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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (May 6, 2020)
A18 NEWS Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, May 6, 2020 Diplomas Continued from Page A1 Contributed photo Sandra Hehn, center, with her grandkids, from left to right, An- drew Nordtvedt, Sarah Cole, Joe Cole and Maddie Nordtvedt. The Eagle/Rudy Diaz Distant Senior pictures on display on the entrance fence to the Don L. Parker Memorial Field in Prairie City. Continued from Page A1 outlined by Oregon Department of Edu- cation, Oregon Health Authority and Gov. Kate Brown’s executive orders. Monument School will also highlight senior projects on social media closer to the graduation date because seniors didn’t get to finalize and present due to the COVID-19 closures, Thomas said. “We want the graduates and their par- ents to know how proud we are of the seniors,” Thomas said. “I have greatly appreciated how, despite the situation, we have all worked together to find the best way possible to honor and celebrate these five amazing young adults and their accomplishments and transition to their next chapter of life.” The view Mulcahy has from her room helps a lot as well. “She has the best view of the whole place,” Burns said. Tara Cole, whose mother Sandra Hehn is at Valley View, said her experience overall has been positive. Cole said her mother lived alone prior to living at Valley View and that she would be very worried right now if she were still living by herself. “We know it is for the best, and she is getting great care from the staff. It has been hard emotionally for my mom as Dayville School Superintendent Kathryn Hedrick said the school’s two graduates asked that the school postpone and not cancel the graduation ceremony. A date will be set when the state allows gatherings. Their graduation date is still officially May 30, but Hedrick added that they anticipate an end-of-summer celebration. Margee Powell, from Long Creek School, said one student is graduating from Long Creek this year. The current plan is to have a private ceremony for James Kreamier Jr., who will receive his diploma from his father, James Kream- ier Sr., who is also on the Long Creek School Board. Economy Continued from Page A1 ify for a Phase 1 opening that would include recommended limits of 50 miles for travel, social distancing in retail shops and restaurants and clo- sure of restaurants and bars at 10 p.m. The final guidelines will be published next week, Brown said. Gov. Brown, her staff and OHA director Pat Allen held an internet conference with commissioners from rural eastern Oregon Friday, includ- ing Wallowa, Union, Wasco, Morrow, Umatilla, Malheur and Harney counties. The meeting allowed com- missioners to comment on and ask questions about the draft guidelines issued last week. The take-away included that it may be unlikely that large gatherings of more than 250 people will be allowed through the end of the sum- mer, and that the governor’s office is reluctant to include opening of hair and beauty salons in Phase 1. Commissioners also EO Media Group/Ellen Morris Bishop At a Friday emergency meeting hosted online, the three Wallowa County commissioners voted unanimously to apply to open under Oregon’s Phase 1 guidelines as early as May 4. The guidelines provide rules for opening restaurants, bars, outdoor recreation busi- nesses including outfitters and others. Commissioner Todd Nash participated via a phone link from important work with his cattle. Administrative Assistant Stacey Fregulia, right, set up and ran the virtual meeting. expressed concern over the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s allowance of out-of state hunting and fishing beginning May 5 and exactly how they would be able to show the required “downward trend” since many of the par- ticipating counties had few or no COVID-19 cases. Brown was unsure whether personal services, such as hair salons and manicures, which allow fairly intimate contact, would be included. The gover- nor’s staff seemed acquainted Grant SWCD Weed Weed Control Control Dept. Dept. Grant SWCD Working for You You in in 2020 2019 Working for Thanks to the Grant County Court and Northeast Oregon Forests Resource Advisory Committee, Grant Weed Control is able to offer a 50% Cost Share Program for Noxious Weed Control on Private Grazing Lands, through a Title II funded Grant Project. This program will provide a maximum $5,000 of noxious weed control services with a $2,500 maximum landowner contribution to qualifying participants. To be eligible for participation, the treatment property must not be actively irrigated and must be primarily managed for livestock grazing, minimum of 20 acres in size, located within Grant County, and must contain weed species listed on the Grant County Noxious Weed List. Applications for this limited weed control assistance opportunity will be funded on a first come first serve basis. Applications due by June 5th. Contact the Grant Soil and Water Conservation District Office at (541) 575-1554 or visit 721 S. Canyon Blvd., John Day, OR 97845 for applications and additional information. S184611-1 117734 OTEC Board Position 2 Credentialed Cooperative Director, Board Leadership Certificate Board Member 2014-2015, 2017-2020 Service to Members Focus on safe, reliable and affordable power while meeting challenges of changing energy marketplace Experienced Leadership - Local, Regional and State Informed advocacy for OTEC interests in rule-making and regulatory actions Commitment to Community - 35 years in Eastern Oregon Equitable service to every member and every community for the good of the whole I ask for your vote to continue serving you as a member of your OTEC Board Paid for by Aletha Bronebrake 2347 Cambell St., Baker City only with large hair and nail salons that seated a dozen or more clients simultaneously, but were unfamiliar with smaller rural businesses. Wal- lowa County Commissioner Susan Roberts responded that she had asked businesses in Wallowa County to pro- vide opening plans, and some beauty parlors had provided plans for opening. “These shops out here are one or two people shops,” she said. The same concern was voiced by Morrow County Commissioner Melissa Lind- say, who told of a beautician in Heppner who works with one or two customers at a time in their entire place. “She has a plan already written up on how she can isolate and keep her custom- ers safe,” she said. “The hard thing is that, after I got off that phone call, I drove past Wal- Mart with a packed parking lot, and I stepped into Safeway — and walked right back out the door because it was abso- lutely packed. There was no way customers were maintain- ing the 6-foot distancing. If we could phase it in for smaller shops, I really think that these parlors can do a good job of distancing and protecting their client’s health.” Roberts pleaded for a decision on Phase 1 opening sooner than May 15. “Lots of our restaurants have submitted plans,” she said. “But I just don’t know if they can make it for two more weeks. They are hanging on by a very thin thread.” Roberts also asked for more specific information about allowing larger gath- erings later in the summer, a concern shared by Umatilla County Commissioner George Murdock. “When can we get some specificity of gathering sizes?” she prefers to leave the facil- ity periodically and has not not been able to have visitors,” Cole said. “We remind her by phone daily that it is for the best, and she understands that. Cole, who lives in Idaho, said Memorial Day weekend is when her family gets together in Grant County to visit her mother and celebrate Mother’s Day, but she said she does not see the restrictions being lifted by then. She said, however, that it did give her peace of mind that the restrictions were making her mother safer. “This is the population we need to be protecting right now,” she said. Murdock asked. “We are under some significant pres- sure to make decisions on upcoming events that require a lot of preplanning. These are multi-million dollar activities, and we’re getting a little ner- vous ...” referring specifically to the Pendleton Round-Up. Brown said they are work- ing on it. “September is a ways off,” she said. “The challenge for Oregon is to predict these things. We don’t have a sense of what will happen when we start to open. So we need to look at the science behind that. It will be a few days, a couple of weeks, before we make a decision on that.” Brown would not commit to any date allowing larger gatherings (presumably Phase 2). “We aren’t controlling the timeline,” she said. “The dis- ease controls it. But you all are doing a great job.” Pat Allen, director of the Oregon Health Authority, said large gatherings were unlikely to be allowed soon. “Just to manage expec- tations, I would tell you that from our standpoint, we think it’s extremely unlikely that we would be providing advice to the governor anytime this summer that very large events over 250 people are going to be a good idea,” he said. “But ultimately that decision has not been made, and the gov- ernor will have to give you the timeline for that. But that’s where I think we are from a health advice standpoint.” Wasco County Commis- sioner Steve Kramer asked whether there was a hard date for approval of guidelines. “It will be next week,” Brown said Friday. The Blue Mountain Eagle contributed to this report. Dear Community, John Day Volunteer Firefighter Assocation would like to thank the following community members and businesses. With great regret, due to covid-19, we had to cancel this year’s event. However, all the donations will be used towards next year’s Easter Egg Hunt event. Blue Mountain Lodge, Eastern Oregon Realty, Frontier Equipment, John Day True Value, Stylish 10, Doug’s Motor Repair, Mobile Glass, Bank Of Eastern Oregon, Rocky Mountain Dispensary, Katrina’s Barber Shop, Dave’s RV, Squeeze Inn, Ed Staub & Sons Petroleum, Les Schwab, Snaffle Bit, Leathers’ Gas, Lens Drugs, RadioShack, Melanie Cochran, Old West FCU, John Day Eye Care, Russell’s Custom Meats, Dark Horse, Mountain View Mini-Mart, Farmers Insurance, OTC Connections, Dreamers Lodge, A Cut Above, Hutch’s Printing, DG Driscoll’s Books, Stephen Harwood, Etc. Gifts, El Cocinero, Chuck’s Little Diner, Prairie City Motor and Cycles, Beverly Roe, A&Z Electronics, Cloud 9 Hair Salon, John Day River Vet, Norco Medical Supply, Triangle Oil, Bar WB S186499-1 of their cars to take pictures. The ceremony will also be lives- treamed on the Grant Union Facebook page. After graduates receive their diplo- mas, there will be a parade at 11 a.m., which will be led by the John Day Police Department, to Clyde Holliday State Park. “The police department will be lead- ing them out for a ‘honk out’ parade through town, kind of like what we do for sport teams,” Gerry said. Prairie City School plans to hold a graduation ceremony at 6 p.m. Friday, May 29, in their football field. The cer- emony will also be a drive-in, with one vehicle permitted for each graduate with their immediate family. Each graduate will have an opportu- nity to walk across the stage to grab their diploma. Their picture will also be taken by a professional on the left part of the stage in a designated area. The ceremony will be followed by a parade led by the Prairie City Fire Department as parents and graduates parade through downtown. Superinten- dent Casey Hallgarth said Prairie City School will be submitting the plan to the EOC for approval. Laura Thomas, the superintendent for Monument School, said they will be holding graduation as planned at 4 p.m. Saturday, May 23. The school will be altering the format to follow guidelines
