MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, November 25, 2020
152nd Year • No. 48 • 14 Pages • $1.50
Grant County reports first
COVID-19-related death
10.4% positivity rate takes county to 127 total cases
Carrie
Young
Memorial
to be held
virtually
GRANT COUNTY
COVID-19 CASES
March 19
1
1st
July 20
1
2nd
Aug. 4
1
3rd
Aug. 5
1
4th
Aug. 21
1
5th
Aug. 22
3
8th
Sept. 23
1
9th
Sept. 27
1
10th
Oct. 23
1
11th
Oct. 29
1
12th
Oct. 31
1
13th
Nov. 1
1
14th
Nov. 3
4
18th
Nov. 4
4
22nd
Nov. 5
4
26th
Nov. 6
21
47th
Nov. 7
3
50th
Nov. 9
4
54th
Nov. 10
3
57th
Nov. 11
5
62nd
Nov. 12
3
65th
Nov. 14
1
66th
Nov. 17
19
85th
Nov. 18
15
100th
Nov. 19
16
116th
Nov. 20
4
120th
Nov. 21
1
121st
Nov. 22
1
122nd
Nov. 23
1
123rd
Nov. 24
4
127th
Items will be
auctioned over
the radio
By Rudy Diaz
Blue Mountain Eagle
governor and other state officials and
legislators, county commissioners,
The 28th annual Car-
rie Young Memorial will see
changes this year, but the leg-
acy of giving continues with
many items for auction and a
chance for the county to give
back.
Organizer Lucie Immoos
said the event will start at
6 p.m. Dec. 4 on the radio
through KJDY. Bidders can
call 541-620-2098, 541-620-
0220, 541-620-2958, 541-
620-0233 and 541-620-2534
to make their bids.
The event was originally
scheduled to be held in the
Grant County Fairgrounds
heritage barn, but Immoos
said the memorial for her sis-
ter would not be an in-person
event this year.
Oregon’s two-week freeze
was one of the deciding
factors.
Immoos came into this
year hesitating to ask peo-
ple for donations due to the
fires throughout Oregon
and the economic impact of
COVID-19.
However, she feels she
received more donations this
year than ever before, includ-
ing items the memorial has
never auctioned before such
as two, 100-gallon fuel deliv-
ery certificates and a fishing
trip on the Columbia River.
Businesses that have been
shut down for months also
donated items to be auctioned.
“I am absolutely so grate-
ful for everybody that partic-
ipates in the memorial, every-
body that’s donated to us and
my team that builds every-
thing,” Immoos said. “It’s
been a huge effort provided by
the community in the county
and out of county.”
Immoos created the memo-
rial in 1993 to honor her older
sister, Carrie Young, who was
killed in a car crash.
When Young passed away,
the family learned that she
purchased gifts each Christ-
mas for residents at Blue
Mountain Care Center in Prai-
rie City, where she worked.
With the money raised by
See Letter, Page A14
See Memorial, Page A14
The Eagle/Steven Mitchell
Grant County Public Health Administrator Kimberly Lindsay addresses the Nov. 18 session
of Grant County Court.
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
The first COVID-19-related deaths
were reported in both Grant and Harney
counties last week.
The Grant County Health Depart-
ment reported an 87-year-old woman
with underlying conditions died Nov. 15
at her home. The Oregon Health Author-
ity reported she tested positive Oct. 30.
OHA reported an 81-year-old woman in
Harney County with underlying condi-
tions tested positive Nov. 12 and died
Nov. 18 at Harney District Hospital.
Grant County Public Health Admin-
istrator Kimberly Lindsay said the
region “peeled back another layer of the
onion” as cases in the county saw a near
900% increase since the beginning of
the month.
According to Lindsay, Grant Coun-
ty’s total number of cases is at 127 as
of Tuesday, and the county had a 10.4%
positivity rate last week.
The health department will offer test-
ing from 3-4 p.m. Mondays through
Thursdays for the next several weeks in
their parking lot.
Statewide, 456 people were hospital-
ized with COVID-19 Monday, a 142%
increase since Nov. 1, and 44 more than
were reported on Friday.
In Grant County’s Region 7, shared
with Deschutes, Harney, Klamath, Jef-
ferson, Klamath, Lake and Wheeler
counties, OHA reported that 25 people
were being hospitalized as of Friday for
COVID-19. Five were in intensive care
units, and one was on a ventilator.
According to Lindsay, ICU bed space
and reduced staffing levels remained
See COVID, Page A14
“THERE ARE SOME INDIVIDUALS THAT 90 DAYS LATER DO NOT HAVE THEIR TASTE OR
SMELL BACK, SOME STILL EXPERIENCING A COUGH. WHILE I DO THINK THAT MANY ARE
RECOVERED, I COULD THINK OF NO WAY FOR US TO KNOW THIS WITH CERTAINTY.”
—Kimberly Lindsay, Grant County public health administrator
Commissioners sign letter opposing widespread shutdown
‘One-size-fits-all’
approach ignores rural
differences, they say
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
Grant County Commissioners
Jim Hamsher and Sam Palmer were
among 51 elected officials who signed
a letter asking Gov. Kate Brown to
reopen bars, restaurants, schools, state
offices and churches.
The letter, sent from state Sen.
Lynn Findley’s office Nov. 18, said
a “one-size-fits-all” approach was
logical at the start of the pandemic,
but since then, communities have
“adjusted, adapted and improved.”
Eagle file photo
Lucie Immoos, who organiz-
es the annual Carrie Young
Memorial Dinner and Auc-
tion, with her granddaughter
Laikyn Hammon at the John
Day Elks Lodge at a previous
auction. The event will be held
virtually this year.
County Commissioner
Sam Palmer
Findley, a Republican from Vale,
said he and other legislators had been
working on drafts of the letter for about
three weeks before sending it to the
State Rep.
Mark Owens
State Sen.
Lynn Findley
governor’s office.
Findley, whose district includes
parts of 11 counties, said his main goal
is to promote a “dialogue” between the
County Commissioner
Jim Hamsher