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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (July 29, 2020)
NEWS MyEagleNews.com Wednesday, July 29, 2020 A3 Eagle file photo Grant funding is available for small businesses impacted by COVID-19 that have not received federal assistance. Two more grant opportunities open up for small businesses in Grant County “ONE OF THE BIGGEST CONCERNS ARE THE SMALL BUSINESSES NOT BEING ABLE TO SURVIVE THE PANDEMIC.” County businesses preapproved for $25,000 in funds through GEODC By Steven Mitchell Blue Mountain Eagle Small businesses in Grant County still have opportunities to apply for grant funding through Business Oregon. Stephanie LeQuieu, Grant County rural ven- ture catalyst with Ore- gon RAIN, said Friday that another application win- dow opened up this week and that it will stay open longer than it did in the first round. She said the Business Oregon grants are for small businesses with less than 25 employees and sole pro- prietors that did not receive emergency assistance under the federal Corona- virus Aid, Relief, and Eco- nomic Security Act. LeQuieu said she knows of one business that has received its grant money from the first round of applications, and eight others qualified out of 37 applicants. The quali- fied applicants were to be entered in a lottery draw- ing to distribute the funds, but LeQuieu said she thought there was enough funding for all that quali- fied in the first round. A majority of the busi- nesses, LeQuieu said, have already received an Eco- nomic Injury Disaster Loan through the Small Business Administration, which disqualified many businesses in the first round. For more information, contact LeQuieu at steph- anie@oregonrain.org or 541-965-1598. Susan Christensen, executive director Greater Eastern Oregon Development Corporation Business Assistance Pro- gram grant money is also available and that Grant County has been preap- proved for $25,000. Christensen said she will send the applications to LeQuieu. She said she will work closely with the county court and send emails with the applica- tions to cities in the district. She said funds, par- tially through Business Oregon, are for small busi- nesses with fewer than 25 employees and sole propri- etors that have not received CARES Act assistance. Christensen said the $25,000 has to be disbursed by Aug. 21. “I have to have at least an application approved by Aug. 21,” she said. She said the turnaround time for a business to receive money is approxi- mately a week. She said Business Ore- gon has to ensure that a business has not received money from a different source. She said the hope is the grants will allow small businesses to keep their doors open. “One of the biggest con- cerns are the small busi- nesses not being able to sur- vive the pandemic,” she said. Christensen said any- one interested in apply- ing for the grant can reach out to her at susan.chris- tensen@geodc.net or 541-612-7142. Emergency Business Assistance Program Susan Christensen, Greater Eastern Oregon Development Corporation executive director, said COVID-19 Emergency Oregon Department of Transportation Eagle file photo Grant County Health Department staff prepare COVID-19 test kits in May during the department’s curbside testing day. The depart- ment confirmed a second case of COVID-19 in the county July 20. Contact tracing begins 48 hours before symptoms or positive test Lindsay: ‘The best science says that the period of transmission is in these 48 hours’ By Steven Mitchell Blue Mountain Eagle Contact tracing became an issue as Grant County saw its second positive COVID- 19 case since March this month. County Health Admin- istrator Kimberly Lindsay said the person who recently tested positive reached out to everyone they were in con- tact with going back to July 1, letting them know they may have been exposed — but, following state guide- lines, the health depart- ment only performed contact tracing starting at 48 hours before the first symptoms, which subjected the depart- ment to community-wide scrutiny. Lindsay said the health department reaches out to anyone who has been in close contact — within 6 feet for 15 minutes — with someone infected with COVID-19, starting at 48 hours before the person begins to experi- ence symptoms, or 48 hours before receiving the test for people who do not experi- ence symptoms. The depart- ment informs those people they have been exposed and encourages them to quaran- tine themselves to prevent spreading the disease any further. Lindsay said going back 48 hours is following the state’s guidelines. “The best science says that the period of transmis- sion is in these 48 hours Eagle file photo Grant County Health Administrator Kimberly Lindsay address- es the county court July 8. Lindsay said the health department reaches out to anyone who was in close contact with someone who tests positive, starting from 48 hours before that person experienced their first symptom or 48 hours before someone re- ceived the test when they have not experienced symptoms. — that it’s a waste of time, resources, money and every- thing if you go back farther,” Lindsay said. Lindsay said the virus is “busy spreading” roughly 48 hours before the first symptom. Lindsay said people must keep in mind that researchers are continuing to learn more about COVID-19. “This virus has been with us in the world, our world, for seven months, eight months if we go back to the beginning of December,” she said. “And something like the flu has been with us for over 100 years, and we know more about the flu today than we do about this virus.” Oregon’s Medical Direc- tor Dean Sidelinger said Friday that people are most contagious within two days of developing symptoms. “For individuals with symptoms, we typically think that they are conta- gious the two days before they develop symptoms,” Sidelinger said. “For individ- uals who don’t have symp- toms, we can’t base it on a symptom date; we base it on the date they received the test and go back two days from that date to identify people who may have been potentially exposed.” Lindsay said the health department has 24 hours to contact a person who tests positive. “In my mind, we want to be reaching out to the person within the first hour or two,” she said. “And granted, we only have two cases, but we have done exactly that.” We will be closing early starting July 27, 2020 at 4:30 daily. New Office Hours: Monday-Friday 8am to 4:30pm. Update 7/24/2020 NOTICE OF ROAD WORK J OR 7 / Hwy 410 / U.S. 26 / U.S. 395 CHIP SEAL (Whitney / Sumpter / John Day / John Day-Burns highways) Beginning in early August the Oregon Department of Transportation will be chip sealing sections of OR7 (Whitney Hwy.), 195 N. Canyon Blvd., John Day, OR. 97845 www.MyEagleNews.com 541-575-0710 S199066-1 Hwy. 410 (Sumpter Hwy.), U.S. 26 (John Day Hwy.) and U.S. 395 (John Day-Burns Hwy.) in the Baker and Grant County area. 1. Aug. 3-6: OR7 (Whitney Hwy.) Grant Co. line to Mason Dam, milepost 9.5 to 35.3 and Hwy. 410 (Sumpter Hwy.) OR7 to Sumpter, milepost zero to 3.7. 2. Aug. 7-10: U.S. 26 (John Day Hwy.) John Day to Prairie City, milepost 162.6 to 175. 3. Aug. 10-11: U.S. 395-C (John Day-Burns Hwy.) U.S. 26 in John Day to Canyon City, milepost zero to 2.34. 4. Aug. 12-18: U.S. 395-C (John Day-Burns Hwy.) Star Ridge to Harney Co. line, milepost 15.5 to 40.38. Grant County Youth Livestock Auction NOTE: Dates are subject to change, depending on weather conditions and other factors. PARKING RESTRICTIONS: During chip seal activities in downtown areas, vehicles will not be allowed to park in work zones along U.S. 26 in John Day and Prairie City and along U.S. 395 in John Day and Canyon City. TRAVEL IMPACTS: Expect up to 20-minute delays, reduced speeds, loose rock on the roadway, flaggers, and pilot cars directing single lane traffic through the work zones. Minor delays during nighttime/early morning hours for road sweeping. Please reduce speed and watch for construction activities in the area. Plan extra travel time and slow down to prevent loose rock from flying onto other vehicles. Crews will sweep roadway, but expect some loose rock to be present for several days after chip seal. Bicycle riders should be prepared for traveling on rock chip covered highway sections behind a pilot car with no usable shoulders. Use alternate routes or delay travel if possible to avoid chip seal work zone. Pedestrians, including those with disabilities, will be provided access through or around the work zone. RANCHERS, FARMERS, PROPERTY OWNERS: Please keep farm equipment off the impacted highway sections during and up to two days after the chip sealing. Also, adjust irrigation pivots and lawn sprinklers to keep water off the roadway. If you have plans for moving livestock on these highway sections, please advise Lee McDannel at 541-823-4030. We greatly appreciate your support and cooperation during this paving operation. These are just some of the many highway projects being constructed this year. For more info on this and other eastern Oregon highway construction project contact Tom Strandberg at 541-963-1330, email: thomas.m.strandberg@odot.state.or.us. For update road conditions check TripCheck.com or call 511, or (800)977-6368. S200670-1 Project Location Map SATURDAY AUGUST 15th 4PM • LOCATION TBA Options to bid on youth market animals: 1. In person. Strict social distancing guidelines must be followed. 2. Over the phone bidding by calling into one of the sale day phones. 3. Online bidding by logging in and creating an account through LiveAuctions.TV After August 1st, you may set up an account with LiveAuctions.TV. If you need assistance, call (208) 599-2962 Contacts for sale: Ben Holliday: 541-620-0521 Shannon Springer: 541-377-8354 Lindy Cruise: 208-240-0916 S200438-1 SEE ATTACHED MAP WITH PROJECT LOCATIONS