HISTORY SPECIAL SECTION| INSIDE
GO! EASTERN OREGON | INSIDE
Wednesday, September 29, 2021
153rd Year • No. 39 • 18 Pages • $1.50
MyEagleNews.com
Grant County woman dies from COVID
By STEVEN MITCHELL
Blue Mountain Eagle
COVID-19 has now
claimed nine lives in Grant
County.
The Grant County Health
Department reported that a
57-year-old Grant County
woman died in another state.
According to a Monday,
Sept. 27, press release, the
health department was noti-
fied of the death on Sept. 17
and has been trying to gather
more information since that
time.
The health department,
the release notes, has not
been given a date of death
and does not know if the
person had any underlying
medical conditions.
The health department
said it encourages people to
be respectful as a family in
the community grieves.
The Oregon Health
Authority reported 27 new
deaths in Oregon on Mon-
day, raising the state’s
cumulative death toll to
3,709 since the start of the
pandemic.
According to the press
release, the health depart-
Eagle fi le photo
ment continues to encourage
people to take the following
precautions:
• Wear a mask in-
Bill Bradshaw/EO Media Group
Cindy Ellis, co-owner of Heavenly’s Restaurant in Enterprise, greets
customers through the takeout window Wednesday, Sept. 15. At times,
takeout has been the only way Heavenly’s could serve, partially due to
the lack of employees to staff the inside seating.
doors and wear a mask
outdoors if 6 feet of
distancing cannot be
maintained.
• Wash your hands of-
ten with soap and water
for at least 20 seconds.
• Avoid touching your
eyes, nose, or mouth
with unwashed hands.
• Cover your mouth and
nose when you cough or
sneeze.
• Stay home if you feel
ill.
The health department
said after someone contracts
COVID-19 if they develop
symptoms, they will usually
appear within 14 days.
Symptoms include:
• Fever or chills
• Cough
• Shortness of breath or
diffi culty breathing
• Fatigue
• Muscle or body aches
• Headache
• New loss of taste or
smell
• Sore throat
• Congestion or runny
nose
• Nausea or vomiting
• Diarrhea
The health department
encourages people with these
symptoms to call 211 or the
Grant County Health Depart-
ment at 541-575-0429.
Pool levy may
go to ballot
Good help getting
harder to fi nd
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the fourth in a fi ve-part series by EO
Media Group looking at the issue of the lack of workers for jobs in
Central and Eastern Oregon — why workers are not returning to pre-
viously held jobs and how businesses are pivoting to function without
being fully staff ed.
Changing demographics
make hiring tough,
managers say
By BILL BRADSHAW
and ALEX WITTWER
EO Media Group
WALLOWA COUNTY — It’s
no secret that employers across
the state are struggling to fi nd
workers. Business own-
ers collectively fur-
row their brow at the
trickle of job applica-
tions as more and more
businesses open and the
share of workers seems
to be vanishing into thin
air.
The tightening labor
market makes operation
diffi cult, and expanding nearly
impossible.
“It’s pretty much across all
industries,” said Stacy Beck-
man, general manager of Wallowa
County Grain Growers in Enter-
prise. “Managers I’ve talked to
are having diffi culty trying to get
help.”
He said the business he runs
didn’t actually lose any workers to
the pandemic, but expanding his
workforce has been a challenge.
“Trying to add (workers) is
tough,” he said. “It’s even tougher
in a smaller community like we
are.”
Cindy Ellis, who owns and
operates Heavenly’s Restaurant in
Enterprise, switched to
takeout only when the
pandemic fi rst struck,
but was able to resume
indoor seating as busi-
nesses were allowed to
reopen. But then reli-
able employees became
scarce.
“We had to cut our
indoor seating because
someone we hired didn’t show,”
she said.
Ellis on Thursday, Sept. 16,
said Heavenly’s was open for
indoor seating.
“We got a lot of folks from
Elgin,” she said, and despite
a small work force, “we were
swamped.”
More boomers are retiring
Eastern Oregon saw only negli-
gible gains in population over the
the past decade, according to U.S.
Census Bureau data. And looming
within the numbers is a certainty
that has taken the back seat to pan-
demic woes and commentary: The
boomers are retiring.
In Eastern Oregon, the work-
ing population is aging out much
more quickly than in previous
years. The Oregon Employment
Department reported in May 2021
that the working population in
Eastern Oregon had grown signifi -
cantly older from 2010 to 2020.
That increased share means the
number of workers age 55 and
older makes up 26% of the over-
all workforce. That’s up nearly 4%
from 2010.
As well, the population of
older workers has been declining
See Workers, Page A14
Eagle fi le photo
John Day and the John Day/Canyon City Parks and Recreation District are moving toward putting a measure
on the ballot next year to help fund construction of a new pool at the Seventh Street Complex in John Day.
Voters could see bond measure sometime next year
of 2023 on land owned by Parks and Rec if voters
approve the measure.
Weigum declined to discuss possible sources for
JOHN DAY — The city of John Day and the the additional funding just yet, saying the board is still
John Day/Canyon City Parks and Recreation District strategizing its approach. However, as the board goes
are hopeful of getting a bond measure on the May or through the process, she said she would share their suc-
November ballot next year to help fund the construc- cesses or failures in securing outside funding.
tion of a six-lane, 25-yard com-
Some $2 million in state fund-
petitive pool at Seventh Street ‘IDEALLY, WE’D LIKE ing for the project, in the form of
Complex.
proceeds from lottery bonds,
TO START AS SOON net
In an email, district board
was provided amid a fl urry of
member Lisa Weigum told the AS FALL OF 2022. BUT spending at the end of the 2021
Eagle that the board is exploring
Oregon legislative session.
opportunities to bring down the $6 THAT ALL DEPENDS
The funding was included in
million price tag to build the pool
Senate
Bill 5534 — otherwise
ON THE VOTERS
in an eff ort to reduce the com-
known as the “Christmas Tree
munity’s cost as much as possi- AND OUR TIMELINE Bill” — a collection of local proj-
ble. According to minutes from a
ects and programs.
TO LAND ON THE
neighborhood meeting held by the
That means another $4 million
board on Aug. 11, the estimated
must
be raised to cover the con-
BALLOT IN MAY.’
annual tax rate at that time was 72
struction costs of the new pool.
Lisa Weigum, district board member
cents per $1,000 in assessed prop-
Nick Green, John Day city
erty value.
manager, told the Eagle in an email in June that the
Weigum said it is important to note that the 72 cents project would be a joint eff ort by the city of John
per thousand fi gure is based on 2019-2020 property Day, the John Day/Canyon City Parks and Recreation
values and is not a hard number.
District and the Oregon State Parks and Recreation
Weigum said construction depends on voters pass- Department.
ing the measure and it is unlikely Parks and Rec would
He said the plan was to have Parks and Rec move
move forward if the bond does not get on the ballot forward with operations and maintenance costs with-
and pass.
out going to the public for fundraising. However, he
“Ideally, we’d like to start as soon as fall of 2022,” told the newspaper in June that some additional fund-
she said, “but that all depends on the voters and our raising might be needed to build the pool at the scale
timeline to land on the ballot in May.”
that the community wants.
She said if they wait until the November ballot,
See Pool, Page A14
construction would start in late spring-early summer
By STEVEN MITCHELL
Blue Mountain Eagle