OSP WARNS HUNTERS ABOUT COMMON VIOLATIONS | PAGE A3
Wednesday, September 9, 2020
152nd Year • No. 37 • 12 Pages • $1.50
MyEagleNews.com
Five men Chester’s fined for mask noncompliance
charged
for string
of thefts
in Grant
County
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
Customers wishing to enter
Chester’s Thriftway will now be
required to mask up after Ore-
gon’s Occupational Safety and
Health Administration slapped
the grocery store with a fine Sept.
2 for failure to comply with Gov.
Kate Brown’s mask order.
According to a sign in front of
the store, the mes-
sage is clear: Due
to OSHA’s recent
fines, they can-
not let people in
the store without
a face covering —
Robert Hunt
no exceptions.
“It comes down
to: We were trying to be nice and
let those people still shop,” Rob-
ert Hunt, the store manager, told
the Eagle Friday. “But that bit us
in the butt.”
Hunt said he is not sure how
much the actual fine will be and
that this is the eighth complaint
that OSHA received about either
Chester’s employees not wear-
ing masks or staff allowing cus-
tomers to shop without face
coverings.
OSHA spokesman Aaron Cor-
vin said, under OSHA penalty
rules, a severe violation that is not
a willful or repeated offense, car-
ries a minimum penalty of $100
and a maximum of $12,675.
Chester’s Operations Manager
Bill Wyllie said OSHA considers the
number of employees a business has
and their record and then assesses
the fine amount from there.
Wyllie said Chester’s has
See Fined, Page A12
‘ONE PERSON DIES BY SUICIDE EVERY 10 HOURS IN OREGON’
38 victims, 14
chain saws, 12 firearms
listed in the charges
By Rudy Diaz
Blue Mountain Eagle
Five young men face a variety
of charges related to a string of
thefts — including 14 chain saws
and 12 firearms — over the last
year in Grant
County.
The thefts
began Sept. 14,
2019, and con-
tinued
until
June 26, accord-
ing to multi-
ple indictments
Austin
filed
Aug.
Catron
19 in Grant
County Circuit
Court by Grant
County District
Attorney Jim
Carpenter. At
least 38 victims
were reported
Clayton
in the indict-
Ellis
ments, listing a
variety of items
including chain
saws, guns, bin-
oculars, back-
packs,
wal-
lets, tools and
Jonas
supplies stolen
Waite
from vehicles
and homes.
Tanner E.
Walczyk, born
in 1999, of
Grant and Uma-
tilla counties is
charged with 30
Tanner
counts of crim-
Walczyk
inal
conspir-
acy, 22 counts
of first-degree theft, 12 counts of
second-degree theft, two counts
of third-degree theft, three counts
of second-degree burglary, 18
counts of unlawful entry into
motor vehicle, nine counts of
second-degree trespassing, five
counts of third-degree criminal
mischief, one count of first-de-
gree mischief and two counts of
menacing that span from Septem-
ber 2019 to June 2020, according
to the Aug. 19 indictments.
Walczyk was also charged
See Thefts, Page A12
Eagle file photo
Community Counseling Solutions Clinical Director Thad Labhart says in general suicide rates in Eastern Oregon are a lot higher than other parts of the state.
County continues toward Zero Suicide
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
HELP IS AVAILABLE
With COVID-19 continuing to take a toll on
the nation’s collective mental health, Grant County
health officials remain steadfast in their systematic
approach to ensure people do not fall through the
cracks as the country heads into National Suicide
Prevention Week.
Suicide rates in the U.S. have increased across
the country by 24% , according to the Centers for
Disease Control.
Community Counseling Solutions Clinical
Director Thad Labhart said the national suicide
rate per 100,000 people is 14%, and in Oregon the
rate is roughly 19%.
“One person dies by suicide every 10 hours in
Oregon,” Labhart said.
Labhart said the leading cause of death for peo-
ple between the ages of 10 and 24 is suicide. And,
he said, more than five times as many people die
by suicide in the state than they do by alcohol-re-
lated car accidents.
“And in general in Eastern Oregon, it’s a lot
If you or someone you know is experienc-
ing a mental health crisis, know that help is
available.
• Call the National Suicide Prevention Life-
line run by Lines For Life at 800-273-8255 or
text ‘273TALK’ to 839863.
• En español: 888-628-9454. TTY: 800-799-
4TTY (4889).
EO Media Group file photo
Grant County Health Administrator and Commu-
nity Counseling Solutions Executive Director Kim-
berly Lindsay
higher,” he said. “In general frontier rural counties
in the West have even higher rates.”
Labhart said he sourced the data points through
the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
Coupled with the grim statistics surrounding
• Youthline is a teen-to-teen crisis and help
line. Teens are available to help daily, 4 to
10 p.m. Pacific Time (off-hour calls answered
by Lines for Life). Call 877-968-8491 or text
teen2teen to 839863 or chat at oregonyouth-
line.org.
suicide both nationally and across the state, Com-
munity Counseling Solutions Executive Director
Kimberly Lindsay told the Eagle Aug. 25 that she is
See Suicide, Page A12
Gov. Brown extends COVID-19 emergency order
By Gary A. Warner
Oregon Capital Bureau
Oregon will stay under the
COVID-19 state of emergency in
place since March until Nov. 3, Gov.
Kate Brown announced last week.
Brown’s executive order effec-
tively means the status quo will
remain in place. The first order was
issued March 8 and has now been
renewed twice. The order allows pre-
vious restrictions to stay in place and
provides legal backup for actions by
the state related to the pandemic.
“Six months after this crisis began,
we have made progress,” Brown said.
“Together, we have slowed the spread
of this disease.”
Brown said the pandemic is far
from under control in Oregon and
elsewhere, and the extension of the
emergency order will ensure continu-
nesses, schools, child care and higher
education.
The order came as the United
States passed six million reported
cases of COVID-19 since the pan-
demic began just before Jan. 1,
according to the Johns Hopkins Coro-
navirus Resource Center. There have
been more than 189,400 deaths in the
United States.
The Oregon Health Authority on
Tuesday reported 169 new COVID-
19 cases in the state, bringing the
total to 28,355. Four new deaths were
reported, bringing the state total to
PMG file photo/Jaime Valdez 486 since the pandemic began.
Gov. Kate Brown, at a May press event,
Worldwide, there have been 27.4
wearing her mask in public.
million reported cases and 894,012
deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins
ity of efforts crucial to public health. report.
The extension will continue the
Oregon has had a relatively low
phased reopening of Oregon, and infection and death rate compared to
keep in place mandates on busi- the rest of the country, but the United
States has higher rates than most
countries.
While noting progress in the fight
against COVID-19, Brown under-
lined that infection rates were not low
enough to allow for in-person instruc-
tion at all but a few school districts.
“As students across Oregon begin
a school year far different than any
other before, it is clear that, at current
COVID-19 levels, it will not be safe in
much of the state for children to return
to in-classroom instruction for months
to come,” Brown said.
Brown said only a vaccine will
ensure that a semblance of normalcy
will return to public life. There are cur-
rently 36 vaccines in clinical trials and
a total of 90 under various stages of
development.
Three vaccines have advanced to
Phase 3 of trials needed for approval to
use in the United States.