Burns said.
Burns said, while some people
visit their family members through
the apartment windows at Valley
View, she decided that would con-
fuse her mother and have unin-
tended consequences.
Despite the difficulties, Burns
said there are positive things to
remember as well.
Just before the outbreak, Burns
said she brought in music tapes for
her mother to listen to, and that has
helped. The tapes are of an artist
who used to work with the Beach
Boys that bring back a lot of good
memories for her mother.
See Distant, Page A18
The Eagle/Rudy Diaz
Senior pictures on display on the entrance fence to the Don L. Parker Memorial Field, where Prairie City School’s graduation ceremony is planned once approved by the Grant County Emergency Op-
erations Center.
DRIVE-IN DIPLOMAS
GRANT COUNTY SCHOOLS PLAN ALTERNATIVE GRADUATION CEREMONIES AMID COVID-19
By Rudy Diaz
Blue Mountain Eagle
COVID-19 presents challenges for gradua-
tion ceremonies, but schools in Grant County are
developing ways to recognize the seniors safely.
Grant Union High School’s graduation cer-
emony will be “drive-in style” at 10 a.m. Satur-
day, May 30. Parents and graduates will park in
the Grant Union parking lot with one vehicle per-
mitted for each graduate.
“They’ll come in, and we’ll have the stage set
up out here on the front yards in front of the ‘G’
that’s on the new gym,” Grant Union Junior-Se-
nior High School Principal Ryan Gerry said.
“We’ll have our stage set up out that way, and then
have a sound system spread out through the park-
ing lot.”
Gerry said some aspects of the ceremony will
have to be modified to accommodate for social
distancing, but there will be a presentation and
valedictorian speeches while graduates are in cars.
Gerry said the school has been working with
the Grant County Emergency Operations Center
and concluded that a student can leave their vehi-
cle, one at a time, to get their diploma from the
stage with no hand off or handshake.
The school also hired a photographer who will
take pictures of the graduates to make sure every
family has a photo so parents won’t have to get out
The Eagle/Rudy Diaz
See Diplomas, Page A18
Senior pictures on display on the entrance fence to the Don L. Parker Memorial Field.
Eastern Oregon counties developing plans to reopen economy
Gov. Brown: Plans could
be approved this week for
reopening no sooner than
May 15
By Ellen Morris Bishop
EO Media Group
Grant County officials submitted a
draft plan to reopen businesses to the
state of Oregon for approval Monday,
but other counties that have submitted
plans have been told reopening won’t
happen before May 15.
The plan may or may not need to be
modified based on future guidance and
requirements from the state of Oregon.
The Grant County Emergency
Operations Center was scheduled to
host a videoconference meeting with
local businesses discussing the plan
Tuesday, May 5, past press time. Vid-
eos of that meeting and a meeting with
the medical sector were planned to be
uploaded to the county’s new COVID-
19 website, grantcountycovid.com.
“Several counties have already sub-
EO Media Group/Ellen Morris Bishop
Wallowa County Commissioners Susan Roberts and John Hillock participate with
other rural counties in an internet meeting with Oregon Gov. Kate Brown May 1.
mitted plans to reopen with the state
...,” said Stephanie LeQuieu, Grant
County’s Oregon RAIN rural ven-
ture catalyst, in an email announc-
ing the meetings. “These counties will
need to resubmit their plans because
of multiple new requirements released
in the last 72 hours, along with other
requirements shared by the governor
on Friday.”
District Attorney Jim Carpenter
said in a statement Monday that “no
individual or business owner within
Grant County that is open and demon-
strating reasonable precautions to pro-
tect those they come in contact with
and serve will be prosecuted for defy-
ing orders to shelter in place or remain
closed.”
On Friday, Wallowa County applied
to open select businesses under Ore-
gon’s Phase 1 guidelines as early as
May 4, but Gov. Kate Brown said, if
the plan is approved, reopening won’t
occur until at least May 15.
The application details how busi-
nesses targeted for Phase 1 opening
can meet the guidelines. Those busi-
nesses include restaurants, bars, child
care, retail, outfitters and outdoor rec-
reation. It also includes specifics on
how hospitals will deal with surges,
assurances that care providers will
have a 14-day stock of personal pro-
tective equipment on hand at all times.
At this point, it seems that Wallowa
County can check all the boxes to qual-
See Economy, Page A18